"Knock-knock!" The man standing in her doorway had tousled hair, a crooked grin, and twinkling eyes that she knew well.
"Tony!" Ash jumped up from her desk, pulled him into her office, and closed the door. "You're here! It's so good to see you!" She wrapped her arms around him for a hug, but he stiffened in surprise, and she felt something firm poking against her hip. "What's...?" She looked down and grinned. "Oh! Well, _hello_, sir."
"Oh my god, I'm so sorry, Ash!" Tony took a quick step backward, turning bright red and trying to cover his erection with his bag. "I didn't mean to... You hugged me so quickly, I didn't have a chance to..."
"Alright, alright," she laughed. "It's not a big deal. Sit. breathe." She gestured to the couch by the window behind her desk and turned her chair to face him. "I take it from your reaction that wasn't the plan when you texted to say you were in town for the week and wanted to get lunch?"
"No, of course not!" He collapsed onto the couch with his bag in his lap, looking mortified. "I'm so sorry, I swear I didn't have any intentions like that, I really am in town for business..."
"Long flight for a booty call, all I'm saying," she teased.
"Okay, okay," he smiled, trying to follow her lead and laugh it off. "Look, I'm on this new medication, and it, uh... well, a side effect is..."
"It may cause a monster throbbing erection when you meet a friend for lunch?"
"First of all," he objected, "it's not 'throbbing.'"
"Could have fooled me," she snorted.
"And second, yes! One of the side effects is an enhanced libido."
"I have _so many_ questions about these pills, but go on."
"It's gorgeous out, right, so I walked over here from my client's office, and because it's summer, women are walking around in short skirts and low-cut tops..."
"And then you got here and saw I was wearing a skirt too?"
"Yes, I mean, no! I'm saying I had a, you know, an involuntary reaction before I got here."
"Oh, a _reaction_," she laughed. "Is that what we're calling it? Do these _reactions_ happen often?"
"Um..." He laughed and shrugged. "A few times a day?"
"I see." She raised an eyebrow at him. "And what do you do when you can't grind your reaction against a girl you used to hook up with in college?"
"There was no grinding! And I said I was sorry, you surprised me!"
"I know, I'm just poking fun at you." She paused, then added, "I mean, you already poked something at me, so it's only fair."
He groaned.
"But for real," she said, leaning in conspiratorially. "What do you do when it happens?"
"Well, uh," He looked deeply awkward. "If I'm at home, I can just, you know, take care of it."
"Right, right, right. What about at work?"
"I try not to draw any attention. I stay seated at my desk or hold my bag in front of me. I just think about something else and hope it goes away."
"How long does that take?"
"Depends. Sometimes an hour?"
"Seriously? You don't, like, go rub one out in a bathroom?"
"We have shared restrooms in the office. There's not enough privacy."