In Love With My Personal Assistant(21)

Jennifer's face fell. She pulled the phone away from her face and  checked the time. It was nearly five. Biting her lip, she pressed the  phone back to her ear.

"Do you think you can wait until then?" Nicole's voice was hopeful.

After a moment of hesitation, Jennifer answered. "I'll have to talk to James and call you back."

"No, don't call. Rings in the middle of practice is a no go. Send a text or something."

"Okay, will do."

"It's so good to hear you, girl," Nicole said with satisfaction. "I hope  I see you tonight. You can't be this close and not see me. It won't be  right."

Laughing, Jennifer agreed. "Okay. I'll let you know as soon as I speak  with James. Bye, Nicole!" They hung up and the dread sped to Jennifer's  gut. From what she gathered, they weren't in a rush, but they weren't  looking for a nighttime flight back to Chicago either. She placed her  phone into her purse and continued to pace.

What were the odds that James would be okay with waiting for two hours?  What would they do? Jennifer frowned and crossed her arms over her  chest. She caught eyes with the driver of the vehicle. He was dressed in  a dark suit and missing the jacket, but leaned against the car  leisurely. He smiled at her and tipped his head, a bald man with a flat  chest.

Jennifer sighed. Maybe she was just being selfish. She really wanted to  see Nicole though. It had been so long since the two of them had seen  each other face to face. It had been years; but, more importantly,  Jennifer needed a friend now more than anything.         

     



 

She needed someone to talk to about her feelings with these two  different men. It was something she didn't understand. Of course it was  possible to love many different people-but the type of love in question  wasn't right.

On one hand, she had a man she had known for the past five years. He  just happened to be her boss. Was that right? On the other, there was a  man who intrigued her more than she could ever remember anyone else  doing before. This man was interested in her too. But wasn't James?

Jennifer didn't understand what was happening, but one thing was  certain. For too much of the trip she felt like she was relieving the  past three years all over again where she looked for any sign that she  might mean something more to James than just his great assistant.

He had given her more than she could have ever asked for. There was the  touching, the smiling-the sudden invitation to his life. What was all of  that about? It was all the things she had prayed about for so long but  two weeks too late. Right? It was too late, wasn't it? Or did this mean  she had a choice to make? And it was definitely a choice because she  couldn't have both right?

Jennifer thought about the drink she shared with James in his office. It  seemed days away, yet she knew it had only been hours. He told her then  that he stood by everything he had said on Friday. That had to mean  that he still felt that way about her. That meant she had a choice. If  she wanted to, she could finally have him; but was that what she really  wanted?

The sound of the front door to the house opening jolted Jennifer from  her thoughts. James met her eyes immediately. He smiled, but it was less  enthused. She looked to Melony, who had followed him to the door. At  the short woman's side was her nearly adult daughter, big breasts and  all. Jennifer pressed her lips together tightly. She would never  understand the younger generation, she was sure of it.

The young teen gushed at James when he paused to face her. He kissed her  forehead and stroked her chin. Melony watched him with a soft smile, as  if to say, "Thank you."

"Are you guys coming with?" Jennifer asked.

Melony shook her head, and her daughter pouted. "I'm afraid not, Ms.  Jennifer. Maybe next time?" The woman was so sweet, Jennifer couldn't  help but feel the same sentiment towards her.

"If only," Jennifer answered.

Is that what she really wanted? Jennifer looked down and scratched her  forehead. She remembered Andrew's email. She should read it, maybe even  call him. That would help. To hear his voice and remember; she needed to  him his voice again. That would help her choose, right? Or maybe it  would just confuse her even more.

"Well, it was nice to finally meet you," Melony offered again. Jennifer  turned to her and smiled weakly. She gave a nod and then looked to  James. He gave the stunning duo a final wave and joined Jennifer at the  short steps that led to the front porch.

After another round of polite goodbyes and good wishes for their return  trip, they were free to retreat into the car. Inside, James coughed into  his hands and rubbed them together as if it was cold outside, but it  wasn't.

Jennifer watched him and for the first time, wondered what took him so  long while he was inside the house. He turned to her and met her eyes.  After a moment, he beamed.

"So, are we going to pick up your friend or what?"

"Oh, yeah, that," Jennifer stuttered. Her face fell and she  instinctively pulled out her phone. She stared at the blank screen. "Um,  we might need to eat without her," she continued in a small voice.  "She's in a rehearsal right now and won't be free until 7:30." Jennifer  avoided James's eyes.

She heard him move at her side from within the car. The driver was still  resting outside the vehicle calmly. At her side, James checked his  watch. When he didn't say anything, Jennifer finally looked at him. For a  moment, they simply watched one another.

"What are you thinking?" Jennifer asked at last, unable to read James's face.

"If we wait until 7:30, we'll have to sleep in the city."

Jennifer raised a brow. "Really? We can't fly back at night?"

"We can, but I don't do it with chartered flights. I pay by the hour  when I want a jet to wait for me so the pilot doesn't usually change."  James explained. Jennifer nodded in agreement, but still didn't  understand.

"So why can't we fly back?" She asked at length.

"It's just a precaution I take," James continued. "You know, private jet  charters have a lot of crashes and deaths associated with them," he  nearly whispered the last part. Jennifer's jaw dropped.         

     



 

"Are you serious?"

James shrugged. "Yes."

"And you still use them?"

Laughing, James nodded. "Of course. It's usually just because of pilot  error. They don't have the same regulation of commercial flights because  of the private sector," he paused, "so private pilots tend to be more  subject to the wrath of those that pay for the charters. I'm pretty  relaxed about it, but others really give the guys a real hard time. Not  me. If they can't see the runway, I'll miss my connecting flight. It's  not worth my death. If there's a chance my pilot might be tired, I'll  spend the night so that he can sleep."

Jennifer nodded, but then squinted at him. "Are you just making this up to get me to spend a night with you in New York?"

James laughed loudly. "No, you can look it up, it's true!"

The only thing that had been on her agenda for the next day were  interviews. At the moment, she couldn't remember what James had planned,  and that was rare. Her mind was too giddy with the thought of seeing  Nicole.

They met each other's gaze again. For a brief moment, Jennifer wondered  if the better thing would be to just go back home and end the close  proximity to James. When she opened her mouth though, she was surprised  at what came out.

"I don't know," she stammered.

James frowned. "You don't know what?" He asked with an awkward chortle.

Jennifer sighed and shrugged. She could have at least picked one or the  other, but the truth was that she wanted them both and was terrible at  making decisions. She opened her mouth, but James raised a finger.

"What do you want to do?"

"I don't want to leave," she replied without hesitation. The truth  slipped out all too easy. It unnerved him and altered the air between  them. James looked her over quietly.

"We don't have to leave," he said with a smile. James ran his eyes over her. "When's the last time you saw your friend?"

Jennifer opened her mouth, but then froze. She looked away from James  and searched for a window. Nicole left Chicago around two and half years  after she started working for James. It wasn't likely that Nicole would  have been able to make enough money to come back from the New York, but  Jennifer could have saved and flown out. She never did.

"It's been a long time," Jennifer said softly, still staring out the  window. A pinch at her elbow made her turn and face James. He had  touched her and his fingertips still lingered against the sleeve of the  blazer she wore.

"How long?" He asked again.

Jennifer cleared her throat. "Over three years."

"Wow," he whistled for emphasis, and nodded out the window. Seconds  later, the driver opened the car door and slipped in. James caught his  attention immediately. "What's your take on traffic into Manhattan?"  James asked the man. The driver pinched a pair of dark glasses on the  bridge of his nose.