In Love With My Personal Assistant(5)

"Are you thirsty? Where are my manners," he stood and moved to the  miniature bar built along the wall of his office. It sat to the left  side and was always stocked with fresh juices for light mixed drinks, or  heavy mixers to handle bad news.

"Now, if I remember correctly, you don't do commercial grade coffee, but  would you like some juice or water?" James called to her over his  shoulder.

Jennifer's eyebrows pinched at his words. Since when did he know what her preferences were? "Maybe some juice."

"Orange juice?" James chuckled. "How about a mimosa?" Jennifer couldn't help but grin. She eyed James carefully.

"What are you up to?" She asked him carefully, watching him as he turned to her with a genuine frown.         

     



 

"What? What do you mean?"

"You," she chuckled slightly and shook her head as she tried to form  words. "You're acting differently. You're not normally like this. Is  there something you're not telling me?" James ran his eyes over her face  thoughtfully. He stilled for a moment, and then suddenly shook his  head.

"Not that I know of. It's just been awhile since you and I have shared a loose drink. Why not today?"

"Sounds like we have a pretty big fire to put out," Jennifer reminded him calmly.

James nodded, and lifted the bottle of water he had carried in his hand  back to his mouth to finish off the rest of the contents. The skinny  bottle was only half-full when he had initially reached for it. Now it  was empty.

He dropped it into the wastebasket and crouched in front of the  refrigerator. He pulled out a container of orange juice and half-empty  bottle of Barefoot Bubbly and stood as he closed the door.

"I know it's not the best champagne out there," James remarked, "but you  know I hate a fruity wine to go bad," he reached for two glasses  hanging along the glass rack of the bar and set them down on the marbled  surface.

"Why don't you come over here?" James asked, keeping his back to  Jennifer. The bar consisted of a minifridge with a wine and glass rack  to the right of the bar. To the left was a hanging counter with three  stools to enjoy the drinks.

Standing, Jennifer held her hands in front of her and approached a stool  to the left of the bar cautiously. It wasn't that she hadn't been asked  to share a drink with James before. They had on many occasions. If all  their time had been work and no play, the feelings she had grown to have  for him might very well have been delusional.

What bothered her was that he had a knack and unusual ability to relax  around her in a way she had never seen before, but still keep her at a  distance. His walls were always up. Although his banter still seemed  easy and loose, there was just something different about it. She felt  like those invisible walls that had always been a silent reminder for  her to keep her distance were gone. Like they had simply vanished over  the weekend.

Jennifer didn't want to lie to herself and say that she wasn't happy  about it. Somewhere, some part of her was overjoyed beyond belief; but  there was another part of her, a more rational part, who approached this  new side of James with caution.

Five years she had worked for the man and never had she known him to  forgo formalities. He was a shark. That's who he was: James Melone. He  was incredible at what he did and many, like herself, admired him for  it.

Taking a seat pensively, Jennifer took a deep breath and ran a hand  through her hair. She felt her body ease at the sound of the pouring  juice and wine.

James finished by setting the bottles down on the counter top and handed  Jennifer a glass. She took it with a pinch of her forefinger and thumb  and held it tightly. She held James's gaze steady. He smiled at her, and  then squinted his eyes playfully.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" He asked in a voice that made  Jennifer's skin crawl. She was starting to remember why she had fallen  so hard for him.

Chuckling, Jennifer shook her head with reservation. She lifted the  glass to her lips, eyeing James over the rim and took a sip. It was  delicious. His eyes sparkled at her. He chuckled, shoulders heaving with  the action. Lifting his own glass to his mouth, James paused.

"Do you remember the last time we had mimosa's together?" He asked the question before taking a swig of the drink.

Jennifer smiled and nodded. Of course she remembered.

"It was the opening night of Robert's sponsored band, wasn't it?"  Jennifer asked the question as if she didn't really know the night he  was referring to.

James nodded. "Yes, Mr. Field's gave me two complimentary balcony level loges. Remember that?"

With a soft smile, Jennifer nodded. The tickets were for James and  Katie. Except Katie had missed a flight from Fresno and wasn't going to  make it in time. In an effort to still honor the tickets, James asked  for Jennifer to accompany him.

It might have been an awkward night if Jennifer hadn't already known the  tension in his relationship. There wasn't much that James had to say in  order to explain.

At the time, one of their highest-paying clients was sponsoring a debut  gig at The Chicago Theatre. The partnership would help everyone involved  and they had come to James looking for ways to boost their presence and  reach. With the help of PR and the local news, they were able to launch  something successfully for the young company who had chosen to invest  heavily in the debut singer and musician. The owners would be there,  they expected to see James, even if the tickets were complimentary.         

     



 

He could have gone by himself, but the whole purpose of handing out the  two tickets was also a nice gesture of thanks for the work that the  company had done. These tickets were meant to be enjoyed. It was  important for James's presence to be there, and not alone, but with  someone else, preferably, a female. That's where Jennifer had risen to  the occasion, but like it was a terribly difficult thing to do.

They received special catering throughout the event and were interviewed  by local reporters covering the evening. Several professional photos  were taken with the singer before and after the events. The whole thing  was incredibly glamourous-Jennifer didn't understand how any woman  attached to James's side would miss such an opportunity. But Katie had.

She was a flaky woman, or so it had seemed at the time. She didn't  really like commitment and definitely didn't do well with appointments  and a schedule. She liked to be free-but James was all about schedules  and time slots.

Jennifer broke the eye contact as she remembered that she never gave  James his morning run down. She lifted her eyes and met his gaze after  some time. He was still watching her closely.

"So how about your schedule? I never looked over your engagements for  today or the rest of the week," Jennifer admitted. She cleared her  throat and turned the glass in her hand absently as she met James's  eyes. The professional mode switched back on. "I'm assuming that this  new turn of events have changed the priority of things."

Reality dawned on James slowly. After a few seconds, he dropped the rest  of the mimosa into his mouth and swallowed. He forced a cough and  cleared his throat as he stood.

"Yes, thank you for getting me back on track. I need to know how it's  coming along with a new hire. Do you have anyone singled out?"

"To take the scheduler position?"

James nodded quickly. "Yes. If Larry doesn't sweep this mess up, we  might all need to head back to Colorado to do some damage control."

Jennifer realized the statement was apparently meant as something  negative when the smile dancing across her lips was met with disdain.  She had pleasant memories from the mountainous state. Particularly, she  smiled the most at the ones of climbing through the flying-insect  infested forest towards the enchanted waterfall. She would love to go  there again, especially, if it meant guaranteed one-on-one time with  Andrew.

"That's not an option," James clarified quickly. Jennifer's smile  dropped. "Although Seogen and Carnal are on top priority right now, it  doesn't mean we can neglect those that came before them."

"Rocket Panda," Jennifer said with a nod.

"Yes, and all the others too. We're coming up on the quarterly review  for several of our clients and we're going to need to start drafting  something soon for them."

"You mean a re-evaluation of the fee schedule and contract?" Jennifer  asked as she lifted the glass to her lips again. She had barely taken a  sip and still had more than half of her mimosa swirling around in the  cup.

James nodded. "I want you to hire someone within the next few days if you can."

Jennifer's eyes grew wide. She hadn't even conducted initial interviews.  She opened her mouth to speak, but James held up a hand quickly.

"I need someone here to handle my appointments by last week."

"But James, we received over 100 applicants for the job posting. I didn't even make it public!" Jennifer countered.