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Loving Jack(16)

By:Cat Miller


By the time Grace made it back to her small but stylish apartment, her  brain was swimming with possibilities. The recent unrest in her life  wouldn't be ignored. Her initial reaction to the offer of a junior  executive position at Stein and Watson had been less than positive. Her  life was a never ending cycle of days and nights spent making other  people's dreams of financial security grow and thrive. Of course, in  doing so, she had secured her own financial destiny. She had her own  very comfortable portfolio. Could she give up her hard earned position  to start over at Artifex? It would be a huge risk but Grace would be a  partner in the business. It would be her own dreams she was building on,  instead of that of her clients and the company that paid her salary.

Grace had not only had her career to consider, but her heart was also at  risk. Already the stupid thing was trying to convince her that she and  Jack were meant to be and that everything happens for a reason. He  hadn't been ready for a committed relationship when they were in  college, but he could be now. She reminded that useless organ in her  chest that Jack might already be in a relationship. This was not a  choice between Jack and her position in New York. It was a choice  between a CFO position and a partnership in a growing company in  Seattle, or a junior executive position at a successful investment  banker in New York.

Luke was also a consideration in her decision. She would be moving to  the other side of the country. She would rarely see him, if ever, and  she never wanted to lose her best friend. She loved him so much and the  idea of moving away from him hurt.

Grace flopped back on her bed and picked up the phone. She needed  someone to play devil's advocate and she couldn't call Luke. She needed  someone who could be objective. She would find two such someone's in her  friend and assistant, Daniel and his husband Tom. While the phone rang  she fired up her laptop. It was time to do some research on Artifex and  its owners. Once she had some solid facts, her friends would help her  debate the pros and cons of both companies and what it all meant for her  future. Clearing her mind of all emotional considerations, she got down  to what she did best, figuring out the numbers.





FIVE





Luke was silent during the ride to the airport. He didn't even want her  to consider the job in Seattle. The idea of being so far from him hurt  Grace too, but she had to at least go have a look at the place.         

     



 

The long flight to Sea-Tac gave Grace too much time to think about her  coming visit to Artifex, and more specifically the time she'd be  spending in close proximity to Jack. After mulling over and over her  choices, Grace decided that Jack was correct, she couldn't make a truly  informed decision without making the effort to investigate Artifex  firsthand. She would have full access to the company's financial records  and anything else she wanted to review.

Her initial internet search was very promising. So Grace went to the  executives and informed them she was going to actually use some of her  massively accrued vacation time to think about the junior executive  position and inform them of her decision upon her return to New York.  Mr. Watson seemed truly confused by her hesitance to accept the position  without further ado, and rightly so. Anyone else in her position would  have accepted before they even left the executive suite the day it was  offered. But Grace had been feeling worn out and unfulfilled for a while  now. She needed to give Artifex some serious consideration. A fresh  start might be just what she needed to get her life moving again.

This trip was also going to be her trial run at dealing with Jack's  constant presence in her life, at least in her professional life. Since  the day she'd met with Jack and Rachel, Grace had been dealing  exclusively with Rachel. She still had no idea if they were a couple,  but Grace was working on the pretense that Jack was in a relationship  with someone. She had to put all thoughts of them as a couple out of her  mind and discover if she could work with Jack in a strictly  professional environment without losing her mind.

Grace collected her luggage and made her way to the main concourse.  Memories of the last time she'd been here came rushing back. Seven years  was a lifetime ago but as soon as she set foot on the sidewalk to hail a  cab, it felt like not a day had passed. On arrival she'd been the  protagonist of her story, moving mountains to stand by her man's side in  his time of need, rushing to make it to the funeral of Jack's father.  On her departure she'd felt like the greatest fool who ever lived for  racing across the country uninvited and unwanted.

Taking a deep breath Grace made effort to let go of all of those old  hurts and disappointments. The past was where it belonged, in the past.  The future needed to be decided now. Before Grace could hail a cab, she  saw Rachel jogging toward her.

"I'm so sorry I'm late!" she exclaimed breathily. "Traffic was awful!"

Grace was surprised to see Rachel. She'd planned to make her own way to  the hotel Artifex had reserved for her, not wanting to inconvenience  anyone with the chore of coming to fetch her from the airport. Rachel  was flushed but smiling as she grabbed one of Grace's suitcases. And  damn if Miss America 1950 wasn't equally sexy and alluring in jeans and a  tank top as she was in her elegant dress. Rachel's thick, rich brown  hair was pulled back into a ponytail, her face scrubbed clean of make-up  and it made her look much younger than Grace knew her to be.

"Let's get you out of here and settled." Rachel hustled ahead of Grace.  Grace tried to feel uneasy about being alone with Rachel. They'd been  exchanging emails for the past two weeks and even had a couple phone  conversations, but seeing the beautiful woman and wondering if she was  with Jack had her on edge. Again, this was something Grace would need to  get past if she took the partnership they'd offered her.

They reached Rachel's car and it was all Grace could do not to laugh out  loud. She'd imagined the co-owner of Jack's company would drive a  luxury vehicle of some kind. When Rachel hit the button in her key fob  and the tailgate of a minivan slowly began to rise, Grace gaped. It was a  very nice minivan with automatic opening doors but it was a minivan.  They loaded up Grace's bags and she was surprised to see two car seats  strapped into the backseat. One was rear facing for an infant and the  other forward facing for an older child.

Once they were on I5 and driving north the silence became a little  uncomfortable. Grace wanted to ask about the car seats. She wanted to  ask if the babies they belonged to were Jack's babies. She could imagine  beautiful little blond haired, hazel eyed babies resting in the back  seat of this very comfortable family vehicle.

Rachel broke the silence first. "So tell me about you and Jack," she  suggested. Grace nearly choked on her gum. Rachel offered her an  unopened bottle of water from the console between them and she took it  gratefully, swallowing the cool liquid to give herself a moment to come  up with an answer. What was she supposed to say?

Rachel continued, "I had no idea you and Jack had been an item until we  met in New York." Grace was still trying to contain her coughing. "I'll  be honest with you, Grace, I thought Jack was gay."         

     



 

"Gay?" Grace sputtered. Christ she was going to choke to death on her  own saliva. If she thought he was gay then . . . those car seats did  not, in fact, belong to Jack's babies. And that made her ridiculously  happy, stupidly pleased.

"Oh, you didn't know Jack likes men? Shit! Let me shut my mouth. He's going to kick my ass." Rachel was backpedaling.

"No, I knew that, but he's bi-sexual. To be honest, I thought . . ."  Grace peered into the backseat and Rachel caught her meaning. She  laughed out loud.

"Jesus! You thought Jack and I were together?" she slapped a hand on the  steering wheel. "Tony is going to love that!" she laughed and Grace  blushed. Rachel wiped her eyes. "When I met my husband I was on a  business trip with Jack. We were just getting started and we'd gone down  to California to do our spiel for a prospective customer. Tony was also  there on business. We met at the hotel bar and really hit it off until  Jack showed up. Tony totally backed off. I thought he just wasn't  interested. Over the next week he was all I could think about. It was  like I already knew he was the one that got away.

Luckily we'd already exchanged numbers. When we got home I gave him a  call. Tony made it clear right away that he had no interest in being  with a woman who was already dating someone. He wasn't the type to  share. I had no clue what he was talking about. I wasn't seeing anyone  at the time and I told him so. Tony saw the easy camaraderie between  Jack and I, and he believed we were together, like a couple. I don't see  it, but he still says we look like we're 'together' when we're  together. At first it annoyed him, but now he loves it. When we go away  on business the men leave me alone, because they think I'm with Jack."