Month: October 2020

Jessa

As much as she had tried all day to avoid him Jessa had run out of luck while walking home after school. She watched as Dusty covered the ground between them in huge, pounding strides. Everything about him, body language and face, screamed intimidating and fierce at that moment. It was so different from the laughing smiling guy who somehow managed to ease through life with no troubles at all, except for when she was around.

He was by her side and far too close for comfort in seconds. 

Grabbing her arm he growled into her ear. “Let’s talk Newman.”

Jessa stood her ground and wouldn’t let him pull her anywhere. He seemed almost surprised when he met with so much resistance. 

Dusty dropped her arm but didn’t back off. “I heard what you did.”

She shrugged. 

“Why?” Dusty continued to growl. “My mom took you seriously.”

“Serves you right for making me have tea with your mother.” Jessa spat out. Striding indignantly away was a good idea and even what she had planned, but it didn’t work out that way. He stepped in her way as she turned to go around him. Stupid basketball allstar.

Without warning his arms swooped around her, carrying her in close to him. She couldn’t read the look on his face until it was too late and he was kissing her. Stunned and shocked, she didn’t think to pull away until he was pulling away himself. His arms dropped to his side, freeing her. After a stumbling and unsteady step back she managed to rebalance herself.

As he was running a hand through his hair, Jessa slapped him hard. 

“What was that for?!” He yelped, covering his now bright red cheek.

Her mouth dropped open. “I could ask you the same thing! You kissed me! Dusty, you just yelled at me and then kissed me!”

Standing there on the sidewalk they faced each other. He had gone from growling at her to kissing her then back to looking even angrier than before the kiss. They weren’t even friends. She watched as he folded his arms, his muscles accentuated by the gesture. It wasn’t fair that he looked so good and caused her so much grief at the same time.

“I didn’t make you have tea with my mother. She did that on her own.”

“Wait what? No. She specifically said that she had invited me over because of you.” After enduring all that tea Jessa was not going to be denied her revenge. “Why would your mother invite me over for tea?”

She watched as a smug smile crossed his face before it disappeared behind a scowl. “I don’t know. Maybe she couldn’t believe that the princess of our neighborhood would stoop so low as to prank me.”

She shook her head with a smile. “No that’s not it.” 

“You don’t deny the princess part?”

Jessa rolled her eyes. “I’ve been called worse…by you, in fact. My mom worked hard to make everyone think it, so I won’t go denying it to make you happy.”

“But why would you tell my mom I secretly have been wanting to take cooking classes? Cooking!”

“It could have been worse. I almost said ballet instead of cooking.” Jessa smirked. It had been a flash of brilliance during her tea time with Mrs. Hargrove. After nearly an hour of patiently listening to her drone on and on about Dusty’s many fine achievements she couldn’t take it anymore. It had become too overwhelming to not spice it up a little.

He took a rather menacing step toward her. “She signed me up.”

“For what? Tea parties?”

He scowled harder at her. “Cooking class. She signed me up for a cooking class.”

With a laugh, Jessa nearly doubled over. It bubbled up and out and she didn’t try to stop it. 

He leaned in slowly. “You are coming with me.” His voice was low and serious, right next to her ear.

She shot up straight and looked him in the eye. Maybe he was bluffing. He didn’t look to be bluffing. He almost seemed pleased with himself.

“No.”

Jessa backed up several steps, as if distance would make a difference. Unfortunately he followed, charm eeking from his smug handsome face. She wanted to slap him again.

“Yes. I insisted. Your mother thinks it’s a wonderful idea Jessie. Says you can’t even boil water.” His arms went around her again as if he were giving her a hug. She wasn’t fooled. He didn’t want her to escape while he was still taunting her. He moved in so that his forehead was touching hers, his eyes so close that she couldn’t focus on them. Her breathing shortened and in the back of her mind her brain was screaming that she was going to get kissed again.

However he didn’t. She didn’t. They stood there, so very close. All her thoughts scattered as her hands went up to his arms to try and get him to step back. Stupid biceps! So strong. So big. So hard.

She was almost startled when he whispered softly. “I’ll pick you up at 6.” He almost sounded happy about the idea.

“Tonight?” Jessa struggled to focus on what he was saying. “Why?”

“Our first class is tonight. My mom figured the less time she gave me to figure out how to get out of it, the better. You will be coming with me.”

With that pronouncement Dusty’s arms dropped and he moved away, keeping a steady eye on her and then abruptly he turned and strode off with that distance-eating stomp.

As she watched him go she gave a sigh. One day Dusty Hargrove would realize why she pulled as many pranks on him as she did. He made her heart sizzle, always had. If that kiss was any indication, she was making progress, very delightful wonderful progress. She would need to figure out some way to get him to kiss her when he wasn’t mad at her.

And now that she knew he hadn’t tricked his mom into inviting her for tea, his mom might have figured things out before he did. And hopefully his mom wouldn’t ruin any of Jessa’s carefully laid plans. 

Cooking class might prove to be helpful though. As long as she didn’t accidentally kill him. She was an absolute klutz in the kitchen.

Briony

Briony watched her father leave, the sun shining off the window of the limo he drove. Her mother insisted on her maintaining a pleasant face no matter what. Somehow her mother thought it would attract someone with money. So far it had only kept her hidden away in the library.

Briony didn’t think a pleasant smile would make her the perfect match for some rich snob. That wasn’t what she wanted anyways.

The sound of a car coming up the drive stopped her at the front door. Turning, she saw the limo returning. When her father’s head popped out his window she hurried back down the drive to meet him. 

“Briony, I just received a call from my boss. Do you need a temp job for the next day or two?”

Nodding, Briony headed over to her car. “I can follow you over in my car.”

“Don’t you want to know what the job is first?” He called after her.

“Job’s a job. I’ll take it.” She called back. What she didn’t say was that she would take any legitimate excuse not to be stuck with her mother for too long. 

It took a good twenty minutes to get from their small house to the mansion her father drove to.

Stepping out of her car she moved over to where her father stood leaning against his limo.

“So what’s the job?” Briony asked, happy to be out of the house. “Please tell me it’s not cleaning bathrooms.” While she was happy to have a job, any job, she didn’t have to love cleaning.

“There’ll be a little cleaning. Daven just remodeled his library to make room for more books. When he called and said he didn’t have time to straighten, clean, and organize all the books now that the remodel is done I thought of you. Told him I had someone who could help and he said you were hired. He’s inside.” Her father nodded to the huge doors just a few steps away.

“Is he going to have time to tell me what he wants or am I doing educated guesswork?” 

“Oh I’m taking his sister to the airport in about 5 minutes.” Her father chuckled. “And don’t you mind his abruptness, he’s just busy with no time for silliness.” 

With that, the door opened and a beautiful woman strode out. She gave Briony a slight smile before turning to Briony’s father. “I believe I’m ready Mr. Jennings.” Her tone airy as she glided to the back of the car. Remembering that she was just some temp Briony gave a tiny curtsey as she headed in through the door the woman had breezed out of and left open.

Stepping slowly into the large open foyer she shut the door and stood just inside, wondering what to do next. She definitely wasn’t going to start wandering around some rich stranger’s house.

“Hello?” Briony called out. Minutes of silence followed before she called again. “Hello?”

“Jennings send you?” A male voice called from somewhere deeper in the house.

“Yes.” She took a few steps in.

“Up the stairs, straight back.” The deep, strong voice didn’t sound any closer, so she moved up the huge staircase and further back in the house. She was about to push open a set of double doors at the end of the stairway when the same voice came roaring out the door accompanied by a powerful-looking man. Briony stumbled to the side in an attempt to not be trampled. The man hollered down the hall. “Move faster.”

Clearing her throat from behind the door she peeked her head around it, trying to tone down the sarcasm, “How much faster?”

If he was startled he didn’t show it. “In here.” 

Following him into the room Briony had to stop to take in the size of it. His office was as big as their small community library. “This might take more than a day.” She muttered. It must have been loud enough because his attention twisted back on her. Turning dark green eyes her way he glared. She shrugged.  “Not a problem sir, an observation.” 

With a grunt he nodded over to a bucket of water and cleaning cloth. “All the shelves need to be wiped down first.”

And just like that she began her work while he stomped over to his large desk and glared at his computer. The only thing she accomplished that day was wiping down all the shelves. And she was honestly surprised that Daven hadn’t found anything to yell at her about. He seemed to enjoy yelling. She had listened to him yell at his computer, his phone, and to several people over the phone. 

In fact, as she left he paused his work long enough to gruffly ask if she was coming back the next morning. After a quick assurance that she would, he demanded she arrive promptly at six.

The next morning Briony knocked on the door a minute before six. She was surprised when he answered. They didn’t speak as they walked back to his office. Boxes upon boxes were now scattered and sitting open, waiting. He must have found a little time to start looking through the boxes because they had been neatly closed and stacked when she’d left the night before.  She would have to organize them first. 

“Author or genre?” She asked, sitting down in front of the closest box.

She watched him jump a little at the sound of her voice, subsequently glaring over at her. “Both.”

With a nod she set about organizing and stacking books in categories so that she could later sort by author and start getting things up on the shelves.

It was around lunchtime that she found herself slowing. Standing up, she tried to stretch and walk off some of her stiffness without attracting his attention. Apparently she was unsuccessful as he immediately glared over at her.

“Problem?” He growled.

“No. She said. “It’s lunch time.”

To her complete shock he shut his computer and nodded. “Good idea. The kitchen is this way. You deserve something delicious after the quick work you’ve made of my mess.”

“Were you looking for one book in particular?” 

He nodded, his dark brown eyes roving over the books she had unpacked. “Yes.”

“Did you find it?” She smiled. “If not, I can let you know when I do.”

“I did not. It’s called Remaking the World.” 

“By Ken Torrance?” 

He looked at her with surprise. “Yes.”

“I will let you know as soon as I find it.” She followed, happy she wouldn’t have to settle for the apple she had shoved into her purse on her way out that morning.

Maybe he wasn’t as bad as all his yelling and grumpy gruffness made him appear. After all, he knew who Ken Torrance was.

Katya

Too many words tripped around in Katya’s head as she struggled to string them into readable sentences for her history essay. She sighed as she rubbed her heavy eyes at her usual table tucked back in the corner of the Barnes and Noble café. It was the best place to write since her roommate had rescued a very yappy puppy a few weeks ago. Natasha still hadn’t trained it to be quiet for more than five minutes.  Hence the extended homework stays in the cafe.

Katya had promised herself that she wouldn’t leave that table until her essay was written. That was over four hours ago. It was definitely not done…at all. Stupid history class. Why did essays have to be so long and require so many words? She was starting to add extra words just to get that much closer to the required word count without having to research more. Groaning softly and stretching, she glanced around.

She noticed a very well dressed man sitting at the table right next to hers. And he was cute! It wouldn’t have been all that startling if he had merely been sitting at that table but since the rest of the café was empty AND he was sitting at the table right next to hers, she was more than surprised at his proximity. 

Not another customer in the entire cafe and he chose to sit that close?

Her surprise came out, NOT as a gasp, but more like a louder-than-normal-breathing sharp inhale. She did manage to keep in a rather embarrassed groan that threatened to follow her non-gasp when he looked up from his book and smiled.

Fully prepared to dive back behind her computer she stopped as she did a double take at the sight of how vibrant a green his eyes were. Katya gave a tentative smile. Time to retreat!  

Before she could disappear into her essay, Mr. Too-Cute-to-Be-Sitting-Alone-on-a-Friday-Night set down his book. She had to remind herself not to stare like a dunce. Ducking her head she stared down at her keyboard.

Several minutes of concentrated staring at her screen and not typing passed before she glanced up, no further in her essay than before and found him still looking her way. As soon as she made eye contact, he stood and smoothly slipped into the chair across from her.

“Lawrence.” He held out his hand over the table and her laptop.

Nodding, she pulled her computer halfway closed and shook his hand. 

“Sorry to disturb you while you were working but I just had to introduce myself while you were taking a break.” He glanced at her laptop. “Are you taking a break now?”

“Katya. I’m Katya.”

With a chuckle he nodded, “Wonderful to meet you Katya. I am going to assume that hidden in that introduction was affirmation that you are indeed taking a break from your writing? Would you care for a pastry?”

“I…yes, please.” Katya nodded.

Lawrence quickly stood up and weaved through the tables to the counter, purchasing two warm cinnamon rolls and coming back over with a smooth smile only minutes later. There was no time for her to rein in her embarrassment.

“So what brings you here?” Katya questioned with a grin as she bit into the warm gooeyness of the roll he had given her. Yet another reason she came to the café to work on her homework.

“To your table? I’d have to say that the way you were biting your lip while you typed. It drew me right to you.” Lawrence shrugged.

Katya shook her head, laughing, “I meant, what brought you to the café?”

“Oh. Habit really. I stop here most days on my way home from work. Usually I just grab my treat and keep walking, but you caught my eye.”

“Me?”

His attentive gaze warmed as he smiled at her blush. He didn’t say anything more and it had her beyond flustered.

Katya saw the book he had been reading. “And you just happened to have a book to read? How long have you been sitting there?”

“About a half hour. And no, I didn’t have a book to read. I bought one from the first table I came across when I realized how focused you were on whatever you were typing, . I might have taken more time to choose a more appropriate book, however I worried you would leave while I was gone.”

“So you sat down then left to get a book, then came to sit back down and I didn’t notice any of it?”

“You were very focused.” My grin echoed his.

“Well Lawrence, I don’t know whether to be creeped out or flattered.” Leaning back in her chair Katya’s stomach fluttered to the point of mild nausea. She attempted to smile. Hopefully it looked less like a grimace and more flirty.

“Please be flattered. Now that you mention it, it does sound creepy.” Lawrence put his hands up as if begging, then paused and stood up. “I should go. Sorry to be such a creeper.”

With a little laugh Katya once again looked him over, trying to assess if he really was a good guy or a creepy stalker type guy.  He didn’t look crazy or psycho. In fact, he looked very smart and put together. His grey dress pants were crisp and clean, evidence of the crease that must have looked sharp at the beginning of the day. The deep blue button down shirt was doing great things for his green tones in his eyes. His dirty blonde hair was carefully kept in check with only a few hairs out of place.

“What book did you pick?” She finally asked.

Lawrence burst out laughing. “Is that the swing vote? If it’s a good book I’m not some psycho serial killer?”

Katya shrugged, keeping a steady gaze on the intriguing man when he held up a small paperback with a couple kissing in a speedboat. He tentatively sat back down.

She stuck her hand out again, reaching back over her computer. “Nice to meet you Lawrence…?”

“Lawrence Atwater, future architect and apparently secret romance reader. It is a pleasure to meet you.”

Victoria

“Victoria Harron, is it?” Mr Andrew Larsen growled irritably from behind his massive executive desk in his equally large corner office. “Let’s get one thing straight right now. HR hired you because of your looks to improve my client’s overall quality of visits. I told them no because I need a competent and qualified assistant but apparently I was not listened to. Which means more work for me. So if you plan on keeping this job I suggest you show me that there is at least a little competency and smarts behind those gorgeous green eyes of yours by doing what I ask. Now get out of my office and get to work. There’s a to do list for you to complete by the end of day out on your desk. It should be simple enough for you to manage.”

Victoria hesitated for a moment. The highly trained recent graduate in her wanted to refute his claims and argue her merits. In that same moment she also knew that arguing would be pointless and he probably wouldn’t listen to her anyways. So she did an abrupt about-face in her killer stilettos and left the room. First day on the job and her new boss had all but thrown a two week’s notice in her face because she was pretty. His words, not hers.

He wanted proof she would be an amazing assistant, she knew she could provide that. Just give her the day.

The paltry to do list she found on the desk just outside his office left her wondering if he had even looked at her resume or if he had simply seen her picture and drawn all his conclusions from there. 

A half hour later, with the sorting and filing he had left on her desk done and the few fluff calls handled and Victoria wondered if she should bother him or wait a bit longer before facing him. She had even reorganized the mess of a calendar she had found on the computer. It wasn’t even connected with Mr Larsen’s. How was she supposed to know when she could schedule meetings and clients? With a shrug she stood. She might as well start off honest with how long it took her to accomplish menial tasks like the ones he had assigned her.

He looked up, irritation covering his handsome features as she stepped inside holding the list, and sighed, “I don’t have time to show you what to do. Take an early lunch and I’ll find someone to teach you.”

Victoria waited until he stopped and actually looked up at her. “Is there anything else you need done?”

Irritated and impatient he snapped, “Just do what’s on the list.”

“I did, Mr Larsen.” She stayed calm.

The surprise on his face was almost comical. After several seconds of somewhat awkward silence she decided to take some pity on him.

“Mr Larsen I’d be happy to do more if you have something else you think I could handle.”  Her slightly teasing reproach shook a smile loose from his stunned look.

In an instant his disarming smile morphed into a look of challenge. “Alright. Let’s see how much you can handle.” Victoria paid careful attention as he quickly rattled off a long list of things to do. “Update me on your progress before you head to lunch.” With an abrupt nod he summarily dismissed her.

Victoria reigned in her triumph to a small acceptable smirk. As she closed the door she popped her head back in, “And in terms of looks sir, you might want to wonder if that’s why they hired you.”

An odd happy tingle sparked through her when he laughed. “Thank you Miss Harron. I’ll be looking into that promptly and seek to prove otherwise to you.”

“A very sound idea Mr Larsen.” She agreed as solemnly as she could, even though a smile did crack through.

“Please, call me Andrew. I have a feeling I am not going to have to fire you.”

With a laugh of her own Victoria closed the office door and sat down to make the phone calls he’d mentioned first.

Focused on efficiency she barely noticed the time until she looked up from a spreadsheet she was proofing to find the clock on the wall showing it well past one. Hurriedly she placed all her papers inside the top drawer of her desk and approached the office door. Once again she hesitated before going in. And yet when she did, she opened the door with exaggerated flair.

“Mr. Larsen!” She proclaimed. “I have come to make my pre-lunch progress report.” After a slight pause she amended, “Sorry I meant to say Andrew.”

“And have you finished your new list?” His expectant look caught her off guard.

“I…no, not yet.” She admitted, a little anxious.

He relaxed back in his chair and shot her an endearing crooked grin and her heart fluttered. “Oh good. I was worried I’d have to give you a raise.”

“Well if you want to give me a raise I won’t stop you. I just noticed it was after one so I figured I should fill you in before I headed out for lunch.”.

Andrew’s gaze shot quickly over to the clock on his wall. “When did it get to be so late?” He lasered his focus back in on Victoria. “What if I ordered us both some lunch and you can go over what you’ve managed to get through and ask any questions you have for the rest of your list.”

Taking a seat on the opposite side of the desk Victoria sat back and nodded. “That sounds like a great idea. I would suggest sharing your calendar with me so you are aware of any new meetings and I don’t double book any.”

He nodded as he turned to his computer screen. She quickly hid a thrilling shiver that shot down her spine. With that smile on that face of his, she was going to have to be careful and stay professional.