2

Chapter 2

Jason arrived early as always and sat in his usual seat. He greeted Fred, the conductor, making small talk as they did everyday for the last twenty or so years. Today, was different though, He purposely moved his briefcase and didn’t read the daily newspaper he had stopped for. He sat waiting, for her, Tessa. He knew she would be on the train today. He hoped she would attempt to sit with him again and if not he would invite her to do so, when she passed by him. He recalled when Robert came to his office yesterday, as he was instructed to do.

“Mr. Stone, sir, the woman you told me about, Tessa, she did in fact come in. She’s here now and we have spoken.”

“Great,” he responded. “Was she interested in the position we spoke about creating?”

Robert replied, “Yes, sir, she seems very interested.”

“Ok then offer it to her immediately and suggest a $65,000 starting salary with available bonuses. Oh, and Robert, I figured out where we can put an office for her, she can take over conference room C. You can take care of the details of getting her furniture and office set up beforehand and remember what I said earlier…This stays between you and I. I don’t ever want her to know this position was created for her. You understand, right?”

Robert had replied professionally, “Of course, sir, I understand. You have my word.”

He knew he could trust Robert not to gossip around the office or make mention of it to Tessa. He had been a long time faithful employee of the firm. He knew he was lucky to surround himself with quality people, he was sure that Tessa would fit in well with the others. He was generally a good judge of character and Tessa had his attention for sure. There was something about her that drew his attention immediately. She was attractive for sure, he had definitely noticed her blonde mid length curly hair and curvy figure, she was naturally pretty. He wasn’t sure why he offered for her to sit with him yesterday, but was glad he had. After getting to know her, just slightly, she deserved a chance to have something good happen. Jason knew all too well what cancer can do to a person, remembering his Mothers’ battle.

The train took off as he glanced around, not seeing Tessa in his section. He wondered if he should look for her and invite her up? Maybe, he should wait till they were at the office to welcome her? He couldn’t decide. Damn, I’m acting like a child, he thought. I’d swear I even feel butterflies in my stomach. You’d think I was a teenage boy getting ready to ask a girl to prom. Frustrated with himself, he quickly got up and walked to the rear section. As soon as he opened the door, he could see her and he smiled. She looked up meeting his eyes and smiled as well.

“Tessa, please come join me,” he grinned and motioned for her to get up.

“Jason, Hello!” I grinned and then stood up, steadying myself as the train moved faster. I followed him through the doorways to his seat.

“I didn’t want to bother you this morning, I know you said you usually had work to do,” I explained, not wanting him to think I was being rude.

“No worries, I was told you accepted the position and would be starting today, I’m glad it’s all working out.”

I touched his arm slightly, “I can’t thank you enough for offering for me to come in and on such short notice, I am truly grateful to you Jason. I’m sorry, I should probably be calling you Mr. Stone?” I said quickly.

“Well, yes, at the office I am Mr. Stone, but we aren’t at the office now, are we?” he grinned. “And I did meet you as Jason,” he laughed. “Mr. Stone makes me feel so old, and is what everyone there called my Father,” he laughed.

The conductor, Fred, came by, “tickets please,” he said and looked back and forth at me and then Jason over and over, then laughed out loud. “Do I need to intervene between you two today?” he teased.

“No Fred, she’s officially allowed to share my seats, whenever she likes.”

“Ok then, as long as everyone’s happy,” he winked at Jason. Fred was a large black man, he had to almost walk sideways to fit through the aisles. He whistled as he walked up and down.

Jason said to me, “Are you nervous?”

“A little, yes. Can you tell?” I sighed.

“Just a little,” he grinned. “Don’t worry, everyone’s very helpful at the firm. I have a great employee history, most people have worked with me for years.”

“Does your Father still work there too?” I questioned.

“No, he passed away awhile back.”

“I’m sorry.”

“He started the firm when I was just a kid. I used to spend summers working for him.”

“Really, the building looks so modern.”

“We didn’t start out there, he had a one man office in New Jersey for years and then eventually the business grew to about ten attorneys, before he passed away.”

“How many are there now?”

“There are twenty seven attorneys, ten paralegals, four receptionists, of course there’s Robert, he is my right hand man and now there’s you.”

“Isn’t there anyone else who does marketing too?”

“No. Robert and I and the attorneys have always had to handle it. They will be very excited to hear that someone’s been hired to take a lot of the workload off of them. I guess it was fate that we met yesterday?”

“I guess so. I was talking to my sister last night and she said the same thing to me. Do you have siblings?”

“No, just me.”

“What about your Mother?”

“My Mother, passed away a few years before my Father.”

“Oh no, they were young,” I sympathized.

“Yes, they were. My Mother...had cancer too.”

“I’m sorry, did she suffer long?”

“Awhile, yes,” he said softly.

“Brian, had stomach cancer.”

“My Mother had lung cancer.” We smiled at each other, knowing we shared a bond we both hated to have.

“Tessa, you’re very easy to talk to, the adoption clients need someone like you. The attorneys tend to be matter of factly and forget that people have emotions.”

“I’m looking forward to working in this field.”

“You must have got here pretty early today, to get a seat in the first section,” Jason commented.

I laughed, “Yes, I did. When I set that darn alarm clock for five a.m. I thought of you.”

He laughed over and over, “You will get used to it.”

“Well, when the house sells and I get my condo, I can sleep till at least seven. Why don’t you live in the city Jason?”

“I don’t know, I grew up in New Jersey, it’s home,” he said casually.

The train came to a stop and we exited. The firm was just a short walk away, we continued talking and before I knew it, Jason was holding the door open for me to enter my new job. My heart skipped a few beats as I walked in.

“Jenny, this is Tessa Williams our new Marketing Director,” Jason introduced us.

“I just finished setting up Ms. Tessa’s information on our answering system, just hit number nine to retrieve your messages in the future Ms. Tessa,” she said.

“Great job, Jenny.” Jason said.

“Thank you,” I replied to her and followed Jason to the elevator.

He explained, “The first floor is just for reception and lobby areas. The second and third levels are attorney offices, the third is for our paralegals and the break room. We’ll stop there so I can give you the tour.”

As we exited, I saw a huge kitchen, there were several refrigerators and microwaves, and a large style cafeteria area. There were several televisions with lounge chairs around them, a foosball table, a pool table, and shelves filled with books. It was a wonderful break area.

“This is an amazing space for employees,” I commented to Jason.

“I actually designed the entire layout of the office.”

“I’m impressed, I love the whole concept,” I said in awe of the atmosphere as we continued to the top level.

He smiled politely. “Up here on the fourth floor are several conference rooms, my office, Roberts, and yours,” he explained. “We will have a nameplate ordered and put up for you,” he said as he opened the door.

Wow, it is absolutely beautiful, I thought. “This is mine?” I said hesitantly. There was a huge L-shaped executive desk, an empty bookcase, a small conference style table with six chairs, and a view of the city from the large windows that extended from the floor to the ceiling.

“Your welcome to add to the decor to make it to your liking, make it feel like you,” he smiled.

“It’s beautiful,” I walked over to the window, took a deep breath, and let it all sink in. I was definitely starting at an executive level.

“We are able to see out of the front glass windows to oversee the rest

of the offices, however, I designed the top floor to have more privacy, no one can see through to our offices or into the conference rooms. Let me show you where I am,” Jason said as he waited for me to exit. His was just down the hall, with the two conference rooms separating our offices. “Please sit, would you like a coffee or water?” he said as he went over to his Keurig machine fixing himself a cup.

“Water would be great,” I answered noticing the executive amenities his office had.

“Robert will take care of getting you set up with the office supplies you’ll need. I thought we could take this morning to go over the adoption process we have, as well as intimidate you slightly by giving you these,” he handed me several extra large law books and laughed. “I don’t expect you to read them cover to cover, don’t worry. “They will look nice on the empty shelves in your office.”

I would not have imagined the Jason I met on the train yesterday to have been the high society executive Mr. Stone that stood before me. He seemed very relaxed with me, joked often, and smiled a lot. He is very personable and seems easy to get along with, considering the high powered position he holds. Most of the upper executives barely spoke to me at my last job. I doubt they even knew me by name.

“Here’s a notepad and pen for you, you’ll need to get yourself a professional portfolio pad, and a briefcase, is that a problem?”

“No, no problem, I will pick them up after work today.” I wrote on the legal pad to remind myself.

“Tell Robert to arrange for your business cards and…” he continued listing items as I wrote as fast as I could. “Questions?” he said.

“Yes, about a million,” I laughed slightly.

“I’m sorry, don’t worry, we will be working closely together for quite a while, until we are both confident in your position. The adoption program is sort of my baby. The biggest difference in my program is that we don’t turn anyone away based on their ability to pay.”

“Really, that’s wonderful,” I interrupted.

“It’s an expensive process for adoptive parents, however, you know the old saying, Money Can’t buy love? I wholeheartedly believe in that statement. Anyone who desperately wants to be a parent, should not be denied sharing their love because they can’t afford to pay an attorney to make it happen. Besides, we more than make up for the expenses with our divorce cases.”

“Do you have children?” I asked.

“No, I haven’t had the opportunity,” he said quickly.

“Are you married?” I pried.

“I’m not.”

“I need to do a lot of research on adoption still, but I did read last night that were approximately 90,000 children in the United States currently waiting to be adopted. I had no idea the numbers would be so high.”

He nodded his head, as to say he knew and was impressed with my research. “In a perfect world, we would have none.”

After discussing the overall operation of the program, the office politics of “who’s who”, and both of our expectations, I was incredibly pleased with my decision to accept the position. Jason took off his jacket and helped himself to another cup of coffee. “We do a lot of group luncheons, in fact I’ve arranged for one today, being your first day here. It will be a good way for everyone to meet you.”

“It seems as though you’re very caring towards all of your employees,” I complimented.

“Thank you, I try very hard to make this a place we all want to come to each day. I believe happy employees are much more productive. I pride myself on getting to know everyone personally and to always make everyone feel comfortable to come to me, for any reason. I don’t believe in having a chain of command when it comes to discrepancies. I want the receptionists to feel at ease coming to me, just the same as an attorney would.”

“That’s a wonderful philosophy. I’m sure I’m going to be very happy with my position here.”

There was a knock at the door, “Come in,” Jason shouted. “Good morning, Robert.”

“Good morning Mr. Stone. Ms.T essa have you seen your office yet?”

“I did, it’s beautiful.”

“I’m sorry to interrupt, I wanted to remind you about your meeting with the Corpus Family in thirty minutes. I set up conference room A for you sir.”

“Thank you Robert, this morning has flown by. I have been explaining to Tessa the basics about our firm and will leave the logistics to you. I gave her a list of things I was able to think of off the top of my head.”

“Yes, sir, I will take good care of Ms. Tessa,” he smiled and motioned for me to follow him. Robert looked to be about sixty years old. He was also dressed impeccably, similar to Jason. His office was right next door to Jasons. It was furnished just as nice as mine but with plenty of personal memorabilia of his family. “Ok, let’s start with the list Mr. Stone gave you,” he smiled genuinely.

We sat for a long while in his office talking as well about the program. He seemed very kind and offered me a lot of advice on how to work with the clients, understanding their needs, and how to do the paperwork. He assured me he would be working closely with me as well.

“Well, Ms. Tessa, if you’d like to go to the supply closet and grab some necessities, I will be sure to call and request your company credit card today as well. Mr. Stone has arranged lunch for everyone. I will leave you to settle in a bit and we will meet again in about 45 minutes in the break room.”

“Sounds wonderful, thank you,” I said grateful for all of his attention.

As soon as he shut the door, I took out my phone and snapped a few photos, to show off my office to Beth. I know I have been given a fantastic opportunity here. I’m so excited! I went to gather my supplies.

I was busy organizing, when I heard a knock at the door.

“Ms. Tessa Williams?” a young man said as I opened the door, to see him holding a huge bouquet of assorted flowers in a beautiful crystal vase.

“Yes, hello. They are beautiful!” I exclaimed.

“Delivery for you, ma’am,” he said, handed them to me and left.

I tore open the card and read, Welcome Tessa, From, Mr. Stone.

How incredibly thoughtful! They filled the room with a sweet scent and put a smile on my face. Shortly afterwards, I turned to see Jason standing at the open door. “Hey! Jason, sorry, I mean, Mr. Stone. I just got your flowers, thank you! They are so beautiful!”

“I’m glad you like them. I thought we could go down to lunch together,

“Yes. I’m ready,” I smiled.

We entered the break room which was filled with employees already, we made our way to the buffet table which was filled with an assortment of sandwiches, salads, fruits, chips and cookies. Jason attempted to introduce me to everyone as we passed but then stopped and said loudly, “Ok everyone, can I have your attention please.” The room quieted down immediately. “I would like everyone to welcome, Ms. Tessa Williams, our new Adoption Marketing Director.” The crowded room of people all faced me and clapped. I smiled looking around at them all. I made a mental note to ask the receptionist for a list of employee names and titles. “She will be in charge of handling all of our adoption clients, so for the attorneys involved, feel free to pass a copy of your files onto her as well as relieving yourselves of initial consultations,” he announced when I heard a few whistles in celebration of the news.

“Ms. Tessa,” Robert came over to me, “your accounts been set up and you can go to Office Max after lunch, if you like, just give your name to the cashier, with this card, everytime you charge something it will be processed against your expense account. There’s one just down the street from here.”

“Thank you, Robert.”

Another man walked over to me and introduced himself. “Hello, Tessa. I’m Neil. Welcome to the firm, I’m one of the Attorneys here.”

He was handsome, like an older version of an Abercrombie and Fitch model. “Hi,” I smiled.

“I’d love to take you out for a drink after work, we could get to know each other a bit,” he asked very swavely.

I think he is hitting on me, I can tell he is looking me up and down. “Thank you, but I can’t. I have a million things to take care of still.”

“Very well, but I will be sure to ask again,” he winked, smiled and then walked away.

It was the end of the day, I was quite tired and headed for the train home. I didn’t see Jason in his usual morning seat, perhaps he took a later train back. I phoned Beth as soon as I got to my car. I bragged about my day and then mentioned Neil, “Can you believe it? I think he was flirting with me? It felt so strange. I still wear my wedding ring. I haven’t even thought about dating again, I’m not sure how I feel about it. I certainly wouldn’t choose Neil. He’s not my type at all.”

Beth said, “Tessa, it’s ok to date again, you’re allowed to, Brian would want you to be happy. Besides, how many years has it been since you had sex Tessa? You must miss it?”

“I know, it’s been a very long time, Brian was too weak, it just wasn’t an option. I don’t know if I’m ready Beth. You know I’ve never been with anyone but Brian. I’m almost a virgin!” I laughed.

“You are not! You are a thirty four year old beautiful, passionate woman. I can fix you up with one of the guys from Matt’s construction site?”

“No, thanks Beth.”

“What about this Jason? He sounds tempting,” she teased.

“He is incredibly nice, charming, handsome, like the boy next door look. He is definitely more my type, but he is my boss Beth!”

“You’re an adult Tessa, you can sleep with anyone you want to,” she said very matter of factly.

“Ok, well I will think about it.”

“That’s all I’m asking you to do, start considering. I love you Tessa.”

“I love you too Beth, thanks for listening.”

I entered the house, threw my pajamas on and sat on the couch eating dinner and reading through the mound of paperwork I took home with me. It was barely nine and I was ready for bed already.

I tossed and turned, I tried to imagine myself having sex with Neil, he was attractive. I closed my eyes and shortly afterwards felt my hands wander to my breasts. I fondled my nipple and then moved between my legs. Neil became more of a blurr, he just wasn’t my type at all. I had no problem climaxing, I was used to satisfying myself. Beth was right about one thing, I hadn’t had actual sex for years. As I lay in bed, eyes still closed, I continued to imagine the blurry image of Neil on top of me. As he raised his head to kiss me, it wasn’t Neil at all...and it wasn’t Brian...It was Jason! I rolled over aggravated with myself until I finally fell asleep.