SEVENTwo months afterAmelia muttered under her breath as she stepped into the office building hoping she did not look as out of place as she felt. She righted the wrinkle on her shirt and approached the front desk, her hair in a chignon and her grey contact lens secured in her eyes.She plastered a smile on her face, straining as she nodded at the front desk and got a flat smile in return. The only thing she and the woman had in common was their hair tied tightly to the back which she guessed was the work ethic for the company.In fact she noticed that most of the women had blond hair and looked like they all stepped out of the same fashion magazine.She sighed, stopping in front of the woman who continued typing away on the laptop in front of her, the only thing acknowledging Amelia’s existence was the quirk of her eyebrow.“Hello, good morning” Amelia said brightly.She wasn’t about to allow her enthusiasm be dampened by this woman. She had gotten the job and although she had not
EIGHTJackson patted himself on the back at to his composure as he waited for her to take the seat in front of him.Two months of him searching high and low for anyone named Amelia with red hair and the bluest eyes on God’s planet and he had come up blankIt was like she had dropped from the surface of the earth or she never existed but he knew she did and he had had hopes that he was going to find her.He had all but given up his search right before she dropped into his laps with her application to work for his company as a receptionist.That was the only position that had been available seeing as he had fired the previous one on the grounds of flirtation with his brother. He did not condone the mixture of business with pleasure and not even his brother was spared his strictness.He would have missed her if he had decided to not be in charge of the reviewing of applications as always but he had and when her face had popped up, her hair tied in a ponytail and a glass perched prettily
NINEAmelia could hardly breathe as she collapsed on the chair she presumed was hers. The image of Jackson smirking at her still ingrained in her head as she took deep breaths trying to calm the nerves and butterflies flapping incessantly in her stomach.She had no idea whom she had been expecting but it was definitely not the one man she had tried to…Amelia groaned as the memories of that evening flooded her mind… about her blatantly asking him for sex and she had hazy memories of waking up in the middle of the night and their conversation which were all a messy blur in her head.“Are you okay?”Amelia’s head snapped up, her eyes focusing hazily on the woman in front of her.“I am fine” she managed to get out of her dried up throat“He tends to do that to newbies… to keep them on their toes but don’t worry; you will get used to it” the woman smiled.Amelia nodded her head not trusting herself to say anything more.There was no way she was going to continue working with him knowing
TENIt is a challenge then, Jackson thought; the corners of his mouth curving into a smile as he pushed both hands in his pocket.He could feel the excitement pulsing through his veins as he took a seat, waiting for the meal she had scampered off to get ready.He wondered if she had any idea as to his choices of food or what he was allergic to. She had not asked him so he could only presume that Celine had given her instructions as to that effect seeing as she knew exactly how he ate.Jackson reclined in his seat staring at the screen in front of him and at the face of his brother who had made the news for the second time on the very first day of the new week. He sighed as he perused the article that was talking about his brother’s relationship with Emily Blanc; a model who worked for the John Carter modeling agency.John was an old friend and school mate and they got together most of the time to discuss business and talk about investments which Jackson had been seriously considering
ELEVENHe was waiting for her response but she had none; how could she explain that she had seen a note which was tagged important and then presumed it was stuffs that he liked to it. Amelia was sure that this was probably her first and last day in the office judging by the stare he had pinned her with.“Well?” He askedBest to go with the truth, Amelia thought“I saw a note while I was going through the files I was given at the reception; it was tagged important so I just figured they were meals that you liked to take. I had no idea… I am sorry” She mutteredJackson’s face cleared as he continued staring at her.It was obvious that this was some prank that Celine had decided to play on her, no doubt knowing that he could have her fired for doing such a thing.“Have you had anything to eat?” He askedAmelia shook her head in the positive; she was lying but she wasn’t about to compound her problems. The loud growl of her stomach shamed her as she blushed, watching his mouth widen in a
TWELVEThe meal went quite well for Jackson and he was glad he had not done what Celine would have expected of him and exactly what he would have done if it was anybody else and not Amelia.He stared at her as she pushed the plate away; she was a good eater because she had cleared her plate and he liked that about her… he also did not think it was proper to waste food that one could eat seeing as there were many others who could hardly afford the luxuries of that.His mother had spared no effort in educating him and his brother on the dangers of waste and maybe because she also had grown up not having anything before meeting his father.“Tell me about yourself, Amelia” he said, startling her.She raised blue eyes up to his, peering into his eyes as she cleared her throat.“There is nothing much to tell” she said, pursuing her lips.“Go on” he prompted.He suddenly had the urge to want to know everything there was to know about her including how she had met the ex.“I grew up in Chicag
THIRTEENGeorge walked in as soon as Jackson was sat and he observed as his brother sauntered towards him without a care in the world. He looked happy and was smiling as he sat down.“You wanted to see me?” he asked“You know fully well why I want to see you, George so let us get right down to it” Jackson snapped.The conversation in the elevator… it hadn’t exactly been a conversation; it had been him more or less baring his fangs at Amelia and she sliding right in her shell.They hadn’t said anything more but he could tell that there wasn’t going to be anything like the breakfast that they had had just minutes ago. She wasn’t going to be that open towards him again.He was angry… at her and at himself for being angry at her and it was his brother that was going to get the short end of the stick.“If this is about Emily, then allow me to…”“You know damn well that this is about Emily and you are going to allow me have a say in the next person you parade in public because you are a dir
FOURTEENAmelia was trying so hard not to seethe in rage at the way Jackson had spoken to her after she had saved the day. He had all but threatened her and that was not okay to her; she understood that it wasn’t everyday he had someone say the truth about the matter which was that he was being fucking unreasonable to fire Celine even though she had almost let her lose her job but…Amelia jolted out of her thoughts as soon as the door opened and George sauntered out; the George whom she had thought she was going to be working for and the one who was on all the posters regarding their company.She now realized that he was merely their poster boy and only because Jackson did not want to have anything to do with the limelight which she considered quite strange. Anyone would want to be in the limelight of such a popular and well to do company and he only sat in the background and ran the company?The man smiled and waved in her direction before stepping out, leaving her thoughts to return