The Meeting by Sammy Automatic
Disclaimer: I don't own the Pretender; I write for the enjoyment of it and not for monetary profit.
Written: 29/8/2006
Doctor Sydney Green walked into the Centre at about eight thirty, sighing loudly before he leaned on the admin desk, waiting for the desk girl to get off the phone. There was a faint aroma of wormwood that hung around him. He tapped his fingers on the desk absentmindedly, still waiting as he gazed around the room. He heard the familiar click of the desk girl putting down her phone.
"Um, Jacob… sir," the desk girl responded, getting his attention suddenly.
"It is Sydney, thanks," Sydney responded politely, looking peacefully at the girl.
"Oh, I am so sorry, sir," the desk girl responded slowly, "but you're twins and look so alike. I can't tell the difference, you know that," the desk girl pleaded again.
"Mmm, nice! May I enquire as to Dr. Raines's where'bout's today?" Sydney asked again.
"I think he is in his office. I can check for you if you want?" the desk girl asked.
"No thanks, if I can't find him I'll give you a tingle, 'kay. Bye." And with that Sydney walked over pressing a button, waiting for his elevator to arrive. Apparently no one bothers to read his name tag, he sighed again with a slight smile on his face and his hands in his pocket casually. He watched as the elevator doors opened and stepped inside, glancing at his watch momentarily before he pressed the button to his floor. But looked when he heard a woman's voice yell his brother's name.
"JACOB! Hey, Jacob wait for me, can you!" A woman yelled running over, but the elevator doors closed suddenly and he disappeared out of sight.
Catherine Parker leaned against the wall, out of breath, and then looked at the numbers lit up telling her he'd got off on floor four. She walked over to the desk girl who looked up.
"Morning, Mrs. Parker, how may I help you?" the desk girl responded, before her eyes fell on the elevator which Catherine looked at for a moment before looking at the girl.
"Men, huh!" the desk girl said again, filing her fingernails absentmindedly.
"Men!" Catherine responded angrily shooting an offended look at the elevator. Catherine then walked off toward the elevator, pressing a button and waiting for it to come.
~*~*~
At about eleven o'clock, Catherine stood in the boardroom waiting for the others to arrive. Jacob Green came walking up the corridor wearing small square reading glasses and, oddly, a cream suit. He was reading the paperwork intently, his eyes darting across the page and a slight frown on his face. He walked over, still reading, and without a word opened the boardroom door. He walked in held the door open for Catherine.
"Well, are you coming in?" Jacob asked, looking at her over his reading glass with his chocolate brown eyes for an answer. She just stared a moment and walked in and the young man closed the door behind her. He walked around the table; dumped his paperwork on the table with a thud. Then he glanced at his watch before staring out the large glass window with his arms crossed.
Catherine looked at Jacob. She'd never seen him in a suit before and thought he looked quite handsome.
He continued looking out the window as though lost in thought, gazing at the rough blue ocean.
She frankly couldn't keep her eyes off Jacob as her gaze ran downwards. She noted how well his pants fit, and matters didn't improve when he slipped his hands into his pockets casually. This caused his pant to get even tighter. Catherine's blue eyes went wide; she was staring at Jacob's ass and tried to will herself to tear her eyes from him. However there was something about Jacob she'd never felt before: he was giving off calming vibes. She just couldn't keep her eyes off him; she felt an overwhelming sensation to kiss him or seduce him. Where that came from she didn't know, but decided it couldn't just be his different choice of clothes could it.
She still watched him, even after she had taken a chair. He glanced briefly at his watch and sighed heavily. He turned around and walked around the opposite side of the table before pulling up one of the high-back leather chairs. This struck Catherine as strange; why didn't Jacob sit with her? He also was wearing some reading glasses which he took off, placing on the table gently before leaning back and rubbing his hands across his face.
"Not very talkative I see," Catherine said before she could stop herself.
"Mmm, neither are you," Jacob replied simply with a slight French accent.
Catherine just looked at him oddly. Jacob usually tried to sound as American as possible.
"They did schedule the meeting for eleven o'clock, did they not?" Jacob asked calmly, looking at Catherine for an answer.
"Yeah, no doubt they'll turn up late," Catherine said, shaking her head with a vague smile.
Just then the door swung open, Jacob looked up briefly, and in walked James Parker closely followed by William Raines. A few other staff came in and sat around the table. William sat across the table from Jacob and gave him a look of pure dislike, however Jacob smiled politely back and looked at James.
"This meeting has been set up to discuss the matter of funding," James announced. Catherine just watched her husband go on a long spiel about obtaining funding. She looked at Jacob and visibly rolled her eyes. Jacob couldn't suppress a slight smile.
"Jacob?" James asked suddenly while Jacob looked up suddenly at him.
"Yes?" Jacob asked politely hoping for James to elaborate.
"How is the recruitment project coming along?" James asked again, looking at him.
"As well as can be expected at this moment in time, I suppose," Jacob replied looking at James who nodded and looked around at the others.