Valentine's Day, 2014 - A Love Story
Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight and all the character. I just like to set them up on dates for Valentine's Day. My thanks to my wonderful beta, EdwardsMate4Ever.
(All human)
Chapter 1 - Clumsy
A hand caught her before she fell. Bella teetered for a moment, closing her eyes, then reopening them to establish her balance. That box of paper by the copier had always been out to get her. After she was steady, she looked up to thank her savior.
And lost her voice. She was staring into the blue eyes of Jasper Whitlock. The guy in charge of, well, everything. Her future. Her branch office's future. He seemed to be waiting for her to say something, but she just blinked, her eyes moving between those hypnotic eyes and full lips.
After a pause, he asked, "Are you OK?"
She took a gulp of air before stuttering out her reply. "Yes. Thanks. Sorry." She stopped. Could she appear any more of an idiot?
He smiled. "Just glad I was here."
He's waiting for me to say something. Ummm…if I had known you would catch me, I would have fallen the day you strolled through the front door?
She couldn't think of a response, other than to realize she was blushing, so she stared at the carefully buffed toes of her good shoes, and he walked away. She sighed and resisted the urge to peer around the corner to watch him as he strode off. After all, she was expecting to get called into his office today. She fingered the collar of her blouse nervously. Most of the other girls were wearing red or pink with their suits because it was Valentine's Day. She had worn white because that was the color of her interview blouse. The one she wore when she wanted to look corporate.
She gave in to her urge to look after him as he walked down the hall and poked her head around the corner. Too late, he was already gone.
They had heard about the incoming Regional Vice President, Jasper Whitlock, a few days before he arrived. Everyone was worried about his reputation for downsizing ruthlessly. Most of the women and some of the men were willing to forgive that and anything else, though, when they saw his photo on the Internet.
"He's supposed to be like the corporate slayer," Tom had said grimly when they got the news. "I've been checking up on him on the Internet. "
"You mean like Buffy, only he kills corporations?" Liza, the intern, asked.
"Not corporations. Just the employees, like us," Tom replied. "He gets rid of the people and closes offices to save the assets."
"I would die in his arms any day," Julie commented when Tom brought up Jasper's photo.
Bella tried to peer around all the heads that circled Tom's computer but couldn't see anything. She decided to move to the side where she could stand on her tiptoes to look over the cubicle wall. Tom glanced over at her and turned the monitor in her direction.
"How about you, Swan? See anything you like?" Tom asked.
A disturbingly handsome face, with a strong jaw, full lips, blue eyes, and crowned with blond hair, appeared on the computer monitor.
"He's cute," she muttered.
"Right," Tom said. "You can tell him that when him he hands you your pink slip."
Bella was the first back to her desk, rooting around in the stacks of paper to find the file she needed. The Cleghorn account. The name sounded like Foghorn Leghorn from the old cartoon, she thought. And the client's deep and booming voice resembled the cartoon character's a bit too. She could almost imagine him saying, "Well, I say…" But she hated it when her co-workers made that suggestion. She thought he was a good man whose billing was all fouled up. And if it was my money, I would be mad, too.
After checking her messages, she sighed. Two messages from Cleghorn.
She dialed the number from memory. "Mr. Cleghorn?"
"'Bout time you called back," his voice boomed into the phone. She really didn't need a receiver. Oh yes, she did. He had to hear her. If he would listen.
"…your incompetent Accounting Department" he was saying, and then launched into his familiar tirade.
She got the number and date of his check and waited for him to take a breath before assuring him she would look into it. She hoped that this wouldn't be one of the days that he wanted her to call Home Office Accounting and have them both wait on the phone until she got a supervisor on the line. She had already been written up once for spending too much time on the phone with Mr. Cleghorn.
"The firm has other clients," her supervisor, Miss Miniver, had told her.
"It just seems that he has more problems than the others and…" But Bella never got to finish.
"You'll need to allocate your time more judiciously," Miss Miniver said chidingly, looking down at Bella over her black glasses frames. "I've pulled your phone records, and I am telling you that you spend too much time on his account. I'm putting a note in your file and diarying this conversation for one month. I expect to see improvement. I'll have the phone records available for review at our next conversation."
Bella knew she was spending more time with him each day.
I'll probably be the first person Jasper Whitlock fires.
The day Jasper Whitlock arrived, the office was nearly silent. Everyone had worn their corporate best, which a few of the girls had paired with blouses that left little to the imagination.
Jasper strode across the floor without saying a word, entered his large office and closed the door.
When his door closed, the cubicle dwellers started standing up, looking around at one another over the shoulder-high divider walls like prairie dogs. After a few minutes, the silence gave way to the noise of a busy office as phones rang and were answered, copies were made, and heels clattered across wooden floors. But the feeling of comfort and camaraderie was gone, and only fear remained. People weren't comfortable catching up with one another's lives during a free moment as everyone did their utmost to look busy, so as to appear valuable to the company.
Over the past week, Jasper Whitlock had begun to call in the employees for meetings, one at a time. He summoned them alphabetically, instead of by title, so Jim Bridges from the Mailroom was in before Floyd Michaels, the producer with the best numbers. Michaels let everyone know how unhappy he was about it.
"Everybody knows this place is on its last leg," Michaels proclaimed one day after they had watched Jasper leave for a meeting. "I got talks going with other places, companies that would be much more appreciative. I'm going to remember my friends, never fear."
There was a buzz of nervous excitement when he said that. Michaels was a self-serving, preening peacock who had a small, gilded mirror hanging in his office so he could check his reflection any time he wanted. But he always made his numbers, and he had numerous plaques and awards in his office, including "Top Performer" and "Certificate of Excellence" for something or another.
Today, Jasper had reached the letter "P," calling in Marcia Phillips at 8:45. Bella grew more and more nervous, waiting for her turn. She picked out a file, call reports and other information to take with her into the office. Might as well look organized. She got the call from Jasper's assistant at 11:15, advising that, "Miss Swan, Mr. Whitlock would like to speak to you." Bella got up, ran her fingers through her hair and made her way to the dreaded office. People glanced up at her as she walked past, a few muttering "Good Luck."
She had worn her good wool skirt, the white blouse and low heels. Since her name, Swan, came near the end of the alphabet, she would be one of the last of the employee interviews.
"Psst. Stop. Neck line's too high," Julie whispered as she passed. "Unbutton it-at least one more, anyway. That's Jasper Whitlock in there, not Mr. Magoo."
"I'm sure he's used to girls trying that on him," she whispered back. With looks like that, he could have anybody.
She got to the door and opened it. The high back of Jasper's leather chair had been facing the door, so she said, "Mr. Whitlock," to announce her presence.
He swiveled around, smiling at her. The shock of having his full attention made her freeze in place, her heart hammering in her chest as her emotions and hormones wreaked havoc throughout her being. So good looking. So dangerous.
A shark welcoming his prey.
PLEASE REVIEW. I WILL SEND A PREVIEW OF THE NEXT CHAPTER TO ALL REVIEWERS.
I think this will be a three-shot. I will finish posting on Valentine's Day, however many chapters I end up writing.