A/N: Four months! I'm hope people are still interested in reading any of my fics… -unsure- I promise to write more often once my finals are over and I'm on holidays for 3.5 months (3 weeks away!)
Anyway, as always… comments/criticisms all are welcome and much appreciated! I recommend re-reading at least the previous chapter (I certainly had to re-read my whole story again…)
Note: 'Marissa' is Katie, and Katie will be referred to (by me) as Katie, however other characters (except for maybe Tad) will be calling Katie, 'Marissa'.
Part 7: What Does This Mean?
Leaning against the wall, arms crossed in front of her chest, her hands subconsciously clenching themselves into tight fists before they're released and the action repeats again. Jessie was waiting patiently for her boss to finish her meeting with that slimy bastard who couldn't get enough of touching the other woman whenever he found the chance to. Every single time that balding creep's hands laid on her boss, she'd involuntarily tense up and she'd have to clench her fists and jaw to stop herself from outright knocking the lights out of him.
Despite herself, Jessie noticed her reaction towards the touching had noticeably intensified since she's started working for Marissa Singer a little over two months ago. At first she didn't quite understand it… but gradually she learnt to dismiss her reaction for either of her two reasoning; one, she just felt sorry for the other woman for being harassed and taken advantage of, but having to put up with it as they were her clients. The other reason, her less preferred one as a matter of fact, was that she was just getting a little too attached to her 'job' as the other woman's personal bodyguard.
The scratching of the chairs against the perfectly polished wooden floorboard took Jessie out of her reverie, and she knew that the meeting was finally over. She saw her boss get up and straightened out her skirt before giving the greasy old man a hand shake which he gladly took in both his hands and returned it with an equally sleazy smirk. Marissa Singer returned her professionally plastered smile, and in the past month of observation, Jessie could tell that smile was one of the woman's fake ones, reserved for occasions such as this; work.
"Thank you so much for your time, Mr. Schlen, it was a pleasure doing business with you."
The sleazy man stood up along with Katie, and was visibly at least half a head shorter, "Oh no, just call me Rob and the pleasure was all mine Marissa... oh and I hope you don't mind me calling you by your name."
An incontrollable, disgusted shiver ran through Jessie from head to toe. 'Of course the pleasure was yours,' she couldn't help but think as she glared menacingly at the man.
"No, not at all…Very well then, I really should be off; father would be pleased to hear of the good news," the dirty-blonde retracted her hand from those slimy and clammy palms.
"Well I should walk you out," the man started to walk away from the table.
"No, no. Wouldn't want to trouble you, I'm sure we'd be able to find our way out just fine," she replied, referring to the blonde and herself.
"Okay then, but do have a safe trip. I'll be looking forward to doing more business with you and your father in the future."
"Yes, we would be too," Katie replied, "good-bye Mr. Schlen."
Finally out of that suffocating room, Jessie, who was walking behind Katie, noticed how she had visibly relaxed her shoulders. The blonde couldn't help but smile at the gesture… it made the other woman seem so much more… well, so much less like the person Jessie first made her out to be – ruthless, law-breaking rich daughter of James Cooper.
Outside the house of Mr. Schlen, Jessie picked up her pace when walking towards her boss's car of choice for the day – a metallic charcoal BMW Z4, she opened the passenger door for the other woman. However, to her surprise, the dirty-blonde walked straight to the driver's door instead and got in without another word.
"Hey, are you planning on getting in sometime today and perhaps passing me the key while you're at it?" Katie said aloud from inside the car.
Blinking out of her momentary stupor, she quickly got in and did as she was told.
"Thanks," Katie said as she was passed the car keys, "now, between you and me, after that rather disturbing meeting in there, I'm really not up for going back to the office." Jessie nodded in understanding, "So let's go for a drink, just you and me and no calling in to the office and telling Tad where I am," Katie warned as she sped off out of the long courtyard and into the streets.
"I don't suppose that I'd be able to keep my job if I were to tell anyone, right?"
Katie smirked, "I'm glad we're on the same page."
"I also know for a fact that there's nothing that I could possibly say would be able to persuade you from leaving your duties behind for the day and to go and have fun, right?"
"That's about right, you're starting to get my drift. Oh and I do warn you to turn your phone off. Unless… you're prepared to think up a decent lie," the dirty-blonde winked.
Sighing yet again, Jessie gave up and obediently turned her phone off and finally leaned back against the seat to relax for the first time in a while. It has certainly been a while since she was the passenger instead of the driver. Sometimes, it just makes her wonder whether she was actually just hired to be a chauffeur and not an actual bodyguard; seeing as she's yet to do much of the latter. Her eyes grew heavier and heavier the more she relaxed, the evening sun and the soft sound of music definitely wasn't helping her keep awake, and gradually she 'rested' her eyes.
Upon arrival, Katie skilfully parked her car in her usual spot, and was just about to announce their arrival to her bodyguard. However, as she turned around, the sight struck her silent. She leaned over a little to take a better look of the blonde who was sleeping soundly; arms crossed loosely in front of her, head leaning towards Katie's side and a disobedient blonde lock fallen out of her otherwise tidy ponytail. This must've been the first time she's seen Jessie so relaxed and somewhat vulnerable since the night she took her and Charlotte in when they were drunk. Every day since then, the blonde always seemed guarded or in full concentration whenever she was around her.
Katie couldn't help but smile at the sight of Jessie shivering a little now that the windows were down and the breeze was blowing through the car. Instinctively, Katie removed her coat and placed it gently onto the sleeping blonde, she then pulled up the windows a little before settling back into her seat.
Despite the obvious dark rings around the younger girl's eyes, she was still captivating and the soft hue of the setting sun caused a illuminating glow. Staring at her bodyguard, Katie felt an involuntary flutter in her heart, a feeling she couldn't quite place, but certainly something she has never felt before – or at least not since she woke up from her brief coma. 'No, it couldn't be…' she dismissed, 'this can't be 'that' feeling everyone talks about. She's my bodyguard for Christ's sake… not that that's a problem…"
--
Her senses began to awaken, and something was different and she was sure of it; noting that her surrounding was unusually quiet and still. She could no longer hear the stereo nor feel the soft rumbles of a moving car. Scrunching her eye-brows, she tried opening her eyes, bit by bit, as her eyes tried to adjust to the sudden food of light. The first thing she makes out was that she was currently alone in the car, which caused her to start panicking. Alarmed by her finding, she quickly surveyed the area around her only to realise that her employer was leaning up against the hood of her car, seemingly deep in thought staring out at the view. Finally calming down, she was aware of the fact that she was strangely warm even though she could feel the ocean breeze coming in through the windows which were left slightly ajar. Knowing that the coat belonged to none other than the dirty-blonde, she couldn't help but blush involuntarily.
Pulling the mirror down to make sure she was remotely presentable, she saw some bits of her supposedly tidy hair has fallen out and just decided to take it out of its ponytail. Feeling ready to walk out of the car once her blush became less blatant, Jessie stepped out of the car and strode softly towards Katie. Without turning around, Katie already knew the blonde was coming and didn't make an effort to turn and greet her.
"Hey, you're awake," her attention still on the captivating horizon.
Taking a seat next to her target, "Yeah, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to fall asleep, it's just…"
"Its okay, no need to explain I totally understand. Plus, it gave me some time to… think things over."
Jessie couldn't help but probe over the momentary pause; it was just in her nature. "What about?"
A blush quickly rose to Katie's face, but she just as quickly turned around so the other girl could only see the back of her head. "Um, you know business… life in general, nothing interesting."
"Oh…" Jessie said as nonchalantly as possible, not entirely convinced, 'business, I wonder what she's planning.'
"Yea, just the normal." Katie couldn't help but let out a bitter chuckle, "it's not like I have the time or luxury to do anything else."
The blonde looked at the sad smile plastered on her employer's face and she couldn't help but be slightly affected by it. "Is that why we're here?" she enquired, looking out over the calm ocean waves.
Smiling, "Yeah, I occasionally come out here when I find the time to sneak away. The sunset seems impossibly more beautiful out here. Or perhaps it's just because I'm miles away from everything and this allows me to forget… well, forget whatever I do remember anyways." she whispered the last bit towards herself as she continued to admire the setting sun.
Jessie was listening intently, despite looking like she was concentrated on the scenery. She had no idea what that last comment meant, and she planned on digging deeper later on.
Wiping the sadness away, Katie excitedly pushed herself off the hood of her car and grabbed Jessie by her arm, "Come on, let's go."
"Where?" The blonde questioned, surprised by the sudden change of mood.
Without answering, Katie led the two of them along the boardwalk and down the few steps onto the beach. Releasing Jessie's arm, she bent over to slip her heals off. The blonde followed suit, however, she on the other hand had a much harder time removing her boots and socks off.
--
Jessie's POV
I don't even remember or know for that matter when and how it happened; when did everything became so… normal? Take this occasion as an example, we went from admiring the horizon and listening to the calming ocean breeze silently, to us now walking along the shore.
It probably doesn't seem like a big deal to the random odd by passer; to them, it'll just seem like two friends walking along the shore chatting.
The reality though, is not quite as simple as it looks of course – but when is it ever. On certain levels it probably isn't too weird for Marissa I guess, to her, this just means she's actually interacting with her bodyguard, albeit it not being something most employers would do. At the very least, compared to my situation, it's by far the most sanest and normal thing.
Here I am, on an assignment to uncover all the things that goes undetected behind the scenes of this company. Thus far I've been here over three months and I have yet to discover the slightest clue that directs me into thinking that this company is even doing anything illegal. The one thing that Marissa Singer has done that can even be considered unlawful would be going past the speed limit by a mile or two!
I thought being the personal bodyguard of Marissa Singer, the person next in line to inherit James Cooper's fortune and company, would enlighten me to some hidden facts. Little did I know that not only have I not found out more than I already know about the business, I still haven't been able to figure out why Marissa goes by the surname 'Singer' instead of her supposed father's name 'Cooper'; not to mention the only suspicious name that keeps coming up is this 'Katie', and I still have no idea who that is.
I sometimes wonder whether this was just a case of mistaken identity, perhaps they got the wrong company. How is it possible for there not to be a single clue? If I don't find something soon I'm so done for; my superiors are starting to think I'm lying about my findings, and are threatening to take me off the case.
--
"How did you find this place?" Jessie asked out of the blue.
Katie frowned a little, trying to remember how she had found this place, "I'm not really sure actually. I don't really remember or know how I knew the way to this place anyways. After I awoke from my brief coma, everything was so hectic and I was just in a blur not being able to remember who I am, where I was, why I was there," she recalled, "After a while and things started to calm down and I started getting into a routine, I somehow managed to find some time to myself. I got into my car… and the next thing I knew, I was up there admiring the sunset."
"You were in a coma?" The blonde looked at her employer in surprise, finding something that her superiors have either, yet to find out about or failed to tell her.
Nodding, "Yeah, it was three years ago."
"Three years ago?" Jessie repeated under her breath curiously, 'wasn't that when the illegal activities reportedly start to die down?'
A/N: Please R&R? Also, I've placed a poll on my profile page for which update you'd like to read most... just trying it out to see if this system actually works. :D
