"Hey that's mine Jeremy!" The small blue eyed, brown haired girl squealed.
"Uh uhh it's mine now!" A larger brown haired, green-eyed boy said back teasingly.
"No it's not give it back! It's mine!" Natalie screamed again as she reached for the stuffed bear.
"Hey, y'all play nice now!" Chloe yelled from the kitchen.
She then returned back to making her salad. With each slice of her knife her mind slowly wandered back to the earlier events of the day. Seeing Mr. Black walk out of the elevator in slow motion played over and over again in her mind until that utterly defining moment that had set the tempo of the rest of the meeting. The look in his eyes as they registered her reaction to him. The disgusted look that had been on her face showing utter contempt for her hope to be employer. She continued to roughly rip through each innocent carrot with an animalistic savageness. Her teeth started to grind together as she mumbled obscenities under her breath thinking of the red headed receptionist at the front desk.
Why had she gone through with it? After seeing the receptionist and what Basic Black was expecting out of their staff? Knowing she would never measure up, why didn't she just march right out of that office with her pride still in tow? Squinting her eyes she grabbed another carrot from the pile, set on bringing each carrot to meet its fate just like the one before it.
"Because of those damn eyes" she muttered as another 'chop' was heard. "And that cocky smirk" she muttered again as a glaze started slowly icing over her eyes as another 'chop' bounced off the cutting board. The chops were coming faster now and rougher as her heart rate went up and she continued her muttering.
"His spicy smell." 'chop' "The way his suit fit perfectly to his muscled chest and arms" 'chop' "The way his voice took on that husky quality that made you feel all hot and bothered" 'chop' "The way he absently played with is pen" 'chop' "The way his eyes flashed with softness when I talked about my past" 'chop' "F*ck!" she squealed as the knife cut through her pointer finger. She brought the finger to her mouth as she fled to the bathroom.
Meanwhile in the living room, little Natalie and her tormentor still bickered about the stuffed bear. "Oh yeah! Come get it!" the boy said moving out of reach of the little girl.
Natalie squinted her eyes at the boy that held her precious Snuggles captive. Jeremy grinned at the determined little girl. He then put the bear out in front her and began to taunt her. "Come on, come get it Nat" Then she lunged at him. A few seconds later a thud was heard as she fell to the floor after he moved out of the way.
"Ouch! Mommy!! Jeremy won't give Snuggles back!" The little girl called into the bathroom from the living room. "Jeremiah Jackson you give that bear back to her this instant" Mimi announced with force as she came into to the apartment. "Chloe! I'm here to pick up Jeremy! I gotta go though hun so I'll talk to ya later!"
"Ouch..Damnit" Chloe cursed as she wrapped the Barbie print Band-Aid around the cut finger "Yeah OK Meems! Talk to you later!" She returned. After carefully putting the Band-Aid on, she conveniently spilled the bottle of hydrogen peroxide onto the bath room floor. "Damnit", she cursed again. As she bent down to clean the mess the phone rang. "Mommy! Phone!"
"Hold on!" Chloe called as she hurriedly wiped the floor then threw the towel in the bathroom as she briskly ran to the phone.
"Hello?" she answered with a slight pant to her voice.
"Yes, Ms. Lane this is Mr. Black.I.uh hope I'm not disturbing you"
The rich sultriness of his voice floated into her ears as she could imagine him relaxed in his black leather chair; shirt unbuttoned showing off that well defined chest, as he played with his pen.
"No.No of course not Mr. Black" Chloe said as she managed to get her voice back to it's normal breathing patterns. 'Is he actually calling me?' she asked herself.
"Well, Ms. Lane I was calling to offer you the job" he said briskly. The words came through the phone and made noise that rang in her ears, but it took awhile before they actually registered and were sent to her brain. "Uh.I.yes" she sputtered out as she scrambled to process this new development. "Then you accept?" He asked.
"Yes Mr. Black of course I would, Thank you so much.." 'Chloe stop it your babbling!' her mind screamed. She took a deep breath. 'Calm Chloe calm. This only means that you will finally be able to not only afford a new suit, but you might even be able to get the hell out of this rat hole, and not to mention that extra bonus of working with the highly delicious Mr. Black every day. OK so maybe this will be harder than I thought' she thought to herself.
"When would you like me to start Mr. Black?" She asked
"Well I was under the impression you could start immediately, that is one reason you were chosen for the position. As you know Belle is more than eager to get out of the office, so she will be the one to show you the ropes when you arrive. Assuming you are a quick learner I think you will make the transition well." He responded evenly with possibly a hint of sarcasm, but that could have been easily misinterpreted by the interpreter. "I was going to suggest you start on Monday so that you have enough time to make any preparations for your daughter" he stated without an ounce of emotion that any normal human being would have. This man was more like a machine.
'A stubborn, arrogant, sexy as all hell machine. Working day to day by him, smelling him, seeing him, able to actually touch him, can I handle it?' The quick thought flashed into her mind as she was quickly becoming confused. 'What am I talking about. There is nothing I can't handle' she argued with her inner self.
"I will be there tomorrow Mr. Black" she answered quickly.
"Good, I'll have a contract drawn up and you also get a company car as my personal assistant. Any particular colour?" he asked.
'Is this really happening? My life is about to change, but for the better or for the worse? A contract and a car sound pretty good to me, so I think I'll take my chances. Maybe my turn has finally come, maybe my wish's will finally be answered' she thought to herself completely forgetting about her new employer on the other line.
"Ms. Lane? Are you there?" he asked with a slight agitation.
"Blue" she answered in a breath.
"Blue it is then, I will see you bright and early Ms. Lane, Good night"
"Yes good night and thank you so much Mr. Black" she answered with true sincerity.
"My pleasure Ms. Lane" his tone dropping lower with his reply.
She smiled as she put the phone back. Still hearing that silky voice as it invaded her senses, making her tingle inside. This was definitely the start of a new beginning.
"Uh uhh it's mine now!" A larger brown haired, green-eyed boy said back teasingly.
"No it's not give it back! It's mine!" Natalie screamed again as she reached for the stuffed bear.
"Hey, y'all play nice now!" Chloe yelled from the kitchen.
She then returned back to making her salad. With each slice of her knife her mind slowly wandered back to the earlier events of the day. Seeing Mr. Black walk out of the elevator in slow motion played over and over again in her mind until that utterly defining moment that had set the tempo of the rest of the meeting. The look in his eyes as they registered her reaction to him. The disgusted look that had been on her face showing utter contempt for her hope to be employer. She continued to roughly rip through each innocent carrot with an animalistic savageness. Her teeth started to grind together as she mumbled obscenities under her breath thinking of the red headed receptionist at the front desk.
Why had she gone through with it? After seeing the receptionist and what Basic Black was expecting out of their staff? Knowing she would never measure up, why didn't she just march right out of that office with her pride still in tow? Squinting her eyes she grabbed another carrot from the pile, set on bringing each carrot to meet its fate just like the one before it.
"Because of those damn eyes" she muttered as another 'chop' was heard. "And that cocky smirk" she muttered again as a glaze started slowly icing over her eyes as another 'chop' bounced off the cutting board. The chops were coming faster now and rougher as her heart rate went up and she continued her muttering.
"His spicy smell." 'chop' "The way his suit fit perfectly to his muscled chest and arms" 'chop' "The way his voice took on that husky quality that made you feel all hot and bothered" 'chop' "The way he absently played with is pen" 'chop' "The way his eyes flashed with softness when I talked about my past" 'chop' "F*ck!" she squealed as the knife cut through her pointer finger. She brought the finger to her mouth as she fled to the bathroom.
Meanwhile in the living room, little Natalie and her tormentor still bickered about the stuffed bear. "Oh yeah! Come get it!" the boy said moving out of reach of the little girl.
Natalie squinted her eyes at the boy that held her precious Snuggles captive. Jeremy grinned at the determined little girl. He then put the bear out in front her and began to taunt her. "Come on, come get it Nat" Then she lunged at him. A few seconds later a thud was heard as she fell to the floor after he moved out of the way.
"Ouch! Mommy!! Jeremy won't give Snuggles back!" The little girl called into the bathroom from the living room. "Jeremiah Jackson you give that bear back to her this instant" Mimi announced with force as she came into to the apartment. "Chloe! I'm here to pick up Jeremy! I gotta go though hun so I'll talk to ya later!"
"Ouch..Damnit" Chloe cursed as she wrapped the Barbie print Band-Aid around the cut finger "Yeah OK Meems! Talk to you later!" She returned. After carefully putting the Band-Aid on, she conveniently spilled the bottle of hydrogen peroxide onto the bath room floor. "Damnit", she cursed again. As she bent down to clean the mess the phone rang. "Mommy! Phone!"
"Hold on!" Chloe called as she hurriedly wiped the floor then threw the towel in the bathroom as she briskly ran to the phone.
"Hello?" she answered with a slight pant to her voice.
"Yes, Ms. Lane this is Mr. Black.I.uh hope I'm not disturbing you"
The rich sultriness of his voice floated into her ears as she could imagine him relaxed in his black leather chair; shirt unbuttoned showing off that well defined chest, as he played with his pen.
"No.No of course not Mr. Black" Chloe said as she managed to get her voice back to it's normal breathing patterns. 'Is he actually calling me?' she asked herself.
"Well, Ms. Lane I was calling to offer you the job" he said briskly. The words came through the phone and made noise that rang in her ears, but it took awhile before they actually registered and were sent to her brain. "Uh.I.yes" she sputtered out as she scrambled to process this new development. "Then you accept?" He asked.
"Yes Mr. Black of course I would, Thank you so much.." 'Chloe stop it your babbling!' her mind screamed. She took a deep breath. 'Calm Chloe calm. This only means that you will finally be able to not only afford a new suit, but you might even be able to get the hell out of this rat hole, and not to mention that extra bonus of working with the highly delicious Mr. Black every day. OK so maybe this will be harder than I thought' she thought to herself.
"When would you like me to start Mr. Black?" She asked
"Well I was under the impression you could start immediately, that is one reason you were chosen for the position. As you know Belle is more than eager to get out of the office, so she will be the one to show you the ropes when you arrive. Assuming you are a quick learner I think you will make the transition well." He responded evenly with possibly a hint of sarcasm, but that could have been easily misinterpreted by the interpreter. "I was going to suggest you start on Monday so that you have enough time to make any preparations for your daughter" he stated without an ounce of emotion that any normal human being would have. This man was more like a machine.
'A stubborn, arrogant, sexy as all hell machine. Working day to day by him, smelling him, seeing him, able to actually touch him, can I handle it?' The quick thought flashed into her mind as she was quickly becoming confused. 'What am I talking about. There is nothing I can't handle' she argued with her inner self.
"I will be there tomorrow Mr. Black" she answered quickly.
"Good, I'll have a contract drawn up and you also get a company car as my personal assistant. Any particular colour?" he asked.
'Is this really happening? My life is about to change, but for the better or for the worse? A contract and a car sound pretty good to me, so I think I'll take my chances. Maybe my turn has finally come, maybe my wish's will finally be answered' she thought to herself completely forgetting about her new employer on the other line.
"Ms. Lane? Are you there?" he asked with a slight agitation.
"Blue" she answered in a breath.
"Blue it is then, I will see you bright and early Ms. Lane, Good night"
"Yes good night and thank you so much Mr. Black" she answered with true sincerity.
"My pleasure Ms. Lane" his tone dropping lower with his reply.
She smiled as she put the phone back. Still hearing that silky voice as it invaded her senses, making her tingle inside. This was definitely the start of a new beginning.