Disclaimer: I do not own mortal instruments, the character names are owned by Cassandra Clare. The original content, ideas and intellectual property of this story are owned by lily fierce, 2011-2012. Please do not copy, reproduce, or translate without express written permission.
You guys are AMAZING! I really appreciate all your reviews and I'm so relieved that you liked this story. Therefore I will indeed be continuing it.
Anyway, here is chapter 2. You guys should thank me I totally did two chapters in two days. The next chapter will be out very very soon, and even sooner if you all inundate me with your amazing reviews :)
Oh and did I say thank you, thank you, thank you for the reviews already? Well if I didn't… thank you!
So, I'll stop speaking now and let you read.
2. Surprise Surprise
Clary woke up the morning after the wedding thanking god and all the angels in heaven that she had stuck to her predisposed goal to steer away from the bar and remain sober for the night.
She had woken up early and had started on her way to fetch herself a steaming cup of coffee when she ran into Aline with a very loud oomph.
"Jesus Aline!" she said in hushed tones, trying to avoid waking her father and mother who were most likely still asleep, and even though the manor house was plenty big, noise traveled fast "watch where you're going. You nearly trampled me."
Aline held a hand out and raised the other to her head signaling Clary to stop talking as her face twisted into a painful expression. "Clary please don't scream at me. I think my head is gonna burst"
Clary giggled realizing then that Aline had a hangover, and a pretty bad one too judging by the way she winced every time Clary so much as breathed too loudly.
"I told you not to drink too much but you just don't listen do you?" she scolded, trying to keep her voice low not only to avoid waking her parents this time but also in consideration of Aline's situation.
"Shhhhhhh" Aline held a finger to her lips as Clary giggled once more grabbing her hand and dragging her to the kitchen.
Once there Clary whipped up a small concoction Isabelle had come up with a few days after her 21st birthday. Isabelle had gotten such a bad hangover she had had to lock herself in the bathroom because the sounds of traffic outside would make her head feel like it was being pounded by a sledge hammer.
From that day on the girls weren't as weary of hangovers thanks to Isabelle's brilliantness.
Now bear in mind, the girl could not cook to save her life and was, as a matter of fact, expressly forbidden to cook since a small accident they'd had a few years back.
Isabelle had made spaghetti one evening while aunt Milda was watching over the girls, and let's just say poor Milda effectively clogged two of the manor's bathrooms and they nearly had to evacuate the house.
Clary pushed the thought aside handing the small teacup to Aline with the strange orange liquid inside. Then headed over to the coffee maker to get started on her long awaited cup of coffee.
Clary noticed Aline leaning on the counter obviously feeling much better.
"So" Aline began, stretching the O.
"So what?" Clary mimicked her tone of voice.
"What was up with you and that good-looking guy last night?" Aline asked in a tone that implied that Clary was stupid and should have been expecting this question at some point.
"Nothing was up. We just danced for a bit."
"A bit Clary, really? More like all night!"
She was right; they had danced together for almost half the night but for some strange reason it hadn't seemed like enough time to Clary. She had wanted more.
"It was not all night Aline," Clary tried to defend herself "don't be so exaggerated."
"Yeesh, defensive much." Aline scoffed.
"I'm not defensive, I'd just rather not have dad asking questions about what his name is, who his parents are and if he got tested for aids or not."
"Fine, whatever. I won't bring it up again. My lips are sealed" Aline said bringing her fingers to her lips and acting as if she were shutting a lock and disposing of the key.
"Thank you" Clary turned away from Aline and got back to pouring her coffee in a mug, shutting off the coffee maker and cleaning her mess.
"Dad said you have a meeting today, with some people from Switzerland." Aline started "I hear Swiss men are sexy as hell. Not to mention amazing in bed."
Aline would say something like that "No Aline, they're not Swiss they just run the corporation offices located there. Or well, ran, I think they're moving here now. Dad seemed kinda freaked last time I spoke with him about the issue."
"Really?" she asked "I wonder what could be worrying him so much. Dad never worries. Or at least doesn't reveal that he's worried."
"I don't know," Clary's voice had a bit of an edge to it "but I do know that the meeting isn't only with them, it's also with every other executive at the corporation."
"Whoa" Aline's face looked a lot like she was sure hers did. "Clary that doesn't sound too good to me."
"Yeah, me either" she said, dumping her empty mug in the sink and turning back to face Aline "I have to go get ready for what I'm sure will be the highlight of my morning."
"Well good luck" she said as Clary hurried off to shower and get dressed.
After taking a very quick bath, adjusting her hair, fixing her makeup and doing her best to look presentable for her coworkers Clary headed out to the busy streets of New York. She noticed that her father's car was no longer in the drive way meaning that he had already headed out.
On the way to work her mind was flooded with so many thoughts and so many what ifs. What if they were getting together to fire her, what if her father had decided he didn't want her as CEO anymore and had found someone more adequately prepared for the job. Or worse, she thought, what if the company was shutting down and that was why her father had seemed so panicked earlier in the week when he mentioned it. No, that couldn't be it. She had seen the balance sheet just a few days ago and their profits had risen quite a bit in the last month.
It was ridiculous and she didn't know why this meeting was worrying her so much, because for some reason something just didn't feel right.
Jace's morning had been quite uneventful. After he'd had a very serious talk with his father and they'd gone over the plan, he had sat down to have a nice cup of coffee.
His father's words still rang in his head. He knew what they were doing and Jace didn't like the idea of sabotaging the girl to get their hands on the million dollar corporation, but he figured you do what you must to succeed. But if that was true then why was this whole ordeal bothering him so much?
Who was he kidding? He knew clear as day why. He had liked dancing with her, he liked feeling her in his arms as her small frame molded so perfectly to his body and then he'd spent most of last night remembering that same feeling. He knew that once she discovered what they were up to she would absolutely detest him.
But that was the plan. Exploit the rules, which were never really followed regardless, reminding everyone that it was time for Luke to retire and Clary to take hold of the corporation. But that was where things got complicated. Clary couldn't take over the corporation because she was unmarried and Graymark incorporated was completely family driven, therefore, she wouldn't be allowed by the rules that had been set for the last 100 years. In turn they wouldn't leave the company in the air and somebody had to take over, which was why he was there.
His father and him ran the corporation offices in Switzerland which made him next to take control since much like , his father, also had a family and had not been working nearly as long in the business as Luke, who had started when he was just in college.
This would leave Clary with two choices: 1. She could have an arranged marriage or 2. She could forfeit the company to his father and himself leaving them with all their millions.
He knew Clary would most definitely not choose the latter, she seemed like the stubborn type, she would certainly agree to an arranged marriage and she wouldn't have a hard time getting a proposal either. However, she wouldn't be in love and then he knew what he had to do.
Charm her.
It would be easy. She was definitely attracted to him. He could tell by the flush that spread across her cheeks when he whispered into her ear and the goose bumps that rose on her skin when he ran his hands over the soft flesh on her arms.
She wouldn't be able to marry whomever if she fell for him.
Now he only hoped that he didn't fall for her too. No, he wouldn't, he couldn't, he'd had several girls following him like lovesick puppies before and he'd never felt anything for them. He'd never been monogamous. It was as simple as that, and he had the phone numbers of ten different girls sitting on his night stand to prove it. It was Funny how he wasn't planning on calling any of them.
Getting up from his seat, he dropped his mug in the sink for the maid to clean, and grabbing his jacket quickly ran out the door to his car.
No use in postponing the inevitable kick in the ass he was gonna get for totally flirting with Clary and now threatening to take away the one thing her family had worked so hard for all these years.
Yeah, he was definitely going to get his ass kicked.
The drive to the offices seemed like a blur to Clary. She barely noticed the honks of annoyed drivers or several of the very creative words she was getting when she nearly killed three pedestrians. Her mind was so flooded with all the worries she had been avoiding for the last few days none of those things even managed to break through her haze.
After finally making it to work in one piece, Clary parked in her designated parking spot just next to her father's car on her left and a sparkly BMW she hadn't noticed before parked to the right. Hmmm she thought someone must have gotten a new car.
Brushing off the thought she headed to the huge glass covered skyscraper doing her best to stop the clamminess starting on her hands and the ever increasing pounding of her heart. Her perfect façade remained unwavering to match her perfect appearance.
The large glass doors opened to reveal a lavishly decorated lobby with several leather chairs and a large stainless steel reception desk situated to the right. Waving to Kaelie, the receptionist, purely for etiquette reasons, since Clary couldn't tolerate seeing her fake face that had probably cost her more than her expensive miniskirt and her fake boobs put together. She would say it wasn't personnel, but then she'd be lying. The girl was a bitch of epic proportions that did nothing but get on Clary's nerves.
"Hello Kaelie" Clary wasn't even trying to hide the bored sarcastic edge of her voice.
"Hello " Kaelie's voice had about the same edge except that she somehow managed to inject enough venom into that single word to poison an elephant.
Ignoring Kaelie's eye roll and rude retort, Clary headed straight to the elevator immerging herself in the tedious monotony of elevator music. Thankfully though, the elevator arrived to the fortieth floor faster than she would have expected.
Once again, an elaborate lobby with a large reception desk awaited her. Passing by the desk she started on her way to the conference room where she was sure they were all gathered waiting for her. She passed the copy room that was technically only there for decoration since the copy machine, fax machine and just about every other machine in that cursed room was always broken and noticed a blond head leaning over the keypad muttering a string of curses. A pang of something she didn't recognize shot through her at the sight of that blonde hair. Pushing the thought away she giggled to herself and was about to go in to help the poor guy when a door a few feet ahead opened revealing the dark hair, and large stubbly body of one of her father's closest friends, Hodge Starkweather.
"Clary, there you are." his voice sounded relieved and remembering her meeting, Clary all but forgot about her earlier thoughts of helping the blonde man just a few feet away. "Come in, we were waiting for you to begin the meeting"
"Oh… hello Hodge. Sorry for taking so long, traffic was awful today." She said entering the cavernous space with a long meeting type table and about twenty chairs surrounding it. By each chair stood one of the many leaders at the corporation with their suits and ties or tight pencil skirts and professional blouses.
Her heart beat faster but she remained stoic as she waved to Maryse and Robert Lightwood, another one of her father's business partners. Walking up to her seat she sat in the one just to the right of her father, who was seated at the head of the table. After she sat, everyone else followed suit. She looked to her father and smiled as he nodded and returned the gesture.
Focusing her attention to the papers she held she barely heard the heavy doors open and shut with a thump. Clary removed her gaze from the sheets and looked at the two men entering the room.
Both had identical blonde hair although one, the older looking man, had small traces of gray shining through the gold. The other however caused Clary to nearly have a stroke, yes he was blonde and his golden eyes rang a very loud, insistent and annoying bell in her head. Those eyes, the muscles, that face and body. Oh angels in heaven, she knew that devilish smirk!
It was him.
Her mouth fell open and her eyes grew wide. He caught the expression before she could reorganize her face into her usual flawless façade and winked just like he had the night before. She narrowed her eyes and stood as her father did.
"Hello, " Clary's father began in the most official sounding tone she was pretty sure he had "this is my daughter, Clarissa. Clarissa," he said signaling Clary "these are the ones in charge of directing at our second largest worldwide offices in Switzerland."
Her father held his hand as if to indicate that Clary should approach the men. So she took two steps forward and stood before the elder looking man who seemed about her father's age.
She held her hand out to him and with as pleasant a smile as she could conjure in this type of… situation, shook his hand.
Then moving on to the cause her heart was about to leap out of her chest and the reason she had to discretely wipe her hand on her tight pencil skirt to remove the sweat gathering on her palms, she did about the same procedure with Jace. Held out her hand and shook his, finally moving away to sit on the chair she had previously occupied. Jace grabbed the chair just next to hers as his father took the one infront.
Her father addressed the people gathered first "As you all know" he began "we are having some visitors from our next offices in Switzerland. ," he directed his gaze to the man on his left indicating that he should speak "you have something you would like to tell us."
Clary could feel Jace's eyes on the back of her head. Then she felt his hand brush by the skin on her thigh eliciting goose bumps and a tiny gasp from Clary. She refused to turn around, doing her best to hide the flush spreading across her chest and pooling in her cheeks.
"Well, as a matter of fact, I do" he stood, walking to the front of the room and pointing to the large smart board attached to the wall as it turned on and the cover page of the corporation rules appeared on the screen.
Clary had a bad feeling already and the man had barely started speaking
"As you all know this corporation has been family driven for the last one hundred years and we've been very wisely led for the last 39 years and six months by and his lovely family. And if I may add that the required period before retirement is forty years" he continued, and the image on the board changed to the article stating the retirement age.
A chill raced up Clary's spine. Oh god, she knew where they were headed with this and she could tell by the look on her father's face that he did too.
"Furthermore," he continued speaking although Clary wanted nothing more than to scream at him to stop "we are also aware that Clarissa is next to take over the corporation. But she cannot because she is unmarried." The next image was the article stating the very rule he was speaking of.
Clary's heart stopped altogether this time.
"Therefore, it has come to my attention, that if Clarissa will be next in line to guide our very treasured company, then she must be wed in the next six months or the following family will be taking charge." Next on the screen was the very article that stated this fact.
No. This couldn't be happening. They were asking her to have an arranged marriage. That was it right? It was either that or hand her family's sacrifice and determination to some… some… asshat!
"Lucky for us all though, we, my family and myself, are next to take over."
Jace's hand was now placed on her thigh his fingers drawing small circles on her leg. Flush or no flush, Clary turned around meeting his golden eyes in the dark room. He smirked once more and squeezed her thigh gently. Clary scowled, effectively getting the message across that if he didn't want to lose some very sacred male parts he'd better remove his hand, and he did.
Clary now knew what she had to do.
"No!" Clary's voice rang throughout the large room causing all heads to turn and face her. "I'll get married" she said, her voice resigned "I'll do what I must to keep the company."
"Very well then," he pointed to the board once more. It now showed an article that Clary recognized since she'd read it several times before. "as stated in this article, Clarissa has the remainder of her father's term to marry, if she is not wed in this period of time, the leaders of the next biggest corporate offices will take over the corporation itself."
She nodded, unsure of what else she could do. She definitely couldn't do what she wanted, which was somewhere along the lines of screaming, crying or throwing a brick at this man's face.
And then, she realized something else. Jace had known all along who she was and he'd been in on the plan. He flirted with her, danced with her and he knew that he would be taking the one thing that mattered most to her family.
The lights flicked back on. No one bothered speaking, there was no purpose to speaking. Those were the rules and nobody could change them.
As they stood from their seats, her father motioned for her to shake hands one more time with both Jace and his father.
Jace had now left the seat beside her and stood next to his father. She had never wanted to jump and murder someone all at the same time. But obviously, as the saying goes, there's a first time for everything.
She shook hands with the elder man, not bothering to fake a smile, and moved to stand before Jace. He held his hand out to her, a smug grin on his face and she wanted nothing more than to kiss him and then bury his very sexy face and smug smirk in the dirt.
Just to her right Clary couldn't help but notice a small cart with a nice ice cold pitcher of pink lemonade. It was as if fate was tempting her and had purposefully placed that pitcher there just for her. She didn't bother with thinking. Grabbing the handle she smiled for a split second and then dumped the pitcher's contents on Jace, effectively removing his smirk.
Grabbing her bag from her seat, she made it a point to stomp out the door, leaving a very stunned, pink lemonade soaked Jace behind.
Hope you liked it... now please review, they really just make me wanna write;)
Oh and nobody panic, you will be getting your fair share of clace action soon enough but i wanna make sure they actually know each other before they go declaring their undying love 3
And yes, Jace is an ass, but i mean, would we want him any other way?