Stage 3: Personal Preferences

Nico was annoyed that I had not exactly warned him about the actual work that I'd have to be doing at the firm. I simply did a brilliant job of sitting at a chair with my sexy secretary glasses and played solitaire and updated my status on Facebook every two seconds. Meanwhile Nico was importing all the work onto the company accounts right this moment, and when it was complete he would let me know. That was until I got a phone call. One which I had to actually answer.

Gulp

"Hello and welcome to Cooper Co-operations, how can I help you?" I said in my most professional voice possible.

"Hi, I'm Mr. Skyler Thompson from The Sky is the Limit," he was almost smirking on the phone, who did this guy think he was?

"Yes Mr. Thompson may I take a message?" but my answer was replied with a generous laugh.

"Ah, you must be new. All the previous secretaries were ordered to hang up on me, seems like you haven't been briefed yet?" Huh? Is this some sort of test, am I supposed to hang up now?

"Ah darling, you can't hang up now. I just wanted to tell you to give Cooper a warning, that his "investors" won't be there any longer."

I was about to give him a piece of my mind, how dare he insult my target like that? I was going to bring him down, not this Mr. Thompson! But all I heard was the dial tone, he had already hung up. I quickly stood up from my seat and marched down the corridor into Mr. Cooper's room. No wait, not even that, his name was Chad. He was not my boss, he was my target. I barged in when he was with those sexy glasses again looking at his computer. He was smiling at something and it made his face look beautiful, he really was something.

"Ahem." His eyes snapped up and kindly met mine. No lust nothing, just kindness. Sigh, this was going to take a while.

"Yes Ms. Taylor? Come to quit already?" his smile was bright and sort of blinding. It just pissed me off.

"Who's Mr. Skyler Thompson?" I demanded and slowly softened when I noticed his smile drop instantly and his fists clench.

"He called didn't he?" His voice was about to crack, he was seething and all I could manage was a nod, but this small gesture lit a spark. He jumped from his seat and pushed all the papers off his desk causing them to fly everywhere. He kicked his table a couple of times before tugging roughly at his hair and then calming down.

"Did he say anything in particular?" He was breathing heavily and it was typical of me to find it arousing.

"He said something about stealing investors, well not stealing but you-"

"INVESTORS? MY INVESTORS?" he was back to turning bright red. Instead he pierced my eyes with his own with a deathly gare.

"Ms. Taylor, you are NEVER to answer the phone if he calls again, do I make myself clear?" Ah, so here was the famous 'hang up when Skyler calls' order. Make mental note so that Nico can block all calls from him.

"Crystal Boss. Now about that lunch?" I was pretty hungry but was pleased when his face returned to normal and a smile stretched upon his face.

"Yes Allison, lunch." Allison? We were on a first name basis now? He stood up and put on his coat, then held the door open for me and pulled me out of the door. The walk down the corridor was awkward with memories of me and his mother's portraits.

How were we supposed to get there? I had visions of both us doing It at the back of a Camaro, I mean, what kind of car would he even drive?

"Allison?" His hand was now waving in front of my face, he totally noticed my daydreaming, am I drooling? Not cool.

"Let's take my ride Mr. Cooper, I insist. I'm a… strong driver," I gave him a sickly sweet smile. Women who take the upper hand always appear sexy to the superior man, and with an office like that, he's definitely the superior. His face however didn't give off the expression I had hoped. Instead he seemed completely unfazed as if this had happened all the time.

"Sure Ms. Taylor. I was going to ask you to meet me there, but I'm a big fan of the environment, we wouldn't want to increase our Carbon Footprints now would we?" Oh god. He was teasing me. I felt my face become hotter and hotter. He wanted us to ride alone and meet each other there? Which kind of guy does this? I internally groaned; he's a freaking Saint!

I shuffled along but was eager to see his reaction, I had gotten Nico to switch my car into something more… presentable. There stood a brand new convertible Audi filled with everything possible from the new century. It was shiny, and drove to perfection. The engine literally hummed its way through the journey, and I was glad it did, or the journey would have been ridiculously quiet. Chad snuck in a few throat clearances and business propositions but that was about it. I just kept my eyes trained onto the road, Hell, I didn't even know whether he liked music or not.

When he showed me the way I felt myself falling off a cliff. Soon everything came crashing down. Mexican? Fife Street? Uh-oh.

"Mr. Cooper? Are you sure you want to eat here? I heard the food was really bad," I said while clenching my teeth praying that he wouldn't go against me. But clearly God hates me.

"Why of course Ms. Taylor. I thought you were fine with Mexican, I've been meaning to try this place for a while now and a friend of mine told me it was absolutely outstanding." His face completely neutral.

Outstanding my ass.

I was practically dragged into the restaurant but I begged to get a seat far into the corner. My prayers continued to flow in whispers behind the menu I was hiding behind. That was until I heard a throat clear and I looked up.

"Can I take your order please?" And I was met by a familiar pair of blue eyes. Mary Mother of God. He still works here.

James.