Thanks for all those reviews!
Disclaimer: I don't really get the point of these. This is Fanfiction right? So obviously I don't own these characters. T_T Cassie Clare does. *cries*
Could my day get any worse? Clary suppressed a groan as they all stared at the young man – Jace.
"Wayland, you're…late," Sebastian finally spoke up after a long silence.
"I had a car accident," Jace said after catching his breath and looking up. Luckily he didn't seem to see her.
Out of the corner of her eye, Clary saw Aline's jaw drop. "Oh, my God! Are you alright?" She squeaked. "Your cheek…" The red handprint was still there.
Typical Aline, Clary mused. Pining for hot guys.
But hot doesn't even begin to describe him.
Without bothering to conceal it, Jace raked his eyes over her body, and Aline thrust out her chest even further. He flashed a crooked grin. "I'm as fine as you are, baby," he winked. "The bruise is from a smart-assed chick who –"
"Wayland," Robert growled.
Jocelyn and Luke shared surprised glances, but Valentine shrugged, as if saying I told you so.
"Jace," Valentine said impassively. "We have company. Please refrain from those profanities."
Jocelyn cleared her throat. "Mr. Wayland, how nice of you to join us. I'm Jocelyn Fairchild, CEO of Shadowhunters Academy. This is Luke, my Senior VP, Aline Penhallow and Jordan Kyle, my directors, and this is Magnus Bane, one of my VPs."
Jace shook each of their hands, and Clary couldn't help but notice Aline clutch it longer than necessary.
"And finally this is Clarissa Fray, my other VP and sales lady."
Jace froze as his eyes landed on hers, and his whole body grew rigid, his hand still outstretched. Clary pumped it, digging her sharp ruby nails into his palm, making him squeak.
"So pleased to meet you, Jace Wayland," she said, coating her voice in sugar.
"You too, Ms. Fray," he choked out, squeezing her hand in a death grip.
"Jace," Valentine said. "Take the seat next to Clary."
"Here?" Jace pointed at the empty seat like it was infected with rabies.
"I believe that's exactly what I said."
Jace threw a disgusted look at Clary. "Couldn't I, like, sit next to Sebastian or something?"
"No," Valentine said, annoyed. "If you came earlier, maybe you could have, but you'll have to sit next to Clary for now."
Gingerly, Jace lowered his body into the chair, sitting on the farthest edge away from her.
"Scared of cooties, Mr. Wayland?" Clary teased, giving him a hard smile.
"I'm just allergic to ugly redheads." Like her smile, Jace's grin was hard around the edges.
"Children!" Jocelyn scoffed, exasperated. "Seriously, Clary, I have no idea what has gotten into you today!"
"I'm sorry," Clary looked down, abashed. "Do continue."
"As I was saying earlier," Jocelyn began, "Clary and Jace will work together for the selling of Demon Spray –"
"What?" Jace burst out. "I'm going to work with her?"
"Do you have a complaint Mr. Wayland?" Jocelyn asked, sending him a glare that could cut ice.
"Like hell I do!"
"Jace," Valentine thundered, banging on the table.
"No," Jace muttered weakly.
"Good. We've all decided that the two of you will work together in an office we have especially set aside. It will be big, considering that the two of you will need to share it, and it will be located on the top floor of SAI. Jace, you will need to move all your stuff into SAI."
"How long is this project?" Clary asked.
"A year, minimum."
"A year?" Clary and Jace exclaimed at the same time. Jace had jumped out of his seat, and was now standing up, hands pressed against the table.
"I veto!" He said.
"This is not Congress, Jace." Valentine said icily. "You are best qualified for this job, and so is Clary. You will work on it. Do you understand?" He enunciated each word clearly.
Scowling, Jace sat back down, slamming angrily in his seat.
"I'll willingly switch places with Clary," Aline volunteered
"Yes, please," Jace and Clary both muttered at the same time again. They sent each other simultaneous glares.
"I don't understand what the problem could be," Jordan said. "You don't know each other, and you guys are already squabbling over everything we've talked about."
"Jordan's got a point there," Luke said. "Meeting's over."
…
"You have got to be kidding me."
Clary was on her knees in Luke's office.
Luke didn't budge, only smiled at her. "I'm sorry, Clary."
"How could you do this to me?" Clary groaned.
Luke was like her father. He looked out for her constantly, and she had grown to love him with all her heart over the past year. For her birthday, he had even come to her apartment to celebrate it, seeing that her parents were both deceased and she only had her friends, Simon and Isabelle, over.
"He got me into a car accident this morning," Clary said, trying to persuade Luke to choose someone else for the job. "I deserve to not have to work for him."
"Ah," Luke said. "So that explains the tension between you guys."
"Tension?"
"Oh, yes. There seemed to be lots of…chemistry between you two." Even though he was almost forty years old, he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. "You know you want to have this job."
"Luke," Clary groaned.
"Sorry, Clary," Luke said, ruffling her hair. "It's time to pack up your office and kick your butt up to your new office. Have fun!"
…
"Dude!" Sebastian punched Jace in the arm as they entered the MC a few blocks down. "What's wrong with you?"
"What's wrong with me?"
"You almost blew your chance with one of the hottest girls I've ever seen! Man, that Clary is just delicious. Did you see those curves she was hiding under that skirt? And her eyes? And those lips?" Sebastian groaned. "Just imagine that chick in a stripper club, shimming around a pole…"
Now that Jace thought of it, Clary was pretty. And the way she'd slapped his cheek made her as hot as hell. No girl had ever done that to him before. But, then again, she'd jacked up his car so bad he'd have to buy a new one.
"She's the one who gave me this swollen cheek, and killed my car."
He could almost see the gears clicking into place in Sebastian's head. "Oh," he said. "So that's why your car was so screwed up."
Jace glared at him.
"Well, if I were you, I'd take good use of this opportunity with that babe." Sebastian grinned as they got in the elevator. "She's probably as good as she looks."
"I'm not interested," Jace mumbled. More like she'd never agree. And then I'd be accused of rape.
"Jace Wayland? Not interested in a hella sexy chick?" Sebastian laughed. "Dude, sooner or later, you're gonna be biting those words."
"Oh yeah?" Jace challenged. "We'll see about that."
Like Jace Wayland would ever fall for someone like Clarissa Fray, he snickered as they walked out of the elevator.
…
Just as Luke said, the office was enormous. It was probably as big as her living room at home. There were windows stretching from the ceiling to the floors, and light flooded in, brightening everything. In the four corners of the room there were pots of green ferns.
The desk in the middle of the room curved at both ends, creating an elongated U shape. A computer was set at each end of the U, so that when Jace and Clary worked, their backs would be facing each other. Which was more than fine for Clary. The desk was huge.
…or would have been, if Jace's things weren't cluttered over half of her side.
He was already lounging lazily in his cushioned chair, his cabinets already dragged over from MC to occupy one side of the room.
"This isn't going to work." Clary walked inside the room, shutting the door behind her.
Jace slowly whirled around in his chair, fixing his indifferent stare on her. "And Dorothy of Oz finally arrives. Where's your little dog, Toto?"
Clary bristled, setting her briefcase down with a thud. "Get your things off my desk."
"Last time I checked, it's our desk."
Clary unclipped her black Sharpie from her breast pocket. She took out a ruler from her briefcase and measured the table, splitting it evenly down the middle.
"There," she said, a satisfied smirk on her face. "This side is mine. That side is yours."
To her surprise, Jace didn't retaliate. Instead, he gathered up his folders from her side. "I'm usually clean and tidy, but my personal assistant is gone today and Sebastian came in and just dumped all of this shit without bothering to help."
He shrugged, spinning around to face his computer. "I'm busy with my work, so later, Dor."
Clary peered over his shoulder, where Jace was busily clicking his mouse, logging onto some cybersex website. Definitely not work.
Someone knocked on the door, and Jace hurriedly clicked open a new tab. Clary snickered.
"Come in."
Simon opened the door, dragging in a heavy cabinet.
"Simon!" Clary exclaimed, rushing up to help him pull in the cabinet. "Thanks for bringing this in. Put it over there by the wall, across from the other cabinets."
Simon hugged her, even though he was sweaty, and proceeded to carry out his orders.
"Who's rat boy?" A sarcastic voice droned. Oh, right. She'd forgotten about Jace.
"He's not 'rat boy'," Clary hissed. "Si, this is Jace Wayland. Jace, this is my PA (A/N: personal assistant) Simon Lewis."
"Personal assistant," Jace mused. "For what exactly?"
Blushing at the innuendo, Clary said, "For helping me work, dumbass!" Well, that wasn't really a lie…they'd kissed a few times, but Simon was Clary's best friend since middle school. She'd never thought of him as anything but a brother.
"Really." Jace raised a perfect eyebrow, swinging around to address Simon. "Oi, rat boy, do you want Clary in bed?"
Simon flushed a dark red and he ducked his head. "N-no!"
Smirking, Jace turned back to Clary and mouthed Lies.
"Thanks for your help Simon," Clary said. "I'll call you tonight."
Jace whistled.
"Yeah," Simon muttered, not looking at her in the eye. Clary had never seen Simon move so fast in his life as he stumbled out of the room, banging the door shut behind him.
"Ah," Jace said. "And so your Toto goes."
"Okay, Jace," Clary narrowed her eyes. "I've met guys like you who think they're the world. I'm not willing to work with that type of guy. In the morning, you'll be here at 9:30 sharp. And don't complain, because that's considered late. No nonsense. When we have a client, we'll be civil to each other."
"Civil, as in…?"
"Nice. No names."
"Ah," Jace said. "Girlfriend, boyfriend status."
"No!" Clary shouted. "Just…polite. I want you to know every detail about Demon Spray, so we can counter any questions they ask."
Jace grinned suddenly, and she noticed that he had a slight chip in his incisor. Damn, she winced. Flaws only make him better.
"Dor, I thought that someone as pretty as you would have thought of the easy way. What I do is seduce my patients." He gave an exaggerated sly wink. "My record is a fifty year old lady."
A tiny smile etched itself onto Clary's face. More than once, she had had to resort to flirtation to win customers. "My record's sixty."
"Badass." A dimple appeared on Jace's cheek. "I never pegged you to be that type of girl Clary."
She'd never thought much of her name, but coming from Jace's mouth, Clary realized that she loved the sound of it.
Say my name again.
But he'd already whirled around in his chair again, clicking away on his cybersex website.
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