One You Can't Forget

by Lexy Timms

  Chapter 2

  “I can’t believe you just did that,” Alex hissed.

  Jamie could still hear him as she walked away.

  “I’m not sure who’s more embarrassed; me, or the girl.”

  “How was I supposed to know she could hear me?” Stephen cleared his throat. “Besides, it shouldn’t come as any surprise to her. She already knows she needs to lose weight.”

  “Stephen,” Alex warned. “Your lack of subtlety and shame is downright vulgar. Besides, the girl’s not even ugly. She has pretty light blue eyes, and a nice smile.” He paused and Jamie thought she’d stepped out of earshot until she heard him say, “When did you become such an asshole, Stephen?”

  Stephen clapped his friend on the shoulder. “I’ve always been an asshole, Alex. You’re just too busy to see it.”

  “Apparently.”

  Jamie pretended to drop something so she could hear the rest of their conversation.

  “Anyway,” Stephen said. “Come join us for dinner? Christine’s parents are paying.”

  “I’m just on my way out,” Alex replied. “Have a nice night. Make sure Jamie gets my contact information.”

  Jamie looked up when he said her name.

  “Will do,” Stephen called as Alex turned and walked out of the pub. He grabbed Jamie’s elbow a few tables before theirs, out of earshot. “I went out on a limb for you.”

  “Pardon?” Jamie pulled her elbow free but didn’t move.

  Stephen shrugged and quickly glanced toward their table before looking back at her. “You introduced me to Christine, now I’m returning the favor.”

  “I don’t need your favors.” She shivered, hating his touch.

  “You do right now. Alex rarely considers anyone his friend. He hardly sees anyone anymore, probably because he doesn’t trust anyone. He can’t slow down if he wants to stay ahead of the game. The world of Wall Street waits for no one. Not even for multi-billionaires.”

  Alex, a multi-billionaire? Jamie blinked. What might she be getting herself into? She headed to the table and collected her purse.

  “Where do you think you are going?” Christine stood. “We have things we need to discuss. You’re my maid of honor.”

  “You’ll be fine without me.” Jamie sucked in a shaky breath. “I’ll do whatever you need me to do. You know I will.” She hurried out before anyone could convince her to stay. She had a feeling Stephen would fill them in, making sure to explain his big part about how he was trying to get her a job.

  She took a different route home than her parents so they wouldn’t know she stopped at a Chinese takeout place for some fried rice and crab Rangoon. Alone in the parking lot with an empty carton of food beside her that had tasted delicious but probably added another five pounds to her hips, she leaned her head against the steering wheel and cried.

  How had things gotten this lousy? She knew she wasn’t obese, but her family had the habit of making her feel like the elephant in the room.

  She needed to lose some weight, yeah she got that. She’d put the freshman fifteen on back in university and never lost it, and then a little bit more crept on each year. She didn’t need it rubbed in her face. Jamie blew her nose on a lousy thin napkin. More stupid tears fell. It didn’t help that her boyfriend—ex-boyfriend—who was supposed to love her unconditionally, also saw it and promptly dumped her because she was “looking a little thick around the hips”. He would never be a jerk like that to Christine because she was so perfect in all of her bony glory.

  Now Alex was going to think she was pathetic… if she even got the job. He probably would be a crappy boss to work for anyway. She snorted and almost laughed. At least her ugliness had some benefits. There was no way she would ever be so hot that she’d drive him mad with desire when he was supposed to work.

  She needed this job. It meant getting out of her parents’ basement and she had to restart somewhere.

  Jamie squeezed some hand sanitizer on a fresh napkin and wiped her face and hands before stashing the empty takeout boxes under her seat and pulling out of the parking lot. “Jamie,” she told her rear-view mirror self. “All men are pigs. You don’t have to be saddled with one like Christine does. You’re done. You’ve got nothing left.” She took a deep breath. “Go find yourself.”

  Chapter 3

  Jamie got the call from Alex two days later. “First of all, I’d like to apologize for how we met,” he said after pleasantries were exchanged. “It was not my intention to disrespect you, or anyone else, in any way. I’m sorry for Stephen’s behavior.”

  Jamie sat up and set her laptop aside. “You don’t need to apologize.” She wanted this job, but she would not act like the weak, insecure person Alex probably thought she was. “You’re not responsible for Stephen’s behavior. He’s, well… Stephen.”

  “He’s an asshole,” Alex said bluntly. “I hope we can move forward and you won’t be insulted when I offer you an interview for tomorrow at two. The interview has nothing to do with Stephen. Your resume’s impressive and ideal for this position.”

  That’s not the only thing ideal for this position. You need someone un-pretty. Jamie grimaced and thought about the money she would make. You can move out of the basement. “All right,” she said, trying to sound professional and unbothered. “Tomorrow should work. Where would you like to meet?”

  “At my office. I’m emailing you the address and directions right now,” Alex said. “Thank you, Ms. Connors. I’ll see you then.”

  “I’ll see you tomorrow at two.” She hung up just as email pinged, telling her she had a new message from Alex. She smiled at his promptness and then opened the email. With the directions and address was also the job description and benefits. She grinned when she saw the top benefit: a two-bedroom apartment only three blocks from Alex’s office and a salary double what she had earned at her last job. There was no way she was letting this job slip through her fingers.

  The following afternoon, Jamie made sure to be at Alex’s office fifteen minutes early. She wore a brand new suit that didn’t look fantastic, but it didn’t look half bad in her opinion. She had set her blonde curls wound tight in a conservative bun. She couldn’t resist putting a little bit of makeup on to hide the dark circles under her eyes and a touch of color on her lips. Not enough to make it obvious, but enough to make her look somewhat presentable. After barely sleeping the night before, she had looked like hell when she got up that morning. Only some artificial fixes would cover up the bulk of the damage. She wasn’t too worried. Alex Reid didn’t need a pretty girl, he needed someone efficient. Jamie could do that.

  “Mr. Reid will see you in a moment,” a skinny secretary told her.

  Jamie sat down in a chair in the waiting area and looked around the immaculate office building. It was far grander than the one she had worked in before. The floors and ceilings were made with white and black marble with beautiful paintings both classical and modern adding splashes of color to the wall. All of it had to cost a fortune. Did Alex own all of this? She had already guessed that he was well off, but this was positively extravagant. Her mouth went dry as she realized she had no idea what Alex exactly did or what his position was in the company. She should have done her homework. Idiot!

  Her thoughts were interrupted by her phone ringing. She jumped at the sound and grabbed it out of her purse. “Christine, not now,” she hissed.

  “I’ll make this quick,” her sister said. “Did you send out the invitations yet?”

  “Not yet, the envelopes haven’t even arrived. I thought you said you haven’t finalized the guest list yet.”

  “Jamie,” she whined. “You were supposed to help me with that last week, remember? You have no idea how stressful all of this wedding stuff is. I need to—”

  Alex appeared in the doorway of his office, one dark eyebrow arched in a way that could cause fear and swooning at the same time. He leaned against the doorframe, his expensive business suit pulled up by his arms as he crossed them, showing of a
gold pair of cufflinks.

  Jamie had no idea how long he had been standing there. “Christine, I have to go.” Jamie jabbed at the end button, trying to get the sound of her sister’s angry complaining voice to stop echoing off the waiting room windows. She hit the speaker button instead of end. Christine’s voice rang out clearly, “You’re so freakin’ incompetent! Now I’m just going to have to take care of–” Jamie managed to hit end before her sister had a chance to finish.

  Face burning, Jamie shoved her phone back into her purse and brought her head up to look at Alex. She didn’t have the courage to let her eyes meet his. “Sorry, Mr. Reid,” she mumbled. “My sister’s having a mid-day crisis.”

  “Apparently not that severe if you can hang up on her for the sake of an interview.”

  Jamie flushed a deeper shade of red and struggled to keep her expression neutral. “It was resolved quickly,” she said. She wanted to smile but pressed her lips tight to prevent the corners of her mouth from curling up. “Thank you for making the time to see me today.”

  He inclined his head and then gestured her into the office. “Like I said on the phone yesterday, your resume was impressive.”

  Jamie went in and sat down stiffly in the chair in front of the giant, but neatly organized, mahogany desk. So this was how it was going to be from now on. Aside from their informal meeting and talk on the phone, it was clear that Alex preferred his business relations strictly formal. That was fine by Jamie. She preferred to keep her distance.

  “Shall we get to it then?” Alex sat down behind his massive desk in a chair that was unnecessarily big, even for his significant frame. He folded his hands over a leather binder. “Why should I hire you?”

  Because I don’t want to live in my parents’ basement? “I have an outstanding work ethic,” Jamie said. “I’m not afraid of hard work, I’m efficient, overtime doesn’t scare me, and I’m overqualified for your job.” Was he smiling? She blinked and focused on what her qualifications were. “I’m beyond efficient with multitasking and time management – both yours and my own.”

  “Most time management courses say that multitasking makes you inefficient with low quality work that takes too long.” He didn’t bat an eye.

  Neither did she. “Those people are doing it wrong.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “You don’t say.” He shifted and undid the button on his suit jacket. “Why do you say that?”

  “The trick is not to do two things simultaneously,” Jamie said, her mind imagining what she wanted to explain to him. “It is to do one while waiting for the other. For instance, if my computer is doing updates, I can be answering the phone, or organizing my materials to suit my schedule that day. For this to work, you need to switch all of your focus completely from one task to the other immediately.”

  “What if the phone rings first?”

  “Pardon?”

  “What if you’re waiting for the phone to ring and while you are waiting you decided to update your computer?”

  She stared at him. “You answer it. The computer can update by itself. All you have to do is click ‘ok’ when it’s done.” Was this some sort of trick question?

  “Interesting,” Alex said, his face and body language giving away nothing. “Tell me, Ms. Connors, what was the crisis your sister was having?”

  And now she would lose her chance at this job. Jamie sighed. “She needed to know about the invitations for the wedding.”

  “What about them?”

  “Whether or not they were sent out.”

  “Were they?”

  She shook her head.

  “Your fault or hers?”

  “Neither. Both, I guess. The guest list isn’t finalized and the stationary envelopes hadn’t arrived with the invitations. We’re still—”

  “How did you find my secretary’s hospitality?” He nodded, leaving her completely baffled as to why he had even asked her the question.

  “She was very courteous and professional,” Jamie replied without missing a beat.

  “What was that about the stationary envelopes?”

  “They haven’t arrived.”

  “There’s an important file that is too big to be attached in an email, but I need it in an hour. How are you going to get it to me?”

  “Bike messenger.”

  “You’re going to bike?” He blinked as if surprised at his own comment. “Why not fax?”

  “Because you don’t have a fax machine.” There! Take that! Kapow!

  Jamie caught a trace of a smile on his face and returned with a small one of her own.

  “You do know how to switch focus easily.” Alex leaned back against his chair. “At least in conversation. Your former bosses have done nothing but sing praises of your work ethic. Why did you leave your last job?”

  Jamie pressed her lips together. She had left because Stephen was her former boss’s son. Except that would mean Alex Reid would have to know that Stephen was her ex, and dating the boss’s son was definitely a professional no-no, not to mention it would make her look that much more pathetic. “There was a personal conflict between me and another employee. It’s been resolved, and I don’t intend to repeat it.”

  Alex rested his arms on his chair, the trace of the smile gone. “Let me make myself clear, Ms. Connors. I value complete honesty from my employees more than anything else and if you think vague half-truths will make yourself look flawless, and will get you the job, then think again. I won’t ask you why again.”

  Jamie took a deep breath. “Fine. I left because I had gotten into a relationship with my boss’s son. It didn’t feel right working at that company after that happened.”

  Alex nodded. “How do I know that something like that would not happen again?”

  “It didn’t end well. I’ll never make that mistake again.”

  “What happened?”

  “He got engaged to my sister.”

  Alex’s eyes widened slightly and Jamie waited for the look of pity. She expected him to hurry her out of his office so he would never have to see or speak to her again. Instead his usual cool and enigmatic expression slid into place. He smiled and stood up. “I believe I have all the information I need,” he said.

  Jamie stood as well and shook his hand.

  “Thank you, Ms. Connors. Have a nice day.”

  “Have a nice day, sir,” she said, her heart sinking.

  He walked her to the door of his office and opened it for her. Jamie was halfway to the elevator when he called out, “Ms. Connors?”

  She turned. “Yes, Mr. Reid?”

  “Be here tomorrow at six o’clock sharp. You don’t want to be late for your first day of work.” He shut the door, leaving Jamie in the lobby, her mouth hanging open in a very unprofessional manner.

  Chapter 4

  “Are you sure you want to do this, Jamie?” her mother said. “Your sister’s wedding is only a few months away and she really needs you right now. Besides, I don’t think days of sitting down will do anything for your diet.”

  She wanted to throw a pillow at her mom. Really? Not one ounce of encouragement or congratulations? Jamie gritted her teeth. “Just think of it this way; now that I’m making money, I can get them a better wedding present.”

  Her mother still looked skeptical. “You had better get them a very nice present,” she said. “Stephen had to go through a lot of trouble to get you this job.”

  Yes, because I can’t get anything on my own merit. That was probably why he recommended me. To get them a better wedding present. She doubted the dickhead actually had anything resembling a conscience which needed easing. “I will, Mom.” Jamie forced a smile as she packed the rest of her belongings in the last cardboard box and taped it shut.

  It was eight o’clock at night, only a little less than six hours since she had been officially hired to work for Alex Reid. This was the fastest move she had ever done, even faster than when she had moved out of her—excuse her, Stephen’s—apartment. Except now, she needed to
get out of her parents’ basement before they drove her crazy or they discovered the stash of junk food she kept under the couch as she dealt with the worst wedding craze ever. She’d take her stuff to the new apartment which was, luckily, already available. Alex Reid had raised his eyebrows when she had asked for the key, but he had given it to her without question. She planned to unload everything herself and sleep on the floor tonight.

  Her mother sighed loudly for the umpteenth time that evening. “I really wish you had thought this through, dear.”

  “I already have,” Jamie said. “Really. It’s a good decision, Mom. For all of us. This place will be good for me.”

  “I just wish you had thought about your sister before going.”

  Jamie rolled her eyes. Christine was hardly dependent on her and she had her own life to live. Why the hell would she have to think about Christine before every decision she made? She grinned. That was Stephen’s job now. “I’m going, Mom. Deal with it,” she snapped. She lifted the box up and walked through the open door and set the box on the grass beside her car. Her mom went off to sulk, leaving Jamie to move her own stuff, which was all right with her, even though it took twice as long and left her exhausted. At least the apartment came furnished.

  As she slammed the trunk of her car shut, her father came out of the house. “Your mother’s crying inside,” he said, looking like he wanted to come with her. “You’re leaving?”