Cheyenne and Jason (Last Chance Program Book 1)

by Malone, Misty

  She turned to look at Jason. “What do you think?”

  Jason caught her eyes. “More importantly, what do you think, Cheyenne? Remember how we talked about the importance of me knowing what you’re thinking and how you’re feeling?” She nodded. “How do you feel about this?”

  She sighed. “Honestly, I don’t remember ever feeling as good as I’ve felt the last couple days. I mean, all the talking we’ve done has made me see a lot of things differently. In short, I woke up the last couple days feeling happy. That sounds crazy, but it’s something new for me. And coming in here, I tried what you suggested, and it worked. Not only did it work, but it’s made me feel good.”

  Jason was smiling ear to ear as he looked at Dan. “I think she’ll be ready, Dan.”

  “Will he be there with me, though, at least at first?” She glanced at Jason, before looking back to Dan. “Jason gives me strength I didn’t know I had. If I start losing control, he puts his hands on my shoulders, and as insignificant as that may sound, that reminds me that I’m not alone. He’s there for me, and if I need help, he steps in. But usually once I remember that he’s there with me, it gives me the strength to control what I say and do.”

  “Is that what happened this morning with Dixie?” Dan asked.

  “Sort of,” she admitted, “but he didn’t even have to put his hands on my shoulders. I wanted to tell her off, but Jason moved to where I could see him, and that was all I needed. I knew if I got in trouble, he’d rescue me but I didn’t want him to have to. I wanted him to be—” She stopped.

  Jason saw her face turn red and she looked down. He was pretty sure he knew why. Bless her heart, this little lady was starting to have feelings for him like he had for her. She wanted him to be proud of her, and not just as a client.

  Dan encouraged her to finish her thought. “You wanted him to be what?”

  She was still looking down, and Jason tried to rescue her. “She wanted me to see that she could do it herself. And she did. She handled it really well.”

  Dan thought a few moments. “I think I can arrange that,” he finally said, “if Jason will go along with it.”

  “What’s your plan?” Jason asked.

  “Maybe we could tell him you’re a new hire and you’re working with her for a little while. I know you don’t like untruths and were not happy with telling the employees here that you’re a client, though.”

  “I wasn’t,” Jason admitted, “but I also understand that for this program to work a few things like that may be necessary. As long as no one will be hurt by them, I can agree. In this case, her coworkers had to be told something to explain my presence.”

  “If we tell this client you’re a new hire and working with her, that’s actually true. You are being paid by this company, so I guess you could be considered a new hire, and you’re definitely working with her.”

  “That’s true,” Jason said, “but will we have a problem if the other employees here see us both with him? That would be rather hard to explain, it would seem.”

  “I don’t think so,” Dan said. “He prefers we meet in his office. I’ve met with him twice, and both times he made it clear he would prefer we meet in his office rather than he come here. Once he’s happy with her work and wants to meet with her, I’ll tell him you’ll be working with her for the time being and make sure he’s okay with that, which he should be, and you two can meet with him in his office.”

  Jason nodded. “That would be good.”

  “If he ever does come to our office, I think it would be far enough into the future that it won’t be any problem. You’ll be gone by then.”

  Jason looked over at Cheyenne, who looked guardedly excited. “I definitely think you’re ready for it, Cheyenne. If you feel the same way, I think you should do it.”

  “And you’ll go with me to meet with him?”

  “If you want me there with you, then absolutely.”

  She turned back to Dan. “I’ll do it.”

  Chapter 9

  Jason spent the next forty-five minutes listening to Dan and Cheyenne discuss the new project. They bounced ideas off each other, and he could tell Dan had a lot of respect for her creative thoughts. He was very excited about one of them, and they settled on that, adding details to it. When they left, she was excited.

  As Jason started the car, he patted her leg. “Congratulations, Cheyenne. Not only did you earn the right to try to win a big client for your company, but you did real well all morning. That definitely deserves a reward. Can I take you out for lunch?”

  She turned quiet, and he was concerned. “We don’t have to go out for lunch if you don’t want to, Cheyenne. I meant it as a reward, but if you’d rather not go out, I’m sure I can find some other way to reward you.”

  “A reward?”

  “I told you when we started that I’d help and encourage you along the way, and I’d much rather reward you for good decisions than spank you for poor choices. You’ve definitely earned a reward, but would you rather not go out for lunch?”

  “Well,” she hesitated, “it sounds nice. I’d love to go out to eat, but what if someone upsets me? I don’t want to spoil the good feeling I have right now.”

  “If someone upsets you, I’ll still rub your shoulders to try to encourage you. I have faith in you, but it’s your decision. I understand what you’re saying. Remember, though, even if you slip up later today, what you did this morning will never change. You proved to yourself and the world this morning that you can do this. I’m sure there will be a few bumps along the road. You wouldn’t be human if there weren’t. But you’ve taken a gigantic step today. Remember that.”

  She had a huge smile on her face as she took a moment to consider. “Thank you, Jason. I’d love to go out for lunch.”

  “That’s my girl,” he said with pride. “Do you have a favorite restaurant?”

  “No, not really,” she said, suddenly quiet again.

  He put the car back in park and turned to her. “What are you thinking right now, Cheyenne?”

  “Nothing,” she said quietly.

  His stern face was suddenly back. “I know you better than that now, and you know it as well. I know that question somehow triggered an emotion in you, and I’d like to talk a minute about it. I know now that the answer you gave me, that nothing was wrong, was to cover some hurt on your part, and I’ll let you get by with that this one time. But in the future, I want to talk about anything that causes such a change in emotion. Saying nothing is wrong will be considered a lie from now on, and I think you know what will happen if you lie to me, don’t you?”

  “Yes,” she answered.

  “With that in mind, Cheyenne, when I asked if you have a favorite restaurant you became sad. Why was that?”

  She sighed as she looked at him. “You know me too well,” she complained. “But you’re right, it did make me kind of sad. I don’t have a favorite restaurant because I don’t like to eat by myself in public, and I don’t have friends to go to a restaurant with.”

  “Well, we can change that,” he said with an encouraging smile. “You keep earning rewards and we’ll keep trying different restaurants. By the time you finish this program, you’ll have some favorite restaurants, and friends to go there with. For right now, if you don’t have a favorite, is it okay if I choose the restaurant today?”

  He was relieved to see her good mood had returned. “Please do.”

  They enjoyed their lunch at a restaurant Jason remembered from when he worked with Dan’s sister. Conversation flowed easily, and they enjoyed talking about each other’s likes and dislikes as opposed to her background or feelings about things.

  That day seemed to be a turning point for Cheyenne. She seemed to have gained a lot of confidence that morning, and it carried through the rest of the day.

  As it turned out, being ready to go in the morning had not been an issue at all. It seemed to him all she needed was someone to point out that with traffic, you have to leave early and allow
extra time. It wasn’t okay to simply blame it on the traffic; you had to plan ahead and deal with issues you may very well encounter. If you’re early it’s not a problem, but being late is unacceptable. It seemed simple to him, but the whole concept of planning ahead to avoid office conflicts or problems was new to her.

  Like many other things, once that had been pointed out to her and proven to be true, she accepted it graciously, without arguing. His earlier suspicion proved to be true; her grandmother was basically her only role model, so she mimicked her. However, her grandmother. while loving Cheyenne, was a gruff lady, having grown up without a mother herself and working with her father. She later got a job doing what she knew how to do, which was a man’s job. As a result, she treated her coworkers rough, the way they had treated her. Cheyenne assumed that since that method worked for her grandmother, that’s the way to treat coworkers so they don’t take advantage of you.

  Jason was gradually changing her view of things, though, and in the process he got to witness a beautiful butterfly emerging from its cocoon.

  The long talks they’d been having were helping her feel good about herself, which was a big help. Just as he predicted, she was learning quickly. The first day she made it through all day without earning a spanking he treated her to dinner out. They both enjoyed that, and it seemed to be an added incentive for her. Her two to three spankings a day were turning into three to five a week. Most of them were now for her ongoing problem with her temper.

  They went to get groceries one day, and stopped at the bank on the way home. Cheyenne was out of cash and wanted to cash a check for fifty dollars. They went to the drive-up window, but when Jason sent the check in the teller refused it. “I’m sorry, but I won’t be able to cash this; the account is overdrawn.”

  Cheyenne was immediately upset, but Jason jumped in quickly. “There seems to be some kind of mistake. I’ll park and we’ll come in to straighten it out.” He turned to her and cautioned, “Ssshhh, be careful here. Don’t say something that will get you in trouble.”

  He parked the car, and cautioned her again. “Wait until I get your door for you. But I want you to remember, it’s probably a mistake.”

  “I know it’s a mistake!”

  “Okay, I believe you. But watch your temper.”

  “Come on, let’s go straighten those yahoos out.”

  “No, be still a minute. Can you check your account on line?”

  “Yes, of course.”

  “I know you have internet on your phone, so before we go in to talk to them, take a minute and check your account. See if you can find the mistake before we go in there, so you can patiently point it out to them.”

  He watched as she calmed enough to recognize a good idea. She took her phone out, and before long she was frowning. “It does show it’s overdrawn. But I know it can’t be. I should have at least $500 in it.”

  “Look through and see what all was taken out of your account.”

  “If you’re suggesting I forgot to put down a check or something, I didn’t. It’s their fu—their mistake, not mine.”

  With his stern face in place, he said, “It’s a good thing you caught that before you said it. That’s an automatic spanking.” He took her hand in his and started rubbing the back of it with his thumb, which always seemed to help calm her down. “Back to your account, I’m not suggesting anything of the kind, Cheyenne. I’m saying maybe they took something out of your account that should have come out of someone else’s, like a payment or a check. Or maybe someone got into your account somehow, hackers maybe, and took some out. If you go through and look, maybe you’ll find a withdrawal of some kind that you don’t recognize. That will give you some place to start.”

  “Oh,” she said as she looked at her phone again. Several seconds later she found the problem. “Here it is. I wrote a check for seventy-seven dollars, but they took out $777.”

  “Do you have your checkbook with you?”

  “Yes, I do,” she said, reaching for her purse. She pulled out her checkbook and showed him an entry for seventy-seven dollars, and the corresponding entry in her account for $777, with the same check number.

  “Okay, it looks like you found the problem,” he said. “Now let’s go in and talk to someone about it and get it straightened out. Remember, you’ll have more luck and things will go much smoother if you’re kind. The lady or gentleman you talk to in there is not the one that made the mistake, so don’t take it out on them.”

  She’d been visibly upset and anxious to point the mistake out to them, but she stilled when she heard his words. He could tell she was considering what he’d said, and he hoped it would help. He went to her door and helped her out. He took her hand in his and continued to rub the back of her hand with his thumb. He hoped this went well, but knew it would be a real test for her.

  They went inside and to the window of an available teller. As much as he was tempted to take the lead, do the talking for her, he could see she was anxious to handle it. It was her account, not his, so as hard as it was for him, he knew he had to step aside enough to let her attempt this on her own. He wouldn’t hesitate to jump in, though, if he felt she was getting too upset.

  He had a bad feeling from the start when the teller glanced up at them and sighed. “Hang on, let me finish this, then I’ll be with you.”

  He saw Cheyenne’s expression and knew this wasn’t off to a good start.

  “Okay, what can I do for you?” the teller finally asked.

  Jason was proud of the way Cheyenne started the conversation. “I tried to cash a check at the drive-through and was told my account was overdrawn.”

  Before she could go on the teller interrupted. “Then they can’t cash your check.”

  Jason’s hands immediately went to Cheyenne’s shoulders and started a gentle massage. She glanced back and gave him a bit of a smile. “I knew that couldn’t be right, though, so I looked up my account to see what was going on, and I found the problem. I wrote a check for seventy-seven dollars, but the bank took out $777.”

  “That wouldn’t have happened,” the teller said in a matter-of-fact way. “It’s all computerized. You may have meant to write it for that, but you had to have written $777, or the computer wouldn’t have taken that amount out.”

  Jason could almost see steam coming out Cheyenne’s ears, and he started rubbing her shoulders a bit harder, but it was no use. “Listen, I know how to write a damn check. I wrote it for seventy-seven dollars. Now, I want that problem fixed, and I want to cash this check.”

  “Don’t yell and cuss at me,” the teller said, louder than she should have. “For the wrong amount to have come out of your account, two separate people at two separate locations would have had to have input the wrong thing. It’s much more likely that you meant to write the check for one amount, but made a mistake.”

  Cheyenne’s hands went to her hips and she took a fighting stance. Jason quickly stepped in. “Miss, I’m sorry, but we’re going to have to ask to speak to your manager, please. I’m sure we can get this taken care of.”

  “I can handle this problem just fine. She just needs to calm down and listen to reason.”

  He stood behind Cheyenne and took her hands in his to hold them, hoping to calm her. “I’m sorry, but I believe both of you need to calm down and listen to reason. Again I’ll ask to speak to your manager, please. I believe there may have been a mistake made.”

  “And I’m telling you there couldn’t have been.”

  Jason looked around and saw a desk labeled Customer Service. Without saying another word, Jason noted the teller’s name tag before steering Cheyenne to the desk. The lady behind the desk seemed friendlier. “Good morning. Can I help you?”

  Cheyenne started to say something, but her tone wasn’t friendly, so Jason interrupted her. “Good morning. We seem to have a problem with her checking account. I believe a mistake may have occurred. Is there a manager or someone we could speak with about it, please?”

  “Ce
rtainly,” she said. “I’m sorry you’re having a problem. Let me call and see who’s available that can help you. After making a couple quick calls she said, “Mr. Stone will be right out to help you.”

  “Thank you,” Jason said as he steered Cheyenne off to the side to wait. He leaned down next to her ear and very quietly said, “Young lady, I suggest you get yourself under control quickly. If you can’t, I’ll excuse us and take you home and assist you in that endeavor. Then we’ll come back once you can behave. It’s your choice.”

  He felt her take a couple deep breaths and start to relax. He let go of her hands and went back to massaging her shoulders. “That’s it,” he said in a gentler voice. “You can do this; I know you can.”

  A gentleman came out and approached them. “Mr. Stone?” Jason asked.

  “Good morning,” the gentleman said, extending a hand. “I’m Phil Stone.”

  “Jason Jenkins,” he said, shaking the man’s hand. “This is Cheyenne Guthrie, and I believe there’s been an error on her checking account.”

  “Nice to meet you both. I’m sorry about the error. Why don’t you come with me to my office and we’ll see if we can find the problem and get it corrected.”

  Jason felt Cheyenne relaxing more as they followed the man to his office. Once they were seated, Mr. Stone hit a couple keys on his computer. “Okay, what’s the account number, and what seems to be the problem?”

  Jason looked at Cheyenne and smiled. “Go ahead,” he said softly.

  He was happy when she took another deep breath before explaining her problem. “Here’s my checkbook, you can get the account number. If you’ll look at check number 2333, the amount was seventy-seven dollars. However, $777 was deducted, and that overdrew my account. I found this out when I tried to cash a fifty dollar check a few minutes ago.”