You and Only You

by Young, Brooke

  Dinner was delicious; Berkleigh was beginning to really appreciate Jack’s talent in the kitchen. His food had such tremendous flavor. As they cleared the table and were in the kitchen, she was preparing to rinse off their plates when Jack’s arms embraced her from behind igniting a fire of desire throughout her entire sexy body.

  “Let me help here so we can go upstairs.” She washed, he dried.

  Snuggling in bed while watching TV, a comfortable routine that had become established in a short time. Berkleigh fell asleep as the ‘little spoon’ and slept deeply as Jack held her all night. He barely slept, burdened by the conflicted feelings that surfaced but unable to block out of his mind.

  When they awoke, Berkleigh reluctantly got out of bed to shower, get ready, dressed into her work clothes and went down to the kitchen to make a cup of coffee and some toast before they went to the airport.

  She had seen Jack sitting at his computer in his office on her way downstairs. He told her that we was responding to email since he hadn’t checked it in a couple of days but would be down shortly.

  From: John Stevenson

  Sent: Saturday, March 29, 2014 11:25 AM (EST)

  To: Jack Ashford

  Subject: TGS

  Jack,

  The package was delivered safely to me; our IT guys already found some important information and are doing their thing to gather more data. From the looks of it, you downloaded exactly what we need to move forward. At first glance, all reports are coded per employee. It’s clear based on Ms. Woods’ access of certain reports what her employee code is. You can rest assured that we have already been able to determine that she has zero access to the reports I needed you to obtain. It appears only the Corporate Officers must have access to the information that will likely bring TGS down. There is a strong possibility we will need her assistance. What are your thoughts? -JS

  From: Jack Ashford

  Sent: Monday, March 31, 2014 7:41 AM (EST)

  To: John Stevenson

  Subject: Re: TGS

  Boss,

  I’m relieved to hear you feel there is no knowledge on her end. We’re heading to the airport shortly. It’s hard to say if we will be able to employ her assistance. If she figures out it was me she will no doubt feel betrayed and I am certain she will not agree to cooperate. Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that. I am racking my brain to figure out how to handle all of this without destroying what she and I have. I have about two days to come up with something. She will most likely be there on Wednesday when I go to headquarters to ‘consult’. I need permission to discuss everything with her by then, if we have officially ruled her out as being involved. I will swing by the office after I drop her off. -Jack

  He logged off and shutdown, then showered and dressed quickly and went downstairs to make a cup of coffee. He found her sitting in her rocking chair and he sat in the other one.

  “I will give you an idea of when I’m coming back here after they get some things figured out, if that’s okay?” she asked Jack.

  “That’s just fine,” he said as he grabbed her hand that was closest to him.

  “Jack, thank you for this weekend. I really enjoyed our time together,” she said appreciatively.

  “You’re welcome, I’ve enjoyed it, too.” A nagging feeling that this was the last time she would be rocking in the chair opposite of him threatened to surface, he continued to suppress it as best he could.

  They both went upstairs so Berkleigh could finish packing her toiletries into her bag. Jack carried it downstairs to his SUV while she grabbed her laptop bag.

  They arrived at the departure area of the airport, Jack pulled to the curb and grabbed Berkleigh’s luggage out of the trunk. He wrapped his arms around her, inhaling her scent.

  “I love you, Berk and I’m going to miss you,” he told her, his voice cracked a little.

  “I love you, too,” she responded. He gave her a heartfelt kiss. In his mind he was hoping this would not be their last kiss.

  “Until the end of this week?” he asked, not stated.

  She closed her eyes as his lips pressed against her forehead, “I wish the end of this week was now.” Jack smiled at the cute phrase they shared.

  They hugged one last time and he watched as she made her way in toward the check-in counter until she was out of sight. He said a silent prayer that this was not the end of them.

  25

  Berkleigh arrived at her corporate office right before 2:00 pm and was greeted by their secretary, Margaret.

  “Hi Berkleigh,” Margaret said politely, “How are you?”

  “Hi Margaret, I’m good, thank you. How are you?”

  “Never better,” she said, “Adam and Chris asked me to tell you that they are in the conference room.” Chris Kane is the company’s COO and Head of the International Division.

  “Okay, thank you,” Berkleigh replied and she made her way back to the conference room.

  “Hey Berkleigh,” Adam stated as she entered.

  “Hi Adam,” she said and then looked at Chris, “Hi Chris.”

  “Hello,” Chris replied in manner undecipherable to her.

  They made small talk for 20 minutes or so and then it was time to address the potential security breach.

  “Chris, do you want to let Carlos know Berkleigh is here and we are ready, please?” Adam asked, referencing the company’s Chief Security Officer. Chris did so as Berkleigh took her laptop out and turned it on to get it ready for Carlos.

  When Carlos entered the room, they all took a seat on each side of the long conference table. Carlos sat at the head of the table to brief the three on what appeared to be downloaded from her laptop.

  He turned to Berkleigh, “As you know, we put security alerts on certain reports. If any employee tries to download these specific reports, IT gets notified that same day. On Saturday morning, a red flag alert was sent to us that your laptop, meaning your log on information and your serial number, downloaded unauthorized reports.”

  Berkleigh interrupted confused, “Attempted to download or actually downloaded?”

  “ACTUALLY downloaded,” Carlos clarified, he continued, “it appears the path they were downloaded to was one of your USB ports. Hackers are ingenious, and they can create fake paths. In other words, they accessed our system by hacking into your computer then made it appear that the info was downloaded to an external device, when in fact it was not. It could take us a couple of days to determine if a fake path was used.”

  Berkleigh felt a little more alarmed than before, she thought someone had attempted to access reports, not actually accessed them.

  “You guys know I would not try to download anything I shouldn’t, right?” her hands felt clammy, her voice cracked unexpectedly.

  “Berkleigh, you have been a great employee with zero disciplinary actions so, no, we are not concerned you have anything to do with this. Unless IT finds something to cause concern, we will have to believe our system was hacked through your computer somehow,” Adam reassured her.

  She let out the breath that she didn’t realize she was holding, “Okay good. I wouldn’t do anything harmful to this company. May I ask what reports were accessed? How can this perceived breach impact our clients?”

  Chris looked at Adam as if asking permission to share the information they had already obtained, Adam nodded. Chris said, “The reports accessed were specific to our international clients. It contains in-depth detail about their own corporate accounts, not their customers. If these reports end up in the wrong hands, it could and most likely would irreparably damage our relationship with them. Additionally, our reputation, overall, could take a significant hit.”

  “So, what now?” Berkleigh inquired.

  Adam replied, “Carlos is working on getting you set up with a new laptop, you will have it by the end of the day. If you don’t mind just hanging here in Boston for a couple of days and hopefully we will have it figured out. We need to rule out that the ‘path’ of the download truly did not
happen to an external device via your USB port. Now that we have your actual computer, it should expedite our research.

  Adam informed her, “Berkleigh, Stacy is out of the office this week. You are welcome to log onto her desktop and work once Carlos gets your new log on credentials.”

  Carlos chimed in and handed Berkleigh a piece of paper, “Done. Here’s your new logon and temporary password. You will be prompted to change it the first time you use your login. Your new laptop will be ready in about a half hour or so.”

  “Okay, thanks,” Berkleigh told everyone.

  Carlos took her laptop and headed back to his office and Adam stated that he had to get on a call, so he politely excused himself.

  Leaving only Chris and Berkleigh alone in the conference room, she got up to leave and he said, “Berkleigh,” then paused, “it’s not really my business what you have been doing this weekend, but is it possible the download actually took place from your port? I mean, you know Carlos will figure it out,” his last comment felt accusatory.

  She looked at him for a minute, blushed at the memory of her and Jack’s weekend together, composed herself instantly and said firmly, “You’re right, it’s none of your business. As stated previously, I would not do anything to cause harm to TGS. I’m sure now that Carlos has my laptop he will be able to conclude that it was a fake path to throw us off.”

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you. I’m just wondering what information has been compromised…I need to know,” he said a little too heatedly, almost desperately. The strange look on his face did not go undetected by Berkleigh. She never really cared for Chris but something about his behavior alarmed her.

  “If you’ll excuse me,” she said glaring at him. She turned on her heels and left the conference room.

  Berkleigh went into Stacy’s office and shut the door. She called Jack, hoping it was not obvious to Chris that he was able to upset her.

  “You’ve reached the voicemail of Jack Ashford. Please leave your, name, number and a brief message and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible.” She got his voicemail, so she left a message, “Jack, its Berkleigh, please call me on my cell when you can. Thanks.” She hung up, sat down at Stacy’s computer and used her new credentials to log onto the intranet and work for a little.

  26

  Jack had been in a meeting with John and two other guys, Joe and Paul, ever since he had dropped Berkleigh off at the airport. Joe works in the International Banking Division with Jack. Paul’s their IT expert and was the one who was able to decrypt the reports Jack had downloaded. They had been bringing Jack up to speed of their progress and discussing their plan of action. Jack’s phone buzzed, he saw it was Berkleigh, but he had to let it go to voicemail. He knew he would be able to return her call within 20 minutes or so.

  John concluded the meeting with, “Jack is traveling to TGS. He may be able to get Ms. Woods to cooperate with us. With luck she will fill in that one missing piece…who at TGS is involved in this? If so, which employee or employees are contributing to what we think is about to happen. Jack- you have permission to discuss with Ms. Woods only the details necessary to garner her aid. Let’s hope she’s not super loyal to her company and runs to the wrong person.”

  John excused everyone, so Jack went into his office, closed his door and called Berkleigh back.

  “Hey, you,” she said sweetly when she answered the phone.

  “Hey beautiful, how’s everything going?” I love the sound of his voice she thought.

  “I met with the CEO, COO and CSO, they still have a little bit more research to figure out things. Get this…someone downloaded reports. I thought they had simply tried to download. Anyhow, our CSO must determine whether the path of the download is fake or not,” she explained to him, “a breach would be so serious for us, Jack.”

  “They aren’t concerned that it was you, are they?” he hoped he didn’t incriminate her with his actions.

  “No, but they want me to stay until their fact finding is done. Something weird happened; I can’t quite put my finger on it. Chris, he’s the COO and the head of our International division, somewhat confronted me in the conference room after the CEO and IT left. I’ve never liked him, but something is off. He seemed angry and desperate. He questioned me about my weekend. I don’t report to him so the whole thing was strange. They were international reports that were downloaded so maybe he’s concerned about the reputation of his division.”

  Jack enthusiastically wrote Chris Kane’s name on a piece of paper but had been trained to contain his emotions, so he replied casually with, “I’m sorry he confronted you. I’m sure everyone’s on edge with this potential breach. I’m sure it’s nothing.” He did not want her snooping and getting herself in trouble with them. If anyone at TGS was involved, things could become dangerous for Berkleigh very quickly.

  “I’m sure you’re right,” she took a deep breath, “thanks for letting me vent. Anyhow, I miss you. What are you doing?”

  “I’ve been in meetings with John and a couple of others since I dropped you off at the airport. We are done here so I’m about to head home. It’s going to be lonely there without you.”

  She smiled, “Yeah, it was only a few days, but you sure made me feel like I was at home,” she laughed, “like the song you played on the beach in Hawaii! I guess just being with you and falling asleep in your arms feels like home.”

  Jack groaned, “Oh Berk, you’re killing me. I won’t get any sleep tonight without your warm body next to me.”

  “I’m going to miss it, too, Jack. Listen, I have a few more emails to respond to and I am waiting for my new laptop then I will head to my hotel and call you in a bit, if that’s okay?” she asked.

  “That sounds perfect. Love you, Berk,” his affection toward her couldn’t help but make him smile.

  “I love you, too. Bye,” she responded sweetly.

  Jack knocked on John’s partially closed door then opened it, “I may have an idea of whom, if anyone is involved at TGS,” he paused, “Chris Kane. He’s…”

  John interrupted, “Yeah, I know…he’s the COO and the head of their International Division, remember I set up the meeting between you, Adam and Chris.”

  Jack shook his head, “Sorry Boss. Anyhow, Berkleigh said they had a strange encounter in the conference room and that he was acting angry and desperate. I think he needs to know what information we have. This whole thing could appear to be unraveling to him in his own mind.”

  John nodded, “Nice. Listen, I want you at TGS tomorrow. Adam and I have a good relationship, so I will be able to talk him into letting you come in tomorrow. I have a work around for this breach, so they don’t attempt to put off our ‘consulting services’. Now that we know someone may be working inside TGS, this situation could be a little more dangerous for Ms. Woods. If they think she has information, you need to protect her. Remember, tell her only what she needs to know, not everything.” John called his secretary Katherine on his intercom and asked her to book Jack’s travel.

  Jack was conflicted about whether he should tell Berkleigh that he was coming into her corporate headquarters. He decided not to as she might have more questions than he is willing to answer this evening. It would be better to explain everything in person or at least he hoped it would be.

  Jack went home and packed. He received a text from John confirming that Adam said it was fine to come in a day early. He and Berkleigh had a sweet conversation that evening but he couldn’t ignore the troubled feeling that a storm was about to form around their perfect relationship. More like a hurricane. He ate leftover lasagna and had a glass of wine. He missed Berkleigh so much his heart hurt. That coupled with his concerns that tomorrow might be the end for them. The thought made him sick to his stomach and he barely got any sleep. When it was time to get out of bed, he got cleaned up and drove to the airport for an early flight.

  27

  Jack and Berkleigh texted sweet ‘good morning texts’ right before the doors
were closing on Jack’s flight. He texted her that he was going into a meeting and that he would call her in a couple of hours.

  Shortly after Jack’s flight had landed in Boston, Adam, Carlos, Chris and Berkleigh reconvened in the conference room. Katherine had arranged for a car to pick him up from the airport to take him straight to TGS which was only about 20 minutes away. He would be there in no time since he didn’t check his bag.

  Adam looked visibly upset and Carlos appeared uncomfortable.

  Adam began slowly, “Berkleigh, it was determined that the path of the download was not fake. Carlos was able to confirm with absolute certainty that the reports were downloaded to an external device like a USB memory disk from your computer this past weekend. I don’t want to sound accusatory, but would you have reason to suddenly access a division’s reports that you have nothing to do with?” He was upset having to question Berkleigh in this fashion, but the facts were the facts.

  Her mouth fell open, but she was unable to speak. As she gathered her thoughts, Chris chimed in, “Seriously Berkleigh?? What were you looking for? I warned you Carlos would figure it out!” His tone was harsh and there was a flicker of anger in his eyes.

  Berkleigh started visibly shaking as she vehemently professed her innocence, “I swear you guys. I didn’t download or try to access anything. You have to believe me.”

  Chris jumped up and angrily said, “Why do we have to believe you? Because your ‘Berkleigh Woods’ and everyone loves you… so you can do no wrong?!” He was practically screaming. She was completely taken aback by his reaction that seemed to escalate way beyond what the situation called for.

  Adam jumped out of his seat and put his hand on Chris’ chest, “You need to calm down, man. This is not the way to handle things.”