Chapter 5
Jessica
I run into the marble foyer, feeling and looking like a drowned rat.
“Morning, Frank!” I pass the hot coffee over as I shake like a dog, trying to dislodge the rain from my coat.
The subway is mostly efficient, cheap, and relatively safe and easy for me to take each day.
But on days like today, when the rain hasn’t stopped, the four-block walk from the station to this fancy building is long, especially when the wind pulls my umbrella inside out.
“Morning, Jay Jay. Mmm… you know me too well.” Frank grabs the hot coffee, groaning as it hits his lips.
While everyone else rushes in and hits the elevators, ignoring him, I try to take two minutes each day to say hello.
He’s the night security guard. His shift ends just as my day is starting.
The hot coffee is something I deliver to him each day because I know how tired he must be, and I also know he has a long subway ride home now too.
“Yeah, well, I thought you needed it.”
His smile is wide, grateful, and my heart warms. It’s the little things that matter most.
“You know it. Don’t work too hard up there, alright?” He settles back into his seat, his hands wrapped firmly around his coffee.
“I’ll see you tomorrow.” I throw my useless umbrella in the nearby trash and join the throes of Corporate America as we all file into the elevators.
Looking to see if my floor button is pressed, I start to relax seeing it already lit.
But then I stall, because I’m going to the top floor today, and as I eye the wall of buttons, I spot the executive level and CEO level floors not lit up.
As I push through and hit the button, I feel every set of eyes shift to me.
Catching the eye of a woman who I think works in PR, I swear she used to be an international model.
Her gaze is critical, and I shrink a little, my glasses fogging in the humidity of this small space.
I try to brush my wet hair away from my face as I take her in.
She’s dry, her hair bouncing and styled to perfection.
Her clothes fit her like a glove, her heels high.
But I have little time to admire her as the doors of the elevator open and most people disembark. I shuffle back and take in a breath as floor by floor, people exit the elevator, until I’m the last one left and the elevator ascends up to the top floor.
When the doors open this time, I step out, not feeling as out of place as I did last week. Until my eyes land on his assistant, Ashley, seeing her assessing me almost immediately.
“Can I help you?” She looks entirely disinterested, like I’m nothing more than a piece of dirt on her shoe.
“I’m here to see Donovan.”
Her face sours, eyebrow cocking at my voice that sounds more confident than it ever has.
“Mr. York is not to be disturbed.”
I frown, looking at my watch, seeing it’s almost eight.
“I have a meeting with him at eight.”
She looks at the computer in front of her, tapping a few keys, but her attitude doesn’t budge.
“No. You don’t.” Blinking at me, she scowls like I’m deliberately here to waste her time.
“It may not be in his calendar. Perhaps you can just call him?” I suggest. I don’t want to be late on my first day.
“Mr. York is not to be disturbed. Especially by someone who… works down on the finance team.” She rolls her eyes, looking down her nose.
Clearly, she hasn’t checked her emails because I’m almost positive that she was copied on an email between HR and Donovan about my start date that was sent yesterday.
“I’ll just wait, then.” I try to appease her somewhat as I look toward the leather seat off to the side. I don’t want to cause an issue, but I can tell we won't get along.
“I can assure you… I know every detail of Mr. York’s day, and you’re not even a mention…” It’s only day one, and I’m already at a roadblock with a woman who seems to think this is a pissing competition.
“Jessica, good, you’re here.” Donovan strides out of his office, coming right for me like he’s been waiting for my arrival and I’m urgently needed.
I bite back my grin, really wanting to say I told you so, but I don’t need to be making enemies, especially of Ashley, who seems to know everyone in this building.
“Ashley, can you grab us coffee?” he asks, then turns back to me. “Jessica?”
“Yes. Coffee would be great. Thank you, Ashley,” I tell her as Donovan lifts his hand, indicating the way to his office. I walk forward, wondering if Ashley is about to stab me in the back with her letter opener as her face reddens while she watches me walk away.
I feel the dampness of my feet squish with every step across the marble floor, but I ignore it, praying that this corporate suit I got from Mabel at the thrift store a few weeks ago will last the distance today.
It’s so well made, the fabric too beautiful to remain hidden in my closet.
Mabel said she knew it was meant for me the minute she saw it.
It’s comfortable and the material keeps me warm, so I can’t complain.
“I don’t know if you heard the news last night, but—”
“Jasper is expanding into Asia? I saw,” I finish for him, and he looks at me with pleasant surprise as we step into his office.
“They could cause a lot of trouble for us if they get ground support. Asia is one of our keyhole markets. We have clear market ownership there.”
I shake my head slightly. “I don’t think they will.”
“How can you be so sure? Jasper has been going downhill, but they’re tenacious with their negotiations…”
“When I heard the news yesterday, I looked at the Asia market more closely. They’ve bought smaller establishments, but I saw some industry fluctuations that have been happening that indicate this kind of move into Asia might’ve been on the cards and may be more of a logistics play, rather than specifically taking market share. ”
His eyebrows rise.
“Here, let me show you.” I grab my laptop, and the two of us sit at his desk, side by side, as I show him the mapping I did last night.
“You did this? Last night?” He’s impressed, but all I can focus on is how close we are.
We’re practically breathing the same air.
My pulse kicks like a warning. I should shift away, but I don’t.
It’s like his body is a magnet, and I couldn’t move if I tried.
But I should. He’s my boss, and I really want this job. The two can’t mix.
“I saw the announcement. I wanted to get on top of it before this morning.”
He hasn’t stopped looking at me, and even as I feel his gaze hot on the side of my face, my eyes remain focused on the screen, my hands tapping the keys, trying to do anything other than look back at him.
Then his leg hits mine as his attention moves to the screen, and I almost jump.
Tingles from the quick connection travel up my thigh as he leans in to look closer.
Breathing in his familiar fresh scent, the aroma has me salivating.
My eyes flick over his desk, noticing a small crystal bowl filled with chocolate-covered somethings, too small to be nuts. I’m not sure what they are, but Donovan grabs a small handful and throws them in his mouth, his eyes not wavering from the screen.
Like he senses me watching him, he turns, his gaze latching on mine.
“Chocolate-covered coffee beans. Would you like some?” He grabs the bowl, pulling it closer.
“Oh, no… one coffee a day is my limit.”
Three sharp knocks have me nearly jumping out of my skin.
“Enter,” he barks absentmindedly, putting the crystal bowl back as I bring up the new analyses I developed overnight, the ones that show real-time data of what I predict will happen over the next week.
“Coffee, Donovan.” Ashley glides in, walking like she’s on a runway with a tray in her hand, which she slides onto the desk, depositing the two cups.
“It’s Mr. York,” he says firmly, and I look up at her, seeing her squirm a little as he corrects her in front of me, her plump lips pursed.
“Of course. Will there be anything else, Mr. York?” She watches Donovan closely, but his eyes stay firmly on the screen, looking right over my shoulder, completely oblivious to her and entirely in my space.
“No. Thank you,” he murmurs, lifting his hand in a small, dismissive wave, and her narrowed eyes catch mine before she turns and walks out, closing the door behind her.
“This is…” Donovan shakes his head in awe. “Did you get any sleep?”
“Not really. Once I get tunnel vision for something, I find it hard to break away,” I admit.
“I’m the same. I live and breathe this business. I search for anything I can do to ensure success. I want to grow.”
Our work ethic appears to align, and I smile. He returns it with a small grin before leaning over, grabbing my coffee, and passing it to me as he stands and starts to pace his office.
I take a moment to drink him in. His suit fits like it was cut just for him.
Probably was. Every move is calm, controlled, except for the crease between his eyebrows, which tells me he's still thinking about my data. Something inside of me tightens at the thought that he hasn’t looked away once this morning, not from the screen, and not from me.
I try to center myself and look down at where I sit, bag open, laptop out, like I hit the ground running. But my hair still hangs wet across my shoulders, my feet a little damp, my clothes almost stuck to me but slowly drying.
“Do you wear contacts?”
I look up quickly, seeing him now stopped, watching me.
“Oh, um, sometimes…” I hate contacts. They scratch, irritate, and make my eyes water most of the time. I know my glasses are ugly. I wore Coke bottles most of my younger life, so I’m glad the ones I have now are thinner and more flattering.
“You’re wearing Dior today.” He looks down at my dress, and my eyebrows rise.
Dior is classic, the cut familiar to a trained eye, yet I had no idea Donovan would be so attuned.
I have no idea who would donate Dior to a thrift shop, but I don’t question Mabel.
She said it would look great on my frame, even if all I could think about is how the retail price could pay my rent.
Forever thankful to her, I took the dress home, and it sat in the back of my wardrobe, waiting for the right time to wear it.
“I am.”
The way he’s looking at me makes my breath catch.
It isn’t sleazy or uncomfortable. He isn’t ogling me, but more like admiring.
Like he’s looking at the most exquisite piece of art in the Louvre or the most precious silk fabric from Monaco.
No one has ever looked at me like this. I’m not sure exactly what’s happening, but it’s impossible to deny something is as we stare at each other.
His office phone ringing startles us both, and he strides to his desk to grab it as I rifle through my bag, trying to find a hair clip. As he talks, I pin my hair back, the damp mess feeling better off my neck.
“We need to go. The board is here.”
I stand immediately. “Board?” Gathering my laptop, I try to keep up with his large strides as we head out of his office.
“We have a board meeting today. You will sit in. Observe. Tell me everything you glean and what you think we could improve. But no phones. No social media.” He’s firm in his word, and I nod.
“I don’t have social media, but… you want me to spy on your board meetings?” I almost hiss a whisper as he moves straight past Ashley and into the elevator.
“Yes, Jessica.”
No one calls me Jessica. Not even my family.
I don’t move as his hand comes to my face, and he gently pushes my glasses back up for me, my hands full of things and unable to do it myself.
“I want your eyes and ears on everyone and everything. Including me.”
I swallow audibly as my blood runs hot. That task is not as hard as it once might have been. Concentrating on anything else might be my downfall, though.