When eleven forty-five rolled around, I could feel my stomach tying in knots. I was getting so nervous as I stared at the clock. I started getting myself primped up to head out. Just because I went to lunch with him, didn’t mean I had to actually date him.
***
“Table for one?” the maître d’ asked.
“No, I’m meeting someone,” I said. “Jason... I don’t know his last name, but his first name is Jason.”
“You must be Miss Rollins,” the host said. “Right this way.” He showed me to a little table tucked in a far-off corner where Jason sat waiting for me. As soon as he saw me, he stood up and reached out his hand to take mine.
“Miss Rollins,” he said. “I’m so glad you could make it. Won’t you join me?”
“Please call me Jerrica,” I said. In the beginning I loved making him call me Miss Rollins, but now it seemed so formal.
“So tell me, Jerrica, what do you do?” he asked as he read over the menu.
“I’m a PR intern at Donnelly Multimedia,” I said as I played with my napkin.
“I see,” he said with a surprised expression on his face.
“Does that surprise you?” I asked.
“I just pictured you as working in banking and finance,” he said quickly.
“What do you do, Jason?” I asked.
“I work at a large corporation. A lot of administration crap, really boring stuff. Now tell me, do you like your job?”
“Right now, not so much. I’m new, so I don’t get to do anything exciting. I’m determined, though. I’m going to work my way up in the company as quickly as I can.”
“Good for you,” he said. “Now tell me this, Jerrica, can you read a word of that menu?”
“Not really,” I laughed.
“Why don’t you let me order for you then?” he said as he reached across the table and took my hand in his.
“Okay,” I agreed. When the waiter came over I listened in awe as he ordered for us in French. “Where did you learn that?” I asked.
“Oh, that. I went to a French Immersion school,” he said. “Now tell me about your family.”
“I have two sisters, both older than me and both live out of state. What about you, do you have any brothers or sisters?”
“One brother, one sister. What about your parents?”
“Do you get along with your brother and sister?” I asked.
“We get along fine. Tell me about your parents.” I knew there was no getting around answering the question. “My parents live in Oklahoma,” I said. I didn’t think there was any need to tell him more at that point. “What about your parents?”
“Do you get along with your parents?” he asked.
“Yes,” I lied. I hadn’t talked to my parents in four years, not that it was any of his business. “Now, tell me about your parents.”
“They’re fine,” he said as the waiter brought our food to the table.
***
“Guess what?” I yelled as I ran into the apartment after work.
Liz ran to the door with her arms outstretched. “You got a raise?”
“No, I went to lunch with the guy.”
“And?”
I told her all about our lunch date. As she and I analyzed the whole thing, I started to think it was weird that he had me talking about my job, myself, and my family, while he barely revealed a thing about himself.
“So, are you going to see him again?” she asked.
“Saturday night,” I said, smiling. “He’s taking me to dinner.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
~Jason~
After our lunch date, I hurried back to my office. Goddammit, how could the girl of my dreams be one of my own employees? I thought. When she said Donnelly Multimedia, I thought I was going to have a heart attack.
“Julie,” I said into my intercom, “can you come in here for a moment?”
“What is it, Jason?” she said as she hurried into my office with a coffee.
“I need you to take care of a little problem for me.”
“What is it this time, Jason?” she asked, shaking her head.
“Jerrica Rollins in PR.”
“Jason, not again. Seriously, you’ve got to stop...”
“Just listen to me for two minutes.” I told her what I wanted her to do, and she shook her head as she got up to walk out of my office. “I’ll do it this time, but from there on in you’re on your own.”
***
On Saturday night I met Jerrica at her apartment building to take her to dinner. I considered sending a driver to get her, but I didn’t want her to know I had money yet. I figured that was a secret better left kept for as long as possible.
Once they found out you had money, they started hinting about financial problems, or started falling in love quick. The next thing you knew they wanted to move in with you. If she was the one that would settle me down and bear my children, I wanted it to happen because she loved me, and not my bank book.
“Hey Jason,” she said as she stepped out of the building. She looked so beautiful in her black silk dress that cut off mid-thigh.
“Well, hello, Miss Rollins,” I said as I took her hand and kissed her on the cheek. “You’re looking quite stunning this evening, I must say.”
“You look pretty good yourself,” she said as she smiled up at me. I was glad she noticed. I had worked hard at looking dressed up enough for the evening, but no so dressed up that I looked wealthy. I almost felt naked without a jacket and tie.
***
After dinner, she talked me into going to a dance bar of all things. When we walked through the doors, I felt like the oldest man in the place, but she immediately made me feel like a teenager again.
“Let’s go dance,” she said as she grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the dance floor. The fog and laser lights added to the illusion. They reminded me so much of the strobe lights from my younger days.
After we hung around there for a while, we decided to go for a moonlit stroll. She was stumbling around on her heels, even though she’d only had a couple of drinks. Taking pity on her aching feet, I picked her up and carried her back to my car.
***
When we got to her apartment building, I offered to help her inside. “No,” she said. “I know what you want, and dinner and a few drinks isn’t getting it.”
“Miss Rollins, Jerrica, all I want is to see that you get inside without landing on your ass.”
She said she was fine as she fell out of the car onto the sidewalk. I helped her up and walked her inside the building and straight to her door.
“Goodnight,” I said as I turned around to walk away.
“Aren’t you going to kiss me goodnight?” she asked as she pouted.
“I didn’t think dinner and a few drinks could buy that,” I said with a grin.
“Get back here,” she said as she pulled on my arm. I practically flew back to her and took her in my arms, while I kissed her goodnight.
CHAPTER EIGHT
~Jerrica~
The Monday after my dinner date with Jason, I got called into my supervisor’s office. I thought for sure I was getting fired, and I couldn’t figure out what I had done wrong. My eyes stung with tears, and I kicked myself for not having thicker skin.
I sat in the hot seat and waited for Mr. Rompwell, my supervisor, to come in. He’d called me for the meeting, the least he could do was be on time. The longer I waited the more nervous I became.
Finally, I heard the door handle turn. My pulse started rising when I realized the end was near. I braced myself for what I knew was coming.
“Miss Rollins,” he said. “We’ve decided to promote you. Starting today, you’ll be an associate PR in new series development.”
“I don’t understand. How does that work?”
“You’ll be handling public relations for new series that we produce, the stars, the shows, that sort of thing.”
&nbs
p; “Are you serious?” I asked him, almost jumping out of my chair. I wanted to hug that man, I was so excited.
“Yes, I am. There’s an office waiting for you up on the third floor. Now pack your things and go.”
I couldn’t believe it. One week on the job, and I got a major promotion. My resume must have really blown them away even though it only had the projects I worked on in college on it. I couldn’t wait to get home and tell Liz, and more importantly, I couldn’t wait to tell Jason.
I gathered my desk up quickly, and made my way to the third floor to claim my office. I was almost afraid that if I took too long they’d realize that they made a mistake and change their minds.
After spending the day getting up to speed on my new position, I raced home from work. “Liz,” I yelled when I threw open the door of the apartment. “I got a promotion.”
“Yay,” she said. “Tell me all about it.”
“I can’t right now because Jason’s coming to pick me up in a few minutes. But I’m now an Associate PR in new series. Basically I handle PR for new series and the people who star in them,” I said as I ran my fingers through my hair.
“Good for you,” she said. “See, I told you that it would get better.”
The buzzer rang. “Well, I better go,” I said as I raced out the door to go meet Jason. When I told him about the promotion, he gave me a pleased smile.
“I think that calls for a celebration,” he said. “What do you say we go for dinner?”
***
Over the next few weeks Jason and I had a whirlwind relationship. We were practically inseparable when we weren’t working. I knew I was falling in love with him whether I had time for it or not.
One Friday night when Liz was out of town visiting her parents, he walked me up to my apartment like he always did. It was still early, so I invited him in for a drink. We sat on the sofa while we talked and laughed in between kisses for hours.
When things really started to get heated up, he started unbuttoning my blouse. “I think you should go now,” I said. “It’s getting late, and I’m getting tired.” I pushed his hands away and buttoned my blouse back up.
Jason’s eyes narrowed. “We’ve been dating for weeks now, Jerrica, and I haven’t even gotten to second base. What’s up with that?”
“I’m sorry Jason, it’s just not the right time yet. When something happens between us, I want to make sure everything’s perfect.”
“I thought everything was fucking perfect tonight,” he said as he stormed out the door.
As soon as he left I burst into tears. Maybe I should have just slept with him, I thought. But I was a believer in the old adage, sex too fast, it won’t last. Ten minutes later my phone rang. It was Jason. I tried to compose myself before I answered.
“Hello,” I said.
“Jerrica, I’m so sorry,” he said into the phone.
“Look, Jason. I get it. I totally do. You’re a guy and you have needs. I’ll tell you what. You swing that car around right now, and I’ll fuck you right here, right now. In fact, I’ll start ripping my clothes off while you’re on your way. I just want you to tell me one thing first. When’s my birthday, Jason?”
He was silent on the other end.
“You don’t know, do you? I’ll give you another chance. What’s my favorite color?”
He was still silent.
“That’s exactly my point. We don’t know each other. Before I get intimate with you, I want to know everything about you and your life. I want us to know everything there is to know about each other. I don’t want to just jump into something blindly. I want to fall in love.”
As soon as I said the last sentence, I wished I hadn’t. I’d put it all out there on the table and there was no taking it back.
“That’s what I want too, Jerrica,” he said. “I’m so sorry for my behavior tonight. We’ll take it as slow as you want. But just so you know, my birthday is April 21st, and my favorite color is blue. If there’s anything else you want to know, just ask.”
My heart melted when he said it. I wished there were some way I could reach through the phone and wrap my arms around him.
“My birthday is March 24th and my favorite color is purple,” I said.
“Can I come back over?” he asked.
“Jason...”
“I was just kidding,” he said. “I do want to get to know you, Jerrica. You have no idea how much you mean to me.”
CHAPTER NINE
~Jason~
That woman would drive me crazy if I let her. She filled both my mind and my dreams. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t stop thinking about her. In all my life, not one other woman had bewitched me quite the way she had.
As much as it frustrated me that she wouldn’t jump into bed with me, it made my feelings for her grow even stronger. If I thought she was the perfect bride for me and mother for my heir before, her willpower confirmed it.
We spent the next few days concentrating on getting to know each other better. Every date was like 20 questions with kisses for rewards. I felt like I knew everything about her, and the more I knew, the more I loved, and the more I wanted to know.
Then one night it happened. I knew that eventually it would, and in fact, I was surprised that it happened sooner. She asked me my last name. “Donnelly,” I said as I stared her straight in the eyes. I was expecting her to start asking questions about the company and about my parentage, but she didn’t. She didn’t even connect my last name with the company she worked for.
I let it go. She asked a question and I gave her an honest answer. She didn’t go any further into it, so neither did I. It wasn’t exactly lying, it was just leaving part of the truth out. Plus, I enjoyed pretending to be a normal person around her.
Then I ran into another problem. “So,” she said one afternoon. “You’ve been to my place a few times now, and I’ve never seen yours.”
Oh God, I thought. “Well, in that case, why don’t I cook you dinner on Saturday night?” I said it before I even realized the mess I was getting myself into. I couldn’t let her see my house without giving myself away.
***
The next morning when I went into work, I stopped off at Julie’s desk. “I need another favor,” I said, giving her my best smile and puppy dog eyes.
“What is it this time?” she said as she looked up from her computer screen.
“I need you to rent me a standard apartment before the weekend, and have it furnished.” I rested my hand on her desk and tried to sound as casual as possible.
“Are you kidding? Jason, that’s impossible. Friday is three days away. How on earth do you expect me to furnish an apartment in that amount of time, and why do you need it in the first place?”
“I don’t know, call IKEA or whatever that place is called. There’s this girl...”
“Oh, there we go. Let me guess, Miss Rollins. I still don’t understand why you need the apartment, though.”
“She wants to see my house. I’ve been to her place a few times but she’s never been to mine. If she comes to my house, she’ll know I have money.”
“Jason, you’ve been seeing her for weeks now. Just how long do you plan on keeping this from her? I could understand you being secretive in the beginning, but this is bordering on ridiculous. If she still likes you despite your idiosyncrasies, she’d love you whether you owned the city, or didn’t have a penny.”
I put my hands in my pockets and looked at the floor, almost embarrassed by my shenanigans. “I know,” I said. “But I’m not ready for her to know yet. I want the time to be right, and it just doesn’t feel right yet.”
“Okay, how big of an apartment do you want?” she asked. I could tell she felt sorry for me. It was also obvious that part of her couldn’t possibly understand my problems.
“I have no idea,” I laughed. “The normal size, I guess.” I walked into my office and sat down at my desk. Now that I had the apartment, I just had to figu
re out how to cook.
***
By the time Saturday rolled around, I’d already burnt the hell out of several recipes and knew there was no way I’d be able to pull off a dinner fit for Jerrica. I decided my best bet was to order takeout, and put it in a pan before she arrived. That way I could pretend I spent all day cooking it just for her.
After telling her where I “lived,” I asked her to come by at around six thirty p.m. I spent the afternoon getting myself ready. At five thirty p.m. I picked up our dinners, and at six o’clock p.m. I unlocked the door to my apartment for the first time.
Everything was running exactly according to schedule. I hung my jacket in the front closet, and then went to work in the kitchen. After I put the wine in the fridge to chill, I reached through the cupboards until I found pans that I thought would work.
Julie had done a great job of setting the apartment up. I made a mental note to give her another raise as I put our dinner on the stove. At six thirty p.m. on the dot, a knock came to the door. I rolled my sleeves up, and splashed some water on my forehead to make it look like I’d been sweating in the kitchen all afternoon.
“Welcome to my humble abode,” I said as I opened the door for her. She wore a blue dress that was absolutely stunning the way it changed color in the light.
“You have a lovely apartment,” she said as she came in and looked around. “It’s very clean.”
“I just cleaned up today,” I said, thinking fast. “I’m actually a slob.”
“Then you won’t mind if I do this,” she said as she grabbed a throw pillow off the couch and tossed it across the room.
“Nope.” I really didn’t care. It wasn’t really my house, but she didn’t know that.
“So, are you going to take me on the grand tour?” I kept trying to concentrate on dinner, but she was eager to look around. I knew I should have gone to the apartment earlier so I’d have time to check it out. Oh well, I thought. It’s just an apartment. How hard can it be?
“Yeah, sure. For starters, you’re standing in my living room/dining room, and I’m standing in the kitchen. If you follow me, I’ll show you the rest of my castle.” I took her down the narrow hall. “To our left, we have the bathroom,” I said as I opened the door to a huge linen closet full of towels.