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Jade pursed her lips and shook her head. "Normally I would accept your offer, sir, but I'm in charge of driving home a few of my coworkers today when we leave the office," she told him, a slightly nervous laugh escaping from her lips. "I'm following all of what you're saying. All I ask is that you refrain from mentioning my name when... dealing with Peggy. I'll hold down the fort here while you leave, if you wish." When he filled a glass for her, she pursed her lips once again, debating whether or not to accept his offer and down the drink in one quick sip, something that she rarely did. When he left the room, she took a seat in his chair and sat silently, observing how he kept his desk. He was fairly clean and organized, which was nice, so she should have no problem sharing work space with him. She pulled up a window of the computer's word processing software and thought about how to start her statement. Multiple times, she had to stop herself and resist the urge to investigate what else he kept on his computer besides the company's automatically-loaded programs. She shook her head, immediately feeling guilty that she had even considered the idea. She leaned back in the chair and went for the glass, placing it to her lips and taking a small sip. When the smooth liquid slid down her throat, she knew that it was exactly what she needed to get through the rest of the work day. She finished the glass that he had poured for her and rose from the chair, walking over to the collection of bottles that Jace kept on a platter in the back of the office. She examined the labels of each of the bottles and eventually poured a variety of the liquid that she had never seen before. After all of the crazy things that had happened today, testing out a new flavor of alcohol was something that she looked forward to. She sat back down in the chair and began to drink from the glass, enjoying the taste. She closed her eyes and thought about what she was doing. Too soon, Jace came back from his adventure and her time alone was terminated. She nearly jumped out of her chair, not expecting him to come back so soon. "Sorry, I couldn't resist the offer. Thank you, Jace, for this," she said, raising her glass. She glanced down at the computer and realized that she hadn't even started her statement but had already downed two glasses. A loud hiccup escaped her lips and she shook her head, face flushed. "I look like a fool," she mumbled under her breath.

 

Owen nervously ran his hands through his hair as he was bombarded in his own office. He was amazed at some of the excuses that the interns came up with as to why they should be offering a permanent position. 'My baby momma won't like this!' and 'I can't believe I'll have to tell this to my parole officer!' were some of the ideas that made his eyes widen and his head hurt. Eventually, he was forced to stand up from his desk and exert a loud whistle to get the attention of the men and women that had literally and figuratively backed him into a corner. "This decision was completely out of my hands, I hope you all realize that," he advised them, surrounded by a bunch of red faces and tissue boxes. "After the transition is complete, I will consider opening up the internship positions once again and I encourage all of you to reapply. Please check the bulletin boards throughout the building for more information about the meeting that I will be holding tomorrow after a majority of you are scheduled to leave for the day, I strongly recommend that all of you attend. Now, please, exit my office immediately and allow me to get back to work!" By the time he was done with his shouting fit, those that were angry with him had given up and evacuated the room, while those still in shock remained in their positions with their shoes apparently glued to the floor. "Time to go," he said, gently placing his hands on the backs of a few of the young ladies and personally escorting them all back to their work spaces. "I expect you all to give 100% for the remainder of your stay at my company!" he added, addressing the entire workroom as he trudged back to his office. He slammed the door shut behind him, realizing that doing the same action just a few minutes beforehand could have saved him from a pounding headache and the urge to punch a hole in the wall. In just a few short hours, he had completely exhausted his wits and had run out of energy, despite all efforts that he made to maintain a calm, cool composure. He took a glance at the mirror on the wall and noticed his disheveled hairdo, glassy eyes and obvious frown lines. He let out a saddened sigh before sitting back down in his chair and tilting his head back. Before too long, he slipped into a cat nap, unaware of how physically and emotionally exhausted he truly was.

Jade sat her glass down on the desk and buried her face in her hands. Her feelings of embarrassment went away when he grinned, making her heart skip a beat. She wasn't sure she had ever seen him smile exactly like that before. Sure, she had seen glimpses of his pearly whites when he pasted a grin on his face at meetings and such but this - this was genuine. She let her hands down and splayed her fingers across the keyboard. "I can explain the blank screen," she said suddenly, feeling as if he needed an explanation why she had done no work. She attempted to stifle another hiccup by clearing her throat but was unsuccessful; instead, an odd, squeaking noise escaped and she was unable to hold back a loud laugh as a result. "And I guess I can come up for an excuse for the empty bottle, but you'll see right through me." She looked in his direction, noticing his position just a few short inches away from her. She took a few deep breaths before she made the decision to be bold. "Please tell me that you didn't plan for me to end up alone with you in your office, full of alcohol and completely vulnerable..." she wondered, turning her head to the side a bit as she was somewhat skeptical of it all. His stripping of clothes not long before, the sabotage of her work area, his generous offer of copious amounts of liquor... "Did Peggy's actions just help speed up the process? You know, if there's something that you need to talk to me about, you can just ask. Especially in this state of mind, I'm pretty much an open book, so read away." 

 

Owen woke from his light slumber when there was a knock at his door. Having curled up into a somewhat fetal position on his desk chair, he went to stand up and immediately fell onto the floor. He landed on some plastic binders and manuals with a noticeable thud. "Just a minute," he groaned, rolling over to lay on his back for a few short seconds before rising to stand. He brushed off the front of his dress shirt and rubbed at his eyes. He made his way to his office door and pulled it open to reveal Jenna, paper in hand. His eyes widened at first, having not expected her to arrive with her finished work so soon. He shook his head, mumbling an apology under his breath as he backed up and held the door open. He motioned for her to join him before closing the door behind her. He took his seat across from her and folded his hands on his desk. "My apologies, today has been quite... stressful, I'm sure you're aware, and I must have dozed off," he told her. "I'm also sincerely sorry that you had to listen to the commotion that took place" -- he glanced at the clock on his desk -- "around an hour ago. My strategy to avoid a riot in the main work room had failed and I was bombarded in my office." He cleared his throat. "Enough about that, though, let's take a look at what we've got here." He took the paper that she extended to him and he slid on the reading glasses that he kept folded on his desk. Normally, he wouldn't have opted to use them, but his busy day was taking a toll on him and his vision was one of the first things to go. He read the document, noticing how it was grammatically correct and flawless when it came to her spelling. Of course, she was a graduate student, but he hadn't expected anything of this caliber. "I am very impressed, Jenna," he said, setting the paper down. "I enjoy the way that you discussed not only your position here at TP but that of others as well. Congratulations, Miss Sparks, I'd like to offer you the position of being my personal assistant. Unless, of course, you have other ideas as to what position you wish to occupy."

 

Jade frowned when he gave her a warning. "I don't like where this is going, and I don't even have a clue as to what the hell you're talking about," she said, letting out a sigh. She chewed her lip nervously as he poured himself a glass. He had to prepare himself for this? She was most certainly in the dog house. Wasn't that usually for men? Jace brought up the text message and her eyes widened to the size of sauce pans. "You've got to be kidding me," she mumbled, burying her face in her hands again. She applied pressure on her temples, regretting what she had said earlier. She really wished that this wouldn't have happened, that he wouldn't have had to bring it up.  Did he think that this was from the man that she told him she had been messing around with? That wasn't even true, she was just messing with his head! "Well, I did take a picture, most likely the one that you are referring to, yes. How it got into your inbox, I'm not entirely sure. I mean, I was with my friends last night, maybe they took my phone and - oh, my God! I was joking with them about how I was interested in a man that I worked with. They must have found your number in my contacts since it was synced with my email and assumed that I was talking about you!" Her face went beet red as she recalled the night. "I guess you don't have to show me anything, because I already showed you," she joked, letting out a laugh. Seconds later, she realized that must have been the alcohol talking. "Sorry, that was inappropriate. I apologize. This was all inappropriate. How can I make up for this? I clearly have poor decision-making skills if I hang out with friends that send out my private pictures, you may as well fire me on the spot." Her gaze dropped to the floor, embarrassed that something of this magnitude had worked its way into her life, a life that was going quite well for her. "I'm terribly sorry, Mr. Barker. I am so, so sorry. What can I do to maintain my internship?"

 

Owen nodded. "Excellent," he said, extending a hand for her to shake, "Welcome aboard, Miss Sparks. I'd also like to invite you to move your things into the office right next door." He motioned for her to take a seat, surprised that she had not yet done so. "As you know, the man that used to occupy the room was let go a few months back and the space is now vacant. We will be separated by a thin wall, rather than fifty yards. I wouldn't want you working out there all by yourself once the other interns are dismissed, that would be pointless." A smile grew on his face as he checked the clock that floated around on his computer monitor, indicating that their work day was nearly over. "I expect you to come to work tomorrow prepared for more of a work load than ever. Obviously, I want you to complete your studies and eventually come to TP full time, where I hope that you will rise to the occasion and begin working your way up the corporate ladder. I've got high hopes for you, Jenna. I can help you get where you need to go, you just can't let me down." Deep down, a part of him hoped that his assistance would continue outside of the office. He wanted to expand on what little knowledge he had of her, hopefully trace down the reason as to why they had never met, despite growing up mere miles from each other. "I know things between us have been... complicated, to say the least, but I hope to change that. Before long, my schedule will become your schedule and you'll know information that is relevant to my position of my company like the back of your hand. This is very give and take, Jenna, in the way that it isn't always about me. We need to meet halfway, you know, compromise. I can't just give away all of my business secrets to you; sometimes, I need something in return." He knew that it was her dream to change the face of pharmaceutical business, and he wasn't exactly sure how he was going to help her get there quite yet, but he was aware that he wouldn't show her the tricks of the trade without a price. With that, he rose from his seat and slid on his jacket. "It's time to head home," he said, grabbing a few books from the floor and cradling them gently in the crook of his elbow for him to take home. "Would you mind if I escorted you to your desk and out of the building?"

Jace tried to remain calm, cool, and collected. He really, really did. But when Jade said he had every right to fire her because her friends sent out some risque photographs of her, he lost it. He kneeled over the desk, laughing quite loudly as he did his best not to spill any of his alcoholic beverage. "Jade, darling, you really know how to bring a smile to my face," he said between chuckles as he finally rose his head back up for air. "You don't have to apologize for it, nor making corny jokes about the incident. Trust me." In fact, he wished he could award her friends, buy them each a new, expensive car for making his day just a bit brighter. "It was a silly joke, and I can only imagine the kick they got out of it." It took him a minute to realize those pictures were intended for another man. Or, originally they were. The man she had a crush on, from the office. "May I ask you one more question, and then give you the opportunity to ask me anything your little heart desires? It can be business related if you wish, but I promise you I'm much more interesting than that," he joked, taking another sip of his drink. He kicked his feet out as he thought of how to word it without sounding meddling or pushy. "I'm just curious as to who in here you have a crush on. If you want, I can set the two of you up on a project and get the ball rolling." Ah, great save. Try to hook the two of them up. Or would that make him seem uninterested? God, he hoped she didn't get the wrong idea. "At least tell me what department he's in, and I can just guess." He smirked, jumping off the table and walking back toward the mini bar. This time, he didn't bother with refilling the glass. He simply plucked the bottle off of the glass countertop and returned to his original seat atop the desk. Unscrewing the bottle, he refilled Jade's glass. Then he brought it back to his own lips, where he took a good, long chug.

Ah, no worries! I love your idea, actually, it keeps both plots from being exactly the same. And thank you, same to you and your model!

---

Jade bit her lip nervously as Jace was unable to stifle a laughing fit. She furrowed her brow, trying to figure out what she said that had been so damn funny. Did he just call her darling? "I can give you some hints!" she yelled excitedly, hoping to make this a little more entertaining for her and more like a game for him. "Well, I don't know much about him, but I am aware that he loves exerting his power and has a tendency to say one thing but mean another." Of course she was talking about Jace! How much more obvious did she need to be?! She took a long drink from her glass when he refilled it. This glass tasted more bitter and must have been more potent than the others when it came to the actual alcohol content. When she had finished her glass, she motioned for him to pass the bottle to her. This was going to be an interesting evening for her, that much was for sure. She had a sudden urge to check her watch and found that it was almost time for the work day to be over. Unfortunately, she would have to walk home in such a state because she lived just down the block from the building. Before he could ask her anything else, she decided to dive straight into asking him a question. "I want to ask you what you were like while you were in college," she said with a small smile. "If you drink this much now as head of your own business, what were you like?" She didn't give him a chance to speak before she started to ramble on about what she thought he would have been like. "I feel like you were quite the frat boy, but sort of a classy one. You're young with a ton of money and you dress nicely, so you must have come from a good home...tell me, Jace, what were you like?"

 

Owen grabbed his things out of his office and made sure to check his pockets before he locked the room behind him. As long as he had his phone, wallet, and keys, he could live without everything until the next work day. After they stopped by Jenna's work station, they headed towards the elevator to exit the building. They stepped inside and found themselves alone, once again. "This keeps happening to us," he mumbled, his voice somehow audible enough that he elicited a laugh from Jenna. When the chrome doors slid open and they found themselves on the main floor, he exited promptly with her and made sure to wave at his receptionist on their way out. He held open the door for Jenna and they proceeded to walk out onto the sidewalk and towards the parking lot where Jenna had parked her car a few hours prior. Ah, so much had happened in just a short few hours. His attempts at sorting out their relationship had backfired; a majority of his interns had turned against him; and he had even managed to pull Jenna in under his wing. "If you don't mind my asking," he said suddenly, turning to look at her as they walked, "what made you choose to attend UNV Las Vegas? I graduated from the same university four years ago with a degree in business and finance. I grew up just north of Ely and my parents were vets, so I knew I wanted to get into some kind of vet medicine." He turned to look at her again, hoping she would be open to the topic that he had chosen for the conversation. He wanted it to appear that he was just creating small talk when he was really trying to identify why they had never met, despite growing up in the same home town.