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Beth picked up the donut box and started eating the rest of the donut.
“Rats always come back when they find free food,” Beth commented.
“Beth!”
“Mark my words.”
* * *
The next day Jessica woke to Beth yelling squeak, squeak!
Jessica ran down the steps to see Beth tapping her foot and pointing outside. When Jessica looked she saw Brian, Clay and a team of men she didn’t know moving material around. As if he sensed her Brian turned and came to her.
“Brian, what are you doing?”
“According to you, I’m doing my part.”
“You’re…”
“Building some cabanas, absolutely. You know part of being a great CFO is being able to listen,” he said in a chipper voice.
“Well, then, stop now and tell Pilar you fold.”
“And why would I do that?”
“If listening is the key to success, I’ve got more years doing it than you,” Jessica quipped back. She turned to finish what she was doing indoors and expected Brian to turn away in a huff. Instead, she heard him laughing.
Jessica turned to see him going back to the guys. They were both trying to impress Pilar, but he was still himself. In fact, he could still joke with her. There was something about that flexibility that made her have butterflies in her stomach and raised her body temp.
Jessica always thought she would never be in that group that would indulge in an office romance, but Brian had her seeing how a person could slip down the path. Brian had a way of seeing the woman beneath all of the numbers. He seemed to take a little extra time to listen to Jessica, that was Jessica the person and not Jessica the assistant.
It was amazing to finally be seen and at the same time it put her in new waters. That wasn't the only change that was going on, though. Jessica was building this office space for the board members in the hopes that she would be able to show Pilar that she not only knew about numbers but about functionality and how to be able to cater to the needs of the people.
All of her thoughts and concerns were confirmed when Pilar showed up to take a look around the Shell. It wasn't lost on Jessica that Pilar saw her and Brian working on the project. When Pilar entered, she looked around and then nodded to Jessica.
“Things are moving along I see.”
Jessica nodded and smiled. In retrospect she felt like such a dork. She should have showcased all that she had done but instead she was starstruck that Pilar had even showed up in the interim. When Pilar left, Brian came over.
“You okay?” he asked.
Jessica nodded and looked up.
“You know, that was a great time for you to talk to Pilar.”
“No, it wasn't.”
Jessica looked at Brian and wondered what kind of man he was all over again.
“Ah, cute. Jessica, I can see you are confused. You think I should have jumped in while you were awestruck with Pilar.”
“To be honest it wouldn’t have been the first time that someone jumped in and tried to make themselves look better at my expense.”
Brian found a strand of her hair and twirled it once and then tucked it behind her ear.
“I’m sorry for that, Jessica. You are the last person who deserves that.”
With that he just walked away. Jessica turned away hoping no one would see her red face.
