James's PA
Mrs Haward smiled while reading the message and finally laid down to sleep with a smile plastered on her face.
In the morning, Jason and Julia stepped out of the room already dressed and ready for work. Jason wanted Julia to eat breakfast before they left the house, so they went to the dining area. Mrs Haward joined them a few minutes later, followed by Grandpa and Mirenda, who walked in at the same time with Grandpa trailing behind Mirenda.
"Where is your brother," asked Mrs Haward.
"He didn't come home last night," Mirenda replied.
"I thought I heard him," Mrs Haward said, and Mirenda shrugged her shoulders.
"Flea, how are you?" Mrs Haward asked, looking at Julia, but Julia kept her head down.
Jason shot his mother a look as he placed a hand on Julia's hand, assuring her he was with her.
"What, is it a crime to greet?" Mrs Haward asked, looking at Jason.
"Mum, please, she is my wife and her name is Julia. Please don't call her by any other name," Jason said, sounding serious, and Grandpa smiled.
Mirenda and Mrs Haward were both surprised to hear Jason defend Julia in her presence, but nobody said anything. Jason poured Julia a cup of tea and placed some sandwiches on her plate, to the surprise of everyone.
"Hello everyone," came James's voice, drawing everyone's attention to the dining hall entrance to find James standing there with a woman.
From head to toe, the woman was wearing a very tight top that exposed her belly, a very short black leather skirt with a split on the side and a very long up-to-the-knee 7-inch-heel leather boot.
"Everyone, meet my new PA," James announced with a smile.
"Your what?" asked Jason.
"I got myself a PA," James repeated with a smile. "You can understand the work is a lot and having a PA would help in executing some of my duties effectively," he explained, putting both hands into his pocket.
The lady smiled, striking a pose and placing her hand on her hips like she was advertising a dress on a fashion runway.
"Oh boy this is not going to end well," thought Mirenda, whose gaze was alternating between Jason and James, waiting to see what would happen next, seeing the look on Jason's face.
"James, come with me to the study," Jason said with a cold expression, and got up from behind the dining table.
"Sure, she is called Barbara Johnson by the way," James announced, before leaving with Jason and showing the lady to the living room.
The lady catwalked and made herself comfortable on the sofa after James and Jason were gone.
In the dining area, Mrs Haward remained silent as she ate her breakfast like nothing was wrong. Grandpa ate his food in silence and Julia focused on drinking her tea, touching nothing else on the table in the absence of Jason. Mirenda just left the dining area.
In Jason's study, Jason closed the door shut once James was inside. James strode in, not bothered about the angry expression on Jason's face. On the contrary, he was smiling with his left hand inside his pocket.
Looking around the study, he made himself comfortable on the sofa inside the nicely decorated office.
"You already have a secretary who also functions as a PA. What happened to him?" Jason questioned once James was seated.
"He is there," James replied nonchalantly, placing one leg over the other. "But I work better with women," he added and smiled, seeing nothing wrong with his actions.
"Did you read the details of your contract?" Jason questioned, leaning against the table with his arms crossed over his chest after typing a few things on his phone and sending them.
"Nope, I didn't," James replied honestly, and Jason frowned.
"You have a secretary and he duals as your PA. So, you don't need a second PA." Jason replied.
"Okay, then the secretary is fired. I work well with women, not men. So that male secretary goes and Barbara stays," James replied sternly.
"What is her qualification," Jason asked, knowing James, he very much knew he had just picked this lady because she pleased his eyes.
"Er, er, er," James stammered. "I will check and let you know," he finally said, raising his brows.
"I will tell you. She doesn't have one. No corporate business will take you seriously, let alone work with you if you have a half-naked woman parading herself behind you as your PA. If you intend to run a club, of course, you will get a lot of clients," Jason said, and James looked at him unconcerned.
"If you have forgotten, that is not the kind of business we are running. I don't want to see her in the office and that is final," Jason said sternly, and James was surprised.
"You know, for someone who has lived his entire life avoiding women, it surprises me you can tell a lot about a woman by just looking at one," James pointed out.
"When you don't like something, you study it," Jason said and began to walk away, but he paused after placing his hand on the doorknob.
"One more thing, she is not sleeping in my house tonight," Jason added, and left the study.
James frowned, "We will see about that," he said, and also left the study and went straight to find his mother.
Jason didn't return to the dining area but went straight to the bedroom and found Julia sitting on the sofa reading a book. He was immediately calm, and his gaze became a lot gentler. His face also relaxed, and his heart became warm. Julia lifted her head to see who had entered the room and immediately tensed up upon seeing him. Jason frowned again, reading her reaction. He wished deep down she would feel relaxed around him. He didn't mind before, but now he does. He didn't like the fear he read in Julia's eyes anytime she saw him, but yet he was not sure how to talk to her about it. He stared at her briefly and took long strides into the bathroom. Julia, on the other hand, had caught a glimpse of Jason's calm state and hence felt she was the reason he was angry just now. She really couldn't understand him. One minute he is all nice and gentle towards her, the next he is staring angrily at her.
Julia was not in the right mind when he moved her from her home to his apartment. It was the period when her mother had died. Occupying herself with work gradually aided in her recovery from the incident. Just when she felt she was recovering, the dinner date happened, and she hadn't been able to forget that night on the 7th floor. Naturally, she had started liking Jason, staying around him for that long.
Thinking about it, they have only slept together twice, the night they both woke up married and the night on the 7th floor. Of these two, she only remembers how she felt with him on their second time together, the night on the 7th floor.
There are days Jason will just stare at her without saying anything and peck her on the lips. She does feel she wants more than just a peck on the lips, but she, again, doesn't know how to tell him and there are days he will just get angry and not talk to her for no reason. Either way, he was always looking at her, his gaze mostly gentle. She inhaled deeply as all these thoughts flooded her mind. She wondered if they would go to work anytime soon, as Jason was still in the bathroom.
In Mrs Haward's room.
"Mum, the only way I can do what you are asking me, is to let me get my working tools. I have got my PA and I need Jason to accept her in the company," James said, looking angry.
"Come down son, so you want your own personally recruited PA," Mrs Haward asked him to confirm.
"Yes Mum," James replied, calming himself down.
"Good, consider it done," Mrs Haward replied and James smiled and hugged her.
"You are the best," James said, and left his mother's room and went back to the living room.
Barbara got up and followed him to his room as soon as she saw him entering the living room. Once in the room, James didn't waste a second stripping her of her clothes and carrying her to bed. Jason was right, Barbara didn't have any qualifications, James had picked her because she was pleasing to his eyes.
In Jason's room, Jason returned to the bedroom where Julia was patiently waiting for him.
"Let's go," Jason said and Julia got up and followed him out of the bedroom, running into Mrs Haward.
"Mum," Jason said.
"I need to speak with you briefly," Mrs Haward said. "Privately," she added, looking at Julia.
"Please wait for me in the car," Jason said to Julia, and she headed out while Jason led Mrs Haward back to his room.
"Jason, it is about James," Mrs Haward started, and Jason frowned, knowing what she was about to say.
"Mum," Jason began.
"Please hear me out," Mrs Haward interrupted.
"You see, there is this friend of mine who asked me to help her daughter," Mrs Haward said and Jason frowned. "Yes, that is her daughter. She was working in a club and I asked James to help her. Please, don't send her away," she pleaded, and Jason looked at her with an eyebrow raised.
"I promised her I would help her daughter. Please help me help her," Mrs Haward said, looking at him with pleading eyes.
Jason looked at his mother, thinking about her request, unable to refuse her. He just accepted. He could always assign her to simple tasks if she didn't have any qualifications for which he was sure she didn't.
"Okay, fine, I am doing this just for you Mum, so you can honour your promise to your friend. I will speak with a couple of my friends and see where she will fit best in the future," Jason said, and Mrs Haward smiled.
"But I would only do that on one condition," Jason said.
"You name it, she will comply," Mrs Haward said enthusiastically.
"She will need to change her wardrobe and dress properly for work. She can stay here today, but tomorrow, James will have to find her a place. I don't want her here," Jason asked, and Mrs Haward agreed.
Jason left with Mrs Haward towards the living room to find James and the lady kissing in the living room and Jason frowned.
"PA, you say?" Jason said, looking at Mrs Haward.
"James, don't you have a limit? My friend's daughter?" Mrs Haward said and James immediately understood.
Jason looked at James and Barbara and frowned, looking at the pink and white mini cocktail dress with high heels she had changed into. She looked like she was going to carry drinks on a tray and serve clients in a bar.
"She can't bring that to the office. Change into something decent or forget about working in the company," Jason said, and headed for the door, not wanting to discuss what he had seen earlier.
"Be careful, and don't do anything stupid?" said Mrs Haward, before leaving James and Barbara in the living room.
The side of James' lips curled up, hearing what Jason said. He knew his mother had something to do with it. Still rooted to his spot, he stared at the door where Jason had left and he smiled.
"Well, you heard the boss, change what you are wearing," James said to Barbara and she smiled.
"I hope he will like what I am going to change into," Barbara said with a smile.