Company Emergency
"I hope he will like what I am going to change into," Barbara said with a smile.
James chuckled as he watched Barbara go back to the room. His mind quickly drifted off to Julia once Barbara was away.
"I must find a way to deal with this girl. I will have her one way or another," James thought.
A couple of minutes later, Barbara returned to the living room, wearing a tight jumpsuit which showed all her curves. It had a low back and cut-out circles at both sides of her waist. The dress also had the front cut out where part of her chest was exposed.
"Is this better?" Barbara asked, placing her hands on her hips and giving James a 360 turn.
"This is worse than what she was wearing earlier," James thought, looking at Barbara. "But anyway, I will sign up for anything that will annoy Jason," he thought, smiling. "It's perfect," he complimented and offered her his arms.
Barbara smiled and happily held on to James's arms as they both walked towards the door. He opened the door and Mirenda walked in. Her eyes widened, looking at Barbara.
"Are you going to work?" Mirenda asked curiously, looking at Barbara dressed like she was going to a party.
"Yes, I am," Barbara said excitedly. Mirenda looked at her and her gaze shifted to James, who frowned.
'What! Is something wrong?" Barbara asked with a confused expression.
"Oh! Nothing," Mirenda replied and quickly left for her room.
Mrs Haward had just entered the living room and saw Barbara. She froze in her steps looking at how she was dressed.
"O mine God," Mrs Haward exclaimed before she could stop herself and quickly forced a smile which looked awkward. "You look amazing," she said, and Barbara smiled.
James and Barbara left the house for the office. Mrs Haward held her chest as if she was having a heart attack. Mirenda looked at her questioningly.
"Mum is everything okay?" Mirenda asked with concern, moving close to Mrs Haward.
"I am fine, I just didn't realize James picked a stripper for a PA. Who dresses like that for work?" Mrs Haward commented and Mirenda shrugged her shoulders.
At the office, architecture department, Julia was busy working on multiple designs for different projects. They had a contract to build a flat at a specific location, so she was working on the designs for the flats. Something simple but very executive. The head of the department was constantly impressed by her commitment to her work and the amazing designs she put together.
"Good job Julia, our last client was super excited about the design for the renovation of his house. Perfect utilization of space. Keep up with the good work," the head of the department praised, and Julia smiled.
"Thank you, sir," Julia replied with a smile and continued with the work while the smile remained on her face.
Jason was sitting behind his monitor watching Julia. He zoomed in on her when she smiled. He had never seen her smile like that. Jason watched Julia's face as if memorizing every part of her face together with her smile. It made him smile too. His gaze shifted to the door when his secretary walked in with a worried expression.
"Sir, we have a serious problem," the secretary announced, and Jason frowned.
"Last night, the report from our company in Washington was okay. The numbers and everything were perfect. This morning, the whole company is running into bankruptcy," the secretary announced, and Jason's frown deepened. "I have already booked a flight to the place to check what is happening," he added.
"Okay," Jason replied, and his gaze shifted to the monitor, "Julia," he thought.
Jason wished he could take Julia along, but she needed to complete the designs for the flat.
"Forget the flight, get the helicopter, let's move in half an hour. Send the guard in on your way out," Jason instructed, and the secretary acknowledged.
"Boss," the guard entered.
"I am going on a trip to Washington in half an hour. I want you to guard Julia and keep me updated on everything. Do you understand?" Jason said and the guard nodded. "Get me, Julia," he added, and dismissed the guard.
The guard, as requested by Jason, proceeded to Julia's department. After greeting the head of the department, he requested to see Julia and he permitted it. The guard left with Julia for Jason's office using the elevator. The guard opened the door for Julia to enter Jason's office, and she walked in with a blank expression on her face.
"Have a seat," Jason said, pointing to the sofa, and Julia nodded, heading for the sofa.
Jason got up from behind the desk and followed Julia. They both sat on the same sofa opposite each other.
"How are you today?" Jason inquired and Julia smiled.
"I am doing very well. How are you?" Julia replied with a smile.
"Good," Jason replied, his gaze very gentle.
"I am going on a trip in a couple of minutes. It's a company emergency," Jason said, and the smile vanished from Julia's face as she lowered her head.
Julia thought about how she was going to live in Jason's apartment alone with his family. Seeing the sad look on her face, Jason got up and went to sit next to her. Julia pushed to the side, making room for Jason.
Jason placed his hand under Julia's chin, lifting her head to see her face. He stared into her eyes, and it was not fear he saw, but sadness.
"I will be back soon. I promise. I will return once the problem is fixed," Jason said and Julia nodded. "You can stay on the 7th floor. Here are the keys to the apartment," he said, and placed the keys in Julia's palm, closing her palm and she nodded. "I will get Veronica, the cook, to tend to your needs," he informed her.
"Thank you," Julia said weakly and tilted her head to the side, rubbing her thumb on the keys in her hand.
Jason got up, went to his drawer and returned with a box which he handed to her. "Open it," he said, sitting back down next to her.
Julia looked at the box in her hand, looked at Jason and back to the box. She broke the seal and opened it. Inside the box was a new phone.
"I have already set it up and saved my number on it," Jason said, and opened the contact screen, where Julia saw Mr Haward.
"If you need anything, call me," Jason said softly, and Julia nodded.
There was a knock on the door and the guard entered.
"Sir, the helicopter is ready and up on the roof," the guard announced, and Jason nodded and dismissed him.
He turned to look at Julia.
"I have to go now. You can go back to work. I will call you when I arrive in Washington," Jason said, and Julia nodded, but Jason saw her eyes had become tearer.
Jason kissed Julia's forehead, gave her a peck on the lips and stood up to leave, but Julia held his hand, stopping him. Jason turned to look at her, and she got up from the sofa. She looked at him for a while and hugged him tightly. Jason froze for a while but relaxed and hugged her back.
Jason walked Julia to the door and told the guard to escort her back to her department. He went up to the roof and sat in the helicopter and it took off.
James and Barbara arrived at the office as soon as the helicopter took off. James walked in with Barbara hooked to his arms, drawing attention to themselves while they walked into the office.
Julia returned to her department holding the box in her hand. She put it in her bag. She and Jason may not be like the normal happy couple, but she likes him and feels unhappy he had to leave. She went back to the drawing to distract herself.
James arrived on the second floor and, after letting Barbara into his office, decided to find out from the secretary if Jason was around.
"No sir, he went on an emergency trip," the secretary explained.
"Okay, who went with him?" James inquired.
"Sir, Mr Haward went with his secretary," replied the secretary.
"Okay," James said and entered his office. "Great, Jason is not around," he thought.
"I could do to Julia, whatever I want," James smiled as he walked towards his desk after closing the door behind him.
He was about to kiss Barbara, who was sitting on his desk swinging her legs, when he noticed his office walls were now glass. The other employees can now see what is going on in his office even though they can't hear what he says inside his office. He stormed out of the room and called out to the secretary angrily.
"Who did this?" James questioned angrily.
"Sir is Mr Haward. It was done early this morning," the secretary explained.
"Jason, you son of a bitch," James murmured.