People Will Say We’re in Love-Chapter 3

 

"So," Jax stated into the phone as he opened the dossier on J&J Jacks’ newest employee. "This is all we know about the newest member of the team."

"Yes," Chancey, one of the vice presidents, answered. "She’s young, but she’s the best qualified for the job. She spent several years as an intern for Molota, Inc. at their headquarters in Japan. Actually, they were throwing money at her to get her to stay."

He skimmed the information. "So why didn’t she take the offer?"

"Well, it seems that she missed the US," he said simply.

"Okay," he said absently as he checked his watch. She had a few more seconds before their meeting. He looked up when he heard a knock at the door. "I’ll talk to you later," he said hanging up the phone. "Come in," he prompted.

Promptly at 9:00, Esmerelda entered the office. She walked over to his desk and extended her hand as he stood up. "Good morning, Mr. Jacks. I’m Esmerelda Johnson."

He was all but taken aback by her. She exuded professionalism. He could tell she was all business. He shook her extended hand. "Good morning, Ms. Johnson. You are just on time," he noted as he gestured for her to sit down.

"Thank you, sir," she said sitting down and crossing her legs. "Promptness is very important. Being late wastes time, and we cannot afford to waste time."

He smiled. "My, you are a woman after my own heart. Yes, wasting time means wasting money, and I do not like to waste money." She smiled. He noted that she had a beautiful smile, actually he found that she was breathtakingly beautiful. What client could turn her down? "Why did you decide to leave Molota?"

He cut right to the chase. She smiled again and sat back further in her chair. "I missed the US. My friends and family are all here, and I needed a change."

"I think that there has to more than that," he hypothesized.

"All right, the whole truth. Molota is a wonderful place to work, and I have learned a lot there, but I felt that I needed more growth. Actually, I saw that J&J Jacks was looking into going into business with Molota, Inc. I figured that it was only a matter of time before you acquired it any way, so I thought that I would just cut out the middle man."

He was impressed. Laughing, he said, "You are quite a find for us, I must say. You are also quite right. I want Molota, Inc., and I will get it."

"That’s what I thought," she said offering another smile. She saw that everything that had been said about Jasper Jacks was true. He was extremely handsome and certainly not incredibly humble. Quite a find for some lucky girl, or so her friends back in Japan thought, anyway. He was involved with the designer Chloe Morgan, so she always told them, that she was that lucky girl.

"Have you had breakfast yet?" he asked breaking her from her thoughts. She shook her head. "Great, neither have I. Not a real breakfast anyway. What say you to our breakfasting while I introduce you to your new job."

"That would be fine," she said rising to join him. "So, you conduct orientations for your own new employees?"

"No, not usually, only those that I want to. The PC Grill has excellent breakfast. Shall we?" he asked opening the door for her.

"Ned, so when do you leave?" Alexis asked tersely.

He was a little tired of fighting with her everyday about this tour. "Alexis, we discussed this. You knew that I was going to do this. I need to do this. You were supportive about this before."

"That was before I spent over nine months sneaking around to spend any time with you. Why do you have to do this now? We just got engaged, Ned. We have a wedding to plan, a future to plan for."

He threw his menu on the table. "I really don’t want to discuss this with you right now. I have some things I need to take care of today, any way." He stood up from the table. "Enjoy your breakfast," he said before walking away.

She closed her eyes and sighed. She had never needed Ned to be with her more than she did now. He couldn’t understand that she needed him to be there for her because she had never felt lonelier. She hated being needy, but she was, and he couldn’t understand that. Being married to Jax had definitely spoiled her. She put her elbows on the table and buried her face in her hands.

Soon, she felt a hand on her back. "Are you all right?" she heard him ask her.

She looked up and smiled. "You know, I was just thinking, you really spoiled me when we were married."

"Well, what are husbands for. Ex-wife, I would like you to meet Esmerelda Johnson. She’s our newest addition to the company. This is Alexis Davis, our lawyer, and my ex-wife."

"Nice to meet you," Alexis said shaking her hand.

"Yes, I’ve heard a lot about you," Esmerelda said. "You are quite a distinguished lawyer, I’ve heard."

"That depends on what you consider distinguished. You’re new in town, I don’t remember seeing you around."

"Yes, I just got here Saturday morning. I’ve been in Japan for the last four years," she told her,

"Wow. You said you got here Saturday morning. You must be going through some serious jet lag right now," Alexis said.

She shrugged slightly. "Well, we must make sacrifices for our jobs sometimes, even if it is sleep. Actually, I was supposed to leave a week ago, but there was a last minute problem, and I just couldn’t leave before it was solved. I’ve been told that I’m quite anal retentive."

Jax laughed. "Isn’t she great, Alexis. I think that Chancey deserves a raise. Would you like to join us for breakfast?"

She sighed and checked her watch. "I would love to, but I think that I’m just going to get take-out. I’m meeting with…"she paused before continuing. "Um, a client soon."

"A client? Dare I ask who this client is?"

"I’m meeting with Sonny. We have some things to go over about some contracts, that’s all."

"I assume you’re talking about Sonny Corinthos," Esmerelda said.

"Yes, do you know Sonny?" Alexis asked.

"Only that I’m living with him right now. He’s my cousin."

Alexis smiled and looked over at Jax and saw the look on is face. "That’s interesting. You’re Sonny’s cousin." She stood up to leave. "Well, I will just have to tell him what a charming cousin he has. It was very nice to meet you." She whispered to Jax before she left. "Be careful with this one."

They sat down at their table. "Do you know Sonny, too?" she asked him noting that he was a little withdrawn now. Obviously he and Sonny were not friends.

"Yes, we know each other. Does Sonny know you’re working for me?"

She shook her head. "No, he doesn’t. I didn’t tell him, why? Look, I know that you married Brenda Barrett, and Sonny was going to marry her. I can’t say that I don’t know the connection between you there."

"Yes, that is a big connection. I don’t think that if he knew you were working or me, he would like that," he warned her.

She shrugged. "I don’t really care. This is business. Don’t tell me that the two of you are still at odds about that whole thing."

"That’s a long story."

"So, Jax," a blonde woman said spotting them and coming over. "I have been replaced already?"

He looked up and said, "Hello, Chloe. Can I help you with something?"

She looked pointedly at Esmerelda. "No, but it seems that you’ve already helped yourself to her."

Esmerelda held her tongue as she looked over at Jax. She saw that he was more amused about the situation than angry. She even felt herself begin to smile under the woman’s scrutiny. So, this was Chloe Morgan, and there seemed to be trouble on the homefront.

"Chloe, please," he said. "I’m in the middle of a business breakfast, and you’re not doing yourself any favors by making a scene. We came to a mutual decision about our relationship, and if she were my date, it would be none of your business. Good day, Chloe," he said obviously dismissing her.

"So," he said once she left. "What do you think about your boss now?"

"I think that it’s going to be very interesting working for you, Mr. Jacks."

 

"Hello," Alexis said entering the penthouse. "How was your appointment with Carly?"

"Wonderful," Sonny said smiling. "At least when she wasn’t speaking. So, do you have those contracts? We should get business out of the way, and then you can tell me what’s bothering you."

She handed him the contracts and sat down on the couch. "Am I that transparent?" she asked sighing. "Well, I guess you could say that something is bothering me. Ned is still going on tour for L&B. I feel like I’m being unfair to him, but I really don’t care. I want him to be here with me; is that too much to ask for?"

Sonny quickly signed the contracts and brought them over to her. "I don’t think so. You’ve told him how you felt, right?"

"Countless times, ad naseaum. I’m tired of hearing me say it," she said laughing lightly. "Either he doesn’t care, or it really doesn’t matter. Either way, I’m out of luck." She wanted to change the subject. "I saw your cousin today."

"Really, you saw Esmerelda. Where did you see her? This is her day at her new job. Did you see her there?" Sonny asked.

"I saw her at the PC Grille. She seems like a very charming young lady."

Sonny smiled. "Thank you. The PC Grille; that’s an odd place for her to be when she’s supposed to be at work."

"Well," Alexis said smiling. She knew that he would be surprised when he found out who she was working for. "She was working. It was a business lunch with the boss, no less."

"Wow, my little cousin is surely making a name for herself. Who is this boss she was with? She never told me where she was working."

"Promise me that you won’t get upset or anything," Alexis made him promise.

"Why would I get upset? She isn’t working for ELQ is she? Well, even if she is, since I’m on the board, I’ll look out for her."

She shook her head. "No, she’s not working for ELQ, but she is working for J&J Jacks."

"She’s working with Jax. I can’t believe this. Well, I’ll just have to put a stop to that," Sonny said determined. No family member of his would ever work with the likes of Jax.

"Now," Alexis said attempting to reason with him. "I’ve only just met her, and I can see that she is a determined woman. If you tell her she can’t work where she wants to, she will only resent you and still continue her job. My best advice would be to let this go. I know that you don’t particularly trust Jax, but I promise you that working with him will not do her much harm. If you want, I will even keep an eye on her for you."

Sonny nodded. He knew she was right. Esmerelda had her own mind and exercised it often. She would not take any advice he had to give where Jax was concerned. "You’re right, Alexis. Okay, I won’t make a big deal about this. Thank you for agreeing to look after my cousin. She doesn’t think that she needs it, but she always could use someone watching her back."

"No problem. So, has she met Carly? I would love to know what she thinks about her," she asked laughing.

He smiled. "Yes, actually they met this morning. Of course, Carly put her foot in her mouth and made a bad impression. Nothing unusual, I’m afraid. I think that Esmerelda wasn’t too put off by her though, she usually isn’t. I don’t know why Carly seeks to offend every person she meets."

"I think maybe it’s because she doesn’t know how to act around people. I’m sorry to say it, but there aren’t too many positive things in her life. Maybe this baby along with Michael will make her mellow out some. You can only hope, right." She looked at her watch. "Well, time does fly. I’m due at Wyndemere very soon. Thanks for lending an ear, Sonny," she said picking up her briefcase and rising.

"Well, anytime," he said smiling and escorting her to the door. "Things will work out for you, Alexis," he promised her.

"Thanks. Things will work out for the both of us. I’ll talk to you later."

 

"So, how was your first day at you new job?" Sonny asked when she entered the penthouse.

She smiled. She knew from his tone that he knew where she was working and was obviously not very pleased by it. "It was wonderful. I think that I’m going to become one of those weird people that actually love going to work everyday and hate the weekends. I take it that you know that I’m working at J&J Jacks. I honestly did not think that would be a problem for you, though," she said taking off her shoes.

"I’m not going to say anything about that. As long as you’re happy, I’m going to support you. Just be careful with him. So, what were your first impressions of the illustrious Jasper Jacks?" he asked wanting to really know what she thought about him.

"He’s a marvelous business person. I think I could learn a lot from him," she said simply.

"That’s all?"

She shrugged. "What else is there? Oh, I did meet his ex-girlfriend today, the designer Chloe Morgan. She was a very interesting person."

"You said ex-girlfriend. Are you sure about that? I didn’t think they had broken-up."

"Well, I assumed she was an ex. She accused me of being his newest conquest when she saw us at breakfast this morning," she laughed. "She couldn’t be further from the truth. But, as it goes, I am tired. I’m going to throw myself into a very hot, bubble bath. What do you want to do for dinner?"

"I’m going to cook of course. How long has it been since you’ve tasted some of my very fine cuisine."

"Ah, it has been a very long time," she said. "Ever since I visited you in Puerto Rico, much too long ago. I won’t take to long in the bath," she promised.

"You’d better not. When dinner’s finished, it’s finished," he shouted up at her and laughed. It was very refreshing to have her there.