Adam sat down and turned his chair to face the window. It was a cloudy day but to him, the sky was clear with birds singing happily. Okay, maybe that was a bit much. But he couldn’t help the way he was feeling. He had some more planning to do before Wednesday morning.
This Paris trip was thrown in his lap by the relationship gods, he wasn’t going to screw it up. Right now, he needed to think of answers to questions that he knew Jeanette would have for him.
He heard his email beep. It was Henry, from the Paris office, it read:
Heard you were coming with the new person. Wishing you a safe trip. Maybe we can get together and paint the town. Wife back from her mother-in-law. Good to have a couple more Americans in this Paris soufflé. Later.
Henry was one of a few Americans sent to the Paris office after it opened a few years ago. He wasn’t happy. He was at first, but his wife soon put a damper on that when she basically became a frequent shopper at all the exclusive shops along the Champs Elysees.
Ironically, Adam wanted Jeanette to do a little shopping. He was going to treat her to the best time in Paris a woman could have.
And that included romance.
Chapter Ten
The week seemed to have flown by. It was already Tuesday morning, almost a full two weeks on her job. Tomorrow late afternoon she would be flying to Paris. Jeanette was thrilled. The first thing she wanted to do was go to her favorite lingerie store—Vannina Vesperini. Nothing like custom fittings.
She checked her email as soon as she got to her desk. Nothing from travel yet. They were kinda pushing it with time. Shelia knew she was to leave tomorrow. Jeanette just wanted to make sure that everything was in order and if there was a problem, she could change it.
Feeling a bit uneasy, she walked to Adam’s office.
She peaked her head in and saw that he was on the phone. He made eye contact with her and pointed to a chair next to him.
“I’ll be off soon,” he mouthed to her.
She sat down and took a good look around his office.
It was a mess. How he worked in these conditions she didn’t know. There where computers all around—loose, not plugged in. Boxes of computer parts strewn all over the floor. Bunches of wires, either in a tangle mess or coiled and tied together.
This was definitely geek territory.
“Okay dear, what can I do for you?” Adam was hanging up the phone when she turned her attention back to him.
“Did you get your confirmation back from travel yet?”
“Uh, no, I was going to ask you the same thing. I know they’re very busy. They’re down two people.”
“Oh.”
“Don’t worry, you’ll definitely get it before departure.” He smiled at her. God, his face was absolutely breathtaking.
“I’m not really worried about that. I wanted to make sure they got everything right. I don’t even know what hotel I’ll be staying at. Oh! I forgot you’ve been there. Is there a particular hotel they use? Is it nice?”
“Yes, it’s very nice. And don’t worry, they can crank out itineraries with their eyes close.”
“Alright, then. I’ll let you get back to your work.”
“Stay for a minute, unless you’re busy.”
Adam’s gaze was soft, sensual and penetrating.
“I have to meet up with Sam before she leaves. She’s going to show me how to fill out my timecard.”
“Ah. Then after you’re done, come back here. I forgot I have to give you your company phone. You’ll need it in Paris, because I’m sure you don’t want to use your own.”
“You got that right.” She laughed.
“So make sure you come back here. It’s going to take a while to program your phone.”
He kept smiling at her. It wasn’t a smile that was between friends or co-workers, it was a smile that held a secret. What that secret was, Jeanette was dying to know.
Jeanette politely smiled back and left the room. She spotted Sam coming out of the office break room with a cup of coffee in her hand. “Hello Sam. Do you have time to go over the time sheet with me?”
“Good morning! Of course. Let’s do it now. I have no meetings or calls to make. One of those rare days.” She chuckled.
“Um, I’ve been meaning to ask you. I notice that you get the coffee from the break room instead of going down stairs to the deli, like everyone else.”
“Oh yeah.” She laughed. “The coffee down there is good, but it’s not strong enough.”
They walked into her office. Jeanette thought maybe Sam should start drinking the deli coffee; kinda wean herself off the strong stuff.
“Now, let’s see. Bring that chair around here,” Sam pointed to the area next to her. “Let me bring up the timesheet screen. I know you’re wondering, why do I need to show you how to do a timecard.”
“Well….”
“The system that is in place now is much more complicated than the one we had before.”
“Why was it changed?
“The Paris office. We needed to make sure everything was the same, including hours and have them match when they got to payroll. So timing was everything, plus we needed to do everything in English code and so on and so forth.” Sam took another swig of brew. “Technology, gotta love it.”
“But you know we can’t live with out it,” Jeanette said, as she looked at the screen. The timecard did look a bit complicated.
“True. Speaking of which, have you gotten your confirmation and itinerary from travel?”
“No, neither has Adam. I was just asking him about it.”
“I wouldn’t worry about it. They are down a few people, but they always come through even with such short notice. And I’ve been meaning to tell you to have Adam set you up with a company cell.”
“Thanks, he told me.”
“I’m sorry, but I’ve been so busy with the purchase order situation, plus other stuff. Glad you’re here to pick up the slack and solve this mess.”
“Glad to help and glad to be here.”
“And just think, your first business trip is to Paris and with the handsome Adam”
Sam turned to her and grinned a stupid grin.
What was that suppose to mean? “Yes, well, too bad we’ll be doing just work. I was hoping to hit as many shops as possible,” she said, trying to laugh off Sam’s last comment.
“That could be fun too.”
Jeanette decided to let that comment go. If Sam, as professional as she was, was teasing her about the fact that she and Adam were going to Paris together, she could only imagine the rest of the office.
Jeanette tried to concentrate on what Sam was saying regarding the timesheets. But mentioning Adam got her imagination, hormones and anything else that made her stupid, start up again.
“Oh, before I forget. I went over the books the other day, just for the one quarter,” Jeanette said getting up from her seat,”
“Oh dear. Give it to me straight,” Sam sighed.
Jeanette told her in detail what she found. She also mentioned that she would be going over the books for the quarter before and after the one in question.
Sam buried her head in her hands. “What a tangled web.”
“Don’t worry, Adam and I will solve it.”
“Keep the fait,” Sam said, raising her head and trying her best to smile.
Jeanette left the room, feeling a bit sorry for the petite blond. Someone was causing a lot of drama. She couldn’t wait to catch them.
Now she had to go see Adam about the cell. Hopefully the rest of his crew will be there. They had a tendency of going in and out of his office unannounced. So maybe he’ll behave.
It would also keep her in check.
***
Adam was leaving his office for Laura’s, when he heard his email.
He checked it. It was from the art department. Five orders for white boards seemed to have disappeared. Adam checked the p.o. numbers. Again dummy numbers.
For the past couple of days he�
��s been beating his brain, trying to figure out the glitch in his program. No, that wasn’t true. He’s been thinking about Jeanette. He was thinking about all the fun they were going to have. More specifically, the love they were going to make.
First things first however. She asked about the itinerary, and he knows she mentioned it to Sam. He needed to time this right. Sam would be leaving in the next hour. After that, he’ll call Jeanette and let her know that he got the travel arrangements. Then he would have to have a damn good explanation of why they were staying in the same hotel suite.
He was beginning to wonder about the wisdom of this plan. Too late now, he had to roll with it.
He headed towards Laura’s office. The door was half open and he knocked.
“Come in.”
“Hey there Laura.”
“Hello. I know you’re on cloud nine.” She put down whatever she was doing and leaned back in her chair.
“Really? Why?”
“Going to the Paris office.”
“How many times have I been there? Nothing new and it’s all work.”
“But you’ll be with her.”
“Her?”
“The new lady, Janet.”
“It’s Jeanette.”
“I see you remembered her name. Took you two weeks to remember mine.”
“It was a week, and who’s keeping score anyway. I don’t know why this office is making such a big deal about this business trip. Do you know how many business trips we’ve all been on?” Adam sat beside her desk.
“Yeah, but it was never with someone that just arrive at the company and no one that ever looked like that,” Laura said, pointing with her pen in the direction of Jeanette’s office.
So that’s it. Here we go again. Just because two attractive people were going on a business trip that happened to be in Paris, doesn’t mean that any hanky panky was going to take place.
Okay, he didn’t buy that either, even if it wasn’t him and Jeanette. But that was neither here nor there; he was going to nip this in the bud.
“Jeanette is no more interested in me than I am of her. True she’s very beautiful, but she is my co-worker and you know how I feel about that.”
“Yes I do. Just wondering if you made an exception.”
“Why the interest in my love life Laura?”
“No interest.” Laura sat up straight in her chair and typed some stuff on her computer. “I was just hoping things got a bit interesting around here, that’s all.”
“I prefer not to experience any excitement at the office, thank you very much. Been there done that.”
“Oh, yes, I almost forgot.”
“How? Your best friend was transferred to the Alaska office.”
“Um…I know. It happened so long ago, it’s…well never mind. You came here for something? Oh, you found who was taking the orders?”
“No, but we’ll find out once we get to Paris, I’m sure of that.”
“I hope so, it’s costing this company money. It could be overlooked if it were a pen or pencil or an occasional notepad. But we’re talking computers and servers among other things.”
“I know. Jeanette calculated over three hundred thousand dollars in loses already since last September.” Adam stood by the door when Jeanette stayed in Sam’s office. He just wanted to make sure she didn’t change her mind about the trip. When he heard that figure however, he cringed. Not good.
Laura shook her head. “And you know this is going to come out of our salary one way or another,” she said, with a smirk.
“Please, I just finished paying for Christmas gifts. Here are copies of all the purchase orders that we found with dummy numbers. These are what we’ll be looking at in Paris. We’ll keep you posted every step of the way.”
“Thanks. Hey, do you think this is a glitch or someone from inside the company?”
“Don’t know yet. But if it is an employee, their ass is grass.”
Adam arrived back at his office. He almost walked into his door, when he noticed Jeanette sitting in his chair. She was chatting with Jake.
“Hi, I hope you don’t mind me taking your seat. I was waiting for you and Jake told me you went to purchasing.”
“Yeah, don’t get up,” Adam said, when she was rising out of his chair. He was more than happy to have her sit there all day if she wanted. That way he would have her scent with him, even while working in his office.
“I’m finished with Sam, so I came by to get my phone set up.”
“Jake go see Kim, I think her laptop froze or something,” Adam said waving his hand in dismissal.
“Okay chief.” He left the room.
“Cool. Now, lemme get your phone and we can get started. Oops, it’s in my side desk drawer.”
He walked around his desk, and before she could get up to move out of his way, he blocked her. “It’s right here on top. Sorry, ‘scuse me.” He leaned across her and felt her breast brush against this head. He was in heaven.
“Kinda tight here,” she said, nervously.
“Nothing like a little closeness in the work place.” He grabbed the phone, then sat on the edge of his desk, still blocking her. “This is your one and only communication with us. We discourage people from using their personal cell, for obvious reasons. Passwords, contact list and such. We would put it in a cloud, but the last time we did that, it too was compromised.”
“Wow.” Jeanette shook her head.
“Just remember, the criminal element is always three steps ahead of the newest technology. Sometimes I wonder if they invent this stuff themselves, hoping you’ll buy it and make it easier for them to tap into it.”
Jeanette snickered. “That’s a thought.”
“Okay, dear. So this one will have the phone directory for all our offices, plus each individuals phone.”
Jeanette scooted her chair up closer. He bent the phone down so she could get a better look, but not far enough that she wasn’t touching him in some way.
“So the company picks up the tab on this.”
“Yep, but don’t get too happy. You can’t call you mother in New York and if you do, it comes out of your paycheck. They allot so much for each phone according to the position you hold here. The more responsibility you have, the more people you have to talk to, the more money they put on the phone.”
“I see. Makes sense.”
Adam looked at the phone and pressed the account button on it. “And I see here you have a lot of responsibly.”
Jake snickered as he passed by the office. Adam threw him a look. “It could be because of the trip too.”
“That’s right.”
“Let me grab a chair and show you how to use it. It can also be used as a walkie-talkie. That method is preferred when working in the offices. That way, you don’t use up minutes. You can text too, but sometimes it’s just faster to say, ‘Hey, I’m here and need such and such.”
“Very efficient.”
“We try.” He snorted.
He found a chair and pulled it along side her. “Now, this is the button you want to push when you’re in walkie-talkie mode. You see this light. Make sure it’s on. When you release the button it will go off and the other person will respond.
“Real old school.”
“Exactly.”
“The unfortunate things about these phones, is that they eat batteries. So every day before you leave, you charge it. Make sure this light comes on when you stick it in the charger. When you arrive in the morning, it will be off.”
“Great. Do I need to sign anything?”
“You’re beginning to see how things work around here. Yep, you gotta sign your life away before you get a new toy. Go back to your office and I’ll be right there to set this up.”
“See you there.”
When Jeanette got up, he didn’t move. He made it so that there bodies would have to touch. She felt warm and soft against him, which wasn’t hard to do. She was wearing a pick angora sweater. Her perfume was soft too.
He wanted to melt in her arms.
She gently pushed him aside, but he continued looking at her. It wasn’t until she left his line of sight, that he snatched up the itinerary from travel and the release forms for the phone.
He stepped into her office about five minutes later. “Look what I got.”
“What?”
He handed her the itinerary.
“Oh you got yours.”
“It’s ours actually. You see, sometimes when a two or more people are trave—”
“What the hell! Did you see this?”
She shoved the paper in his face.
He had some serious explaining to do.
Chapter Eleven
Jeanette couldn’t be seeing this. No, her eyes were deceiving her; wishful thinking on her part. Her mind playing tricks on her. Thinking about Adam all night and all day had her mind acting funny.
That was the only way to justify what she saw.
“Well, do you see it?” She kept the piece of paper in his face, waving it like a flag.
“Like I was saying, if two or more people are traveling together, they put it on one ticket.”
“That’s not what I’m talking about! They have us flying first class, then they have us both staying at the Shangri-La Hotel Paris…oooh wait.” She looked closely at the paper again. Hmm, that was kinda nice, she thought. But then…. “No, no. They have us both in one room. One room! I thought you said they knew what they’re doing.”
“Here, let me see.”
Jeanette watched him as he looked over the paper. He studied it, flipped to the second page, then studied it too. He handed the paper back to her.
“Too late to change now.”
Jeanette’s jaw dropped. “Is that all you have to say?”
He shrugged.
“Adam, we’re in the same room…Shangri-La Hotel Paris! Next to the Ritz, that’s like the next fanciest hotel.”
Office Play: Freaky Geek Series Page 9
