by Gia Star
“You can save your apologies for our clients who couldn’t get through to us all morning,” he said, bending over to plug the cord back in.
Lori tried to be subtle as she took a deep breath to steady herself. She was sure her face was red now, and she hated to think that they might mistake it for embarrassment.
“If you tell me what sort of coffee you’d like, I’ll be sure to bring it in for you,” she said.
“Why don’t you worry less about coffee and more about playing catch up,” he retorted.
“Where would you like me to start, Sir?” she asked, gesturing to the empty space on her desk. “I really don’t have anything to tell me where to start.”
“Well we’ve already gone through the trouble of collecting the mishaps left by our last assistant. So, you can get to work on those. But don’t ignore incoming calls, they all have to be addressed.”
Lori nodded and spoke quietly. “I can do that.”
“Good.”
Both men turned to their respective offices and came back with stacks of files in their arms. They placed the piles on her desk before going back. Lori took a breath to calm herself and sat in her chair. At least now she’d have something to – she looked up as they each brought in another stack and placed those on her desk too. The files were thick, full of paperwork.
“I think you killed her pep, Owen,” the quieter of the two said.
Owen (at least now she got a name from one of them) leaned over her desk and looked down at her.
“Did I hurt your feelings?” he said in a quiet voice. “Is this more than you can stomach on your plate?”
Now she risked frowning at him just a little. “It’s a secretarial position, Mr. Jones. I think I can handle it.”
“Do you?”
“I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t.”
“Why are you here?” he asked.
She considered him for a moment before answering.
“You were looking for an assistant, I was looking for job. Easy math.”
“So, this is just a paycheck position to you,” he remarked, shrugging like it meant nothing.
She was about to ask if it wasn’t the same for everybody and remembered that this was their company. Of course they cared about it and so they expected her to care too.
“Only when I’m not working, Sir.”
He narrowed his eyes and tilted his head at her.
“When I do my job, it’s for the greater good of the cause,” she explained.
“And what’s the cause?”
“The profiting and improvement of your company.”
He raised his eyebrows, “Improvement?”
“Every company looks to improve one way or another,” she answered. “No matter how well they may be doing.”
“Do you even know what we do here?”
“No one’s told me yet,” she admitted. She waited for him to explain it, but when he didn’t she just added, “But I’m sure I’ll figure it out.”
He gave a small huff of laughter and straightened up. “Don’t knock on the doors anymore. If you need to reach Oliver or I, use the phones.” With that, he disappeared into his office to her right, closing the door behind him.
The other twin, who was apparently Oliver, lingered for a moment.
“Any more questions?”
‘Do you treat all your assistants this well or am I just that lucky?’ she thought bitterly. She answered aloud, “What extension calls your offices?”
“One for one, two for the other,” he said, giving her a faint smile before heading to his own door. “Have fun.”
His door closed and Lori cracked her knuckles in favor for not punching something. If only this pile had been on her desk to begin with, this probably wouldn’t have happened. No, she decided. This was bound to happen if this is really how they run things. No wonder the last secretary left and it was clear to her now that despite being utterly gorgeous and just as fuckable as girls who didn’t know them thought, they had nothing to offer a proper woman. It was plainly obvious that any female who draped themselves across the twins, were purely in it for the money. It was a shame, she noted. A shame and a complete waste. Had they had a much better personality, she would have fallen hook line and sinker. They were just her type. Tall and broad shouldered with hypnotic eyes. It was no secret that she often wore her heart on her sleeve. Her friends constantly warned her about the boys she’d been used to falling for, but she wasn’t going to make that mistake again. Not this time. The way the twins had treated her so far was an instant turn off. They might have been the city’s most attractive and desirable men, but she wasn’t that desperate.
Lori took a deep breath to steady herself and took one of the files. There was no label or anything to suggest the content of the paperwork, so she simply opened it and began looking through papers.
The phone rang.
She reached for the receiver and brought it to her ear. “Jones’ office, how may I help you?”
“Is that how you answer the phone?” a familiar voice said through the line. She clenched her teeth and fought once again to keep her tone under control.
“Is there a specific way you would like me to answer the phone, Mr. Jones?” she asked.
“Better than that.”
She heard a click. Did he really just hang up? She looked at the receiver and hung it up with a huff. Going back to the paperwork, she tried to look for any sort of pattern that might help her organize what she was seeing.
The other phone rang. She reached for it and inadvertently knocked over the stack of files, sending most of them to the floor, both behind and in front of her desk. She closed her eyes and tried not to growl out loud. Bringing the phone to her ear she said in a very forced light tone, “Thank you for calling Jones’ office. This is Lori, how may I help you?”
There was no answer.
“Hello?”
“What did my brother want?” a flat tone replied.
Lori gawked at the empty room. Were they fricking serious?
She licked her lips and answered, “He asked if that’s how I greet people on the phone.”
“Is it?”
She wanted to yell, but bit it back.
“Yes, sir.”
“Very well then.” He hung up. Lori kept the receiver by her head until it started beeping before she hung up.
She smirked to herself. They thought this was funny, did they? That or they were crazy. Or simply immature. Regardless, she got to her feet and started gathering the mess off the floor.
Part way through, the first phone rang again.
She picked it up. “This is Lori, how can I help you?”
“Who?” the voice asked.
“Lori, the Jones’ assistant,” she said kindly.
“So, this is the Jones’ office?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“How is anyone supposed to know that if you just say your name?”
Her customer service mask melted away at once as the voice became very familiar.
“This isn’t a house phone, Bennett. This is a business.” He hung up.
She heaved a sigh and hung up, muttering to herself. She just got the last of the folders off the floor when the same phone rang again.
“Jones’ office,” she said with a little less enthusiasm.
“What did Oliver have to say?”
“He –” She stopped and thought for a moment. “I thought it was you I was talking to just now.”
“It was,” Owen said.
Lori rolled her eyes.
“Aren’t you paying any attention to the phones? They have caller I.D. you know.”
“Yes, Sir. I will look more carefully.”
He hung up.
‘Ass.’
She got a few spare moments to go through the papers before the same phone rang again.
“Yes?” she answered.
There was a pause.
“Hello?” a woman’s voice said.
Exasperated, Lori closed her eyes and fought to get a good tone back. “Yes, Jones’ office, how can I help you?”
“This is Kathryn at the front desk. Mr. Shaw is on his way up to see Mr. Jones.”
“Oh. Which one?”
“Which one what?”
“Which Mr. Jones?”
She heard a sigh on the other end followed by a knocking on the door.
“Never mind, he’s here. Thank you.” She hung up the phone and hurried across the office to open the door.
“Hi,” she smiled as she opened the door for the older man.
“Hello,” he answered, “I have an appointment with Mr. Jones.”
“Okay,” she said. “Is that with Oliver or Owen Jones?”
The man looked a little puzzled.
“Or did you want to see both of them?”
“I,” the man started, “I just spoke with a Mr. Jones on the telephone and he said to meet him here at eight-thirty.”
‘Christ,’ she thought. “Okay. Well please feel free to have a seat and I will let him know you’re here.”
Lori turned back to her desk, feeling very self-conscious about the mess, and tried to think of which Jones to phone. She picked up the receiver and hit extension one. Nothing. She tried again. Same result. She held down the call button and tried to get through extension number two. Still nothing. Giving up, she hung up the phone and offered the man a polite smile before going over to Oliver’s door and knocking.
“Mr. Jones?”
She heard nothing. Trying not to roll her eyes again, she opened the door. Oliver sat at his desk, phone in hand, and looked up at her blankly. She could feel his dazzling green eyes over her entire body.
“Mr. Shaw is here,” she said in a hushed tone. “Did you have an appointment with him?”
Oliver continued to stare at her and gave a slight shake of his head.
Clenching her teeth, she quietly closed the door and turned toward the other one. She only got half way before Owen came out and smiled kindly at the older man.
“Mr. Shaw, hello. Thank you for coming.”
Lori stopped on the spot, wishing more than anything she could transport to the ladies room to break all of the mirrors, before turning back to her desk. She let the men talk out their business, putting on a very forced smile when they made passive remarks about her messy desk and being behind schedule for small talk. Ultimately, they went into Owen’s office, and Lori gave herself a minute to put her head in both hands and sulk. But soon afterward, she sat up again and determinedly got out a pad of sticky notes. Going through each paper in the first file, she skimmed the contents and put a sticky note on each one, depicting what she thought it was. Finances, memos, contact sheets, receipts, etc.
After she got through one file, she set it aside and started another. Glancing up, she saw a water cooler across the office and got up for a drink. Oliver’s door opened as she did. She got her drink and turned to see if he needed anything. He said nothing but was eating what appeared to be some sort of scone.
“Anything I can do for you, Mr. Jones?” she asked.
“No,” he said simply, looking at her desk. “I think you’ve got plenty to do.”
With that, she returned to her seat and continued going through the papers. But Oliver didn’t leave. He continued to stand there, eating his pastry and watching her.
She grumbled internally but did her best to ignore his presence. She got through another file and was beginning to feel confident that she had a handle on this, until he spoke to her.
“You really shouldn’t knock on the doors like that,” he said. “It’s disruptive.”
She stilled her movements with the effort of appearing calm.
“I apologize. I tried to reach both of you through the phone but I couldn’t get the connection to work. I didn’t want to keep Mr. Shaw waiting.”
He said nothing, which made her more irritated. If they were going to scold her, they could at least provide a solution.
She did her best to focus on her papers. Until they gave her another order or until the phone rang (which she kept hoping against) it was all that she could do. As she worked, she got out a thin pad of notepaper and wrote out the steps she planned to take once she was done labeling everything.
Eventually, the other men emerged from Owen’s office, exchanging parting pleasantries. Oliver’s smile became much more believable as he nodded to their guest and offered his hand when his brother introduced him. Lori was transfixed. Both twins spoke with honest respect and good manners. Had this been her first impression of them, she’d have dismissed any of the rumors she had heard before. She’d have been standing and fighting in their corner and defended them against the people who thought they were assholes. If they could be that nice to their clients, then surely somewhere along the road she had them misunderstood?
They thanked Mr. Shaw and said they would keep in touch, leading Lori to realize she hadn’t really been paying attention to what they were actually saying to each other. Once the older man had left, the two brothers turned to each other.
“Good?” Oliver asked.
“Good,” Owen replied.
Then they both turned to Lori. She stiffened a little, wondering if she was going to be reprimanded some more. They said nothing. They both just watched her as though they were witnessing something new. Lori awkwardly shifted the notepad beneath her hand and forced herself to look them in the eyes. She was aware of her heart pounding loudly in her chest under their stare. “Please, God look at me like that,” she thought to herself. Yes, they were attractive, but the last thing she needed was to fall for two men hell-bent on making her life a misery.
“Is there something you needed, Sirs?” she asked as politely as she could, ignoring the hopeful churn in her stomach that they’d finally quit being jerks.
“No,” Oliver said casually, his brother shaking his head in agreement. Owen didn’t seem particularly peeved anymore but he wasn’t offering anything positive either. Simply observing. To that end, Lori just continued to go about her task, doing her best to stay focused with both sets of eyes on her. She got through two more files and was midway through the third when Oliver spoke up.
“Merlot, I think. More purple than red.”
“Sounds more Cabernet,” Owen replied. “Red is red.”
Lori paused and looked up at them. They went quiet and simply looked back at her. Awkward silence spread throughout the room and Lori simply went back to her work. After a few moments, Oliver spoke again.
“Pinot noir on bottom then?”
“Mm,” Owen hummed thoughtfully. “Plum compliments, I think. Or plum body.”
“Plum body sounds better.”
Lori frowned and looked up. “Excuse me?”
Again, she was met with their detached expressions. They certainly knew how to make people feel locked out.
“Wasn’t talking to you,” Owen said flatly.
“I gather you’re talking about me, though,” she replied.
“How do you figure that?”
“You’re both standing in front of my desk, watching me and talking amongst yourselves.”
“I haven’t heard anyone say your name,” Owen said.
“Mm hmm,” Lori left it at that, going back to her paperwork. “Interesting that you have two nice offices to use, yet you pick this spot right in front of me to have a conversation instead.”
“We have just as much right to be out here,” Owen said. “This is still the Jones’ office.”
“And it certainly lives up to its reputation,” Lori stated. She felt her patience waver.
“Which is?”
She simply smiled at him before going back to her work. There was no doubt that the brothers were familiar with the rumors and hearsay about them. She didn’t feel the need to bring it up and fall into their trap. She had to keep her head up and stay strong. She refused to let them break her, no matter how hard they tried.
Chapter Two
&nbs
p; Several minutes went by without any speaking, until Owen approached the desk and leaned both hands on it. He was quite close, but still Lori didn’t look up. She continued to go through paper after paper, ignoring the awkward feeling of him hovering over her. He deserved it, she reminded herself. If she got fired for insolence or whatever, then that was on them. She’d done her best to do her job and make a good first impression, but she wasn’t going to be bullied. She wrapped up her file and set it aside before reaching for another one. Once she had it in front of her, Owen’s hand fell on it to keep it closed. Lori gave a small sigh and finally looked up at him.
“I’m still waiting for an answer,” he said in a low voice.
“So am I, Sir,” she said. His eyes narrowed ever so slightly but she continued. “You never told me what type of coffee you’d like me to bring you in the morning.”
Owen stared at her, no doubt trying to intimidate her with his harsh gaze. But she simply looked back at him with feigned patience. The longer he didn’t speak, the more she risked admiring his features. He was very handsome, achingly so, even when he wasn’t smiling. His rich red-brown hair was accented with faint hints of blonde highlights in the tips. A three-toned look that complimented the steely color of his eyes. His face was clean shaven, but this close she could see the faint line where he usually might have had a short mustache and goatee.
Lori let her eyes move down to his lips which she found particularly attractive, and added, “I can’t very well show up empty handed so unless I know what you would like me to bring, you’d have to make do with-”
“Long Black,” he cut her off. She looked back up at his eyes. “That’s an espresso, plain and simple.”
“Long Black, she repeated, looking at him confidently. She leaned over to address Oliver. “And for you, Mr. Jones?”
She noticed the other twin was looking a little amused by what was happening in front of him. He smirked a little and answered, “Classic Roast. Also simple.”
“Very well then,” she said, turning her attention back to Owen. “Thank you. As for your question, the reputation of your office is that it’s unbearable for any secretary to take for very long.”
Owen held her gaze as she spoke.
