“Be brave,” Jesse mocked under her breath a week later.
She was sitting in a cubicle in the women's bathroom, eating her lunch because she was doing her very best to avoid Devon and Jax.
Not to mention Sasha.
A week had gone by since that utterly embarrassing conversation with Sasha and Lou, where she admitted her feelings for two men. A week of daily motivational speeches to start off her day. Encouraging and inappropriate messages from Lou throughout the day. With a few suggestive looks from Sasha caught Jax and Jesse together, which, thankfully, wasn’t too often. Jesse had become somewhat of a pro with always being ‘busy’.
The way her colleagues saw it, poor Jesse was practically drowning in work in her last week with them.
Jesse scoffed to herself.
The only person who didn’t seem fooled by her acting was Jax himself.
Maybe she was reading too much into it, but now and then he would give her this amused smile. Then he’d lift one brow as if to say, ‘I know what you’re doing and I find it highly amusing’.
Then there were the sly little comments he would drop in conversations like, ‘I’m sure Jesse has far too much work to deal with this, isn’t that right, Jesse?’ or ‘You seem busy today. Anything I can take off your hands’ or, her favorite, ‘Jesse seems a bit frazzled today, it might be best to give this to someone who has a lesser workload’.
Asshole, Jesse thought fiercely and shoved a mouthful of food in her mouth, chewing angrily.
She wouldn’t have been so frazzled if the man had just left her alone.
She had been ready to put her feelings aside and work her last few days in a calm, professional manner, despite Sasha and Lou’s urgings. But then he started leaving gifts on her desk. Although he never gave it directly to her, sneaking it onto her desk before she got to work, she knew it was him because Sasha practically hyperventilated when she cornered Jesse the one day to tell her she saw him putting a gift on her desk.
The gifts were nothing extravagant.
Nothing that had her feeling awkward.
A pretty, pristine shell of the softest cream that still had some sea sand inside it. A smooth rock that wasn’t pretty but more interesting in its shape and the odd blend of colors. Then he hit her in her sweet spot with the biggest, fluffiest, most ridiculous cupcake she had ever seen in her life. It had been completely over the top, and she had smiled through every bite.
Then yesterday he had left her a pen with her favorite cartoon on the end.
That one had taken her by surprise. Confused as to how he had known that she had a secret obsession with that cartoon. It was only later, when she was thinking of her day, that she realized she had mentioned her preference for family and kids' movies to Devon when he had phoned her a few days before. Defending her choices while he teased, Jesse had admitted to a few of her favorites.
With him on leave, which only meant he was working from home, he had taken to calling Jesse at least once a day to run through a few things. The conversation would move from work to personal so seamlessly she only realized after the call had ended how little they had spoken of work.
She loved yet hated how easy it was to talk to him.
Hated it because she wanted to keep their interactions professional and every day she would walk into the office, determined to do just that. Then he would call and the conversation would get away with her before she knew it.
Loved it because he had a bass deep voice that curled her toes. Not to mention the thrill she got whenever she surprised a chuckle from him.
With him in her ear and Jax always within eye-view, it was no wonder Jesse was feeling a little off-center.
Every time she turned around, Jax was there.
An instant dose of leather and pine scented sploosh material wearing a fitted suit and a shirt with the first few buttons left open.
She was half tempted to write to HR to complain about his inappropriate work attire.
Although, that was nothing compared to what she felt when he AND Devon walked into the office that morning.
She should have just chucked her panties at them and told them she was done. Totally and completely done.
Confident and powerful. The visual effect of the two of them in suits combined with their dynamic personalities had Jesse feeling decidedly frazzled. She couldn’t decide if she was dreaming or if she was so overwhelmed, her brain finally shut down.
Now she was hiding in the bathroom.
Being brave.
Luckily, it was her last day, which meant that she could hopefully move on from hiding in bathrooms to avoid having naughty thoughts about her bosses.
And nosey friends, Jesse thought with an amused huff.
Finishing her lunch, Jesse packed her stuff and washed her hands. Checking herself over with a critical eye, she smoothed and tugged everything back into place before heading back to her desk.
She hadn’t properly sat down yet before Sasha was there.
“Last day, girl. How are you feeling?”
Jesse stuffed her bag under her desk and turned in her chair to smile up at Sasha.
“Good. I’ve gotten everything done and made notes for Laurel when she gets back. I also got an email from the agency to let me know that they have a few interviews set up for my next placement. I’m considering asking them to hold off for now, though. A week or two of vacation might be best before I start somewhere new.”
Sasha nodded thoughtfully.
“That sounds like a good idea. I might just take a few days off myself so we can do something together.” She nudged Jesse’s leg playfully with the tip of her heel. “You’ll try to stick close though, right? I’ve gotten spoiled by having you around for lunch.”
Jesse coughed uncomfortably and looked away from her pointed expression.
“I’ll try my best, but I can’t make any promises. And we’ll figure out something to do if you manage a few days off.”
“Do you think we could convince Lou to take a day or two?”
Sasha scrunched up her nose and shook her head.
“I honestly doubt it. I mean, we could ask and see what she says, but that girl wouldn’t know what to do with herself if she wasn’t working.”
“I hear that,” Jesse agreed with a chuckle.
“Don’t forget that I’ll need to slip out early from your farewell party. I have a call with one of our overseas clients that I can’t miss.”
“I remember. We can meet up on the weekend and have something with Lou,” Jesse suggested. “This way we also don’t have her complaining about always missing out.”
“Hah! She’ll find something to complain about regardless, but yes. I love it. I’ll call both of you in the next few days so we can sort out the details.”
“Margarita night?”
“Margarita night,” Sasha agreed with a little shimmy.
Jesse laughed and chased her off.