Possessed - Bucky Barnes x OC

Part 36

James sat in his chair at the head of the conference table, listening in on his team discussing opportune proposals for the quarter.

He was already on his eighth meeting of the day and it wasn't even noon. He sat through all of them looking like the picture of professionalism, but his knee was bouncing under the table while he flexed and clenched his fist. Through the last few, his mind wandered, barely registering anything that was divulged to him. All he could think about was Maggie.

They were planning to have a special dinner tonight. All of their friends were going over to James' house to celebrate the success of her gallery.

Over the last couple of months, her days had been filled with near constant work. She was hiring staff, marketing, consulting with local artists, cultivating a clientele. Every last minuscule matter that went into starting up a business from scratch.

Her first showcase was a hit. The entire place was packed. She had spent weeks promoting it to her circle of previous colleagues and connections from her time working for August. All of whom, were more than willing to support her individual endeavors.

Over half of the pieces that were displayed that night were hers. She wasn't sure if it was a good idea at first, but James reminded her, time and time again, that she owned the goddamn business and she could do what she wanted. Within the first hour, every single one of her works were sold.

Since then, business had taken off for the gallery. The artsy and sorta granola atmosphere of the surrounding neighborhood boded well for her. It brought in plenty of traffic from the locals. She created loads of new connections and even started commissioning more work for customers that wanted original pieces directly from her.

Things were finally starting to slow down once the gallery was up and running smoothly. Oddly enough, running the business came pretty easy to her. A lot of it had been previously well honed practices on her part, from her time practically running August's place for him. The few one-off times she slipped up, James would steer her into the right direction with a supportive hand.

"Mr. Barnes," one of his consultants caught his attention, "do you approve of this quarter's projections?"

"Yes."

One word from him and the room cleared, concluding the meeting.

He quickly stood from his seat and made his way to his office. He let out a sigh, looking down at his Bvlgari watch for the hundredth time that day. A moment of silence and there was a smart set of knocks on his office door.

"Come in."

The door swung open slowly. One of his assistants, Jasmine, walked in holding a box in her hands. "Sorry to disturb you, sir. This was just dropped off at the mailroom for you."

His brows pinched. "Who is it from?"

"I'm not sure. Theres no return address label." Her eyes scanned over the sides of the box, looking it over again.

"Thats fine. Just leave it here."

Her heels clicked as she walked across his office, setting it down on his wide desk. He gave her a quick nod, thanking her silently. She stepped out of the room, leaving him sitting at his desk, staring down at the box.

He pushed it aside for the time being. Instead, digging into his pocket to pull out his phone. The line rang twice before it was answered and Maggie's soft voice rang through.

"Hi, honey."

"Hello, doll. How's work been?"

She huffed a laugh. "I just got here, actually. I slept in this morning."