“Nice work,” Frederick Jamison, the Jamison in Jamison & Hardwick, wheezed, looking Cara up and down appreciatively. He was the founder of Jamison & Hardwick Investment Services, one of New York’s most respected personal investment firms, and he was a formidable and infamously lecherous old man. His thick jowls flowed over the starched collar of his immaculate white shirt and his breathing was labored from his corpulence. His physical repulsiveness aside, he was brilliant with money and most of New York’s elite kissed his ass. The rest of the room nodded in stiff approval. Cara caught Jason’s eye from the far end of the board room. He gave her a small wink, an imperceptible smirk on his face.
Jamison turned to the senior associate to the left engaging him in a private conversation and Cara took the cue to leave the room.
“Thank you, Mr. Jamison,” Cara said formally. She gathered her spreadsheets and her Mac Book and turned to leave the boardroom. A slow, self-satisfied smile spread across her face and she moved unhurriedly, knowing that several sets of eyes lingered on the back of her tightly-fitted skirt. Cara continued calmly back to her desk oblivious to the bustle going on around her. Her joy was barely containable but she knew to play it cool for appearance sake.
Back at her desk, Cara found it difficult to concentrate. She continuously reviewed the meeting in her mind, “I nailed it,” she thought. .She had spent countless nights rehearsing in front of the mirror, reciting the information, anticipating any questions. Everyone knew that Jamison had the attention span of a gnat so it was important to be quick with the explanations and the answers. She admitted to herself that equally important was picking out the perfect outfit: conservative, but sexy; powerful, yet feminine. She didn’t take for granted her good lucks and figure and knew how to accentuate them.
Cara looked around the office. By 6:30 PM most of her colleagues were downstairs at Mugsy's decompressing over cocktails from the stress of the week. Only Cara and a few other die-hards still sat hunched over the laptops crunching numbers. The floor was eerily quiet compared to the normal hum of activity. This quiet time was precious to Cara. She sat and went through her to do list, reviewing each item and due date, ticking off the wins and losses of the week. Items circled in red were those that required more follow up; tasks completed successfully were highlighted in yellow. This past week, yellow dominated. Looking back through her pages the yellow fields continued to steadily grow, and the red seemed less and less. A little smugly she thought, not bad for Carmen Fucci from Yonkers. She was getting very good at her job.
A half smile played at her lips as she became aware of a presence behind her. There was no sound of approaching footsteps due to the plush navy blue carpeting that covered the floor at Jamison & Hardwick, but she knew from the almost imperceptible uptick in temperature that Jason was hovering just behind her.
Jason Smerling had every characteristic Cara was attracted to: he was bright, handsome, sophisticated, sexy - he was also arrogant, egotistical and manipulative. Cara and Jay had been physically attracted to each other since the day she walked into J&H two years ago. Despite that Cara was wary around him,… she would only let him get so far before she shut him down. Tonight she could feel the heat waves radiating off his body in her direction.
She continued to work at her spreadsheet, pretending to be unaware of his presence. He stayed silent, knowing full well that she knew he was there, the familiar jousting match about to begin. Cara liked to antagonize him, and Jason liked to be toyed with.
"Very impressive presentation. Did Jamison bother looking at the PowerPoint or was he too distracted by the view?" he teased, his eyes traveling down to the top button of her blouse.
"Not sure what you're talking about, Jason. The numbers were tight, the profit was there.” Cara looked up playfully, knowing full well that she had donned several shirts that morning, looking for one that revealed just enough to distract but not detract from the work she had put into the presentation.
"Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to imply anything. I know how good you are," he said as he sidled close enough for her to smell his softly-scented aftershave, the smell intoxicating.
“What’re you working on? Isn’t it quitting time?” he put his hands on the back of her chair and leaned into her. She felt the wool of his Brooks Brothers jacket touch the back of her hair. “Or did the boys forget to invite you to drinks…again?”
“Jay, can’t you see I’m busy?” Cara sighed with mock frustration. “ I can’t entertain you right now. Where’s your plaything de jour Mindy? Off getting her hair bleached?”
“Aw, I love a jealous woman. Claws are out and sharpened, huh?”
“No, Jay. You’re just wasting my time and I’ve got more important things to do, like charge my laptop.”
“Now you’ve hurt my feelings,” Jason said as he leaned more heavily on the back of her chair, his fingers inconspicuously playing with the tips of her hair. Cara, whose back was still to Jason, closed her eyes, enjoying the light touch of his well-manicured fingers.
He leaned over, his mouth directly next to her ear. “How would you like a massage? You earned a special bonus for your hard work today.” Jason’s breath smelled sweet, minty, with an undertone of bourbon.
“I’ve got Soul Cycle at 8. It puts me in a good place ….” Cara leaned back into him. They had yet to make eye contact, but Cara’s heart rate had gone up and she could hear his breath quickening.
“I can help you with that…” Jason’s hands roamed underneath her hair, coming into contact with her neck. She shivered.
Suddenly the familiar ringtone of an iPhone sounded interrupting the building tension. Jason fumbled in his pocket and retrieved his phone.
“Hey Mindy, what’s up?” Jay turned away, Cara forgotten.
“Asshole!” Cara whispered. She was hurt how quickly Jason could turn his attention to another woman.
“I thought you were too busy charging your laptop, Cara?” Jay said with a smile, covering the phone with his hand. He strolled further away, now lost in his conversation.
Cara had had enough of Jason and his flirtation. She snapped her laptop shut and tucked it into her bag, gathering up her things to leave. She was so frustrated; Jason could be a jerk, but he was also Jamison & Hardwick’s most promising junior partner and totally adorable. The kind of guy she hoped someday to land. This was her biggest failing: her unhealthy attraction to bad boys. For a moment, Cara wished her phone would ring and that really cute fireman she'd met at Angelo's would be on the line. He seemed like such a decent guy without an agenda.
“Hey, you headed out finally? What are you doing tonight?” Jay had ended his call and turned his attention back to Cara.
“Thanks for being such a good listener Jay. I told you I was going to the gym,” she said lightly.
“Why don’t we go somewhere to celebrate your big meeting instead?”
“I’ll take a rain check, Jay, “she purred, and in one graceful movement, sidled past, brushing her chest against him. "'Night, Jay. Have a nice weekend,” she tossed casually over her shoulder. “My best to Mindy.”