Hating the CEO

Chapter 10 - Morning conversations

Ten am Saturday morning and Julia was still asleep. Jack checked his guest's pulse and breathing for the thousandth time. He'd been doing it the whole night.
At first he'd lay down on the couch in the guest room and would stand up and walk over to Julia every hour. Then he ended up sleeping next to her.
When he'd woken up at eight, Jack couldn't help but think how their roles had reversed. Weeks earlier it was Julia who'd fallen asleep on his bed when he'd been sick in Chicago. Now it'd been Jack tending to her.
He had called Jess, but she had told him to let Julia sleep. So now he was sitting on the couch in the guest room with the laptop in his lap, catching up on his emails; his Saturday morning habit.
His fingers froze above the keyboard when he noticed Julia stirr on the bed. She groaned quietly.
Jack sat motionless, observing her. She slowly sat up.
"Oh god..." Julia whispered, cradling her head with both hands.
"Jess said you might have a huge headache," Jack spoke, just to say something.
Julia turned her head in his direction. Seeing how a grimace of pain contorted her face, Jack thought quick head movements might not have been the best of ideas.
Julia watched him with a blunt expression. She blinked a couple of times, as if not believing what she was seeing. She must have realized however that this was not a dream. She started looking around, but froze when her eyes took in the bed. She looked down at the t-shirt she was wearing.
"No..." Panic clearly audible in her voice.
"Julia," Jack spoke in a calm tone. "Calm down. Nothing happened."
"Where am I?" her voice was hoarse and trembled slightly.
"You are in my apartment. Do you remember anything from last night?"
"I... Yes, I was... talking to someone... and then I was in an elevator. Why would I be in an elevator...?
"You were drugged last night, Julia."
She looked up at him, shocked. She did not utter a word, so Jack continued.
"The person you were talking to was William Daniels. I believe he slipped something in your champagne. When you two left the room, I followed you and found you in an elevator with him. I think he was taking you to a hotel room to..."
Julia wrapped her arms around herself and shook her head.
Jack remained seated on the couch. He thought it better to keep the distance, not to upset Julia even more.
"Nothing happened, Julia," Jack tried easing her nerves at least a bit. "I brought you here and Jess examined you. She confirmed that you were under the influence of some kind of drug."
"You were there..." Julia whispered, clearly reliving some of the events of the night before. "The elevator door opened, and you were there..."
"Yes."
"His arm was wrapped around me..." she continued disgusted. "I didn't like it, but did not have the strength to push him away... His arm was around me..." She winced.
"You are safe now, Julia," he said firmly, seeing that she was giving in to panic.
Julia watched Jack for a moment and then nodded.

Something was again changing between them. He couldn't feel that negative tension anymore, it gave way to some kind of understanding.
"How do you feel?" He decided to change the subject. "I mean, besides the headache?"
"I'm OK I think... slightly dizzy maybe."
"Alright, let me make us coffee and call Jess to come check up on you one more time." Jack stood up and moved to the door. "There are clean towels in the bathroom." He added, assuming she would want to wash off the memory of last night. "Your clothes are on the chair next to the bed." He turned to leave, but her shaky voice stopped him.
"I will not wear them. They must smell of him..."
Jack turned to look at a bundle laying on a chair near the bed.
"Right... Let me ask Jess to bring something of Zoey's."
The look Julia gave him hearing his word's took Jack's breath away. He saw surprise, gratitude and vulnerability in her eyes. That vulnerability most of all made him leave the room without uttering another word.

                                                                       ***

Hot water was running down her back. Julia had been standing under the shower for the last fifteen minutes trying to gather her thoughts. There were so many of them currently pressing against her skull.
For starters the fact that she was naked in Jack's apartment was enough reason to get upset. That thought however was nothing compared to the realization of what might have happened last night if Jack hadn't intervened. And she hadn't even thanked him!
Pushing away the memories of William Daniels, she focused on the current circumstances; on Jack to be more precise. It seemed he was no longer the bad guy in the story... But who was he then? She still didn't feel like she could trust him, and she was sure that he didn't trust her either.
Something had changed this morning though. Julia felt that Jack did not treat her as the enemy anymore. They were no longer two opponents fighting in a boxing ring, or at least it seemed they were taking a break from the fight. Julia realized she was relieved at the thought. She could now see that the constant tension between them, the never ending pushing and pulling, had stressed her out a lot.