The Reluctant Assistant - Book One

Devil's Promise Part 15

"What were you thinking?" Asuka asked incredulous. Still not sure what to make of Jackson's story.

"What do you mean?" he asked taken aback. "It's the most natural thing in the world. He obviously likes me, so I'm offering him the deal of a lifetime."

"You're going to marry him to make him stay?"

"Of course not!" he barked. 

"Then you're marrying him out of love?" she pushed him.

It took a moment for Jackson to respond. He'd never thought of this question before. Deep down he knew that he had to keep Raymond by his side or he'd go crazy. But was it called love? He'd only been on love once in his life before and even then, he didn't know if it was really love.

"Okay, we'll come back to that later." she dismissed the topic for now.

"Did he bite? Are you a taken man now." she laughed softly at the idea of Jackson being engaged.

"No. He shut the door in my face after saying no." That was very unreasonable of him Jackson thought. He didn't even give it a moment's thought. "Maybe I'm too intimidating to him." he frowned. "But I still don't understand why he'd say no.

"Jack, I love you dearly, but sometimes you loose focus on reality. You can't just spring something like this on a person after a third date!" she said in exasperation. "Of course he was going to say no!"

"So tell me what's wrong with him and how do I get him to say yes?" he asked in annoyance. "You're not being very helpful so far." he accused.

"There's nothing wrong with him. There's a lot wrong with you!" she laughed. "Do you love him?" she prodded again.

"I-" he stopped for a moment. Did he really love Raymond? "Yes." he admitted quietly, almost to himself.

"Then start with telling him that, before you move onto marriage proposals." she reasoned with him.

--

At the office, Jackson was looking for an excuse to call Raymond into his office, but it seemed that Raymond was always one step ahead of him. He was all business again today, in robot mode, not saying anything unless asked, which frustrated Jackson to no end. It didn't help that Glenn was at his side the whole time.

"Cook! Get in here, NOW!" Jackson's voice boomed over the intercom. He'd finally had enough and needed to get to the bottom of things.

With a sigh, Raymond got up. "Come on Glenn, it's time for you to learn how to tame the beast."

"I don't think I should go in there." Glenn whispered. "He asked for you, what if he fires me for real this time?" Glenn looked really concerned. "I just moved here."

"Don't worry Glenn, I'm the only one who can ever fire you." He laughed at Glenn's frightened face. "Don't worry, you're not getting fired. Just follow me." he said confidently, with a bright smile. "We can do it!" he held up both thumbs to Glenn in encouragement.

"Now Cook!" Jackson's voice boomed again impatiently.

Raymond knew that he was a coward for bringing Glenn into this, but he needed a buffer. He just hoped that Glenn wasn't going to die of a heart attack first.

"Why are you here Junior?!" Jackson snapped, not looking at Glenn.

"He is here to learn." Raymond calmly pointed out.

"Fine!" He yelled at Raymond. "You're being a robot again Cook, what's upset you again this time? It must be me!"

"I don't know what you're talking about. I'm just doing my job, like a good assistant should. It certainly isn't because some ass decided to spoil the mood after a good evening out." Raymond snapped.