Undercover Lover

Chapter 2: New Friends & Old Foes

Cheyenne's POV

My 7am alarm jolted me out of the short sleep I'd fallen into and Bosco happily accompanied the annoying buzz of the clock in waking me up. All I knew was that it was Friday, the day of the huge executive meetings with Mr. Pape and Mrs. Heilbrun, and for once I was invited. I quickly showered and put on the new blazer and skirt I'd been saving for this day. I'd only been with the firm for 6 months and I'd already received a promotion and small raise, so I could only be hopeful for this morning's meeting. I locked up my apartment and practically skipped the few blocks to the office building.

The first face I see every morning at the office is that of Kat Swale, the office secretary and undoubtedly the best friend/enemy I had in the city of LA. Kat and I went to law school together and both interviewed for the same job, and we were both hired. The only difference is that Kat got a secretarial job at the front desk, and I was hired immediately as a lawyer. In the office we were friendly, but outside of the office Kat made it a point to stick daggers in my back whenever she had the chance.

"Gooood morning Kat" I smiled fakely at her, "are you going to the executive meeting this morning?" I asked sarcastically, knowing that she wasn't invited.

"No Cheyenne." she answered flatly. I smiled smugly to myself and continued on my way to my desk. I saw my papers disheveled from my late night search in the dark last night and also found a small paper bag with a note attached to it. The front of the note plainly read "Cheyenne" in block letters, so naturally I opened it. Inside was only a peanut butter & jelly sandwich and an apple. What the fuck? Then a small giggle came from the other side of the cubicle and I looked up to see Stan peeking over the top of the wall.

"Mornin' Cheyenne! I made you lunch, I hope you like it. I remember you telling Kat the other day how you miss eating your mom's lunch so I made you some lunch, isn't that thoughtful? I thought it was thoughtful. Hey why is your desk a mess? Are you going to the meeti-"

"Stan!" I said sharply, cutting him off, "I have a lot of work to get done before the meeting this morning and I can't have you literally hanging over me as I work. So thank you for the sandwich and kindly leave me alone." I said as politely as possible. Stan Witt was a well intentioned guy, but he was more nosy than nice the majority of the time so I tended to avoid all forms of contact or conversation with him.

About an hour and a half later Kat sauntered over to my desk with a slight smile plastered on her Barbie-like face, and that was definitely a look I didn't like to see.

"What's up Kat" I asked flatly, trying not to look up from the police report I was reviewing for my next case.

"Oh nothing! I'm just soo excited for you to be invited to the exec meeting! Just letting you know it's time to go to the conference room now" she said in an voice so nice I wanted to vomit.

"Thanks" I said, closing my files and straightening myself up before making my way to the conference room. There were about 12 other lawyers seated on either side of the table, along with a handful of the partners and of course Mr. Pape and Mrs. Heilbrun. I took an empty seat near the end of the table and waited for the discussions to begin. At first I couldn't understand why I had been asked to attend because obviously the talks about profit margins didn't pertain to me or my job.

"So Mr. Pape, has there been any developments in the choice of who gets to handle the Henrik case?" an overly pompous lawyer asked from across the table. Immediately Mr. Pape's face turned red and he asked the man to leave the room. Mrs. Heilbrun coughed awkwardly and there was no further discussion about the mysterious case no one had ever heard of. Mr. Pape, in an effort to remove attention from the topic of the Henrik case then turned his attention to me.

"I'd like to welcome Miss Mason to her first executive meeting at the firm" he said grandly. Small applause. "The reason for her attendance today is that I would like to extend to her the promotion for the position of the firm's claims investigator" he beamed at me. Small applause. I would have smiled back if I understood what a claims investigator even does? "You will be in charge of investigating every new client's case that comes through the office, and making sure that their story is legit and that we have a decent chance of winning the case! The promotion comes with a slight salary increase and your own office in the East Wing of the building" he said. My own office? Salary increase? Now I could get used to that I thought.

"Now in addition to these responsibilities, we are also asking you to finish one task in your current position." Mr. Pape trailed off, his eyes wandering to the door. He lifted his hand as if to signal someone. "You will need to train your replacement!" I groaned inwardly as I knew this wasn't going to be pleasant. Mr. Pape & Mrs. Heilbrun stood up as the door swung open, "Everyone, I'd like you to warmly welcome the firm's newest member, Marcel Russo!"

My jaw probably would have gone clear through to the basement if the table hadn't been there. Marcel was the epitome of nerd, complete with taped glasses, bowtie, sweater vest, and pocket protector.. he was the real deal. When I realized the entire conference room was staring at me, I plastered an empty smile on my face and extended my hand out to him. His hands were massive, yet clammy just as I had anticipated. There were small beads of sweat lining his shirt collar and his thick rimmed glasses showed drops of condensation too. Great. I thought. Yet no matter how genuinely dweeb-ish he was, there was something about the intensity in his beautiful green eyes, and the perfectness of his jawline that wouldn't let me look way.

"Hi Marcel, Cheyenne Mason, grrreaaat to meet you. Welcome to the company"

Harry's POV

How Mr. Henrik had managed to get me an undercover position within the firm in under 12 hours was beyond me. All I knew was that man was extremely powerful and I did not want to mess with him. I would just get in, get the job done, and get out. As I entered the conference room of the law firm my eyes locked on to the world's hardest working employee, the girl who had almost busted me the night before. She had long chocolate waves of hair that fell easily over her shoulder and blue eyes that seemed to look right through me, rather than at me. Her business suit clung and fell perfectly from every part of her body and it was hard not to notice the pale smoothness of her skin. But then I realized that as long as I was undercover as Marcel Russo, I had no shot with a girl like.. what was her name?

I realized she was then confidently holding out her tiny hand for me to shake.

"Uhh uhm, h-hi Miss Mason" I stuttered, half in character and half in nervousness. It was insane that someone so small had such an enormous effect on me immediately. As she shook my hand I realized I was literally dripping sweat. I wiped palms down on my pant legs as I tried to keep a level head and remember what I was really here for. I sat through the remainder of their executive meeting, listening to random legal jargon until we were dismissed. As we exited the conference room my eye caught a small black safe tucked behind a framed picture of the firm's partners. As people filed out of the room I slowly made my way toward the huge cabinet as inconspicuously as possible.

"So, uh Marcel, are you ready to get started?" Cheyenne's Tinkerbell-like voice sounded from behind me, startling me.

"Oh yes yes of course Miss Mason" I said straightening up and walking back towards the door, frustrated that she had once again interrupted me. She stared at me long and hard and I couldn't tell if her face read annoyance or lust....

"Please, call me Cheyenne."