The Write Choice

Chapter 7

"Jake, that's not exactly true...um...I," Melanie stammered.

Tiffany cut her off mid-sentence. "Jake," she looked wide-eyed at Melanie. "This is Jake?"

A flash of recognition came across Brandon's face. "Jake, great to meet you." He extended his hand.

Jake shook his hand. "Nice to meet you too," he said curtly.

"If you have some time later today, I'd like to sit down and chat for a bit. Have you had a chance to read memo 45011. All employees should have received one in their inbox." He looked over at Tiffany. "Tiffany, when was that sent out again?"

"Wednesday," she responded.

"It's regarding company policy on interoffice employee relations."

Melanie wondered what the odds were of a giant sinkhole materializing in the office lobby and swallowing her whole. She calculated they weren't good but still hoped there was a slight chance it might happen.

Tiffany stepped up to Jake. "Hello, I'm Tiffany. I'm Mr. Dawson's executive office assistant. Please let me know if there's anything you need." She handed him her business card. "Here's all my contact information. Call me anytime—day or night."

Melanie imagined all the one-liners going through Jake's mind right now. One-liners she had heard him use when referencing girls like Tiffany they had seen in a bar or on the street. They were probably words like hot or sex. Or the infamous two-liner where hot and sex were combined.

"Thank you, Tiffany," Jake replied. His lips curled up into a wicked smile. "I'll let you know if I need anything."

The Tiffany bobblehead popped into her mind. She twirled her long, dark hair around her fingers. "It would be super if Jake and I could have hot sex. Because we're both hot and sex just seems to be the logical choice."

Jake looked over at her. "Mel, what's going on?"

"Brandon and I...I mean The Team. We were just talking about how things could...you know...be better. Every company could use some...improvement." Her voice trailed off.

"I think things are pretty great right now," Jake responded dryly.

"It was just one suggestion. I didn't have anything to do with the other stuff going on," Melanie tried to explain.

Brandon chimed in, "Nonsense, she's just being modest. She really hit it off with The Team when we were in Singapore. We had some fantastic brainstorming and process mapping sessions."

God, is he going to mention the bio breaks as well?

The door opened and Dan walked in. He had an ace bandage wrapped around his ankle and was on crutches. His rumpled jacket hung loosely on his shoulders.

Brandon walked over. "You must be Dan?"

Dan looked baffled, "Uh...yes."

"I could tell by your injury." Brandon motioned to the crutches. "I'm Brandon Dawson and this is my executive assistant, Tiffany." Brandon continued as he held out his hand to Dan. "It's great to meet you. We're all just getting acquainted."

Dan seemed to crumple much like his jacket under the brilliance of Brandon and Tiffany. "Nice to meet you too," he muttered.

"It's too bad you didn't get to make the trip. But, we really lucked out when we got Melanie to take your place." Brandon slapped Dan on the back--almost knocking him off his crutches. "Yes, too bad."

"Which way to your office Dan? Tiffany and I are going to set up there. You don't mind, do you?"

"Uh...no," he replied.