The Write Choice

Chapter 9

Jake regained his composure at the sight of a large horizontal crack across the screen of his laptop. "Dam it," he cursed.

He bent down to pick it up but kept his eyes on Melanie as he stood up slowly—taking in a full toe-to-head view as he rose. She almost thought for a minute he would circle his hand around again and make her twirl like earlier in his office. His eyes followed her long legs up to her plunging neckline and landed on her face.

Melanie flushed.

Everyone is staring at me.

Tiffany finally regained the ability to speak. "Who died and left you a fairy godmother and a pumpkin coach? Will you turn back into Cinderella when the clock strikes twelve?" She let out a high pitched laugh that sounded a little desperate.

"Um...how was the meeting?" Melanie tried to defer the attention away from her.

"What meeting?" Jake asked with a blank look on his face.

"Didn't you guys have a meeting...marketing or something like that?"

Brandon chimed in. "Yes, it was a very productive team meeting."

"Oh, that meeting," Jake said sarcastically. "Ya, great meeting boss."

Tiffany stood up. "Jake, when are we leaving?"

"Leaving?" He looked confused.

"To go to dinner," she replied.

"Oh...dinner. Right," he said in Tiffany's direction but kept his eyes on Melanie. "I just need a few minutes to clean up."

"Well, I'm getting hungry," she said impatiently and sat back down.

And probably thirsty for some expensive wine on Jake's tab, Melanie thought.

Jake broke his gaze from Melanie and started to head to his office where he kept an arsenal of stylish dress shirts, fresh jeans, and his signature cologne--just for date night.

Brandon reached his arm out to Melanie. "Are you ready? The driver is waiting to take us to dinner." Then he added, "You look exquisite!"

Almost simultaneously, Jake and Tiffany yelled, "You two are going out?"

"Yes, if you must know, we're going to dinner," Brandon replied.

"What...the...hell," Jake choked out under his breath.

Tiffany, for the second time in a few minutes, held open her mouth and had nothing to say.

Jake stammered, "You two are dating?" Anger flashed in his eyes. "You...uh...can't do that."

"Really? Why not?" Brandon challenged.

He paused for a minute. "I know. What about that memo? The memo about interoffice relationships. Number 45...um...what the hell was it again?" He looked at Tiffany.

Tiffany didn't say a thing as she seemed to be trying to grasp the concept of Brandon and Melanie dating.

"Never mind...It doesn't matter what the number is. We're not supposed to date coworkers right?"

"Hmm...aren't you taking Tiffany to dinner?" Brandon raised his eyebrows.

"That's totally different. We're not...seeing each other socially. We're just sharing a meal and getting to know each other better. I mean...we'll probably talk work," he tried to reason.

"Well," Brandon replied, "I guess it's ok then...if you aren't seeing Tiffany socially. But I, on the other hand, am seeing Melanie...socially." He met Jake's glare. "And I, my dear boy, am the owner of this company---and the rules do not apply."