All Or Nothing At All

Chapter 1

Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.
The typewriters cadence was all Vivian Thompson heard all day. It both soothed and annoyed her. Her small hands made it difficult to type very quickly or with any ease, but she soldiered along in her work. After all, how many twenty two year old girls could say they worked for the Secret Service? Plenty of girls had been interviewed for the position. Most with much more experience, but Mr. Aston had insisted on her. It wasn't experience he was after, but trust.
"After all, Viv, I already trust you. Why  start all over?"
But much more should be explained on the subject of Vivian and Mr. Aston, so as not to give the wrong idea. Daniel Aston had served in the field with Vivian's father, Charles. When he was killed in the line of duty, Daniel had become a second father to her. He'd paid for schooling. He'd paid for countless Christmases, and when her mother had passed three years ago, he'd also assisted in her secretarial training.
And so as on many late nights in the office, after the last agent left, she walked over to the record player and put on a tune or two. With three more government letters to type, she had time for about two songs. She sighed deeply when the first chords of Glenn Miller's In The Mood began to play.

Agent Jack Cooper, or "Coop" , to those who knew him well, bit the edge of his pencil in frustration. He hated the paperwork. His job would be a dream if it weren't for the infernal paperwork!
He suddenly heard a band orchestra coming from down the hall. He bit harder on the pencil.
Vivian.
She had no business being in the office after dark. Who knew what kind of problems she'd run into on the way home. What was Aston thinking? Letting a twenty year old girl, do what...well, whatever she did! Walk around the office in those form fitting dresses. Well, it distracted good agents from their work. Then there was the matter of her laughter. The office was not a country club, but a place of business, and an important business at that! She just shouldn't be here, and her loud dance hall music just proved his point. Why! He could hardly concentrate. He stood to his feet and marched down the hall.

BANG!
The door slammed open behind her. She jolted up right.
"Turn it off."
Coop glared icily at her. She stood and fumbled with the record player, effectively cutting the sound.
"I...I didn't know you were still here." She said nervously. It was no secret that Agent Cooper did not approve of her. He confirmed each and everyone of her insecurities. She did not have the proper qualifications. She was far to scatterbrained for this job, and her clothing was much too frivolous. She already knew. She pulled absent mindedly at the pale blue sleeve of her sweater.
"I'm sorry," she looked up, and saw his eyes darken, shutter, then glare coldly once again. He growled as he slammed the door behind him.

IDIOT! He screamed to himelf, What an unbelievable idiot.
For a split second, he'd felt a brief tug of affection toward her. In that, brief moment, something flickered in him that felt almost fiery. He knew what it was but He'd be damned if he acknowledged it, or even named it. No. Certainly not.
Vivian was a problem that needed to be fixed. She was a mistake that needed correction. She was certainly not going to make his palms sweat. However, she had certainly been the cause of something now apparently lodged in his chest.
Vivian.