You Never Knew

Chapter 11

I spend the rest of the weekend curled up in Jenna's lap. I don't tell her why, and she doesn't ask. She simply strokes my hair, feed me ice-cream and watch 'Buffy the vampire slayer' with me. (We are Team Spike!)

As Monday arrives, I still feel crappy and I absolutely do not want to face Finn. But it's my dream job on the line. So, I plaster on a smile as I step off the elevator to join the Monday meeting in the White room.

"Morning sweetie!" James smile warmly at me.

"Good morning!" I smile genuinely as I pass James. Lukas has been sending texts to me and Jenna about him all weekend.

I step inside the room, sipping my latte with extra milk when I spot Finn.

Better get this over with...

I walk over to him and hand him a paper bag with this jacket in it. "Thank you for lending it to me."

He takes it from my hands, very careful not to touch me as he does. "Thank you for giving it back."

He doesn't even look at me, diverting his gaze to either the floor or the wall.

I frown and try to make eye-contact. "Are you okay?"

He lets out a deep breath. "No."

He turns and walks across the room. I stand frozen in spot, trying to organise my feelings.

"If you all take your seats, we can begin." Matthews voice boom out over the room and everyone scurries to grab a seat. Just as I sit, Jennie come into the room and makes a dive for the chair next to me.

"Did I miss anything?"

"Your alarm?"

"Oh, hush you!" She playfully smacks me on my arm as I smile at her.

Matthews demands attention at the front of the room. "First off – let's give the first Wave challenge winners a warm applause, Brown and Clarke!"

I feel my cheeks blush as all eyes in the room turn to us.

"I've to say it again – I'm really impressed with you two. You managed that challenge in record time! Well done!" He grants us a small smile. "Since today is a new week, it's time for new partners. And today we start with a game!"

Matthews starts passing a small textile bag around. "It's straight forward. You all get a playing card. You have to find the rest of your suit and form a straight flush – starting from two and ace being the highest. Once done, yell out the name of your suit. The winning group will be the only group allowed to participate in the next Wave challenge. Rules clear?"

I nod before looking down at my card, the oddly fitting – two of hearts.

"Stand up. And in 3... 2... 1... GO!"

I grab the nearest assistant who has a card of my suit and hold my card up in the air. "Heart this way! All hearts this way!"

We move to a corner of the room. I keep shouting for more hearts to join as another assistant moves fast to get us organized. She pushes me into place at the end of the line when we hear excited screams.

"SPADE!"

I look over and Joacim's group are the first to complete the challenge. They all cheer and scream.

Matthews start to applaud them and the rest of the teams join in. "Great job Spades! You'll be our competitors this week!" He then continues. "Regarding the new teams, you'll pair up with the person next to you. Ace with king, queen with jack and so on. And yes, you unfortunate souls that are two's - you will be without a partner for the time being as the suit are odd numbered. "

My heart sank. This week is off to a truly crappy start.

"Everyone stop by the reception where James McConnor is seated and fill in the list of your suit and team mate. We'll work on assigning the placement for the week, whole you return here for a presentation about Clarke corp and our core values." He dismissed us like a high school teacher and turned to his papers.

Jennie ran up to me and squeezed my arm. "I'm gonna miss you so much!"

"I'm going to miss having a partner at all! Who are you teamed with?"

She doesn't seem to notice my bitter tone. "Cody Simon. Seems nice, but no match for you."

I smiled warmly at her as we walked out to James and signed the papers.

Joacim's voice travel towards us. "Clarke! It was good seeing you on Friday. Too bad you had to leave early."

I glanced over at Finn, his marvellous features formed a tight feeling in my chest. "Yeah, something came up and I wasn't feeling too good."

"Well, I see that you are also alone for this week." Joacim glanced down at my card, before leaning in to whisper, "Does that mean you'll have time to meet me in the copy room?"

He smirked and crooked one of his eyebrows at me.

I elbowed him lightly in the chest. "Idiot!"

"But a handsome idiot – right?" He winked and shot a 1000-watt smile at me. I couldn't help but smile back.

"Fine, I'll give you that".

"I knew you would go soft on me Clarke! See you in the copy room!" He waved and walked back into the White room ahead of me and Jennie.

"Remind me of the rules again... 'cause he is fiiiine!" Jennie licked her lips and looked at his ass as he walked away.

I look at her, trying to put on a maternal face. "If management found out you'd most likely be fired on the spot Jennie. And having the excuse that he as too 'fiiiiiine' will probably not help your case. "

"You are no fun!"

I turned to look at Finn. His eyes adverting my gaze as soon as he saw me looking.

"No, I guess I'm not." I unconsciously touched my lips, the lips he had kissed with such hunger a few days ago. And I realised that he had been right that first amazing night we spent together; kissing on the lips made it personal.

I sigh as I turn away from Finn and try to blink away the burning tears forming in my eyes.

Too personal. 

*****

A/N:

Now who doesn't love a good card came?

Poor Kiara... I hope Jennie can cheer her up. And having Joacim around can't be all bad, can it?

You are my favourite readers! x