Slow and Steady Wins the Race

They rode the elevator back down and went out through a side entrance where Jaydan saw a bright-yellow car she didn't recognize. It looked very sporty, very fast, and very expensive.

He clicked something and the doors opened but not like any car she'd ever been in. They looked more like wings than doors when opened.

"What kind of car is this?" she asked willing to admit her ignorance.

"It's a Lamborghini Aventador. It's a lot of fun. You wanna drive it?" he asked ready to toss her the keys.

"No thanks," she said imagining the liability involved should she wreck it.

"Okay. Suit yourself. Hop in and let's roll," he said. She sat down and the space-age doors quietly closed on command.

Brandon drove like what her mother called 'a bat out of hell.' He accelerated quickly, cornered hard, and passed cars like they were standing still. He saw her holding on for dear life and said, "Am I scaring you?"

"Um...a little," she confessed.

"Sorry," he told her as he whipped across three lanes of traffic and exited the freeway. "We're almost there."

In another two minutes, they were there and those magic doors again opened nearly straight up. He didn't come around to help her out, but he did hold the door open as they went inside.

"Brandon! How you doing my friend!" an older balding man with a large mustache said loudly in an accent she couldn't place.

"Christos! What's going on, my man?" Brandon said high-fiving with him.

"Who is the beautiful girl today?" he asked making Jaydan think there were probably a LOT of beautiful girls in Mr. Hardaway's life.

"This is Jaydan, our newest addition to the family."

He reached out for her hand, bowed, then kissed the back of it. "So young and so pretty! Welcome to Popalous!"

He turned to Brandon and said, "The usual today?"

"You got it, buddy! And a cup of that coffee for the pretty young lady, okay?"

There was a private table ready for them as they headed toward the back of the small Greek restaurant. "Let me help you with your coat," he said before pulling her chair back.

"They have the best coffee on God's green earth here!" he told her. Just as he did a younger woman around her age brought out two cups.

"Hey there, Athena! How is the goddess of beauty today?" She was a very pretty girl with long, black hair and a nice smile.

"Good! How's my favorite playboy and who's the lucky girl this time?" she asked as she set their coffee in front of them. He introduced them and Jaydan learned the older man was her father, Christos 'George' Popalous.

He took a sip of coffee and said, "Oh, that is just amazing! Give it a try."

She took a sip and said, "Wow. That is good. What's it called?"

"Kopi luwak," he replied. "It's the best—and most expensive—coffee in the world. Zorba the Greek charges $65 a cup and it's worth every penny."

"It really is delicious. What makes it so expensive?" She was taking another sip when Brandon answered her.

"It's made from the excrement of cats called civets from...."

Jaydan nearly gagged and spewed most of what was in her mouth. If that wasn't bad enough, she managed to spray some of it on the shirt he was wearing.

"Oh, my God! I'm so sorry!" she said as she reached for a napkin.

"Forget it!" Brandon said. "I've got a dozen shirts in my office. I'll change when we get back."

Jaydan wiped up as much of her mess as she could and said, "I think I blew about ten bucks worth when you told me what it's made from."

Brandon laughed and tried to finish the story about the jungle cat's poop, but Jaydan held up a hand and said, "That's okay. In this case, ignorance truly is bliss."

Athena brought their meals and Jaydan asked if she could have a glass of water instead. "She's not big on cat poop!" Brandon joked. Jaydan smiled politely but still felt slightly sick to her stomach.

He took a huge first bite and with a full mouth said, "These are amazing! Come on, give it a try!"

She picked up the huge wrap and found a place to bite and bit in. She chewed for a moment then said, "This is incredible!"

"See? Didn't I tell you?" For the next hour, Brandon talked and Jaydan listened. He was a whirling dervish of energy who evidently rarely slept and evidently, rarely worked. At least not anymore. He'd spent 80-90 hours a week building the company it's first five years and after it was up and running on all eight cylinders, he'd stepped back and let the people he hired take care of keeping it going. Now, he only made the big decisions requiring his personal attention, and he made them quickly.

He saw Jaydan look at her watch for the third time before saying, "I guess we should get you back before Royce has an aneurysm. He's turning 41 this weekend, by the way, and we're having a huge bash over at my place. You're coming, right?" he asked.

Jaydan was scheduled to work both Friday and Saturday evenings and she desperately needed the money. "I have an actual paying job and a daughter so unfortunately I won't be able to make it. Thank you, though," she said with a big smile.

"Nonsense!" he told her. "How many hours will you be missing?"

"Um...maybe six?" she said not certain if she'd get 4, 6, or 8.

He reached into one of his pockets and pulled out a money clip that had a thick stack of hundred-dollar bills in it. He peeled off five of them and said, "That ought to more than cover your lost wages." He smiled then said, "Oh, it's not formal, but you'll want to wear something nice so...." He peeled off five more and said, "Now you have no excuse!"

Before she could even speak or decline his offer he called out, "Athena? How much do we owe you today?"

He peeled a bunch more and left them on the table then handed two to Athena for what was almost certainly a tip on the way out.

"Hold on tight with this one," she said to Jaydan as they headed out. "And don't let him get away with anything!"

Brandon waved her off saying, "Yeah, yeah. You know you have a standing offer to go out with me anytime, right?"

Athena smiled and said, "I take my own advice, Brandon."

Jaydan understood exactly what that meant without a word of further explanation.

"She's the one who got away," Brandon said as he popped open the car's 'wings' again.

"She's very pretty," Jaydan said.

"So are you," he told her flashing her a big smile. "Hey? Would you like to be my plus one for the party?"

"Brandon, I barely know where my desk is yet."

"So what's your point?" he asked as he sped out of the lot and into traffic quickly changing lanes three times in just seconds.

He saw her white knuckles holding on for dear life then pulled over so fast even that scared her. The doors popped up and he got out. "Move over. You're driving," he said.

"No, really. That's okay. I was just hoping you might slow down a little."

"Scoot!" he said as he stood by her right side.

She did some gymnastics and slid into the driver's seat then looked over at him. "What happens if I do to your car what I did to the coffee?"

"We get another one!" he said as he closed the doors. He gave her a quick tutorial then said, "Have at it!"

It was probably the only time the Lamborghini was driven at 60mph on the freeway and stayed in the same lane, but Jaydan had to admit it was a lot of fun to drive. And everyone looked as they passed by.

"I don't think anyone's ever passed me before," Brandon said laughing as some younger guys cat-called to Jaydan.

Back inside, he walked her to Royce's office then said, "See you Saturday, right?"

"Oh, right," Jaydan replied. "See you then."

She looked at Royce who glanced at the clock on the wall. "I'm so sorry," she began.

"It's okay," he told her. "I've known Brandon for ten years now. That's just how he is."

"Well, I'll just um...get back to work," she said pointing to her office.

"Actually, I have list of things for you do so you might want to keep your coat on."

He went over the list of tasks with her then handed her a stack of folders and a package. Most were in the building, but she'd have to take the package to the post office which meant either walking four blocks or taking the bus. "I don't have a car," she said. "So I may be a while with the package. Is that okay?"

Without looking up, he reached into the top drawer of his desk and handed her his own set of car keys. "It's the white Camry parked right next to Brandon's little toy."

She took the keys, juggled the stack of stuff, and headed out to actually do something of value for the company. Other than worrying about how to find everyone on the list, her biggest concern was realizing she was carrying around more cash than she could remember having at one time in her life. Suddenly, the thought of getting mugged seemed very real even though she was still inside the building.

It took her over an hour to find each of the offices by first randomly stopping in one the asking for help. Eventually, she made her way back downstairs, found the very old, very beat-up Camry, and drove to the post office.

It was three o'clock when she returned and time for her to leave.

"Do you have anything else for me, Mr. Jones?" she asked when she returned his keys.

"No, that should do it for today," he told her.

"Okay then, I guess I'll be going," she said as she backed up.

"Have a nice evening, Ms. Kennison," he told her without looking up.

Jaydan didn't have a lot of time to chat when she stopped by her mom's to pick up Peyton, but she did quickly recount her lunch 'date' with the CEO. She showed her the stack of $100s and her mom just gasped.

"Is there any chance you can swing by the power company before it closes?" she asked her mother who knew exactly why she was asking.

"Well, I suppose I could. How much do you owe them?"

Jaydan handed her three bills and said, "That should catch us up, but I'll still owe them for this month next week when the bill comes in. At least they won't turn the power off on us."

That still left her more than enough to 'buy something nice' but she also owed the bank another $450 because she'd only made a partial payment last month on her mortgage. She loaded Peyton into the car and headed for the bank to try and catch up with them until the first of the month, then would go to the mall to see what she could find with whatever was left.

Jaydan found a reasonably nice dress on sale at Macy's for just under a hundred dollars. She had heels and jewelry to wear with it and still had enough left over to take Peyton out for dinner, an unheard of luxury since her father left.

The rest of the week flew by in a blur that was even faster than normal. Brandon was in New York on business and she was thankful to have been able to avoid him while trying to learn the ropes. Her boss was indeed a stickler for accuracy, but he was also a very fair and often even kind man to work for. Unlike the CEO who was a veritable flurry of energy and flamboyance, Royce Jones was quiet, methodical, and very good at his job. He took time on two occasions to help Jaydan understand what it was he did while explaining the company's cash flow.

"Cash flow," she said. "I know all about that. A tiny amount of cash flows in then goes straight out to pay bills."

"Being single is tough, isn't it?" he said thoughtfully when she made the remark about cash flow.

Jaydan looked over at the picture of him and his wife, a very beautiful woman with an amazing smile, and wondered what he meant by that. He saw her looking and Jaydan said, "She's very pretty."

"The love of my life," he remarked rather wistfully.

"What's her name?" Jaydan asked trying to be friendly.

"Cassie," he said. "Cassandra actually."

"Do you have children?" she asked innocently.

She saw him hesitant before answering. "Almost. We wanted to, it just never seemed to happen for us. I was too busy working and then...."

He suddenly stopped talking and cleared his throat. "Well, it's 3 o'clock already and I believe that's all the time I can legally keep you." He smiled but it wasn't the same smile she'd seen before. She caught him looking at the photo out of the corner of his eye.

"Oh, right. I guess I should be going then." She paused and said, "I don't have to work my other job tonight so if you need me to do something else...."

He didn't seem to hear her and she saw him looking at the photo again. "Mr. Jones? Would you like me to stay a while longer?"

"Oh, sorry. Um, no. That's not necessary." He tried to smile again then said, "But...would you mind calling me Royce?" His request felt...uncomfortable as though it was something he wanted to say but difficult to ask.

"Sure. I can do that. And...well, you could call me Jaydan if you like. I mean, that's fine with me if you don't or if it's not...."

A genuine smile appeared and he said, "I'd like that, Jaydan."

"Oh, okay. Well, then I guess I'll see you Saturday then?"

"Saturday?" he asked in complete surprise.

"Uh, oh," she said getting that sick feeling in her stomach.

"At Mr. Hardaway's?" she said kind of grimacing while raising her eyebrows.

"That son of a bitch," he said quietly. "I told him I didn't want a party of any kind this year."

"I think it's too late for that, Mr. J...Royce."

"I'm sure you've noticed Brandon tends to get what he wants." He looked up at her and said, "And not just around the office."

"Should I be worried?" Jaydan asked.

"That depends," he told her as he sat back and smiled again. "If you want to be another short fling in his life, if you want to live fast and—figuratively—die young, then, no. But if you want to keep from getting hurt, then...just be careful and don't be afraid to say 'no.' Firmly."

"Ah! Good to know," Jaydan said smiling back at him.

He stared at her for a moment before speaking. "You have such a nice smile," he told her. "It reminds me of Cass."

Jaydan was the one who felt uncomfortable now. "Oh. Um, well...thank you. That's quite a compliment. I should really probably get going now," she said pointing toward the door.

"Oh, okay. I thought maybe you'd like to stay and talk a while since you don't have to work. That's okay, though. I won't keep you. It's just nice to have someone to talk to, you know?"

Jaydan was now very confused. He clearly loved his wife so why wouldn't he have her to talk to? He didn't seem to be the kind of man who would speak so fondly of her then hit on a woman at work. And yet this somehow felt very...flirty.

Jaydan smiled, backed away and grabbed her things. On the way out she barely turned toward him as she said, "So I guess I'll see you at your non-party party?"

"I look forward to it," he told her with a tone that belied his joy. "And don't worry. I won't let Brandon know you spilled the beans."

Jaydan let work know she wouldn't be in on Saturday and when she came out wearing her pretty new dress Peyton asked, "Why are you so pretty to go to work, Mommy?"

She explained she had to go to an office function and Peyton wanted to know what a function was. "Well, it's like a party."

"A party? I wanna come!" she said excitedly.

"Well, it's not that kind of party, honey. It's more like a bunch of grown ups getting together and talking about boring stuff."

"Oh, okay," her daughter said without enthusiasm. "Will you be boring at the party, Mommy?"

"Maybe so, baby," her mom said. "But Mommy has to go anyway."

"I'm sorry, Mommy," she said holding out her arms for a hug. "This will make you feel better."

Jaydan's mom came to her place this time and after hugging Peyton, said to her daughter, "Well, look at you! Is there a man somewhere in your future by any chance?"

"Ugh!" Jaydan said with annoyance. "Can't you give it a rest for one day, Mom?"

"I could but what fun what that be?" she replied with a smile. "Jaydan, you could really use a little excitement in your life. This CEO person sounds like quite the catch, if you ask me."

"Um...that's why I'm not asking you, Mom," she said directly. "Besides, excitement is overrated. If I ever do find someone else, I'd prefer stable and romantic; someone who might even love Peyton as much as I do. I don't need a Lamborghini and a big bankroll. Just a decent guy who loves me and cares about us both. That doesn't seem too much to ask."

"It wouldn't hurt if he was rich, though," Denise chimed in.

"You're incorrigible, Mother," she said letting her exasperation show. "What wouldn't hurt would be having him also not be too hard to look at. That's not a prerequisite, though. It would just be icing on the cake."

"Just keep an open mind, okay, honey?" she said as Jaydan grabbed the only coat she had which was black, but older and much too short for the dress.

"I guess this'll have to do," she said as she hugged Peyton and told her to be good for Nana.

"If you had a husband like that nice Mr. Hardaway, you could have a closet full of coats, dear."

Jaydan shot her a death glance. Her mom smiled then grabbed Peyton's hand. "Come on, honey, let's go before your mommy shoots a visual dagger through Nana's heart."

"What's a tagger, Nana? Is it like Tigger?" she said referencing Winnie the Pooh as they walked away.

Jaydan felt completely out of place after walking in and looking around. It was strange enough having a valet park her older-model Ford Taurus, but she felt like she was in some kind of modern-looking palace. And everyone was either dressed more formally than her or so casual she didn't know what to make of it.

She accepted the offer of a glass of champagne from a young girl in a white shirt and black skirt carrying a silver tray filled with flutes. She took a sip and wandered around looking at the art, the exotic fish in several large tanks, and some very unusual looking artifacts.

"That was found in a temple in Israel," a voice said over her shoulder.

"Brandon. Hi!" she said as he stood alongside her.

"These pottery figurines are from a building in Tel Motza near Jerusalem where rituals were once performed."

"They're beautiful," she said. "How old are they?"

"From around 738BC," he told her. "Or BCE if you prefer."

Jaydan had no idea what the distinction meant, let alone whether or not it was significant.

"Are you an art lover?" he asked.

"Yes and no," she told him. "I love art, I just don't know much about it."

"Let me give you a guided tour, then," he said as he motioned for her to move directly ahead.

For the next hour, he took her from item to item explaining what it was, where it came from, and how he acquired it.

"Very impressive," she said when they finished.

"Thank you," he told her. "You're very impressive, Jaydan."

"Me? Please! I'm a 29-year old college senior with a crappy job who's also working as an intern for free." She realized how that sounded then quickly added, "For which I am very grateful, by the way."

She saw Brandon smile and knew someone was behind her. "Hey! Here's the birthday boy himself! Nice to see you could finally show up, buddy," he said to Royce.

He shook Brandon's hand then said, "There's only one reason I'd show up here after very clearly telling you I did not want a party this year." He looked over at Jaydan and she had the creepy feeling he was referring to her. "Good evening, Jaydan. That's a beautiful dress."

"It should be," Brandon jumped in saying.

"Oh?" Royce queried.

"Let's just say I...incentivized Jaydan to grace us with her presence."

"I know better than to ask," Royce said with a hint of annoyance in his voice. He turned back to Jaydan and asked her, "So are you here alone?"

Before she could answer, Brandon extended his elbow between them and said, "She's here with me."

Although not particularly wanting to spend any more time with the overly-outgoing CEO, she had no desire to spend time with a man who would leave his wife at home then hint that he'd like to spend time with his intern. With that in mind, she looped her arm through Brandon's and let him drag her off to introduce her to a bunch of people she didn't know or particularly want to meet.