Working for Love

Sometimes I lay in bed with my fiance laying next to me asleep and I think about how we came to be where we are today. It started when I had to move to a new department my senior year of college because the hospital made me move. I met the man of my dreams, and I realize now how much I had missed before he came into my life. This is our story, from the very beginning.

"Hello?" I asked looking into the room. The room was lit only by a small light on the desk, leaving the rest in shadows. Someone had an open laptop on the desk and I could see a line for ear-buds leading towards the person who was sitting back away from the desk in the shadows of the room.

"What can I do for you?" I hear a robust male voice ask from within. He leaned forward into the light and I had to blink to make sure I was seeing who I thought I was. I had seen him everyday at work, and I had always looked at him and prayed that he would notice me.

"I'm looking for a James? I'm supposed to work this shift with him so he can train me." I respond trying to keep my voice even.

"You must be Holly." He says smiling, making my heart leap up into my throat.

"Yes, are you James?" I ask stepping into the room and closing the door softly behind me. He stands up and waves a hand and I have to blink as the lights come on in the room.

"Yeah, that's me. Rich said I'd be training you, but he neglected to mention how cute you were. Sorry about the lights, they have a tendency to go out when you sit still for too long." James says before taking out his ear-buds.

I shake my head and pray that I'm not blushing about the cute comment that he had just made, I was 5'10" and a brunette with hazel eyes. I was slim for my figure, but somehow had inherited large D breasts from my mother. I was what you would call an hour glass. "I understand, they do that where I work in the Hospital as well." I say walking towards him with my hand extended. He takes my hand and shakes it, smiling down at me. He stood at about 6'5" and had brilliant blue eyes. His hair was a very short dirty blonde and his hand made mine seem tiny in his.

"So what brings you to my department if you already work in the hospital?" James asks raising an eyebrow.

"They brought in several new volunteers for my department, and since I'm on the payroll they decided to move me here to be of help to you and to the others in the office. Basically from what I have been told I'm a gopher, and that you're my new boss." I say looking around. The world of inputting medical records looked like it was going to be a boring one.

"I work evenings after my classes are out, Jessica works during the mornings, Andrew works in the afternoons, and the three who work before me all have a, what did you call it? Oh, right "gopher" that helps them out in the office. Generally we don't get files in at night that need to be put in, especially since we upgraded the system to be all computerized."

I look at him and try to catch my breath again. I was going to have to avoid making eye contact at all costs if I didn't want to hyperventilate every time I looked at James. "I understand. So what do you do at night?" I ask looking towards his desk and the empty one that I could now see was up against it, so that the workers sitting there would be facing each other.

"Mostly homework, and monitoring the system. Sometimes we get back-up of paper files from the earlier shifts, and sometimes we have to monitor the downloads that the new system is undergoing. If you want to get started I have a couple of files that I'm putting in, and I can teach you how to do that part." James says noting that I was staring at the desks.

"I would like that." I say looking back towards him and smiling. He walks to my desk and pulls my chair over to his desk and places it next to his. He sits in his and pats the other chair as he smiles at me. I walk over to the chair and sit down, looking at his screen.

"Your work laptop has the programming on it that you'll need and nothing else. I generally pull up a radio station while I'm working and listen to it, or you can bring in your iPod like I did tonight." He says pulling an ear-bud to his ear and re-inserting it.

"So basically it's like the computer in the lobby. Use it for what you need, but nothing else. We could bring in our laptops to do stuff on though." I say as he pulls up the program on his computer. I saw a lot of blank lines that needed to be filled in, but it looked pretty self-explanatory.

"Andrew and Jessica bring in theirs, but they have them approved through the IT department. It takes knowing the right people to get that allowed. Jessica and Andrew both have an influential parent in management that pull strings for them though." James says opening a manilla file on his desk and puts it in the middle of us.

"So we type what's here into the program?" I ask looking down at the face sheet. James nods and continues typing where he had left off.

"And we have to scan the other sheets into the electronic file." James says looking over at me quickly. He pauses and offers me the other ear-bud. "Read me the next line and we'll get through this chart faster and you can start tomorrow night on your own stack of charts." James hands me the chart and I scoot closer so that we don't end up pulling each others ear-bud out. He smiles and I read the next line.

While reading I can't help but realize how good he smells. He smells like soap, and an underlying scent of something that was unmistakeably man. I couldn't get enough of the smell, and wanted to be surrounded by it for as long as possible. We finish the face sheet and he takes the file from my hands, dwarfing them with his massive hands again. I shiver slightly as he pulls his hands away from mine and he scans the rest of the chart into the computer. He closes the file and places it face down on top of a small stack of other folders. He grabs another from the pile next to the done ones and hands it to me.

"Next one. Hopefully we'll get these done before we have to leave for the night. I hate having to work over-time." James says before turning up the volume on the iPod. I notice that he had only been playing country music and make a mental note of it. I realize that I'm humming along with the song when I'm not reading out loud and stop.

"Sorry." I mumble before reading the next line.

"For what?" James asks confused as he types the information I had just read out into the face sheet on the computer.

"Humming." I say before reading the next line.

"Doesn't bug me. Your humming sounds better than mine does." James says smiling at me. He pauses to stretch and puts an arm behind me on the back of my chair.

"Smooth." I say rolling my eyes at him, while on the inside I was silently freaking out about his arm almost being around me.

"I try." James says winking at me. I shake my head and read the next line of information to him. We continue like this for a while and I begin to relax slightly into the back of my chair. He wasn't scary, and I was getting used to being around him.

We finish the fifth file since I had come in and James stands. "Come on. I need a break, and some coffee. You could probably use some too." I nod and remove the ear-bud from my ear and stand up next to him rising up on my toes to stretch out my calves.

We leave the office and he locks the door behind him. We're walking down the hall to the stairs that lead to the cafeteria when someone yells out behind us. "Holly! Cupcake!?" I groan recognizing the voice. "Wait up!" I stop and James keeps walking.

"James." I say and he turns and gives me a look. He turns and walks back to me. The idiot who had yelled from behind us finally catches up and smiles wickedly at me. "Holly, what is a lobby girl like you doing up here?" I mentally punch him in the face and put on a smile to answer his question.

"She's with me." James says wrapping an arm around me. I look up at him and he smiles at me. I hug him from the side and put my head against his side.

"Wow Cupcake, making moves on girls from other departments now?" The guy asks smirking at us. I mentally kick him in the balls and James puts his other hand in his pocket.

"Brandon. Go take a long walk off a short pier." I say smiling at him.

"Wow, harsh sweets. Not how you should treat someone you slept with." Brandon says grinning. James pulls me closer to his side and I start slowly counting to ten.

"Impossible." James says. I stop at six and look at him.

"How so?" Brandon asks.

"Because if she was sleeping with you she wouldn't be sleeping with me." I start coughing after having choked on spit.

"So, sleeping your way around the staff Holly?" Brandon asks.

"Okay look. I was young, and stupid, and I'm not with you anymore. I haven't been with you since, and I tolerate the fact that we have to work together. Get off my case for having decided to move on with my life to bigger and better things." I say finally letting my anger get the better of me.

"No need to be a bitch." Brandon says getting pissed off. James runs his hand up and down my side and I shiver under his touch.

"Don't you have some trash somewhere to take out?" James asks before letting me go and turning around and starting to walk away. He holds out a hand for me and I grab it quickly, following him down the hall and away from Brandon. We turn the corner and enter the stairwell. "Thank you." I say, looking at the huge man in front of me.

"Not a problem. He's always been an asshole." James says stopping on the landing and turning to look at me. "You slept with him?" James asks raising an eyebrow.

"I was sixteen, and he was sixteen. We had been dating for over a year and I thought that I loved him. I was also content with living the rest of my life in this stupid town too. I was young, and stupid, and I made a mistake, one that I have to live with every day that he works the same shift that I do." I clench my fists and James places a hand on my shoulder.

"Holly. Calm. Breathe." James says before moving his hand to smooth a strand of hair back into place. I slowly calm down and he looks at me. He pulls me into a hug and I melt into his arms. "You aren't who you used to be anymore. You are better than that dick will ever be." James says before letting me go. I smile and he looks relieved.

"Let's go get that coffee, my treat." I say before walking down the stairs. James grabs my hand and pulls on it lightly. He walks down the stairs to the same level that I was on and kisses me softly. I close my eyes and kiss him back. He breaks the kiss as a door in the stairwell creaks open and footsteps descend on the stairs several levels above us. I open my eyes and look at him. He tugs on my hand and we descend towards the basement level where the cafeteria is located.

We walk into the cafeteria and I head straight for the coffee. James lets go of my hand, and heads towards the coolers of pop and water. "Hey, coffee is over here." I say laughing and pointing at the coffee machine in front of me.

"But the energy drinks are over here." He says grabbing to cans of monster. He walks back over to me and grabs a coffee cup before filling it with straight black coffee.

"Both?" I say looking at him. I press the button for the cappuccino flavor I want and listen as the machine comes to life.

"It's a long time until six in the morning." James says grabbing a lid. "You'll thank me later." I shake my head, and he chuckles.

"You better share then. I mean I am the one doing all the reading." I say letting go of the button and grabbing a lid for my drink. We walk towards the cash register and James snags two large cookies.

"I had planned on it." He says before looking at the cashier and noticing that she was laughing at us. I look and hand her my ID. She rings up the items and swipes my ID. "Thanks Viv." I say as I grab my coffee.

"Have a good night Holl, you too Cupcake." Vivian says as she walks back into the kitchen.

"Does everyone call you Cupcake?" I ask as we walk out of the cafeteria and back towards the stairs.

"Hey, let's go sit somewhere and enjoy this. The files will wait for us." James says motioning for me to follow him. We wind our way through passages in the basement and end up in a staff lounge that I could have sworn was locked before we entered. "Okay, you are really good at dodging questions." I say placing my coffee on the table and selecting a seat.

"I promise to answer all questions to the best of my ability then." James says putting his coffee next to mine and sitting in the seat next to me. I look at him and notice that he was smiling with his eyes while maintaining a serious expression.

"Okay, let's start with something simple. Where the hell are we?" I ask indicating the room that we were sitting in by pointing around.

"Easy enough." James says leaning back in his chair. "Welcome to our staff lounge. We share with IS and IT but they tend to stay down in their offices down here rather than being social beings. If you're early for work, you can hang out down here before heading up for your shift since our office is so small that only the two people working can fit in it comfortably. Also provides a place for us to be able to eat when we take our breaks." James reaches out and hits a button on the remote in front of him. The TV across the way turns on and the sports channel flickers on.

"Typical male." I say scoffing before taking a sip of my coffee.

"Hey, I represent that remark." James says before winking at me. I start laughing which causes him to start. We settle down and I turn in the chair to face him. He takes a sip of his coffee and looks at me.

"Okay. Next question. Why does everyone call you Cupcake?" I ask looking at him and reaching out to snag the remote and turn the volume down. He looks at the TV and frowns and looks for the remote on the table.

"Hey. Give that back!" He says reaching for it. I quickly put it behind my back and he lunges for it, pulling my chair closer to him so that he can get closer to my back. "I can't hear the TV." James says reaching behind my back.

"Answer the questions and I'll give it back." I say laughing as he keeps trying for the remote behind me. He lunges one more time and instead of reaching behind me he kisses my lips. My eyes drift closed as James pulls me up into him. I put the remote on the chair and reach up, wrapping my hands around his neck. He groans into the kiss and pulls me up into a fully sitting position. I pull away and look at him. He sighs and reaches out and strokes my cheek with his hand.

"Okay, you are a damned good kisser." James says looking into my eyes. "To answer your question, everyone calls me cupcake because of a stupid high school nickname that has stuck over the years." I look at him and shake my head. "I was a male cheerleader, laugh all you want, and I got the name cupcake from one of the girls on the squad. I had been given a cupcake and stuffed it into my face, wrapper and all because I was really hungry at a game. She started calling me Cupcake and it stuck."

"So, just so you know I am totally going to be calling you Cupcake." I say before laughing really hard. I wrap my arms around myself as I start laughing so hard that tears are falling out of my eyes. James rolls his eyes and throws one of the cookies that we'd gotten at my face.

"I'd prefer it if you didn't in public. It's bad enough everyone else does." James says before grabbing the other cookie and opening it and taking a piece and eating it.

"One more question." I say wiping the tears from my eyes and trying to calm my breathing back down.

"You sure this is the last one?" He asks looking at me sceptically. I nod. "Then ask away sweets." He says leaning towards me.

"No more distracting me then." I say putting a hand over his face. He licks my hand and I shriek pulling my hand away from his face and quickly wiping it on my dress slacks.

"I didn't realize my face was distracting." James says chuckling at my reaction to him licking my hand.

"It is for me." I say before nervously reaching for my cappuccino. James stops my hand by placing his hand on top of it.

"Explain please?" He asks leaning towards me. I decide to screw explaining and lean forward and kiss him. My eyes drift closed as he once again pulls me into him. He deepens the kiss and I leave my chair, climbing into his lap. Straddling his legs. He pulls away and I open an eye to look at him. "That was not explaining." James says as I close my eyes again and breathe in deeply before opening my eyes to see him staring at me.

"You are the only person who makes me react like this." I say shrugging. He raises an eyebrow and rolls his wrist encouraging me to continue. I try to climb down off his lap and he holds me in place. "Okay. Fine. You make my heart skip a few beats every time I look at you, looking into your eyes threatens to send me into a fit of hyperventilation. Your kisses make my head spin, and my heart jump up into my throat. You smell amazing and your hugs make me feel like I was made to fit in your arms." I say before covering my face with my hands. James pulls me into a hug and I cautiously peer out from behind my hands.

"Please don't cover your beautiful face." James says softly, causing me to relax and pull my hands away from my face to place them on his shoulders. "I probably didn't need you to sit beside me and read the files to me, but I couldn't get over how beautiful you were. You smell like a combination of Jasmine and lavender and the smell is intoxicating. After the run in with Brandon I decided that I couldn't not kiss you." James says looking into my eyes. "You appeal to my senses in a way that no one else has ever been able to. I've always been aware of you in the hospital. You always grabbed my attention and wouldn't let it go. Sandy flat out told me I was an idiot if I didn't get to know you." I chuckle lightly. "What?" James asks.

I lean forward and kiss him lightly. I pull back and he looks at me still confused. "I was supposed to meet with Sandy this morning and help her stock for the day after I got off of work. She said that she had someone for me to meet today. I don't think she realized that I was going to end up working with you." I say looking into James' eyes.

"I always stop by on my way out of work for a cup of coffee and a breakfast sandwich." He admits smiling. "You always come in to work the front desk at about 6:30 as well, so I could enjoy my cup of coffee and watch you smile at people and help them as they came in." James admits.

"I should be thoroughly creeped out by you watching me, but somehow I'm not." I admit reaching behind me and fumbling for my cookie.

"I can't believe you never noticed." James says as he realizes what I'm grabbing for and leans forward to grab my cookie off the table and hands it to me. I break a piece off and offer it to him. He opens his mouth and I place the cookie bit inside. He starts chewing and I giggle slightly.

"I thought that you were creeped out by me staring at you in all honesty." I say shrugging. I pick up my cookie and bite a piece off.

"I guess I never noticed that either." James says shrugging. He leans forward and kisses my forehead. "You were going to ask another question Holly." James says softly, sending a shiver down my spine.

"Oh yeah, I was going to ask why you told Brandon I was with you." I say looking at him before taking another bite of my cookie.

"Because I had wished that you would be with me since I first noticed you working in the lobby. I was praying that you would notice me and then I could be all suave and flirt with you and take you to lunch and buy you coffee. I wanted to spoil you rotten and hope that you would return my feelings." James says before guiding my hands up towards his mouth. He takes a big bite out of the cookie and I quickly pull my cookie back towards me.