Few days later short before noon Eve was engrossed in reading her emails. Nicole appeared at her desk at some point with an envelope in her hand.
„A courier just brought this,“ she said to get Eve’s attention.
„Oh, this must be the loan contract,“ Eve said and took the envelope.
„Are we going to the canteen for lunch?“ Nicole asked.
„Ya, sure,“ Eve replied. „Just give me five minutes.“
„Um…“ they suddenly heard Richard saying.
Both looked at him. He immediately flushed.
„I… um… can I join you?“ he asked carefully.
Eve grinning all over her face.
„Of course,“ Nicole said, giving him a charming smile.
Then she walked away. Richard took a deep breath when Nicole was out of sight.
„I’m proud of you,“ Eve said, still grinning.
„Eve…?“ he stammered.
„Yes?“
„Can you find a reason why you can’t join us?“
She stared at him in disbelief. He stared back, flushing again.
„Richy, you have no idea how happy you make me with this.“
He just nodded, while his heart was beating out of control.
Few minutes later Eve appeared at the front desk with her bag and a folder under her arm. Nicole gave her an irritated look.
„Sorry Nic. I just talked to JC. As you know he’s not feeling well and working from home today. But I need him to sign this papers urgently. That’s why I have to bring them to his place.“
„Can’t you go after lunch?“
„No, I need to do it immediately.“
„Okay, so… where’s Richy?“
„In the bathroom. He should pick you up any second.“
Eve didn’t lie. JC really asked her to bring the papers. He didn’t insist her to come straightaway, but it made sense to use the situation as an excuse for not joining Nicole and Richard during lunch.
Half hour later Eve arrived at JC’s house in West Hollywood. She stopped her car in front of his gateway and rang the bell through her open window.
„Hello?“ A friendly female voice answered through the intercom.
„Hi, I’m JC’s assistant. He asked me to bring some papers.“
„Oh, um… Mr. Chasez didn’t inform me about this.“
„Does it mean, he isn’t home?“
„He is home, but he’s making a nap.“
„I think he didn’t expect me being here that early. But I really need him to sign the papers, you know?“
„Um… ya… I see.“
In the next second the gate opened up. Eve drove at the property and parked her car in front of the house. A small woman in her late fifties with short grey hair opened the front door. Eve was sure she must be the housekeeper.
„Thank you for letting me in,“ Eve said friendly, coming towards her.
The woman was still irritated, not knowing what to do.
„Um, look… is there a chance to wait inside, till he wakes up? The thing is, I need to bring the documents back to the office, as soon as he signed them.“
The woman looked at her for a moment. As Eve was making a trustable impression, she finally begun smiling and let her in.
Eve smiled back and entered the house. She was impressed by its beauty and JC’s tasteful minimalistic interior. There was an impressive view at L.A. downtown through the giant floor to ceiling window in the living area. Eve was sure the house must be worth several millions. She stopped standing in front of the window and enjoyed the sight.
„It’s beautiful, isn’t it?“ the woman said.
Eve looked at her and nodded.
„I am Elena, the housekeeper,“ she introduced herself.
„I’m Eve. It’s nice to meet you, Elena.“
„Um… do you wanna a cup of coffee?“ Elena offered.
„It would be nice, thank you,“ Eve replied.
She followed Elena and sat down at the kitchen island. Elena switched on the coffee maker.
„Is he having a flu?“ Eve asked curiously.
„No, it’s a migraine. He’s having trouble with it once in a while.“
„I see.“
„How long are you working for Mr. Chasez?“ Elena wanted to know.
„Oh um… I just started few weeks ago.“
„Do you like it?“
Eve nodded.
„We’ve had a rough start but things are good now.“
Elena smiled. She finished making coffee and handed the cup over to Eve.
„Thank you.“
„How come a beautiful young woman like you is not having a ring on her finger?“ Elena asked next.
Eve smiled sheepishly.
„That’s a long story.“
„I’m sorry, if I crossed the line,“ Elena apologized.
„No, you didn’t. It’s just not my favorite topic, you know.“
„Sounds like someone broke your heart.“
„Actually it was my fault. I said yes although I knew I should have said no. The relationship I was having was very toxic. Luckily I came to my senses and broke things up before we got married. But he didn’t accept my decision and gave me a pretty tough time when I left.“
„Oh darling, I’m very sorry to hear that,“ Elena replied.
„Luckily I got the chance going abroad. Since then my life changed for a better.“
„Does it mean you didn’t hear from that man again?“
Eve nodded.
„Good for you.“
Eve started smiling.
„What’s so funny?“ Elena asked.
„Nothing. I’m just surprised about myself that I told you all of this. I mean, we know each other for ten minutes.“
In the next moment JC entered the kitchen. He was wearing black sweatpants and a white v-neck t-shirt. He looked tired, being without glasses and having messy hair.
„I’ll do some ironing upstairs. It was nice to meet you, Eve,“ Elena said.
„Same to you. And thanks for the coffee,“ Eve replied, smiling at her.
„I didn’t expect you coming here during lunchtime,“ JC said, when Elena was gone.
He stopped standing in front of the coffee maker and pushed the espresso button.
„Richard is having lunch with Nicole, so I had nothing better to do during my break,“ Eve explained.
JC raised his eyebrows.
„Looks like they’re making progress.“
„Richard is working on it.“
JC grabbed his espresso and took a sip.
„Talking about Richard. I thought about your suggestion to promote him.“
„With which result?“
„I think it’s a smart move.“
Eve smiled all over her face.
„That’s awesome. I’m sure you won’t regret it.“
„Please contact our headhunter to find another IT guy to join his team.“
„I will.“
JC sat down at the free stool next to her and grabbed the folder.
„Did you read the loan contract?“
„Not, yet.“
„Okay, let’s do it together and double check. My head ist killing me.“
He grabbed one copy and started reading. Eve glanced at his trimmed chest hair, being partly exposed through his deep v-neck. She bit her lower lip and squeezed her tights.
„Oh Eve, it’s been a while… you should get laid urgently. In best case right here, right now…“ she daydreamed.
JC caught her staring at him.
„Are you okay?“ he asked, just to say something.
„Yes.“
Hastily she grabbed the other copy and started reading. JC was suppressing a smile.
„Looks like she can’t fight chemistry…“
After reading and signing the papers, Eve put everything back into the folder and stood up from the stool.
„I hope you feel better tomorrow.“
„What about lunch?“ JC asked.
„Lunch?“
„You didn’t eat anything, yet.“
„Oh, ya. I’ll make a quick stop at Starbucks on my way back.“
„Starbucks is not lunch. Come on, let’s eat together. I’m hungry, as well.“
He stood up and went to the fridge. Eve stared at him in disbelief.
„Are you cooking now?“
JC chuckled.
„Good lord, no. Elena made a soup,“ he explained and put the pot out of the fridge.
Eve raised her eyebrows.
„Really? She’s also cooking for you?“
JC nodded.
„One day I tried making pasta. The kitchen hardly survived that night. Elena was outraged and said, she rather makes food for me than cleaning my mess. I gratefully accepted her deal.“
Eve laughed.
„You’re sure you wanna share your meal with me?“
„Ya, don’t worry. She made enough.“
