Chapter 8 - The Boss

“LOOK, I TOLD YOU,” Jamie said to her sister. “I’ll help you on the weekends and after work when I can.” Jamie sighed. “Can’t you see how important this job is to me?”

“Can’t you see how important this wedding is to me?” Christine whined. “Tighter,” she snapped at the seamstress. “I don’t want to be mistaken for my sister because the bodice is too big.”

Jamie rolled her eyes and reclined against the dark blue armchair meant for guests during the fittings. “I thought you were worried about looking like a prostitute,” she mumbled.

“There’s a difference between looking like a prostitute and not looking like I’m morbidly obese,” Christine said. “Speaking of which, how is your diet going? It looks like you’ve broken it a few times.”

Jamie was beyond tired of Christine’s comments. “I’m not morbidly obese. If I lose twenty pounds, I’ll be like a size six, maybe an eight, tops. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that size.” She stared at her sister’s reflection in the mirror. “Actually, I lost five pounds. Not that you would notice, wrapped up in your self-absorbed little world.”

Christine gasped.

Jamie took a deep breath to calm herself. “Sorry,” she said. “I’m just stressed from work.” And helping you with the wedding.

“That was incredibly mean.” Christine pouted. “I could’ve told you getting a job during such an important time in my life was stupid. I have maybe six months to organize and there’s no way you’ll get everything done in t—Ow!” She glared at the seamstress. “You stabbed me with a pin on purpose.”

“No ma’am,” the seamstress said submissively. “You moved.”

Christine huffed and the seamstress grinned quickly before catching herself. Jamie watched the seamstress, impressed the woman hadn’t “accidentally” stabbed Christine earlier with the way Christine was making a fool of herself.

“How’re the invitations coming along?” Christine asked.

“I sent the last of them out on my lunch break yesterday,” Jamie said. “I also emailed you the final plans about the honeymoon, including airfare, the resort, and even a rental car reserved for you. Believe it or not, I’m not totally useless, even when I am employed.” Hadn’t Stephen said he was going to take care of the honeymoon? Funny how he’d turned around and put it on her.

“You’d be a hell of a lot more useful if you had more time,” Christine snapped. “Living with Mom and Dad also helped. You were at a convenient location. Instead you have to be incredibly selfish and move to your own place.”

“The apartment came with the job.” Christine hadn’t even bothered to come by or ask where she was living. They could be neighbours and she probably wouldn’t notice. Stephen, on the other hand, would probably be over in the drop of a dime if he knew she was living in a suite connected to Alex’s massive house.

Jamie smiled. Christine could insult her and her job all she wanted, but Jamie was never going to regret getting employed by Alex Reid. It had been over a week since he had told her she was good at her job, but it still rang in her ears as if he had said it minutes ago. Was she really this pathetic and needing to please that a couple of sentences of praise could leave her glowing for so long? It didn’t matter. Even though she still didn’t have time to unpack her things and she rarely got more than six hours of sleep a night, it felt so good to be working again. Just then her phone rang with her alarm set for five minutes before her lunch break ended. She got up. “I’ve got to get back to work.”

“Seriously?” Christine said. “Isn’t your own sister more important than some stupid job?”

“Sure,” Jamie said, pocketing her phone and grabbing her purse. “That’s why I’m going back to work before I kill you.” She blew her sister a kiss as Christine shouted a stream of disappointment at her.

Jamie had cut her commute time to the office a little tight. She ended up having to run from the bridal shop all the way to the office. She took the stairs to save waiting for the elevator and stopped outside her office, breathing hard. A wave of dizziness washed over her and she reached for the wall to steady herself. She blinked rapidly, trying to clear the fog and her blurry vision. As she tried to reach for the doorknob, she missed and stumbled, then everything went black.

“Ms. Connors? Jamie!”

Jamie gasped and sat up, only to seriously regret the sudden movement. She moaned and laid back down on the couch. Strange. She didn’t have a couch in her office. Only Alex had a couch in his office.

“Jamie?” Alex’s voice was clear as day now. He had to be very concerned if he was actually using her first name. Fan-fucking-tastic. “Are you all right?”

Jamie turned her head and opened her eyes slowly. Alex sat right in front of her, holding a glass of water. “Mr. Reid?”

“You fainted. Here.” He handed her the glass. “What happened?”

“I’m not quite sure.” She sat up slowly, grateful for the water. “I helped my sister with her wedding dress fitting and then had to rush back here. I must have taken the stairs too fast.”

Alex tilted his head slightly. “When’s the last time you ate?”

“Um,” Jamie thought back through all of the meal times she had had. “Lunch?”

He raised his eyebrows at her.

“Yesterday.”

He swore. “You’re probably dehydrated as well.” He motioned at the cup in her hand. “Drink some more.”

“I just haven’t had time.” She knew it was a lousy explanation. She hated excuses, probably more than Alex Reid did. She took a gulp of the water. “My sister—”

“Your sister can take care of her damn self for once!” He ran his fingers through his perfectly styled hair. “You’ve been here a week and even I notice how much she relies on you. It’s ridiculous! You’re not a doormat!” He sighed and lowered his voice. “Sorry for the outburst. But, you can’t take care of her so much that you’re unable to take care of yourself. Do you have any idea—” He closed his eyes and shook his head. Slowly he opened them, the bright blue oceans calm once more. At least on the surface. Jamie could tell something else was playing much farther down in what he was thinking. “I can’t have you not functioning at full capacity for me.” He stood. “From now on, you need to eat something—I don’t care what it is—every half hour. And you’re going to stay hydrated!”

“Every thirty minutes! That’s ridiculous.” Jamie swung her legs over the couch. “I’ll blow up like a balloon.”

“But you won’t faint.”

“This happened because I didn’t manage my time well and had to run upstairs. It has nothing to do with my eating habits.”

“It has everything to do with them!” Alex shouted. “And it has everything to do with you running yourself ragged trying to please everybody, including me! I don’t want anyone fainting because of me.”

Jamie flushed. “I hardly fainted because of you.” Her heart pounded, was she that obvious?

“You ran up the stairs to not be late, even though you are clearly exhausted and not feeling well. So yes, I am partially responsible for your fainting, even if indirectly.”

Jamie stood slowly, feeling a little more alert. “I’m sorry, sir.” She set the glass down on the table beside the couch. “But I can’t eat something every thirty minutes. I’ll stay hydrated and make an effort to eat meals, but I cannot afford to gain any more weight.”

“Why not?” Alex asked. “Why’s it so important to you?”

Jamie stared at him, expecting disdain or mocking, but all she saw was genuine curiosity. That made her tell him the truth against her better judgement. “I won’t be my sister’s maid of honor if I don’t lose weight,” she said.

“You’re kidding.”

Jamie shook her head. “Christine told me that upfront. She’s ordering a size six maid of honor dress, which either I’ll wear if I lose weight or her best friend, who’s already a six, will.”

“Unbelievable!” Alex shook his head and threw his hands in the air. “Your sister sounds like a bitch.”

Jamie stared at him in surprise. “Excuse me?”

“Sorry. But that’s ridiculous.”

She grinned, thankful someone else thought the same way as her. “I know, but it’s my family.”

“Well, you need to eat.” He grabbed his phone and began texting someone. “I shouldn’t have been keeping you here every night so late. I forget you haven’t been here very long and you’ve stepped into the job so easily. I hired you to have a PA available twenty-four/seven. Which you do with no argument. However, we can work from the house, that’s the bloody reason I had the suite set up. MacBane is going to start making meals for you as well.”

“Sir—”

“No arguments. He’s my chef, and an extremely good one. I’ll have him prepare your lunch and dinners from now on.”

She felt like she was being spoiled and reprimanded at the same time. “I’ve had Murray’s steak and mushroom pie. It’s a wee bit of heaven stuffed inside clouds of pie crust.” She licked her lips, her stomach rumbling in agreement.

“Who’s Murray?”

“Murray MacBane. Your chef.”

“Oh, I didn’t know his first name was Murray. Interesting.”

“What is?”

He looked up as he set his phone back on the clip of his belt. “His company is Mm. I always thought it meant his cooking was so good, like Mmmm.”

She giggled. “Really?” Then she quickly dropped the smile when he looked at her straight faced. “Murray’s—MacBane’s food is delicious but it’s not going to help me lose weight.”

“I’ve already let him know you want salads and lighter side foods for dinner. He’ll take care of everything.”

“Oh.” What was she supposed to say? “Okay. Uh, thanks.”

“You’re welcome. Take it easy for the rest of today. If you feel ill, just let me know and I’ll get my driver to take you home.”

“I’ll be fine. Thanks again.” She started to head back to her office.

Alex cleared his throat.

“Yes?” She paused halfway across the room.

“Don’t forget to stay hydrated.” He came around and walked over to the couch, picking up her glass of water and handing it to her.

“Yes, sir.” Jamie looked at him, sure that he was going to fire her just for being a pain in the ass. She clearly didn’t really make his life easier if she was fainting all over the place. She paused at the door between their two offices. “Thank you, sir. I promise this won’t happen again.”

As she turned to leave, Alex called out to her, “Jamie?”

She turned back around to face him. “Yes, Mr. Reid?”

“Eating a snack every thirty minutes is still non-negotiable. If your sister objects to you being her maid of honor over something as trivial as a dress size, then she clearly doesn’t deserve you,” he said.

Jamie gritted her teeth and nodded. “Yes, sir,” she said, and then left. He clearly didn’t understand the importance of dress size. It wasn’t trivial at all.