Meeting The Best Friend

Rebecca gulped and shook her head, a little laugh escaping her lips before she could stop it, “I am sorry, maybe I heard you wrong, but I could have sworn you just asked me to break up with your girlfriend number two.”

“Girlfriend number two?” Jeremy echoed, a smile playing on his lips. So she did have a sense of humor, he thought to himself. “Will that be a problem?” Jeremy asked, wheeling around to face her.

Rebecca's mouth hung loose, her hands flaring around, “of course, that is a problem! She is your girlfriend, your responsibility. You break up with her!” Rebecca bit her lip to stop herself from saying too much. Sir,” she added at the end of her rant.

To her surprise, Jeremy threw his head back and laughed, “so she does have a backbone too! I thought you were a ragged doll for a while there,” Jeremy said as he walked towards her, his movement slow and purposeful as though a lion stalking its prey.

Rebecca, unintentionally, moved back a step before she stopped and squared her shoulders. Meeting his gaze she tilted her head, “so was this a test? Did I pass?”

“No, and no,” Jeremy stopped a few inches away from her, studying her from under his lashes. “And it's not like you will have to go through the whole ‘It's not you-it's me’ speech. All you have to do is get her an expensive piece of jewelry and a card that I will sign and hand them over to her.”

Rebecca narrowed her eyes. Did she really want to cross Alice, after the way she had been a bitch to her that morning? It would be satisfying to give the woman her matching orders but at what cost? “Why won't you do it yourself?”

“Because I pay you to do such things for me.” Jeremy sounded bored.

Rebecca shook her head, “nope. You pay me to take care of your house, occasionally cook for you, but you do not pay me to break up with your girlfriends.”

Jeremy rubbed his chin, thoughtfully, “did you even read the contract that I had given you this morning?”

Rebecca blushed faintly as she shook her head, “I have not had a chance to do so. I was waiting for when I am done with my work to do so.”

“Mmh,” Jeremy nodded. He reached forward and trailed his index finger down her left cheek, “I suggest you read it. Make sure that you understand it, if there is anything that you would like clarified, let me know.” A knock on the door brought a wider smile on his face. “That must be Ryder. Please let him in.”

Rebecca watched him walk away, her cheek still tingling from his touch. Shaking herself, she made her way to the front door. Pulling it open, gapping at the person on the other side. Ryder Hernandez, the young oil tycoon was standing on the other side. Rebecca had read about him a while back, on how just from college, he turned the dying family business into a mega player in the technology world.

“Am I going to be invited in?” he leaned towards her and asked in a low voice, his accent deep. He straighten up, his gaze on her.

“Oh!” Rebecca blushed furiously as she moved back to allow him to walk into the house. “I am so sorry! You were not who I was expecting,' Rebecca winced at that. “I-uhm-please come in.” She said, biting her tongue to stop any other rumble of words escaping.

“That is alright, I am sure you were expecting someone else,” Ryder smiled. He had never met this one before, he thought as his eyes took the faint blush and gapping mouth. He should have been used to the way the females looked at him, but for some reason she actually made him enjoy making her uncomfortable. Her eyes were of wonder and respect, not of the predatory nature of the women he had met. She did not make him feel like a piece of steak. “And where is Jeremy?”

Rebecca pointed to the stairs, not trusting her voice. She groaned when Ryder took double steps at a time to Jeremy's office. She had never thought that she could ever meet Ryder, the man on who she had based her dissertation on. Yes, sure, he was born into money but that did not make him lazy. Instead, she believed, it was the driving force to his success.

Fanning herself, Rebecca walked to the kitchen to finish up what she was doing before she sat down and read the contract. She wanted to really know what Jeremy was talking about when he had asked her if she had read the contract.

'”So, that is your new housekeeper?” Ryder asked as he nursed his glass of juice, watching as his friend read the documents he had brought with him. He had asked about Rebecca when he came in but Jeremy was more interested in the proposal that he had brought with him.

“Mmh,” Jeremy nodded, occupied with reading the documents. For some reason, he did not like Ryder's interest on Rebecca.

“Not your average housekeeper, don't you think?” Ryder swirled his drink in the glass before taking a sip, watching his friend from over the rim of the glass.

Jeremy shrugged and looked up, “she has just started working for me, so far I am not complaining as she gets the job done. That's all I am paying her for.' He gave him a smile, “besides, I have Shona and Alice to keep me busy.” Then he frowned; “now it's only Shona actually.”

Ryder frowned, “what happened to Alice?”

“Too clingy,” Jeremy sat forward, his attention going back to the documents in front of him.

Ryder smiled and shook his head. “You do realize that Alice is not going to give up on you that easily? Remember the last time you tried to break up with her? That was some drama!”

“Don't remind me,” Jeremy faked a shudder. “That’s why I am having Becca deliver the breakup message to her.”

Ryder laughed, “you are going to use that innocent high school chick to break off a relationship with the she-wolf? Do you want a murder case?”

Jeremy shook his head, a mischievous smile breaking on his face, “don't let that innocent face fool you. And she is not a high school student, she just completed college.” He stated as his attention went back to the document in front of him.

That was Jeremy Martenson for you. His attention span was less than a minute if it has nothing to do with work; even talking about women was a chore for him. Lucky for him, Ryder had learned to read his friend from a very young age, when they were both trying to do more than what their parents had planned for them. Standing, Ryder went to the liquor cabinet and poured himself another drink, this time looking for something stronger than juice. Taking a sip, he walked back to his chair and sat, knowing that he could not rush Jeremy, he was going to take his time to read every word on the documents.

Rebecca's eyes widened as she continued to read the contract that Jeremy had handed over to her earlier. She was done with her work and had time for a quick shower and change of clothing before she went through the contract. The reading was taking more time than she had hoped! Not saying that it was complicated or long, no. On the contrary, it was a mere six pages, so the problem was not the length. What had Rebecca shocked, confused and sometimes angry was the content.

There were some things in the contract that made her read it more than twice, just to make sure that she was, in fact, reading it correctly.

The fact that Jeremy did not see her as a housekeeper but rather a personal assistant who will be helping him while he was at home, was not bad, it meant more money as it was stipulated on the contract. But the fact that she will be required to take his office assistant's position when she was not available, which meant to go to meetings with him as well as travel if necessary had her frown.

Yes, she had studied Administration back at university, so she was sure that she could handle the work, but that was not the job that she had signed for when she had agreed to work for him. Traveling with him when his assistant was not available, running his personal errands when his personal assistant was busy with other things.

Rebecca placed the contract on her hips and rubbed her face with her hands, trying to wipe away some of the absurd duties that she will have to perform. They included reminding him of his dates, buying presents for birthdays and any occasions for those dates and other things that did not really fit into the scope of a housekeeper.

“You must be kidding me!” she mumbled as she read on. “Is he really serious about all this crap?” she re-read the line again. “Accompany him to functions if no date is available? Is that even legal? How do I explain this to mom?”

“Becca, we are hungry!” Jeremy's voice echoed throughout the room, making Rebecca jump with surprise, throwing the contract above her head.

“What the he-,” she looked around the room, noticing the small speaker on the far wall. Is this guy serious?!” she asked herself as she stood up. Moving behind the sofa, she quickly collected the scattered papers, placed them into the folder before placing the contract back on the table. Rubbing her hands on the denim shorts she was wearing, she closed her eyes and called for calmness. Pulling on the tank top she headed to the kitchen, collected the sandwiches she had already made then headed to upstairs.

Taking a deep breath, she knocked, entered when she was told to do so. “Where should I place these?” she asked as she looked around the office, a groan dying in her throat. There were files everywhere! Ryder and Jeremy were seated on the leather sofas on one side of the room, their heads together as they studied a document in front of them. “There are files everywhere.” Rebecca bit her lip to stop more words from coming out. She had just placed everything nicely that morning in that office!

“There,” Jeremy pointed at the table without looking up.

Following his finger, Rebecca rolled her eyes, thankful that she was not facing them. “There is no place that does not have your files, si-Jeremy.”

Ryder looked up. Rebecca was holding a tray with a plate of sandwiches with two smaller plates at the same time trying to move around files that were on the table. Ryder stood up and walked to where she was, taking the tray away from her hands.

'Wh-,' Rebecca looked from her empty hands to the man standing in front of her. “Thanks,” she smiled as she moved the files so that Ryder could place the tray down.

“My pleasure,” Ryder placed the tray down then stood in front of her, his thumbs hooking into the pockets of the denim he was wearing. “So, your name is Becca? We were not introduced earlier.”

Rebecca pushed on the strand that was loose from her forehead, “it's Rebecca or Becky. Becca is new to me,” she turned to Jeremy who had now placed the documents down and was studying them with hooded eyes.

“And you work for Jeremy as a ..?” Ryder raised his eyebrow at her, waiting for her reply.

Rebecca shook her head, her gaze jumping to Jeremy before turning to Ryder, “I am not sure anymore. See, when I started I was told..”

“That will be all, Becca,” Jeremy drawled, his eyes narrowing as he looked at his best friend. What was Ryder playing at? He thought as he stood up and walked towards them, his movements measured. He leaned forward and whispered into her ear, “you can go now.”