The Right Choice

Chapter 4

Jessie sat at her desk, tapping the pencil in her hand on it. The computer screen in front of her cast a white glow on the drawing pad below. Though she was staring at the blank page and trying really hard to focus, her mind was still stuck on the blonde man’s words.

‘Ok, Jessica. I won’t call you that.’

She had come in early at work on Monday to finish the presentation boards for the meeting later this morning. It was for an upscale tower in the heart of the city’s commercial district. It had involved a lot of work and several design changes. Some of them had been made very recently and they were cutting it close to the deadline. She had somehow managed to convince the art department to come in early as well to finish the job. They had grumbled at the request and were very angry at her, but had agreed.

So to pacify them, she had given them a treat of coffee and triple chocolate muffins this morning and that had done the trick. They were back on her side.

Even though the meeting was scheduled to be at eleven-thirty, Jessie preferred that they be ready at least two hours in advance. That way, if something wasn't right, they'd have enough time to fix it. After setting up the meeting room, she had returned to her desk. And now, Jessie was just trying to draw rough sketches to keep her mind busy while she waited for the rest of her colleagues to arrive. But doing that had been useless as her mind kept reverting back to the previous day’s incidents.

'How on earth did that man know my name?'

Her mind was preoccupied with him since last afternoon. She had even contemplated asking Taylor about it. But what would she say? She had no idea who he was.

“Are we daydreaming again?"

She jerked upwards at the voice and the shock of the sudden sound caused her heart to skip a beat. She looked up and saw the colleague with whom she shared her cubicle, standing on her right.

"Jeez, Kevin. You scared the hell outta me." Her voice came out in a soft tone.

He laughed as he kept his belongings, "I know. Sorry, I couldn't resist."

"What are you doing here this early?" She spoke while checking the time.

"Can ask you the same thing?"

"Come on, " She smiled and teased, "When was the last time you came in on time?"

"That was," Kevin attempted to respond.

"Never." Jessie raised her eyebrows and suggested.

Kevin rolled his eyes, "Fine. Never. But today is a new day. We are getting a new member in our group. And I wanna make a good impression."

"Oh shoot! I completely forgot. Do you have any idea who it is?"

"Not a clue. Plus, Jason isn't sharing. I tried getting it out of him at the bar the other night. But, that man just does not budge." He leaned in towards her, raised his eyebrow and continued, "Maybe you can get him to talk."

Jessie laughed in response, "Why do you care about this so much?"

"Because, I wanna know who I'm gonna be working with. I mean, what if it’s a kleptomaniac, who steals all our stationery? Or a serial killer? Or worse? It's always good to be prepared."

"What could be worse than a serial killer or a kleptomaniac?" she mocked and continued,” And wait a minute, you came in early so that you could make a good impression on a possible murderer or a shoplifter. That does not make sense.”

"I dunno. I might think of doing something else with my life one day. Architecture is a very unsteady field, you know. It’s nice to keep your options open.” he joked.