It Must Be Love - Jacob and Connie

Chapter Five

Connie had been left confused after her massage with Jacob in her office. One part of her wanted to be bouncing off the walls, because she felt so alive and so lucky, while the other part of her wanted to curl up and hide, because she hadn't so much as spoken to him for the last three or four days. Her day was plodding along at an unusually slow pace, with most of her patients being minor cases in cubicles. She made her way to her office, a small wad of paperwork being flicked between her dainty fingers. Upon entering her office, she was greeted immediately with three pleasant surprises; a tidy desk, which was very much the opposite of how she left it this morning; a vase of mixed roses - some pink, some a deep red, the others purple with white on the tips; and there was a sweet aroma drifting around the office. She wandered over to the desk, on which the flowers were placed, and found a small stack of paperwork, with different coloured tabs on the sides. She soon realised they had been ordered chronologically - something she had been wanting to do for a long time now, and sat back in her chair. It was then that a small note caught her eye. Positioned by the flowers, it had "Sweet-cheeks" scrawled on the front. She rolled her eyes, and opened the note carefully. Before she had a chance to open it the whole way to read the message, she was distracted by a knocking at the door. She looked up, hoping it to be Jacob, but instead seeing Charlie stood there.

"Oh, someone's got an admirer," he laughed.

"Yeah, just, just a grateful patient. What is it?"

"We're about to finish off, and we were wondering if you'd like to join us for a drink." He asked her a lot in the weeks after Romania, but recently, they had drifted apart, so she was thankful for the offer, but wanted to stay in, just in case Jacob called by.

"You know, maybe another time."

"Okay, just, if you change your mind."

"Thank you, Charlie." He nodded in acceptance and left the office. Connie sank back in her chair, and picked up the note once more. She opened it, all the way this time, expecting to reveal some heartfelt admittance, but after reading it she smiled to herself, realising that the message was something only Jacob would say. This fact alone made it a hundred times more special. She heard another knock at the door, and this time she knew it was him, because it was a louder knock, coming from a man with much stronger hands.

"A'right sweet-cheeks?" He closed the door behind him, and sauntered over to the middle of the room. Connie stood, holding the note in her hand. She turned it to face him, with a look of amusement on her face, repeated what had been written on the paper.

"You expect a pay-rise for all this work?" She quoted, smiling as his words came out of her mouth.

"Well, Mrs B, you're a difficult woman to please."

"I believe you did quite a good job the other day, and today, for that matter." She purred, and she saw the flash of lust in his eyes, making her bite her lip.

"You know, we could just stop all this desperation right now." She wanted to, so badly, but she loved this chase they had going on. She hadn't felt desire this strongly in so many years, and she wanted it so much. She paused for a second, as if trying to find something to say, and decided to ignore the comment.

"Thank you for doing all this. I've been meaning to sort through the office for a while now."

"Anytime, Mrs B." He took her silence as his cue to leave, and he turned to head out of the door. He reached the doorway, then turned around. "I forgot to ask, you fancy coming by for a quick drink tonight? Nothing serious, just casual with the rest of the staff. You said you didn't have a social life, so why don't you make one?"

"You know, I don't think I..."

"Oh come on! Or are you afraid of a little competition?" He prodded her arm gently and she swatted his hand away playfully.

"Competition?"

"You haven't heard? They're holding a singing do tonight, winner gets a free round o' drinks."

Connie had to choke back her laughter. "A singing do?" she asked, bemused. "And you're entering?"

He shut the door once more and sauntered towards her. "Why not, Queen Bee? So, you coming?" She weighed up her options - sit at home with a glass of wine, sorting miserably through her paperwork, or embarrassing herself in front of the other staff during a singing contest. Neither option sounded particularly good, and she knew that if she accepted Jacob's offer, then she'd have to make a vow to herself not to sing in front of anyone. She did have a lot of work to do, but Jacob was right - she needed a social life - and Charlie had invited her along before.

"Oh, why not?" She doubted herself when she said it, but seeing the joy on his face was enough to make her smile like a schoolgirl with a crush. She realised why he was so persistent in asking her out to dinner - it was blatantly obvious that she liked him, and he knew more than her that her denial could only last so long. Jacob turned and began to leave the room, before Connie called to him. "Oh, and Jacob?" - he turned at once, a boyish grin rested on his face - "I don't appreciate the names; call me Queen Bee again and I'll sting you."