Vice

12: Lunch...Date?

The plan to avoid Jace doesn't last long. Natara glances up from scribbling her thoughts on her last piece of paperwork when her office door opens and he peeks inside. This time, he sought her out...in the privacy of her own office! At least Crystal isn't here to see.

"Come get some lunch," he offers. She was having a hard time summoning the courage to say no to his handsome dimpled smile, but now that lunch is in the picture...saying yes seems almost unavoidable. "The office ordered sandwiches for everyone." 

"I suppose I can't say no to that," Natara says with a blush. Even though her mother made breakfast before she went out job-searching today, her stomach is starting to feel empty. Sandwiches sound delicious. "Thanks for letting me know."

"No problem. I wouldn't leave you out of the loop." Jace leans his head to the side and gestures with a flick of his fingertips for Natara to follow him out of the office. Natara rises from her chair, unable to keep her eyes from appreciating every curve of his jaw and the playful sparkle in his eyes.

She follows him out of the office and into the hall, still swooning. Natara never thought she could fancy an older man, but Jace feels so approachable. Down to earth and handsome in a surprisingly boyish way for someone in his mid-twenties, he feels all too easy to crush on. Plus, he goes out of his way to be super nice to her.

She's sure even Macey would go wild for him. Cute, successful, well-dressed, and really fit? With how brash and brave she is, she'd have probably already asked him out.

But, Natara reminds herself, no matter how easy it is to like Jace, I need to try to stay away from him. Despite the fact that Crystal sabotaging her was evil, Natara does understand how a girl could feel possessive about a guy like Jace. Crystal probably isn't the only woman in the office who feels upset about him spending so much time with Natara.

She knows he's not being nice to get in her pants or anything - he's just helping her get acquainted with the place - but it still feels flattering to have such a handsome man spending this much time with her. Unlike the time she spent with James, Jace isn't just stuck being around her. He's choosing to come up and visit her.

Jace leads her into the elevator and takes her back to the same floor he showed her how to make coffee in, except this time there are more than just a few scattered people inside. A crowd of their coworkers are already flocking to the free food: a long line of quarter-foot long sandwiches sitting on a table beside the lounge area. Small bags of different types of chips sit in a basket next to the sandwiches, getting snatched up almost as quickly as they're unloaded.

The sandwiches have little labels next to each stack that say things like "Ham and Swiss" and "Turkey and Provalone." When they reach the table, Natara grabs one that reads "Roast Beef and American" and adds it to a paper plate Jace hands her. Jace grabs a sandwich for himself and Natara looks through the chips until she finds a bag of Ruffles.

"Are there drinks?" She can't help sounding eager. At the sight of food, her stomach has started churning and growling. Jace purses his lips like he's trying not to grin and nods, pointing to a vending machine nearby.

When Natara walks up to it and presses the button for "Unsweet Tea" she expects to have to put in money but instead her drink drops down. She looks around at the machine, thinking there's an error, but Jace gets a can of Red Bull without having to pay, either, and he doesn't seem shocked about it.

"Vicecorp really takes good care of its employees," Natara comments as Jace leads them to a small table with two red lounge chairs on either side of it. It's casual and private. Natara looks around at her other coworkers sitting at bigger tables out in the middle of the room.

"You haven't seen the best of it. There's an exercise room on the lowest floor with a pool and jacuzzi." Jace raises his eyebrows, cracking open his can of Red Bull.

"You're joking!" Natara giggles, cracking open her bottle of tea. Jace leans back in his chair and opens his bag of Doritos, slowly snacking on them between Red Bull sips. He shakes his head at Natara.

"I'm absolutely serious. I'll take you there sometime," he replies, keeping a straight face.

Natara's smile fades and she realizes he's actually telling the truth. There really must be some kind of super extravagant workout room with a pool somewhere in this building. Nobody in her entire extended family has a pool, and her family doesn't have any workout machines or even gym memberships - they settled for just a couple of dumbbells and resistance bands.

It's hard to believe people have this much money. How can anyone afford a huge glass tower like this building? How much money does it take them to build a company pool area or an entire company gym? Natara's eyes are wide. The man she works for - the jerk that she's a direct secretary of - is loaded with more money than she can even comprehend.

...And, even still, he gets upset about one coffee being cold!

"Do you like the food?" Jace's voice interrupts her mental rant, and she realizes he's over halfway done with eating his sandwich. His bag of chips is also crumpled on the side of the table.

"Yeah, it's really good!" Natara smiles. And it is good. The tea is crisp, with a slight hint of a lemon. Her food is great, too. The roast beef on her sandwich tastes like it has herbal steak seasonings on it and she's loaded it with packages of honey mustard just like she likes it. And she hasn't had Ruffles in ages. She honestly feels a little bit spoiled.

"I know your boss is an ass, but if - it's any consolation - this company will treat you very well for staying with them." Jace leans across the table, staring into Natara's eyes. She almost wonders if he's going to reach out and grab her hands, so she backs them away, placing them down in her lap so they're not up on the table. 

Jace coolly sets his hands on top of the table, and Natara wonders if maybe she's read too much into things. Surely he was just setting his hands there, not reaching to grab her hands. 

"My boss doesn't seem too bad so far," Natara lies. "He's only gotten upset because I let his coffee get really cold and he left a marker in his dry cleaning and I sent him a...well...there was a bad file."

"That all sounds pretty bad to me." Jace raises an eyebrow. "Sounds like he's a jerk who wants to get you fired just like the other secretaries before you. You know, Axius Vice isn't like his father. Mr. Vice Senior loves having people do his bidding, but Mr. Vice Junior pushes everyone away. He never comes out of his hole in the office, either."

"I really don't know much about him. If he doesn't want a secretary, why does Jaquie keep trying to hire people to be his secretary?" Natara shakes her head, sipping her tea. It doesn't make any sense.

"Well, he's the only son. He needs a secretary. In fact, he needs a whole new personality change if he's going to take over the company," Jace shrugs, "but nobody's been able to handle him because he's so insufferable. I'm glad I'm not working for the guy. I'd quit the first day, too."

"But I-" Natara starts, but Jace cuts her off.

"I know it. You're not going to quit." He winks. "Jaquie has been saying around the office that he feels like you're different, like you're special, and I guess we'll see."