Status: THE LAYOUT LOOKS MUCH BETTER WITHOUT THE COMMENTS!
Heels
In the Sharktank
As Jackie opened the door to Casper Welhaven's office, she was greeted by a pleasant, but professional looking room, where two out of the four walls were glass. The two remaining walls, to her left and her right, were both out of wood. The one to her right were strictly filled with shelves and closets and books, loads and loads of books, while the other had three doors, and a second entrance to the elevator she had seen outside.
In the center of the room there was a large desk in a dark shade of wood, matching the walls on each side, cramped with files, papers, mugs and shiny electronic objects, one being an apple laptop giving off a comforting humming sound, matching the mood of the room. If asked, Jackie would have said the room was giving off a comfortable, inviting and pleasant air, almost urging them to be creative; but that was before Casper Welhaven spoke.
The man himself was sat in a large, comfy looking officechair, apparently going through some papers. At first, he didn't even look at her, and this gave Jackie the opportunity to take in his impressive appearance.
Casper was a quite the attractive young man, with blonde hair, dark eyes and a prominent chin. Jackie, who had expected some old-ass creep, estimated his age at somewhere between 25 and 30, and this surprised her and made her forget -only for a second- that she was a strong, confident woman, and that one second was all Casper needed.
«Jackie Jean Jones,» he said loudly, and Jackie cringed, not only because he addressed her by her whole name in all its dread, but also because of the sheer power in the sitting mans voice. This was a man clearly used to having it his way. «Quite the nasty sense of humor, your parents?» He put the papers down and leaned back into his chair with his hands folded in his lap, looking at her.
«I prefer Jackie,» Jackie said, and her voice was so low even she had difficulties hearing it over the beat of her heart. Nervousness was a mean bitch, and she had it in for Jackie.
He smiled, but it didn't quite reach his eyes, «I would too, if my parents were that mean, Jackie Jean. Tell me, why did you apply for this job?»
Jackie blinked. «I didn't. My agent did. I am however, very grateful for the opportunity I've been given.» She said her sentence at an almost average volume, and was very pleased to be able to produce such a statement under the burning eyes of Casper Welhaven.
«Ah, I see.»
A small smile appeared on the blonde man's thin lips, and when Jackie took the risk of looking him in the eye, she thought she could see some sort of amusement dancing in them. Suddenly he leaned forward and tapped a grey folder laying on his desk. «Do you know what this is Jacks?»
Jackie shook her head no, ignoring the nickname.
«This is one of the folders I had made for me over all the applicants to your job. This particular one, is yours. See? Got a photo and everything,» he flashed her a photo of herself at the beach, wearing a bikini. Her eyebrows shot up her forehead.
«Where did you get that?»
He merely smiled slyly at her before he went on, flipping open the folder and looking over the pages. «It says here your parent's names are Lucy and Donald, that you have a dog called Doug and a boyfriend named Garret. Is this correct?» He looked at her over the brim of the folder and Jackie could tell he was enjoying her confusion. She nodded sharply, straightening up. «Oh would you look at that, a photo,» he held up a photo of her and Garret at the beach in Venice, «Bless.» He smirked mockingly at her before he returned to the folder, «It also says that you are a morning person, you work hard and that you are a mean seamstress. How charming.»
«You could easily have gotten all that info from my facebook. Am I supposed to be impressed?» Jackie felt brave as the amused look in his brown eyes faltered slightly and turned a notch colder.
«Okay,» he said and flipped the page, «What about... Last month you downloaded 13,6 hours of television to you laptop illegally, mostly TV-series, Lost, Desperate Housewives and Doctor Who? That the person most of your calls go in and out to is a certain miss Bonham, Vienna?» He looked at her and she licked her lips nervously. «That you spent almost 2 000 dollars on that new outfit you're wearing right now? That you live together with your grandmother, who is depending on that her medications are in order to make it through the day?» he looked directly at her as he said the last part and Jackie's stomach turned. «Impressed?» He raised his eyebrow at her and the amused look returned to his eyes as she took her time to reply.
«How... Where did you get that information?»
«I'll take that as a 'yes, I am impressed.' Great.» He got up from behind the desk and walked over the floor to where she stood. Now that he wasn't sitting, Jackie got an actual grasp at how tall he really was, he towered over her as he peered down his nose at her, a selfsatisfied smirk playing on his lips. «But as important your awe is to me, it was not to impress you I showed you this folder. I just wanted you,» he reached out his finger and prodded her nose gently, «to know that I can find out anything if I feel the need for it. And I can do anything to you and anyone around, whenever I want to. From now on, I own you, Jackie Jean, and that's how it will stay for the next year. But if you just keep your nose to yourself and do as I tell you, all will be well.» He stood like that for a moment more, just looking down on her as she felt her knees weaken under her, before her turned around and walked back to his desk, leaning on it and flipping open the folder again. «You follow?» he asked and threw a glance at her.
«Yes,» she mumbled quietly, feeling oddly lightheaded. She felt like he had pounced on her like she was a little gazelle at a waterhole and he was a leopard, hiding in the trees. She had only been in there for ten minutes and all ready she wanted to cry. This man was scaring her.
«Good,» his lips bounced with a brief smile, as fake as the last one, «Now, I wanted to ask you; why do you think I gave exactly you this job? I had over a 200 hundred applicants.»
Jackie swallowed, still trying to get over his last attack. «I don't know.»
«I'll tell you then,» he smiled brightly and sat down behind the desk again, the chair whining underneath his weight, «It was not because you have an outstanding letter of recommendation from most of your employers, or that you graduated at the top of your class, no, I picked you Jackie Jean Jones because you were the least attractive woman out of all the appliers.»
Jackie was silent for a second, almost as if she was waiting for him to shout, 'just kidding,' but he merely looked at her with a quite open look in his eyes as she struggled to find words. «Okay,» she said after a while, putting her chin up proudly, trying to rise above it and hide the tears in her eyes all the same.
«I decided to pick the least attractive one, you, this time because terribly pretty girls seem to think the world of themselves, and they have a sad tendency to try to get it on with me.»
«Somehow I find that difficult to imagine,» Jackie mumbled, her voice laced with ice, «You will at least have no such problems with me. I can assure you of this.»
«Ah, you're upset,» he cooed his head to the side and the annoying smile she all ready loathed appeared on his lips for a second before they curled into a sneer much like her own, «What's the matter? Did I hurt your pride?» he made a noise similar to a scoff, «Well good then, you're not here to be proud; you're here to get a job done. I expect you here every morning at 7, prepping the office for when I come in at 8. You are to stay until 5, but you will stay available at all times and you will come whenever I ask you to. Here,» he threw a pager to her, followed by a cell-phone, she cached them both elegantly, «They are to always be charged and ready to go. Got it?»
Jackie swallowed the ball of tears forming in her throat and decided to get over it. This man obviously didn't care for anyone but himself, and she would not let him see her cry, certain it would satisfy him and his giant ego further. «Yes.»
«Good then, come with me.» He got up and walked to the first door to her left, opening it, revealing a small, but pretty office with a little desk, a laptop, a phone and lots of shelves and a almost as comfy-looking chair as the one in his office. «This will be your office,» he tapped metal sign on the door, where she discovered her name was engraved, «treat it nicely. Now this,» he motioned to the door next to hers, «is my archives, and this,» he motioned the door next to that one again, «we'll get back to.» Jackie raised her eyebrow, and he smiled at her, almost looking sweet and confusing her profoundly. «The elevator you'll stay away from. You will use the main entrance like everyone else for now. Okay?»
«Okay,» she agreed, not seeing why she couldn't just use this one as it would save time for the both of them, but deciding not to ask. She didn't want to speak more with him than she needed to.
«With all that sorted out, I need to know your size.» He smirked down at her before he returned to his desk, putting his feet up on the table, a little notebook in his hand.
«My size?»
«Yes, for clothing.» He looked her up and down, his left eye narrowing slightly, «I'd say, 6? 7?»
Jackie's jaw clenched and she straightened up again. «I'm a size 3,» she growled.
His eyebrow raised and she could quite clearly see him writing a big 4 on his pad.
«Bra size?»
Jackie's eyes shot into the air again and her mouth opened in sheer shock. «What? How on earth is that relevant?»
«This job comes with some perks, Jackie Jean, and of course I could guess since I do have quite a lot of experience on the field, but I'd rather just have it for you.»
Jackie swallowed and crossed her arms over her chest before she answered. «C-cup or a D-cup, depending on the brand. Mostly C.»
He raised his eyebrow again and nodded his head approvingly as he noted the size. Jackie scoffed and stomped slightly with her foot as her cheeks flushed.
«And shoes?»
«6.»
«Good. You'll be wearing heels from now on, just to let you know.»
«Okay,» Jackie said, cursing internally.
«Tomorrow I'll have one of my women do something with that whole situation,» he said waving in the general direction of her appearance, «I can't have my assistant looking like a damn scarecrow, you'll scare off my clients.»
Jackie didn't know how to reply to that.
«But for now I don't need you. You can take the rest of the day off. Be here bright and early tomorrow morning and we'll get down to business.»
«Okay.»
He looked up at her when she remained standing, «You can go now.»
«Yes, Mr. Welhaven.»
«That's the spirit!» he called after her as she closed the door behind herself.
Once outside of the door, she leaned against it, taking a deep breath. Out of his presence everything seemed to hit her, all the things he had said, the little subtle comment on her grandmother, the snide on her appearance, and to her horror she felt tears prickle hard in her eyes. 20 seconds after leaving his office, she was crying, her mascara running down her cheeks. It took her a couple of moments to realize she had at least a hundred eyes on her, from all the employees in the large room outside his office, and suddenly she realized why he didn't want her to take the elevator that lead directly to his office. To further torment her.
With that in mind she quickly dried her cheeks and started descending the stairs to the noisy workspace. Keeping her head down, she started the long walk of shame out of the office scape and home.
In the center of the room there was a large desk in a dark shade of wood, matching the walls on each side, cramped with files, papers, mugs and shiny electronic objects, one being an apple laptop giving off a comforting humming sound, matching the mood of the room. If asked, Jackie would have said the room was giving off a comfortable, inviting and pleasant air, almost urging them to be creative; but that was before Casper Welhaven spoke.
The man himself was sat in a large, comfy looking officechair, apparently going through some papers. At first, he didn't even look at her, and this gave Jackie the opportunity to take in his impressive appearance.
Casper was a quite the attractive young man, with blonde hair, dark eyes and a prominent chin. Jackie, who had expected some old-ass creep, estimated his age at somewhere between 25 and 30, and this surprised her and made her forget -only for a second- that she was a strong, confident woman, and that one second was all Casper needed.
«Jackie Jean Jones,» he said loudly, and Jackie cringed, not only because he addressed her by her whole name in all its dread, but also because of the sheer power in the sitting mans voice. This was a man clearly used to having it his way. «Quite the nasty sense of humor, your parents?» He put the papers down and leaned back into his chair with his hands folded in his lap, looking at her.
«I prefer Jackie,» Jackie said, and her voice was so low even she had difficulties hearing it over the beat of her heart. Nervousness was a mean bitch, and she had it in for Jackie.
He smiled, but it didn't quite reach his eyes, «I would too, if my parents were that mean, Jackie Jean. Tell me, why did you apply for this job?»
Jackie blinked. «I didn't. My agent did. I am however, very grateful for the opportunity I've been given.» She said her sentence at an almost average volume, and was very pleased to be able to produce such a statement under the burning eyes of Casper Welhaven.
«Ah, I see.»
A small smile appeared on the blonde man's thin lips, and when Jackie took the risk of looking him in the eye, she thought she could see some sort of amusement dancing in them. Suddenly he leaned forward and tapped a grey folder laying on his desk. «Do you know what this is Jacks?»
Jackie shook her head no, ignoring the nickname.
«This is one of the folders I had made for me over all the applicants to your job. This particular one, is yours. See? Got a photo and everything,» he flashed her a photo of herself at the beach, wearing a bikini. Her eyebrows shot up her forehead.
«Where did you get that?»
He merely smiled slyly at her before he went on, flipping open the folder and looking over the pages. «It says here your parent's names are Lucy and Donald, that you have a dog called Doug and a boyfriend named Garret. Is this correct?» He looked at her over the brim of the folder and Jackie could tell he was enjoying her confusion. She nodded sharply, straightening up. «Oh would you look at that, a photo,» he held up a photo of her and Garret at the beach in Venice, «Bless.» He smirked mockingly at her before he returned to the folder, «It also says that you are a morning person, you work hard and that you are a mean seamstress. How charming.»
«You could easily have gotten all that info from my facebook. Am I supposed to be impressed?» Jackie felt brave as the amused look in his brown eyes faltered slightly and turned a notch colder.
«Okay,» he said and flipped the page, «What about... Last month you downloaded 13,6 hours of television to you laptop illegally, mostly TV-series, Lost, Desperate Housewives and Doctor Who? That the person most of your calls go in and out to is a certain miss Bonham, Vienna?» He looked at her and she licked her lips nervously. «That you spent almost 2 000 dollars on that new outfit you're wearing right now? That you live together with your grandmother, who is depending on that her medications are in order to make it through the day?» he looked directly at her as he said the last part and Jackie's stomach turned. «Impressed?» He raised his eyebrow at her and the amused look returned to his eyes as she took her time to reply.
«How... Where did you get that information?»
«I'll take that as a 'yes, I am impressed.' Great.» He got up from behind the desk and walked over the floor to where she stood. Now that he wasn't sitting, Jackie got an actual grasp at how tall he really was, he towered over her as he peered down his nose at her, a selfsatisfied smirk playing on his lips. «But as important your awe is to me, it was not to impress you I showed you this folder. I just wanted you,» he reached out his finger and prodded her nose gently, «to know that I can find out anything if I feel the need for it. And I can do anything to you and anyone around, whenever I want to. From now on, I own you, Jackie Jean, and that's how it will stay for the next year. But if you just keep your nose to yourself and do as I tell you, all will be well.» He stood like that for a moment more, just looking down on her as she felt her knees weaken under her, before her turned around and walked back to his desk, leaning on it and flipping open the folder again. «You follow?» he asked and threw a glance at her.
«Yes,» she mumbled quietly, feeling oddly lightheaded. She felt like he had pounced on her like she was a little gazelle at a waterhole and he was a leopard, hiding in the trees. She had only been in there for ten minutes and all ready she wanted to cry. This man was scaring her.
«Good,» his lips bounced with a brief smile, as fake as the last one, «Now, I wanted to ask you; why do you think I gave exactly you this job? I had over a 200 hundred applicants.»
Jackie swallowed, still trying to get over his last attack. «I don't know.»
«I'll tell you then,» he smiled brightly and sat down behind the desk again, the chair whining underneath his weight, «It was not because you have an outstanding letter of recommendation from most of your employers, or that you graduated at the top of your class, no, I picked you Jackie Jean Jones because you were the least attractive woman out of all the appliers.»
Jackie was silent for a second, almost as if she was waiting for him to shout, 'just kidding,' but he merely looked at her with a quite open look in his eyes as she struggled to find words. «Okay,» she said after a while, putting her chin up proudly, trying to rise above it and hide the tears in her eyes all the same.
«I decided to pick the least attractive one, you, this time because terribly pretty girls seem to think the world of themselves, and they have a sad tendency to try to get it on with me.»
«Somehow I find that difficult to imagine,» Jackie mumbled, her voice laced with ice, «You will at least have no such problems with me. I can assure you of this.»
«Ah, you're upset,» he cooed his head to the side and the annoying smile she all ready loathed appeared on his lips for a second before they curled into a sneer much like her own, «What's the matter? Did I hurt your pride?» he made a noise similar to a scoff, «Well good then, you're not here to be proud; you're here to get a job done. I expect you here every morning at 7, prepping the office for when I come in at 8. You are to stay until 5, but you will stay available at all times and you will come whenever I ask you to. Here,» he threw a pager to her, followed by a cell-phone, she cached them both elegantly, «They are to always be charged and ready to go. Got it?»
Jackie swallowed the ball of tears forming in her throat and decided to get over it. This man obviously didn't care for anyone but himself, and she would not let him see her cry, certain it would satisfy him and his giant ego further. «Yes.»
«Good then, come with me.» He got up and walked to the first door to her left, opening it, revealing a small, but pretty office with a little desk, a laptop, a phone and lots of shelves and a almost as comfy-looking chair as the one in his office. «This will be your office,» he tapped metal sign on the door, where she discovered her name was engraved, «treat it nicely. Now this,» he motioned to the door next to hers, «is my archives, and this,» he motioned the door next to that one again, «we'll get back to.» Jackie raised her eyebrow, and he smiled at her, almost looking sweet and confusing her profoundly. «The elevator you'll stay away from. You will use the main entrance like everyone else for now. Okay?»
«Okay,» she agreed, not seeing why she couldn't just use this one as it would save time for the both of them, but deciding not to ask. She didn't want to speak more with him than she needed to.
«With all that sorted out, I need to know your size.» He smirked down at her before he returned to his desk, putting his feet up on the table, a little notebook in his hand.
«My size?»
«Yes, for clothing.» He looked her up and down, his left eye narrowing slightly, «I'd say, 6? 7?»
Jackie's jaw clenched and she straightened up again. «I'm a size 3,» she growled.
His eyebrow raised and she could quite clearly see him writing a big 4 on his pad.
«Bra size?»
Jackie's eyes shot into the air again and her mouth opened in sheer shock. «What? How on earth is that relevant?»
«This job comes with some perks, Jackie Jean, and of course I could guess since I do have quite a lot of experience on the field, but I'd rather just have it for you.»
Jackie swallowed and crossed her arms over her chest before she answered. «C-cup or a D-cup, depending on the brand. Mostly C.»
He raised his eyebrow again and nodded his head approvingly as he noted the size. Jackie scoffed and stomped slightly with her foot as her cheeks flushed.
«And shoes?»
«6.»
«Good. You'll be wearing heels from now on, just to let you know.»
«Okay,» Jackie said, cursing internally.
«Tomorrow I'll have one of my women do something with that whole situation,» he said waving in the general direction of her appearance, «I can't have my assistant looking like a damn scarecrow, you'll scare off my clients.»
Jackie didn't know how to reply to that.
«But for now I don't need you. You can take the rest of the day off. Be here bright and early tomorrow morning and we'll get down to business.»
«Okay.»
He looked up at her when she remained standing, «You can go now.»
«Yes, Mr. Welhaven.»
«That's the spirit!» he called after her as she closed the door behind herself.
Once outside of the door, she leaned against it, taking a deep breath. Out of his presence everything seemed to hit her, all the things he had said, the little subtle comment on her grandmother, the snide on her appearance, and to her horror she felt tears prickle hard in her eyes. 20 seconds after leaving his office, she was crying, her mascara running down her cheeks. It took her a couple of moments to realize she had at least a hundred eyes on her, from all the employees in the large room outside his office, and suddenly she realized why he didn't want her to take the elevator that lead directly to his office. To further torment her.
With that in mind she quickly dried her cheeks and started descending the stairs to the noisy workspace. Keeping her head down, she started the long walk of shame out of the office scape and home.
♠ ♠ ♠
~