Love Under Construction

Heather Mathews sipped peacefully on her hot cup of coffee, enjoying the small bit of silence before her burt of a boss arrived at their office and sent the day into chaos. It had been almost eight months since she had started as one of the secretaries for Ross Construction, and she quickly realized that although her boss and owner of Ross Construction were extremely easy on the eyes, he wasn’t always easy to deal with. John Ross was brilliant at designing elaborate, beautiful homes, and because of this, his business in Casper, Wyoming was absolutely booming with success. But the way he dealt with the ins and outs of their everyday work load was a whole different story. John's fuse was short, as though a bomb was waiting to explode at any moment, and Heather, who had always been timid in nature, did not know how to handle it. “Who the f**k is messing with my schedule?!” The front door to the office slammed open, causing Heather to spill her steamy coffee all over her. John stormed past her, his mood like a hurricane about to blow the entire office up. “Well?!” John fixed his piercing blue gaze at anyone who was in a close enough distance to feel his wrath, waiting for a reply. The room was completely silent. “Of course no one wants to own up to their shit.” John said as he walked into his office and, for a brief moment, Heather thought that she was safe. “Heather,” John yelled, “get in here.” Shakily, Heather stood up and slowly made her way to his office, which sadly was not far from her own desk. She quietly closed the door behind her as John paced angrily back and forth. "Heather," John's sharp voice caught her off guard. “Do you take me for a fool?” Heather looked at him confused. John's eyes bore into her own as she sat down in a chair facing his desk. “Do you think I’m stupid?” he said, as though re-phrasing the question would make her produce an answer that he actually liked. Perhaps he thought she, in fact, was the stupid one. “No...” Heather stammered. She took a piece of her long brown hair in her hands and began to play with it nervously as she watched John pace back and forth in his office. She started to wonder why she was there. Yes, she absolutely loved the quality of work this man produced. It was phenomenal. And her benefits package was the best she’d ever had. That actually surprised her because the way John sometimes acted the last thing she expected was for him to care about stuff like that for his employees. But ironically, he treated them pretty well in that regard. But seriously, what was wrong with this man? His mind was brilliant, he had an amazing physique that she could tell he worked very hard on, in and out of the gym. And to top it all off, he had mesmerizing blue eyes that, when he wasn’t angry, could soften even the hardest soul. Heather wondered what had happened that had made him so rough around the edges. It was like he felt like he always had to have a wall up, protecting himself from God knows what. “Today was supposed to be a go for one of our biggest projects of the year,” John's voice cut into Heather’s thoughts. “And yet here I am, talking with you.” Heather loved how he said ‘talking with you’, as though they were sitting there casually, chatting over tea. She honestly had no idea why they hadn’t broken ground on the Melvin Project that day. John was right, it was a huge deal for their company to get that bid. The commission alone would have had them all taking home very nice Christmas bonuses this year. “John, I’m not sure what happened,” Heather admitted. The project manager called and left a voice mail early this morning when no one was there, saying it was a no-go for today. “Why wasn’t there anyone here to take that call?” John looked at her expectantly. “Are you serious?” Heather blurted out, for once not being able to hold back her frustration. “I get here by 5:30 am by the latest every morning, that’s not early enough for you?!” Heather surprised herself with her tone, it was so unlike her. She hated confrontation and rarely stood up for herself. But there was just something about John that made her come out of her shell. She was starting to not care how she sounded. She must have surprised John as well, because for once, he looked at her as though he didn’t know how to respond. Heather’s face flushed bright red with a mixture of rage and embarrassment. The room was filled with silence for the first time. Finally, John sighed deeply and walked over to his desk, slouching into his chair. “Look, Heather, I’m sorry.” John’s words completely took Heather aback. Did he really just say sorry? “This is a huge deal for this company, so I’m pretty invested. You are always here working when I arrive and are normally the last one out of the office at the end of the day. "You don’t need me harassing you like this.” Heather stared at him blankly, not quite sure who this man was anymore. She’d never seen this version of John before. “Honestly, I just can’t see myself being here right now. I need a bite to eat and to clear my head. "How about you let me apologize with breakfast?” “What?..” Heather asked shyly. Breakfast? How long had it been since a man had asked her to breakfast? She couldn’t even remember. “Is that…allowed?” she asked. John laughed. “Only if you don’t tell the boss,” he said, smiling. Heather had never heard him laugh like that. She hated thinking of it this way, but god it was just so endearing. What on earth is happening right now?! Did John Ross actually have a sweet side? And where had it been hiding these past eight months? Heather smiled back and nodded. “Ok,"she said sheepishly. “I’ll grab my purse and meet you outside, I just don’t want anyone to get the wrong idea or anything.” On her way out of the office Heather stopped by Stephanie, her fellow secretary’s desk and let her know she was leaving for a short appointment. It felt like a dream as she watched John come out of the office and meet her in the parking lot, the keys to his truck in hand. She looked around to make sure no one was watching and followed him into his large black F150. Heather didn’t know why she expected it to be a mess, but she was certainly proven wrong. It was very well kept. The conversation was kept light on the drive to breakfast. It was oddly hard for Heather to stay focused on it though, because she kept getting distracted by John’s intoxicating cologne. She realized she’d never really been this close to him before, especially in a more personal setting like this. She found herself pinching her inner thigh as her mind started to lead her away into a fantasy that involved John in a light she had never, ever thought about him in before. She wondered what those strong muscles looked like without anything covering them, and how they would feel pressed against her. “Does this work?” John interrupted her thoughts just in time as they parked. He’d taken her to their local Sportspage, a bar that happened to have some of Heather’s favorite meal picks. “Are you kidding me, this is perfect!” Heather said happily. John smiled at her appreciatively. “Wow, you are full of surprises today, Heather. I wouldn’t have guessed you liked this place.” “Ha, let’s just say I eat here a little too often,” Heather said as they walked in. They were greeted by a sweet waitress that looked at Heather quizzically and said, “Heather, I didn’t know we had a to-go order for you today hun, let me go check on it for you.” “Oh no,” Heather stammered, embarrassed. “Today we’re dining in.” “We’re?" The waitress asked a little to excitedly. “Perfect! Follow me!” she ushered them to high top table and brought them some coffee while they looked through the menu. “So,” John said as he looked over his options, “would you rather get this to go? "It seems like you prefer that option,” he said teasingly. “Oh stop it,” Heather swatted at him playfully, then immediately regretted it. She didn't know how much she was crossing a line with him. But it seemed as time went on, that line was getting a tad bit blurry. John, for the first time, seemed to be opening up to her, and she, although she almost hated to admit it, was starting to really like it. Had she been wrong about him this entire time? Why did he feel the need to put on such a tough guy act at work all the time, when this real version of himself was far more enticing? Heather had so many questions, but as they sat there, enjoying each other’s company away from the office, it was becoming increasingly more apparent that there was a lot more to John Ross than she had originally thought.