The Heart Heist

Alexandria Reeves lived her life with by a sole objective: keep a low profile. She often kept her straw blonde hair pulled back and tied into a French braid to avoid attracting unwanted attention. She would forego makeup to help her face blend in as one among many in the crowd. She selected slightly frumpy clothes that didn’t quite suit her in order to hide her hourglass curves. She liked to walk around with sunglasses on, even when it was raining. Alexandria had selected a comfortable pair with truly dark lenses so no one could ever look into her eyes. She preferred to keep her windows to the soul shut, thank you very much. She kept to herself and always had headphones in, but nothing she did could protect her from what was about to happen. It’s worth noting that Alexandria went to such great lengths to make herself invisible, because she was anything but. The very personification of kindness, her warmth knew no bounds. But she preferred to be warmest to perfect strangers she’d never met before and would never see again - much like the kind one comes across while waiting at a gate in an airport. She had a vivacious bubbly personality and wicked sense of humor, topped of with a slightly mischievous dry wit. Alexandria was well educated, well-read, brilliant, and beautiful. At the age of 29, she had the wisdom of life lived beyond her years. Even her name drew attention to her. It was long and formal and unusual enough. It also had a slightly old world regal air to it that she somehow embodied with the way she held herself, spoke and moved. She enjoyed thinking about the ancient historic library she was named after, and often entertained herself by trying to puzzle out the great mystery of what had happened to so many of the texts and scrolls from that library that were lost. But perhaps the most significant thing about her was the magnetism of her sincerity and genuine personality. It drew people to her, even when she felt safest alone. If “people throw rocks at things that shine,” then that explained a great deal of the damage in the case of Alexandria Reeves. I’ve explained to you why her person attracted attention, and the great lengths she went to in order to mask it, but I should tell you too, about how she couldn’t help but shine. She was either the captain, President, 1st chair, soloist or lead in just about everything in school growing up. She excelled at anything she put her mind to and her drive behind. Naturally adored by many of her teachers, she was a bit distanced from her peers at times. Many of her closest friends fell outside the bounds of, “normal.” She was teased, mocked, hunted, harmed, and relentlessly tormented by her bullies. She was doing so much better at the age of 29 and she had healed so much…but somehow, still, all it took was closing her eyes for a moment and the voices she’d never forget came rushing back as if she was just hearing them for the first time all over again. A subject of ridicule in her own family, she often sought solace with her best friends family growing up. But even that friend had to harmed her and caused her immeasurable pain. Being weary of people didn’t quite cover it when it came to Alexandria Reeves. She regarded people much the way a deer in a forest would regard a hunter with gun. And all of that is about to be put to the test. Today she starts her new job at James Corp. International. The CEO is Maxwell James, but nobody ever dared call him, “Maxwell” to his face. Nobody wanted to earn his ire. Only 34 years old, he was dashingly handsome and obscenely well educated. He’d had the finest tutors in addition to his time at school. He’d done a double degree for his bachelors and completed 3 post baccalaureate degree programs for fun. His family had the money after all. His grandmother, Adeline James, had founded James Corp., which later became James Corp. International. His father had shown no interest in the business and studied to become qualified as a doctor before Max was born. His grandmother, however, kept the business going with sheer determination that someday her grandson might want to run it and keep it in the family. Fortunately for Adeline, that’s exactly what Max had wanted. She passed the company over to him on his 30th birthday with her love. They still had lunch regularly, but Adeline tried not to be a helicopter grandparent, even if that company was her life’s work. Alexandria walked through the glass double doors to the lobby and into the atrium. Taking in her surroundings, she tried to locate where the front desk was. People were swirling around her, banks of elevators were arriving, only to dash off again just as quickly. At long last she caught sight of the reception area in the cavernous room. Taking a deep breath, trying to steady herself, she walked up to reception and said, “Good morning. I’m here for my first day. My name is Alex Reeves,” only much softer than she’d intended to say it. The young redheaded woman’s head snapped up behind the reception desk and her eyes narrowed, taking in Alex’s attire and demeanor. The redhead’s lips twisted into an unwelcome smirk before she opened them to speak.