Falling for the Ace Assassin

Octopus

Connie felt self-conscious as she ate with Jason. He had a refined air about him, every mouthful was carefully measured. Connie couldn’t stop staring at his face, a work of art even with a smear of tomato sauce on his sexy lips. Connie unconsciously emulated his eating habits.

Noticing the change in her eating pace, Jason glanced up and their eyes locked. Connie choked on some water and coughed miserably. Jason reached over and patted her back roughly. Connie felt like her eyes would pop out of her sockets with each well-meaning slap to her back, so she turned slightly and paddled weakly at his hands desperately trying to convey ‘stop’ as she continued to cough and gasp for air.

Jason was at a loss of what to do so he pushed the culprit cup of water closer to her.

“Here.”

After she had cleared the contents of her lungs, Connie wiped her tears, cleared her throat, and took a drink, “Thank you,” she spluttered weakly. She made another mental note not to choke in front of him. If she didn’t die from suffocation, she’d die under his pummeling hands.

Jason cleared his throat, “I’m done eating, take your time to finish.”

Connie looked at his half-eaten plate, “Yes, sir,” she faltered under his cold gaze, “...Jason. I’m done too. Let me go grab some fruits and we can go up together.”

Connie grabbed her tray and followed him to the cleaning conveyor belt. Connie wanted to offer to help Jason load his dishes, but he just imitated the person in front of him, scraping the leftovers into the bin before placing the dirty dishes on the moving carousel. Connie quickly did the same then grabbed two oranges and apples from the fruit basket.

She glanced at Jason, “What fruits do you not eat?” She figured with his personality if she asked ‘what do you eat’ he would respond with ‘anything’.

Jason glanced at the fruit bowl, “I can eat anything.”

Connie grabbed a banana and pear as well. She used the front of her skirt to carry the fruits and ignored the looks her coworkers threw her way. Jason instinctively moved to block her from view. He figured she was too shy to say she was still hungry and regretted leaving the dining hall so soon. He was just embarrassed when she waved his hand away and didn’t know what to do next. He didn’t expect her to follow him back.

Jason blinked slowly and glanced down at Connie. She didn’t look at all unsettled by the judgemental looks thrown her way. He thought back to their first conversation, how she did anything and everything to stay alive for another minute. He admired her tenacity, she was like an octopus, clinging to survival with all eight tentacles.

Jason shook his head, what an odd comparison. A small smile crept on his rigid face. It was an unfamiliar feeling and the second time she was able to get him to feel an emotion. He placed a finger to the edge of his lips in curiosity. When was the last time he actually smiled? It feels good.

***

As the day progressed, Jason found a small bowl of cut fruits on the edge of his desk with a little fork. He glanced at Connie and found her eating a banana as she worked on her laptop. He pulled up the spyware software and pulled up her screen to see what she was working on.

Johnson didn’t trust anyone, every single computer the company issued had embedded spyware so he could access anyone’s computer at a whim. Johnson had shared his access with Jason so he could help investigate the issues plaguing the company but right now he was using it to sate his curiosity.

Connie was adding notes about him that made him blush.

1) No Coffee! Only water and hot black tea

2) Bathroom break: 11am, 2pm, 4pm

3) 30-minute lunch break

4) Eats sandwiches for convenience: turkey/swiss

5) Likes lasagna

6) Salad Preference: Cobb salad, no blue cheese

7) Eats all fruits: not picky.

8) DON’T CHOKE in front of him… he hits too hard

He switched back to the operations report and hoped that his brother wasn’t also spying on Connie.

***

By the time Friday rolled around, Connie was already used to her ambiguous role. Jason was not demanding but had assigned her some tasks and she started scheduling his meetings. Everyone wanted to meet the new Chief Operating Officer but Connie quickly deflected them for a later date. It was now a common scene for the two to be seen together in the dining hall at lunch. No one dared to approach their table due to his cold demeanor but many of the female employees positioned themselves so they could stare at him. Just watching him made anything they ate taste infinitely better.

Connie was in high spirits. She jabbed at the soft serve machine, “Want to grab some ice cream before we head back up? They finally fixed it! I saw some people grabbing some!”

Jason nodded, “Sure.”

Connie giggled and ate quickly so she would have time to get an ice cream.

Jason checked the time, since he started eating at the cafeteria, his lunch break had been pushing the hour mark but he welcomed the break.

Connie glanced at Jason. Since they had been eating together, their relationship had improved by leaps and bounds. Although he was quiet and cold, he was always generous and patient with her. She decided to treat him like a friend.

“What are you doing this weekend?”

“Work.”

“Oh… well, would you need me to work as well?”

Jason looked up, “You’re on salary, you don’t get overtime.”

Connie coughed, “Well, I’m your assistant, so I need to work if my boss works… but I really need Saturday evening off. I promised to go home to visit my parents.”

Jason finished the last bite of the salmon on his plate. “You won’t need to come in.”

Connie noticed he was finishing so she quickly shoved the food into her mouth and stood up with him to put their plates away. Jason walked back to the soft serve machine and she ambled behind him excitedly. She always got the chocolate vanilla swirl and added crushed peanuts on top. She licked her lips excitedly.

Jason stood aside and let her go first. “Ladies first.”

Connie beamed up at him, “Thanks,” and hurriedly grabbed a waffle cone. Pulling the lever down she expertly twirled her cone to maximize the ice cream from bottom to top then walked over to look at the toppings available.

Jason got a cone and added a little vanilla before he walked behind her.

“What are you looking for?”

Connie scowled as she scanned the bowls of toppings. “Hm, I don’t see any peanuts…”

Jason looked over her shoulder at the offerings. “Well, there are pecans over there. Why don’t you make do?”

Connie glanced up and thought he was rushing her because he wanted to get back to work. “Yeah,” she sighed, “that’ll work.”

Jason noticed how her body seemed to have deflated a little. He didn’t like sweets so he didn’t want to add anything to the pitiful spoonful of ice cream he had.

Connie glanced over and noticed how bare his cone looked. Without thinking, she stood on her tiptoes and peered down into his mostly empty cone.

“How come you only got so little? Did they run out? Do you want some of mine?”

Jason shook his head, “I don’t eat sweets.”

“Oh…” Connie didn’t want to ask why he insisted on getting ice cream with her if he wasn’t going to eat any.

“Well let’s get back to work.”

They walked side by side back to the office, one wondering if she was thinking too highly of herself and the other ruminating whether he was being too forward.