Chapter Eleven - The Revelation

Chapter 11
The Revelation

The back of Anderson Advertising was dark and quiet. Sorta like a cemetery. And the building was creepy as hell. Despite some lights, it looked completely different than it did during the day.
The fact that before I thought this was a stupid idea was nothing compared to what I was feeling now. How were we gonna get in? The security guards from the front entrance were definitely gonna see us and ask us what we were doing here at this time of night. And also, why was it so dark? New York is supposed to be the city of lights, but there weren’t that many lights back here. I didn’t like the fact that it was night time. At all.
I heard a sound coming from the garbage bins and almost screamed. What was that sound?


Every single thriller I’ve ever seen passed before my eyes. Technically, I’d only watch parts of the movies; I never dared to sit through a whole movie. I suddenly remembered a scene in a movie which I’d seen years ago (but still haunted me) where the people appear out of nowhere wearing masks and start killing the protagonists of the film. And I started thinking that some drunk or pervert could be hiding behind the garbage bins, waiting to attack me. I turned my head to the right in the direction of some other bins, and started imagining someone appearing from the darkness holding a knife and wearing a mask...
Ok, I had to stop. All of that was fake: stuff directors and screenwriters came up with. We agreed to meet here with Sarah, Derek and James. I’m sure they’d already arrived. And I should be thankful instead of making up my own scenarios with people wearing masks and holding knives.


I came to my senses and continued walking in the darkness towards the back door.
There, I discovered what had made that noise, and was taken aback. Because it wasn’t Sarah or Derek or James. Not even a drunk or a pervert. But someone who I also didn’t want to see: Ben.
“What are you doing here?” I asked after I managed to catch my breath.
“Did I scare you?” he asked, ignoring my question. “You’re white as a sheet.”
“No, you didn’t scare me,” I said coldly. “I never get scared.”
“Good. For you, I mean.”
“I just wasn’t expecting to see you here that’s all.”
“Didn’t Sarah tell you I’d be here?”
“She might have mentioned it,” I said. “But I probably just forgot.”
Ha! That was good! He was so cocky! He probably thought that the entire female population of the world was obsessed with him. Neither I, nor S, were that’s for certain. Speaking of which, where was Sarah? I wanted to strangle her for not telling me that Ben was in on this.
“I had to keep the key,” Ben said. “So that you guys wouldn’t lose it.”
“You got the key?” I asked shocked.
“Yea. Did Sarah forget to mention that as well?”
Yes, she had. Because we had agreed that I wouldn’t have anything to do with the key. So I guess, I didn’t need to strangle her after all. But how in the world had he managed to get the key?
“I borrowed it from John,” he said and shrugged. “It was a piece of cake. I just told him that I needed to use his office during his meeting with the board of directors since mine doesn’t have a printer yet. And he gave it to me.”
Of course. John recognized himself in Ben and trusted him just because of how annoyingly perfect and cocky he was. If I’d asked John, he would’ve dismissed me and told me to get back to work.
“And, obviously, I forgot to return it after I was done,” Ben continued. “I’m sure I can explain all that tomorrow.”
I wondered what that feeling was like; to always be sure of yourself and care-free, like Ben appeared to be. Wasn’t there anything that could make him feel vulnerable and wipe that cocky grin of his face?
Probably not. Or maybe, Paris. If she asked him to break up or anything. But even then, he’d fall into the arms of the next blonde who’d be waiting for him. That’s what guys like him always did. God, I hated him so much!


Shortly after, Sarah, Derek and James showed up. They appeared to have met on the way and they seemed very excited. They greeted Ben and I enthusiastically.
“Are you guys ready?” Derek asked.
“Of course,” Ben replied. “It’s gonna be awesome/”
“Are your flashlights ready?” Sarah asked.
We all turned them on, and nodded. We were set to go.
“Ok, then,” Derek said.” Let the adventure begin!”


We used our key fobs to get through the back door, and shortly after, we were in the building right at the back elevators. Where, of course, it was pitch black, except for a few dim lights on the walls, which, needless to say, caused the area to look like something from a horror film. Consequently, scaring the crap out of me. But of course I wasn’t going to let it show how scared I was. Not with Ben here.
We rode up the elevator in silence, and got off at our floor.
“There’s his office,” I said, after we’d stepped off the elevator.
We walked towards John’s office quietly.
“Let’s just listen for a bit to see if anyone’s inside,” Derek suggested.
We waited outside the door for a few seconds and then, Ben produced the key out of his pocket and put it in the lock. After turning it once to the right, we opened the door.
No one was inside, as Derek suspected. But Sarah and James weren’t disappointed. We had already discussed beforehand that if no one was in John’s office, we would look for some clues – notes, gifts, clothes, those kinds of things.
I have to admit that while we were looking around John’s office, we actually had a lot of fun, cracking jokes one after the other. We were all very elated and in those kinds of situations, it’s hard to be serious. In the end, we found a sticky note which read: “Gift stored in cabinet”.
“Here,” Sarah said locating the cabinet. “Our answer is hiding in this drawer. The answer we’ve been trying to get all this time... Let’s open it!”
Of course, the cabinet was locked. We should have known. Now we’d have to go home without having found anything.
“Wait! Check any of the other drawers to see if you can find the key,” Derek suggested.
James and Sarah started opening drawers and looking for the key. And they found it. It was thrown in one of the drawers, completely unprotected. Two pass keys on the same link. I guess John didn’t really care about security.
“Unbelievable,” I whispered. “What if someone had broken in looking for company information?”


Amid more laughter, we finally got the cabinet open. And what we found was definitely not what we were expecting to find. John, for whatever reason, had five books on... parenting!
“Oh my God, look,” I said and pointed at one titled “Becoming the Parent You Want to Be”.
“Shit, what’s that all about?” Ben asked confused.
“Wait, look here,” Sarah said jubilantly and she held up a pink piece of paper. “Can’t wait till tomorrow night, xoxo A,” she read out loud. “Huh, see, ‘A’, as in Amanda. Told you they were sleeping together.”
“Not necessarily,” Derek said and grabbed a small box from the bottom of the cabinet. “This says, ‘To Amanda: Elephant Shoes’,” he read. “I’m pretty sure that’s not a compliment.”
Anyways, long story short: our findings from the cabinet didn’t help us figure out whether or not John and Amanda were together. Each time we would find something, it would confuse us even more. One thing would be evidence that our CEO was in fact an item with Amanda and another that he makes fun of her. There didn’t seem to be a pattern.


“Great,” James said when we locked up the cabinet disappointed and put the key back in its place like good little spies. “Now what do we do?”
“Let’s go home,” S said. “We’ll never know the truth. I think we should just give up.”
I sighed relieved. We had, I’ll admit, had a good time but all the adrenaline was starting to wear off and I was beginning to feel really tired. It’lll be nice to leave the office and go home.
At that moment, however, we heard a sound. We turned off our flashlights and lied down on the floor.
“What was that?” James asked.
“Shh,” Ben said. “It’s probably the security guard. Be quiet!”


For what seemed like eternity, all five of us lay on the ground not saying a word. Outside we could hear footsteps and doors opening and closing. It did sound like the security guard. How could we be sure though? Maybe it was some serial killer walking around with a gun. That stuff happened all the time – in movies, at least.
The footsteps got closer. Suddenly the doorknob turned and the door opened. I was able to make out the silhouette of a man with a uniform. He looked around the office, closed the door and left.
I took a deep breath. It was the security guard after all. And the most important thing: he hadn’t found us. Maybe we’d manage to sneak out of the building without getting caught, in the end.


We stood still in the dark. We all knew that it would take a while for the guard to check the whole floor. And that we couldn’t leave, unless we were certain that the guard had gone back downstairs.
And then I felt a hand on mine. A warm hand which took mine and squeezed it. I squeezed back. S was such a good friend! Evidently she had realized how scared I was. Most likely, she was scared as well. Her laugh interrupted the silence. We let go of each other’s hand. It seemed like she was about to start laughing her infamous hysterical laugh. And, then, no one would be able to stop her. Not even the security guard.
“S, be quiet,” James whispered.
“I can’t,” she said breathless trying to contain her laughter. “It’s so ridiculous.”
“I think the coast is clear,” Ben whispered. “He left. It’s really quiet out there.”
We got up carefully. We checked to make sure we hadn’t left any evidence of us being there and opened the door making as little noise as possible. Derek stuck his head out and checked to see if anyone was in the hallway.
“I don’t see anything,” he announced. “Should we go?”
Derek, James and Sarah left first. Ben and I stayed behind so we could lock up, since he had the key and had to lock the door behind us. A few seconds later, we followed the others towards the elevators.
And suddenly we saw the security guard. He hadn’t left after all! On the contrary, he was walking towards us looking down at his BlackBerry. If he happened to look up, he would definitely see us.
I froze in place. Ben, on the other hand, acted fast and pulled me aside to a corner. At least there the guard wouldn't see us. But there was no way we could go to the elevators.
“In here,” Ben said and opened his office’s door which was near John’s.
I let him pull me in without objecting. I was freaking out way too much to be able to make my own decisions.


In his office it was fairly bright. The street lights were casting a faint light in the office even though the blinds were partly closed. Ben walked over to the window and pulled the blinds up. He looked satisfied.
“From here we can see the front door, so we’ll be able to see if the guards go out for a smoke. And then we can sneak out the back.”
I didn’t say anything. I sat in one of the guest chairs in front of his desk and waited for the blood to rush back up to my head.
“Didn’t you tell me before that you never get scared?” Ben said ironically, and leaned on his desk directly in front of me.
“Sometimes we say stupid things we don’t mean,” I muttered.
Why did he always have to make such stupid comments? I was so sick of this whole little game. Couldn’t he realize that this wasn’t the time? He should have realized it.
“I’ll admit that I also say, and do, a lot of stupid things,” he said. “Really.”
“You can’t be serious,” I said, surely sounding really mean.
“Yea, in fact, one time I laughed really loud at a girl who dropped some wine bottles at a self check out. That was really stupid and immature. And I regret it.”
“You could have apologized,” I said. “It’s wouldn't hurt.”
“I tried once,” he said. “But she didn’t want to listen to me. For a while I thought that she would never forget me. She’s very stubborn.”
He stared right into my eyes. And then the next shock of the night occurred. Ben smiled and placed his right hand on my cheek.
I stared back at him with my mouth open and I couldn’t move or do anything. I was frozen in place, while he caressed my cheek with his thumb causing me to feel butterflies in my stomach.
“I was so glad it was dark back there in John’s office,” he said. “Or else, I wouldn't have dared to hold your hand.”
“You squeezed my hand?” I asked shocked.
“Yea, you’d you think did?” he asked equally confused.
“I thought it was Sarah.”
The memory of the hand in the dark made my heart start racing. Because I knew how nice and warm it was and with how much fervor I had replied...


But wait, what did all of this mean? Ben stood up and walked to the window. And turned his back to me, sighing loudly.
“Well,” he said and shrugged, “just forget it. Besides I see the guards downstairs smoking. The coast is clear. We can go now.”
I thought about what he has said about the whole hand thing with Sarah. I started suspecting something. Perhaps Ben had felt a little embarrassed. Something or someone had managed to make him feel vulnerable. Was it maybe... me?
But no. No way. He was with Paris. I’d seen how close they were dancing at the party. And in general, how they treated one another. I stood up.
“But you’re with Paris,” I said, before I could stop myself.
“Paris who?” Ben asked and looked as though he didn’t know what I was talking about. “Oh, her... no, we aren’t together. Why would you think that?”
“I saw you at the party,” I explained. “And I thought...”
“Oh, God!” Ben interrupted me. “Jess, don’t you get it?”
I guess I was wrong. Ben was almost angry.
He came and stood right in front of me.
“Don’t you understand that I did all that at the party for you? Don’t you understand that...”
Ben stopped talking, but my heart continued to beat fast. We were standing there looking at each other. We didn’t know what to say. Or, actually, we didn’t need to say much.


TO BE CONTINUED... JUST ADDING SOME GOOD STUFF ;) WILL BE UP SOON!!

Chapter One - Do You Attract Guys?

Chapter 1

Do You Attract Guys?

I had been sitting in a meeting room for the past hour pretending to take notes, when all I could think about was the new sales manager we hired last week. I mean, I know that what the CEO was saying was really important, but I just couldn’t concentrate. Not with Calvin sitting next to me. 

           I mean, in all honesty, what was more important, listening to what John was saying, or figuring how to casually ask Calvin if he wants to grab a drink after work? (In case you actually don’t know, the answer to that is the latter!) 

Anyways, I was trying – as much as I could – to not listen to Crayon (that’s what Sarah and I called John), as he was walking back and forth, talking excitedly about the new product our company had just launched, and how it would increase the company’s revenue by 8 millions in less than 6 months. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love business (except anything that has to do with accounting and finance) but honestly all I could think about was how good Calvin looked in his Hugo Boss suit! And his eyes. Man, his eyes were the kind that can see all the way to your soul, and his …

“This is so interesting John! Getting Tiesto’s publicist to agree to let us do the advertising for his 2012 tour in order to attract a new target market is such a good idea! You really are a genius!” I heard a girly voice squeal in delight.

Ew! Paris Clark, who else? Of course she was – like always – sucking up to John, pretending to be interested in what he was saying when all she wanted was to get in his pants. And yea, I’ll admit he is ridiculously hot but he was also an ass. Hmm on second thought, those two deserve each other.

“Paris, you know this wouldn’t have been possible without your help. Creating that logo and coming up with such a well thought-out promotion plan was what really made getting the Tiesto account a possibility!” John pointed out excitedly.

“Really? You can’t be serious. I thought it wasn’t all that great!”

“Of course it was good Paris. In fact, it’s perfect!” he replied. “You really shouldn’t underestimate your abilities.”        

UHHH! Seriously, how can someone not see that Paris is one of those people who never underestimate themselves? Isn’t it obvious that all she wants is to be praised 24/7?

I guess not, because the conversation between the two went on for a few more minutes, until John finally went back to explaining some graphs.

Of course at that point, Paris turned to her best friend London, another marketing manager, and they started whispering and giggling. But I didn’t get a chance to listen to what they were saying because at that exact moment I received a text on my BlackBerry.

	Sarah Jacklin                __________________ May 20, 2010 11:48:08AM______________ Can you please explain to me why Paris feels the need to always brag about everything she does? I’m practically bored to tears and if she keeps interrupting Crayon with stupid stuff, we’ll never get out of here!!! P.S. The usual for lunch today?

 

          I glanced up to make sure everyone was focusing on the presentation, and quickly replied to Sarah.

May 20, 2010 11:49:32AM______________ :O How can you possibly complain about Paris? Clearly she “underestimates” her skills and is in serious need of a confidence boost! UHHHH! Seriously, how can some people be so shallow? P.S. Yea sure.

         

An hour later, Sarah and I were at our favourite bistro near the office, equipped with two Chicken Caesar salads and two glasses of red wine.

“Why are you still talking about Crayon Jess? Is it really necessary we talk about someone who can’t see that Paris is a fake bitch?” she ate some of her salad, and continued. “Here,” she said excitedly. “This will answer all our questions. Listen to this: ‘Do You Attract Guys? Take the test and you will find out how good you are at attracting guys.’”

“I already know the answer to that,” I replied. “My powers at attracting guys are non-existent, just like my nails.”

“Oh, common Jess. Do you want to get Calvin to ask you out or what?” Sarah asked.

Yes, I did. I mean, he was everything I wanted a guy to be. He was 6’ with short, sandy blond hair and eyes the color of Hersey Kisses that made you melt every time they were looking at you. Plus he looked better than the Hugo Boss models when wearing a suit, a skill that – sadly – very few men possess. And of course, he was always polite, never lost his temper and was the kind of guy that would hold the door for a woman and make breakfast for you the morning after you slept over at his $350 000 apartment in New York. Basically, he was the man of my dreams and we were meant to be together. He just didn’t know it yet.

I knew, of course, that my chances of him asking me out were slim. I mean, what would he see in me? What more than everyone else when they – rarely – looked at me? Long brown hair, brown eyes, pale skin and non-existent nails.

The reason that apart from all of this, I still hoped Calvin would ask me out is because he had actually asked me out for drinks a long time ago. And by long time, I mean 4 years ago when I first started working at Anderson Advertising.

Sadly, I made the mistake of saying no because it was my second day and I thought he was kidding. And of course, with my luck, at that moment, he probably came to his senses and wondered why he even asked me out in the first place.

Anyways, what I mean is what would happen if by some miracle Calvin overlooked my appearance and discovered my inner beauty? What if we were soul mates and, 4 years ago, he knew that but didn’t say anything because he didn’t want to bruise his ego?

That is definitely not impossible. Unlikely yes, I’ll admit that, but not impossible. 

The problem is that Calvin never seems to notice me anymore, and he probably has no idea that we are meant for each other.

So, it was up to me to make him see that or else I would be miserable all my life.

“Fine,” I told Sarah. “Start the quiz.”

Sarah was addicted to quizzes and horoscopes and all that stuff because she thought they had the answer to everything and that without Cosmo and other “reliable” sources, we wouldn’t be able to exist. I’ve told her many times that that stuff isn’t always true and that she really shouldn’t rely solely on quizzes and horoscopes but she just won’t listen.

She cleared her throat, and began.

“In line for the concession stand at a concert, you notice a cute guy in front of you. He looks at you and says hi...”

“You see that’s impossible, cause I never go to concerts and even if I did, I highly doubt that there would be a cute guy there by himself,” I interrupted her.

“We are speaking hypothetically here! Just play along.”

“Fine.”

“Ok, so what do you do?

Say, “Wow, this is a long line. Lucky for me, I’m in good company.”

Take matters into your own hands and say, “Hey babe, wanna go make our own music before the show?”

Squeak out a hi that probably gets drowned out by the music.”

“Definitely not B.” I said.

“Why not? He seems interested in you.”

Of course that’s what Sarah Jacklin would say. She always goes for what she wants not caring if things don’t turn out the way she wants them too, unlike me.

You see, Sarah is always in love. And she always has a plan. Who she is in love with and what the plan is changes on a weekly basis, but one thing is for sure: Sarah is not one of those people who sit back and wait for things to happen.

This week she is in love with John Anderson Sr., our CEO’s father and the man who started Anderson Advertising fifteen years ago. And all this because her horoscope told her that love will find her in the form of a mature man. From that moment, she was certain that she and John Sr. were soul mates. Regardless of the fact that he was more than twice her age.

 “That’s perfect,” she said. “B, I mean. I’m gonna corner John in the office and ask him if he wants to have dinner with me.”

“Yea, ok, just make sure you let me know beforehand so I can be a couple meters away,” I warned her. “He’s gonna laugh till he cries.”

“Deal,” she said carelessly, “anyways A or C?”

“A,” I said after some thought because it sounded safe enough.

“Coward,” she said while circling A for me and B for her. “Okay, ‘There is a new guy at work who is absolutely adorable. What do you do?’”

“Nothing,” I said. “I don’t like babies.”

Sarah ignored my remark and continued.

“'A) You look at him discreetly and blush every time he looks at you.

 ‘B) You find out if he is new to your city and offer to show him around town.’

‘C) You find out where he lives and casually walk outside his place until you run into each other.’”

I started thinking about Calvin’s apartment on the Upper East Side, across from Central Park. There is no way he would believe it’s a coincidence if he saw me there, considering that I live by the Metropolitan Hospital Center on 93^rd St and he lives on Fifth Avenue.

I was trying to come up with a plan when a familiar voice interrupted my thoughts.

“Oh look David, it’s Sarah and Jessica.”

I looked up to see David and Caleb, Calvin’s two best friends, standing right next to our table. Trying to act fast, I tried to pick up the magazine so I can close it, but David was faster.

 “‘Do You Attract Guys?’,” he read out. Laughing sarcastically, he turned to his friend and asked, “What do you think Caleb? Do they attract guys?”

Sarah recovered before me and grabbed the magazine from David’s hand giving him a disparaging look.

“Jess and I are actually having a private conversation, Paris,” she told him.

Thankfully they realised Sarah was being serious and the two guys walked away laughing.

I was still frozen in place. I couldn’t believe what had just happened. That was it. My life was over. Or at least my chances of Calvin ever asking me out were now zero. I’m sure Dave and Caleb would tell Calvin and the three would have a good laugh with that loser, Jessica from marketing.

“Jess, don’t worry. This could actually be a good thing,” I heard Sarah say.

“Are you serious? How could this possibly be a good thing? It’s beyond embarrassing!” I said.

“Ok, let’s assume that they heard everything,” she began, “if they tell Calvin, chances are that he will be flattered and look at you in a new light. Therefore, this is exactly what we needed: A little push in the right direction.”

“Is there another option?” I asked.

“Of course there is. That they didn’t hear a single word.”

“Yea, but they saw all of this,” I said. “They saw that we are spending our lunch time looking at this stupid stuff, and they’ll def tell Calvin that we are two desperate losers.”

“What do you mean stupid stuff!? Jess, how many times do I have to tell you that what Cosmo says is true? My God. Get with the program woman. Besides, we discovered that we do in fact attract guys.” Sarah said triumphal. “We were just sitting here, enjoying our lunch, when two guys walked up to us. See?”

Hmm. The sure thing is that Sarah always manages to see the positive side of things.