Jasmine Patel

When Jasmine was offered the position of CFO of Jasper Falls, she knew she had finally made it on her own merit. For too many years the woman had been plagued by accusations of nepotism. It wasn't her fault that she had been born a Singh, that her father had founded Jasper Falls, that she would one day inherit the empire. Had she wanted it, her father would have given her any position at the company after she graduated from Harvard, and at first she had taken him up on his offer. Working in a small satellite office, Jasmine had gotten a feel for the company, the corporate structure, the culture, but she also clued into how toxic an environment it could be for someone like her.

Daddy's Girl

Two years into her job, someone had hacked into her corporate email and added the title into her signature. It had taken her a week to notice, but by that time the damage was done. From that moment on, there was a mixture of over-indulgent deference and behind-the-back eye rolls with every encounter. Jasmine wanted nothing to do with it. She quit on the spot.

Still young, only twenty-eight, the heiress reinvented herself. Using her father's resources, she hired a lawyer to legally change her name. Jasmine Singh was gone, Jasmine Patel was born. She cut her hair and lightened it from the black she had known her whole life to brown. She tried out her new look one weekend, returning to a bar she had frequented when working at Jasper Falls, and found that she was still too recognizable. Two of her old coworkers called her out immediately, inviting her to their table for a drink.

Then she got serious.

A nose job came first. She had never liked her Roman nose, and her new tiny nose was a cute as a button. She also got injections to puff up her lips slightly. Finally, Jasmine went all out. Tits. She had been flat as a board for her whole life. If she was changing things up, and if she had unlimited resources, might as well go all in.

She didn't go huge, but they seemed huge to her. 34D was what the doctor had said when she chose her size using the images he had shown her. The weight had taken a while to get used to, but the looks from men had taken longer.

And then she got back in the game. Jasmine Patel again landed a job at Jasper Falls, but this time her career took off. She was driven, she was hungry. Before long she was working in the finance department of the main office. Many of the workers she had known her whole life, having grown up around the business, but not one recognized her. So when, after 4 years, at the age of thirty-four, she was offered the position of CFO, Jasmine knew that she had earned it. She no longer had anything to prove.

DING

The elevator opened, allowing Jasmine out into the office of the firm that had won the Jasper Falls account. She had decided to pay them a visit, to develop a relationship, and to see if they were worth her time. Her predecessor hadn't worked closely with consultants and contractors, which had lead him to his dismissal. Too many incomplete files, too much missing money. Now that Jasmine was in charge, she would put a stop to things like that. It was all above board from here on out. She knew she would get a reputation as a ball-buster, but she had worked too hard to get where she was in her career. She had sacrificed too much to risk it. Jasmine would make sure that everything was done perfectly, and that the company would thrive.

She walked up to a desk where a beautiful redhead was typing, a satisfied smile on her face.

"I'm here to see Sam Redwood," Jasmine said.

"Oh, you must be Miss Patel from Jasper Falls," the redhead's smile grew, "He's expecting you. Right through the door."

The redhead indicated the door to Jasmine's left, then returned to her typing. Jasmine turned and entered the office, confident that this would be another boring meeting filled with numbers and projections. Then she saw him. He was nothing like she had expected. Her breath caught in her throat, butterflies in her stomach, knees turning to jelly. Was THIS the man she was supposed to meet? Jasmine rethought her strategy. Maybe a purely professional relationship wasn't perfectly necessary, just this once.