Jack helps Rhonda loosen up

Jack spent much of the day inside his office, desperately trying to go through a list of clients who might work to appease Holloway. He figured that even if he couldn’t get a big fish, then perhaps two or three medium sized ones would be enough compensation.

Rhonda had helped him with the list of potentials, working hard as she always did. She was tireless in her efforts, sifting through countless documents and running through financials with him and he couldn’t help but be a little amazed by it all.

They worked through the day until about 6, when everyone else had gone home. Jack thought about what awaited him at the house. Tension, bitterness, passive aggressive comments. He looked back at Rhonda.

“Do you have any plans for the evening?”

She stretched her long limbs, working to get the stiffness out. “Mmmnope,” she turned to regard him, “I think a microwave dinner and reruns of Buffy the Vampire slayer.”

“Do you maybe wanna get a bite to eat?” He asked hopefully. “My treat?”

Her mouth set into a line and he could see the cogs of her mind turn slowly. Perhaps it would be inappropriate considering their working relationship, perhaps she felt uncomfortable eating out with a middle aged guy like him.

But she looked tired, and Jack knew that the next couple of days weren’t going to be any easier. She deserved to be spoiled for one night at least.

He sent a wave of excitement and saw her expression shift a little. He pushed the feeling again and that seemed to do the trick breaking down her ****.

“Ok,” she smiled, “sure, why not?”

They ended up going a Chinese place a few blocks away from the office. It wasn’t anything fancy, but the food was good and the beers were cheap.

“So, what’s the plan of attack?” She asked, picking at her fried rice, “we’ve found maybe three or four decent candidates, but how do you propose we actually get them to sign on with us?”

Jack took a swig of his beer and considered. Normally it would take weeks and weeks of meetings for the client to properly feel out whether they want to get involved with the company and a lot of the time Jack would have to bend over backwards to make allowances for their specific wants. By rights he should have been terrified about such an uphill battle he had ahead of him, but with the warmth of his new power flowing through him, a kind of zen settled over his being.

“Just get me into meetings with these guys,” he eventually said. “If I can sit down and have a face to face I’m sure I can sign at least a couple of them.”

He wondered if it was wrong to use his power that way. He would be manipulating other peoples minds for his own gain and something about that gnawed at him.

But on the flip side it wouldn’t just be him that benefited from his actions. Rhonda’s position would be secure, as would half a dozen other lowly workers in the office environment. All things considered, didn’t the ends justify the means? He wasn’t really hurting anyone.

“This is really good,” Rhonda said, redirecting the conversation. “I don’t go out very often, but damn, I might have to hit this place up once in a while.”

“Well, what do you do for fun when you’re not toiling away in the office?”

She sighed mildly. “Not much to be honest,” she shrugged in her seat, looking a little defeated. “It used to be that I put all my attention into school, and then I got this job that became the driving priority of my life and…well, I haven’t really had much room for anything else. I’m mostly just a homebody these days.”

Jack took a mouthful of beer, regarding her for a moment. “Having a focus on work is important, but you should really try to live a little while you can. Go drinking, go dancing, meet a guy” he quickly corrected, hoping he hadn’t been presumptuous, “or a girl. Or whatever. But you should try to enjoy yourself, you won’t be in your twenties forever.”

“Jeez, it’s been a while since I dated,” she looked away bashfully. “There’s just never been much time.”

“Then make time,” he insisted, “the whole point of work is that it helps you pay for life. So live a little.”

He couldn’t get much out of her beyond that, so they switched conversation into more generalised things. They discovered that they both really liked the Sopranos, and the conversation quickly devolved into a series of bad impersonations and quotes. For someone so young, Jack was impressed with her maturity and felt a keen sense of camaraderie. An hour and many beers later they decided to call it a night. Jack had a buzz going and felt delightful, but was ok to drive and insisted on dropping Rhonda home.

They were parked in front of her apartment, laughing about some silly thing when they grew quiet. Rhonda glanced at her place, chewed her bottom lip and looked thoughtful.

“So this is my place,” she said, pointedly looking away from him.

Something was eating at her, though Jack couldn’t quite tell what it was. In his drunken state he figured he’d help her, sending a mix of happiness, excitement and confidence her way. The perfect little cocktail to boost her mood. But to his surprise she only chewed on her lip harder and seemed to squirm in her seat.

“Hey,” she asked, turning to look at him all of sudden. “Do you want to, maybe…come inside? I’ve…um…got the entire series of the Sopranos on blu ray, if you want to borrow it.”

Jack blinked in surprise, his mind caught in a bit of a blur of drunken enthusiasm. He shrugged, finding the idea agreeable. “Sure, I wouldn’t mind pillaging a few blu rays.”

The apartment itself was a tiny one bedroom affair. Living room with a sofa, large screen tv, a small bookcase, a tiny little kitchen area that looked slightly bigger than a walk in pantry. She ushered him over to the bookcase, where an entire section had been left purely for films and tv series.

“Pretty good collection of shows,” he remarked, thumbing through them. “You’ve even got Deadwood. That’s a classic.”

He turned around and saw her still looking unsure of herself. There was some kind of conflict churning away inside of her and she looked utterly lost.

“Hey, what’s the matter?” He sent several bursts of confidence, hoping it would help her open up.

Her expression shifted into something resolute and in two quick paces she had closed the distance between them and locked him into a smooth and sudden kiss.