Page 8 of The Good Girl

Some people turned to the bottle Jonas had turned to sex. I still didn’t know or understand the psychology behind that, but it wasn’t for me to delve into his psyche.

I’d spent way too much time studying him in those first few months. My interest had only grown with each new development. There was no shortage of gossip and the bets were something I steered clear of.

No one ever knew who he was sharing his bed with from one day to the next since he kept everything so quiet. But it wasn’t long before I could tell. It always started with the woman in question dressing just a little differently, and ended with her despondence a few days or weeks later.

I kept track, none of them had ever lasted more than a couple weeks at most. He didn’t keep his exploits to the office pool either. He was getting it from outside as well, and there was no end to the bevy of interested females just waiting to hop into his bed.

While I was spying on the big man, others were watching my progress. Things were being said in the right ears. There was a rumor that the big man was looking for a new assistant. I never knew what had happened to the old one, maybe she’d retired she was of that age after all. But it was said that he didn’t trust anyone the way he trusted her.

I never paid too much attention to that particular scuttlebutt. There was no way I was going to get the job anyway. I was one of the newest hires and I hadn’t proved myself well enough as yet I’m sure.

I did my job yes and sometimes went above and beyond to fulfill my duties. But I was sure the others had the same work ethic. Jonas Harp didn’t stand for anything less. He demanded excellence and everyone bent over backwards to give it to him.

The first time I saw him up close I understood. It was clear why all the unattached women and some not so unattached would give their eyeteeth to put themselves in his way if only for the chance that he might choose them for his bed, fleeting though the union maybe.

He was magnificent. His build, his air, and the way he looked at you as if he could see into your depths. Combined they were a combustible mix. He was pure sexual animal without even trying. Not even by so much as a look did he give anything away, and that air of mystery was most appealing of all.

My palms had broken out in a sweat as I got to my feet the same as all the others in the room. He hadn’t looked at any one of us any longer than the other, but when those eyes turned my way I felt as if he were seeing right into me.

That look had lasted less than a few seconds but it left a burning sensation on my skin. Like I’d been touched by a live wire. He’d left the same way he came, no muss, no fuss and the place was abuzz as soon as he cleared the floor.

“I told you he was looking for an assistant, what do you want to bet he’s checking out the merchandise?” Kelly, one of the senior secretaries gloated as if the job was already hers. She might be right too.

Not only did she have seniority, but from what I’d learned she was his type. Blonde, leggy and built like a runway model. Conversation buzzed around the room but I was too caught up in the feelings running riot in my body to pay much attention to what was being said.

No wonder he had such a reputation. There was no mystery as to why he was so prolific in his endeavors with the ladies. I was hard pressed to remember anyone else whose very presence had emitted such a strong reaction from me, and the man hadn’t even so much as said hello. I’d probably have ended up in a puddle at his feet if he had the voice to go with the physique.

Everyone was preoccupied for the rest of the day with what his visit could mean and who the lucky girl was going to be. Kelly preened and primped as she flitted around the room too excited to get settled. “Did you see the way he looked at me? That job is as good as mine.” She fixed her hair in the little handheld mirror before adding a layer of gloss to her already painted lips.

“Look at her; she already has dollar signs in her eyes. Everyone knows that even though these little dalliances don’t last for more than a week or so, that Mr. Harp is very good to the women he takes to his bed. At least that’s the rumor.” Amy sniffed as she made her way back to her desk.

I was a wreck the rest of the day. The words on the memo I was typing up blurred into one massive blob and my body felt as though it had been through the wringer. One look, it had taken one look to bring my new obsession full circle.

It was then I realized the truth of why I’d been sneaking peeks into his life all these months. It wasn’t his life or his past that had drawn me in. It was him, purely him. I’d become fascinated, enthralled. But who could blame me? The man exuded confidence and sexual magnetism from every pore. In short he was all man and what woman wouldn’t want to be on the receiving end of all that?

With my new knowledge I started looking at things with new eyes. I saw my indifference to the office gossip for what it really was. My way of protecting myself from the hurt it caused to hear of him with his latest bed partner.

My obsessive perusal of his photos in the papers was feeding my hunger to have any part of him. Did that mean I was sick? Just another groupie waiting in the wings in the hopes that he would one day choose me?

Until today, I didn’t see how that would be even possible. He never came to this part of the building. He had his own private entrance on the other side of the building, had his own lift that no one else was allowed to use, and we certainly didn’t move in the same circles.

He was hardly ever seen by anyone other than those in the inner sanctum, those precious few who were blessed by his presence everyday. I wonder what that must feel like, to be that close to such greatness everyday.

I’d learnt a lot more than his bedroom antics in my months of searching. I knew he was one of the leading businessmen in our city. That even before he’d lost his family he’d been driven.

He had risen to the top in record time and stayed there. He was a Harvard business alumnus with a Masters from Oxford. Very smart, a very lethal combination of looks and smarts.

He’d started from the bottom and worked his way up in one of the better venture capitalist companies in the city before branching off on his own. Now he was a force to be reckoned with. The man everyone turned to when their business fell into the dark and needed a lifeline.

It helped that he was thought of as a fair man. Maybe it was because of his humble beginnings that he had such compassion for those who were trying but needed that extra boost to get them over the top.

Whatever his reasoning, it was a well known fact that he’d helped many a business in the area stay afloat. Everyone sung his praise, well most everyone. There were those who he’d turned away who didn’t look too kindly on him and his actions.

For every company he saved, he owned majority shares in more than half of them. He was a staunch businessman after all, not a charity.

I knew all of this by the time I first met him in the flesh. In fact I’d venture to guess that I knew him as well as or better than any of the people who’d been here before me. But even with all that knowledge I was no closer to the man.