Before Jessica could answer, May rushed over finally and grabbed her arm, "are you out of your mind? Go away!"
She turned and said apologetically to the man, "Sorry, Mr. Sanders. She's new and doesn't seem very bright."
Mr. Sanders didn't even look at May but still had his eyes fixed on Jessica, "She looks bright enough to me. Go away."
He sounded calm but authoritative May looked dejected and quickly retreated after she had given Jessica a hard stare.
Jessica also found it hard to take her eyes off him, trying to pick up his details and compare them to her dreams.
Until he finally said, "when are you gonna be done with your staring?"
She blushed again, "sorry, but I just want to...you look...". She found it hard to continue.
Obviously, this Mr. Sanders didn't know her at all, so he must not have had the same dreams as her.
What a disappointment.
"First day?" He asked again.
"Yes. Overseas Business Department."
"Okay. Old Halt's hired a beauty? I thought that old fart is a misogynist."
Jessica recalled Mr. Halt's dead-pan face and couldn't help but laugh, "he's just always serious but seems a nice person."
Mr. Sanders suddenly looked lost like he was lost in some distant thoughts. A brief moment of confusion crossed his face before he shook his head and looked her up and down.
"Have we met before?" He asked.
Jessica's heart suddenly raced. Oh shit! Has he been dreaming too?
She blushed again, "I, not in real life. I mean, no, I don't think so."
"You blush a lot."
And she blushed even more. Oh, God! She was so vividly in his arms last night with his warm and moist lips on hers and she could still remember how she was writhing with need for him...
And now he was standing right there in front of her at arm's length. For a brief moment, she felt lost too, with both the urge to run into his arms and the urge to run away.
He moved closer, and her heart raced again.
He was so tall and looking strong, towering over her. She suddenly felt safe and protected. She felt like coiling up in his arms and just slept and stopped running.
Wait a moment. Stop running?
Jessica felt she must be out of her mind. Where did that notion come from?
But yes, she had been feeling like she was running, running away from some ominous things and running toward some being she was on a long quest for.
But he just extended his hand with the coffee mug, "Coffee?"
"Oh! Yes!" That's what she had come for, right?
He was about to put the mug in her hand when suddenly remembered, "Ooops it's cold. Let me get you another."
He tossed the liquid into the sink, put it under the coffee machine, and pressed "start".
The machine started shaking with a low hum. Jessica soon smelled an intense coffee aroma.
She took a deep inhale and felt refreshed already.
"Thanks. Smells so nice."
"Yes. New beans from E Country, hand-picked from wild trees in the deep woods of the south of the country."
He handed her a cup and made himself another. They started sipping coffee without speaking.
"Mr. Sanders..."
"Jordan, please. And you are?"
"Oh ok, Jordan. Jessica."
"Jordan and Jessica, both starting with J." He said, looking like he was mulling on the alphabet.
Jessica laughed, "Yes. What a nice coincidence." But deep down, she was saying, "You have no idea how many coincidences there are."
"Nice indeed." He looked at her intently again with a faint smile.
Jessica tried really hard not to blush again, "Have you ever been to E Country?"
"Yes, regularly. We've got business there."
"Oh right!" Jessica felt a bit embarrassed. Yes. How could she have forgotten? The JS Group was a huge empire of business with operations almost everywhere in the world and E Country was a very important sourcing hub for it.
"One day I'll take you there," Jordan said.
Jessica's heart thumped again. He had said it like they had known each other for a long time.
She looked at him, but he seemed at ease as if he had just said something normal.
"That'll be nice." She said.
It was true. She had never traveled out of the country before, so it'd be nice if she could do that someday. And with Jordan? That would be more than just nice.
She tried to rake her head but couldn't remember McDreamy had ever told her his name in the dreams.
"You look like you've got a lot on your mind," Jordan said.
She couldn't help but blush again. "First day at work does come with a bit of stress."
"You'll get used to it soon. Come find me if you need any help."
"Thanks. That's very nice of you. Which department are you in?"
"The president's office." Jordan smiled.
"Wow! So you work under the president? How nice!"
Jessica opened her eyes wide and looked at Jordan with admiration. He must be really good to be able to work under the president.
Jordan just smiled and said, "It's a very demanding job."
"I bet! But you seem to be doing it well."
"How could you tell?"
"Coz you seem at ease, not like those always-rushing-and-going-crazy assistants working closely with big bosses." Jessica laughed.
Jordan also laughed, "I could go crazy at times."
"Would be fun to see how you would look when going crazy."
"I just look like this." Jordan wrinkled up his face with his nostrils flaring and his eyes rolling.
Jessica laughed harder, "be careful, or the president might punch you in the face to stop that."
Jordan suddenly looked fixedly at her, "you look really great when smiling and laughing like that."
"Thanks. That's b'coz you could really make me happy."
"Honored! Let's do this again tomorrow."
"You mean coffee here? Sure!"
"Deal."
"Deal."
When Jessica went back to her cubicle, May stared at her with her face dark and expressionless.
Jessica just ignored her. She was trying to be nice, but if her niceness was taken as a weakness, she might well save it for some others.
But as she was sitting down, May said, kind of gritting her teeth, "You're wanted in Mr. Halt's office."
What? She had actually told on her for such a trivial thing? Jessica found it unbelievable.
As she was on her way to Mr. Halt's office, she walked really slowly, trying to think if she was ever told that a coffee break was not allowed during work time, and if so, what her defense should be.