The Biggest Part of Me (10 page)

“Glad to hear it.”

“It is such a beautiful doll.  Come to think of it, it reminds me of someone.  I just can’t think who.”

Uncomfortable, Jason backed away.  “I think that’s one reason for its success.  It reminds people of someone they know or love.” 
At least it does for me.
  

Jane looked expectantly as the pizza boxes were placed on the nearby table and opened.  Jason walked up behind her and said, “Looking for something, Miss Kendall?”

She turned.  “No, nothing,” she stammered.  She hated stammering.

Grinning and bringing a pizza box from behind his back Jason said, “Maybe you were looking for this.”

Jane took the box and opened it—pizza with green peppers, hamburger, and extra cheese.  She was in heaven.  Her eyes grew as wide as a small child spying cotton candy at a carnival.  If she wasn’t standing in a conference room, she would have flung her arms around Jason and given him a great big kiss.  A friendly kiss, that is.  She certainly wanted to.  Instead, she looked up at him and squealed, “It’s my favorite!”

Jason chuckled and said, “I know.”  Then holding her gaze he brushed a strand of hair out of Jane’s eyes and said, “Mine too.”

Jane struggled not to tremble.  She smiled and said, “Well, come on.  Let’s eat.”  She led him to the table and he pulled a chair beside hers.  The pizza box in between them, Jane lifted the lid and took a big sniff of the delicious pizza pie.  They descended on the pizza with childish abandon, savoring the rich taste of the sauce, the succulent toppings, and the thick crust.

They sighed and moaned as the extra cheese slid from each piece back to the box.  Paying no attention to good manners they chomped and laughed, delighting in the moment.  

“Do you know what this makes me think of?” Jason asked.

With a mouth full of pizza Jane said, “The Pizza Shack on the north side.”

“Yeah.”  Jason looked wistfully out into space remembering.  “That was the place to be, wasn’t it?  Remember Friday nights after football or basketball games we’d sit in the booth for hours eating pizza and singing along with the jukebox.”  They both enjoyed the thought.  Then Jason began singing, “I took my baby to the pizza parlor . .”

“. . .To get a bite to eat, now, now, now,” Jane continued the lyric.  Then they both began singing a classic oldies song that had played constantly on the remembered jukebox.

They danced in their seats while singing until they started laughing uproariously at their rendition of the old song.  Simultaneously they both looked up.  Their eyes were met with coworkers, who were staring at them in disbelief.  The room was silent.  Jane looked at Jason, wondering what to say or do.  As dignified as he could with a slice of pizza dripping with cheese in his hand he said, “I guess you had to be there.”

The Talbot Toy Company owned the high rise in mid-town Manhattan where its offices where located.  Jane was immediately taken with the marble-floored grand lobby as she entered the building.  In the center was a large circular oak desk with the word reception on it.  Beyond the desk was a lovely eighteen-story atrium.  Glass elevators bordered both sides of the atrium, giving riders an impressive look at the tropical foliage.

She checked the directory for the executive suites and then took the elevator to the top floor.  As she gazed into the large atrium, she thought back to the scrawny thirteen-year old boy that now occupied the office of president of the company.  Jason had always been mischievous, imaginative, and a little dangerous.  He had been able to light a fire in her by a simple glance.  He had challenged the boundaries by doing things his way, be it a school project or his parents’ rules.  Jane smiled.  She remembered Mr. and Mrs. Collins being absolutely exasperated with him.  He would smile that winning smile at them and they, as well as everyone else including her, would melt. 

But she had also known another side to the man.  He was gentle, sensitive, and generous to a fault.  He had helped his two sisters with science projects.  He was kind to newcomers.  His touch with her had always been careful, loving.  No wonder she had fallen hopelessly in love with him all those years ago.

The bell signaling the top floor rang, interrupting her thoughts.  She stepped out into a beautiful and plush office area.  The desks were all mahogany.  No cubicles here.  Everyone sat in the open area with incredible views of the city with Central Park in the distance.  She could smell the comforting aroma of coffee from down the hall.  The gentle sound of tapping on computers along with ringing phones filled the air.

“Can I help you?”  The voice of the polished young woman sitting just to Jane’s left brought her attention back from gapping at her surroundings.

“Yes, hi.  I’m Jane Kendall from the Patterson Marketing Agency.  We’re handling the CARL project and I need to see Jim Lopez to go over some accounting projections.”

“Let me buzz him for you.”  After a confirmation from Jim, the receptionist punched a door lock and said, “You can go in.”  She motioned to her right.  “Through those doors and around the corner to the right.”

Jane met with the likeable Jim Lopez, giving him all the notes from their previous meeting and going over the projected figures.  Finishing up around lunchtime the suites of offices were quiet, as everyone had headed out for a break.  As she was leaving, she noticed an open door at the end of the hall.  Instinct told her it was the biggest office on the floor and therefore was probably Jason’s. 

She peeked in but saw no one.  Then she heard an old familiar tune being whistled.  Looking down she saw the prototype himself, CARL, smiling up at her.  On the front of CARL’s chest was a computer screen with a keyboard that could be pulled out and folded down as a desktop.  Behind the three foot high robot was Jason, sans tie and jacket.  He was toying with the insides of CARL and obviously enjoying every minute of it as evidenced by his whistling.  Jane found herself smiling at the man who ran the multi-million dollar company.  He still liked working on the toys he made.

Since their pact to be friends, it was an easy decision to walk into his office and greet him.

“Working out a few kinks in your creation, Mr. C.E.O.?”  Jane said after a few minutes of watching him.

Shock turned to pleasure as he sat on the floor, wiping his hands with a clean rag.  “If you think back, you’ll remember that I love to tinker with things.  I want to build the best.  Want to be the best.”

In a voice that came out low and sultry, Jane said, “You are definitely the best.”  Where did that come from?  Jane was instantly embarrassed, turning all shades of red.

Jason chuckled.  Seeing her discomfort, he said, “That’s okay.  I’ll take the compliment.

Mortified that her statement might have been taken the wrong way, she cleared her throat and turned away from him, hoping to get herself back in control.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a pretty lady blush.”

“Stop,” Jane said.  “You’ll just make it worse.”

“You’re beautiful when you blush, Janie.” Jason grinned and said, “So what brings you to our kingdom?”

She cleared her throat again and said, “A short meeting with Jim Lopez.  But I must admit.  I was very curious to see your offices.”

“And do they meet with your approval?”  Really, his grin should be illegal because of what it did to Jane’s insides.

She smiled back.  Looking into his eyes she said, “Yes.  Completely.”  There it was again!  She was actually flirting with him.  Jane blamed it on the grin.

Jason stood and motioned for her to sit down.  “Would you like a cup of coffee?”

As she sat she answered, “Yes, thank you.  Just black.”

“I know.”  Jason handed the cup to Jane, gently grazing her hand as she took it.  He loved this playful banter they were having.

But Jane didn’t know if she could take much more.  It was heady, addicting.  However, that didn’t stop her from slowly crossing her legs so that the slit in her skirt was angled just so.  After all, she could show off her legs just like any flight attendant could.  She saw the momentary flash in Jason’s eyes and was pleased with herself.

Jason sat on the edge of his desk as Jane looked around his office.  He was quickly becoming unglued.  He prayed the throbbing pulse in his neck was undetectable to Jane.  This was so unlike him.  He didn’t desperately want every beautiful woman that stepped into his office.  But seeing her in his office now brought both a feeling of giddy pleasure and penetrating pain.  He wanted so much to take her in his arms at that moment and make love to her on the desk where he sat.  As she sipped her coffee, he glanced to the engagement ring on her finger to remind him again that they were only friends.  “So, your meeting with Jim went well?”

“Yes.  I’ve enjoyed working with everyone in your company.  You’ve done a great job hiring quality people.”

“Well, I pride myself on knowing quality.”  And then because he just couldn’t help himself, he looked at her shapely legs.

Fearing the loss of her own self-control, Jane stood up and walked over to the large window.  “Jay, this view is amazing.  And your building is incredible.  I’m so proud of you, what you’ve become.”

Walking to stand beside her, Jason said, “Yeah, old Mr. Perkins would never believe it,” referring to their seventh grade math teacher.

Jane looked at Jason.  “Well, I would.  I always knew you would succeed.”

Jason looked deep into Jane’s eyes.  Lightly, he stroked the hair away from her face.  “You always encouraged me.”  

Jane’s eyes grew large. 
I’m engaged, I’m engaged
, she chanted as a mantra to herself. 
Must remember . . . uh . . . Ed, that’s it
.  She quickly moved in the direction of CARL because if she didn’t, she’d be jumping the bones of the president of Talbot Toy Company, her client.  “So, tell me about CARL.  How did he come about?”

Right, Jason thought.  Business.  “I wanted to build a toy that engaged all the technology of our time.  He’s really a combination of every electronic toy for kids.  He’s a playmate—he’ll obey simple voice instructions.  CARL, say hello to Janie.”

“Hello to Janie,” came the computerized robot response.  Jane was delighted.

“He also has the capacity to perform several physical instructions such as go forward or backward, spin, even dance.”

“Dance?” Jane giggled.  “Show me.”

“CARL, dance.”  The robot turned while swaying back and forth.

Still giggling, Jane said, “Reminds me of the way most men dance.”

“CARL, say ‘be nice, Janie’.”

“Be nice, Janie.”  Jane smiled.

“CARL can also be programmed to do these things by keyboard.  The computer is a fully functioning computer with internet capacity.”

“Oh, my!  I’ve seen all the pictures, specs, and descriptions, but now that I see it up close, I’m totally blown away.  Wow, Jason, this is going to be big.”  Jane was dully impressed.

“That’s what I’m counting on.  With your help.”

“You got it.”  Their eyes met again.  And held.

“Time for lunch, Jason,” CARL abruptly said.  Jane was confused.

Now he was starting to blush.  Jason sheepishly said, “My mother thinks I never eat.  She made me promise to program CARL to remind me.”

Jane laughed loudly.  She could just hear the conversation between Jason and his mother.  Even though he was a big shot company president, he still had to answer to Mom.

Jason grabbed his tie and coat.  Then holding out his arm towards Jane he said, “Shall we?”

Without a thought, she took the arm, still laughing and replied, “I’d love to.”

Jason and Jane headed for a small, intimate café across the street from Jason’s building.  As they waited for their coffees, Jane took off her gloves and began rubbing her hands together.  Jason reached for them and started rubbing them between his. 

“Your hands always did get so cold.  I don’t know why you don’t wear several pairs of gloves.”  He looked up at her with a grin.  “I used to spend a lot of time warming them up, as I recall.”

“Sorry about that.”  Jane smiled.

“Hey, did I ever complain?”

“No, you were a good sport.”  Suddenly feeling overheated, Jane took her hands away from his and commented on the chilly weather they were having.

Jason smiled as their waitress brought their coffees and took their orders.

“This is a nice café.  Do you come here often?” Jane asked.

“When I just want to get out of the office.  My favorite lunch spot is Philippe’s on East 69
th
Street.”

“Oh yes.  That’s the French Bistro we had lunch at after the presentation, right?”

“That’s right.  Their bread reminds me of the bread they bring to your table at the cafés along the Champs Elysees in Paris.”

“Oh, I would so love to go to Paris,” Jane sighed.

Jason frowned.  “I thought for sure that you’d make it to Paris when you went to Europe during college.”

Jane sat stumped for a moment.  Thinking as fast as she could, she replied, “Well, I didn’t actually make it to Paris.”

That didn’t make sense to Jason.  Jane had always loved everything French.  Of course she would have made an effort to visit Paris when she was so close.  Looking into her eyes, he saw a veil slide over her pretty blue irises and knew the subject not open for discussion.  “What a shame.  It’s a beautiful city.  You must make it there someday.”