This is an adaptation of Judith McNaught's novel, Double
Standards.
Secrets and Love
Chapter 1
Brenda Barrett squared her
shoulders and held her head high as she was told to go ahead into the corporate
offices of ELQ. She was dressed
conservatively in a navy blue two-piece suit.
The cream-colored white of her tank shell was enough to set off her
bronzed skin with healthy glow. Her
dark hair was swept up in a twist with a few tendrils curling loosely around
her face. She plastered a bright smile
on her face and took a deep breath as she opened the office door slowly.
"Brenda Barrett, I
presume?" Edward Quartermaine asked as soon as he saw the door
opening. He knew who she was and he was
dreading meeting her again.
"Yes, I am." She stopped in front of his desk and waited
for him to stand and shake her hand or even just look up from his file folder
long enough to see her. She remembered
meeting him years before and she hated that she even had to be there, standing
in front of him.
Finally, Edward looked up
expecting to see an older version of the overweight twelve-year-old he'd met
twelve years before. The look of shock
was apparent as he looked up to find the beautiful twenty-four-year-old woman
in front of him. Her brown eyes watched
him carefully as he stood and smiled slowly, offering her his hand.
She would be perfect. Just perfect for what he had in mind.
Later that night, Brenda paced
the length of the bedroom in the Quartermaine mansion. She had until eight o'clock the next morning
to decide what to do. Edward wanted her
answer by then so that if she said yes, they could start right away.
Edward was shrewd, she could
give him that much. His idea that she
would be able to help take down one of his business rivals was chancy to say
the least. Brenda had come to Edward in
Port Charles, New York because she needed a job. Her father had urged her to let him call his old college friend
and ask him to give her a job. She
couldn't say no, they needed the money too much. Harlan Barrett's business venture had just filed for a chapter
eleven bankruptcy, a catastrophe that had given him a serious heart
attack. Now, her family was inundated
with debt and medical bills. As much as
her half-sister, Julia, tried to help out, she had a house mortgage and a
family of her own to support, so there wasn't much she could do. Brenda had to get a job and Harlan's
connection to Edward was her only chance.
She wanted to be in big
business dealings, but her college degree in literature didn't afford her that
ability. Neither did her Master's in
the same field. She didn't regret
getting them, but she realized now that her dream of becoming a writer wasn't
what she really wanted. Writing was her
father's dream for her and one she no longer wanted to help him realize. She wanted to be in business. There was something about the whole field
that fascinated her. She had taken a
few business courses during her college years and she told Edward as much, but
that wasn't the job he was offering her.
Edward wanted Brenda to be an
executive secretary. She had the skills
of one and without an actual degree in business, it was all he could give
her. He would pay her handsomely and he
would even provide an apartment for her in a nearby condominium allotment. She had to admit it was a sweet deal. She wouldn't have to pay any rent or utility
bills, only the insurance and payments on her recently bought Integra that she
barely afforded now. Clothes and
groceries were her only other concerns if she took the deal. The amount he was offering her was
staggering. She had no idea a secretary
could make that much. It would mean she
could send that much more back to her family for the bills. The only thing stopping her was the actual
job itself.
Edward was asking her to be a
secretary, which she didn't mind all that much. He had promised her that if went back to finish a degree in
business, he would agree to put her in any job she had the ability to
perform. As long as she cooperated and
did this job for him first. He wanted
her to be a secretary for a top executive, but not at his own company. He wanted her to apply at another company
for the same job and for that, he would pay her.
He explained that J&J
Enterprises was his biggest rival and that they had recently undercut the ELQ
bid on a major deal to win it by only a fraction of the cost Edward had bid. Edward was furious since it wasn't the first
time it had happened. In fact, it was
the fourth time in nearly a year. He
was now absolutely convinced that there was a leak somewhere in his
company. Someone who knew the ELQ bid
was giving the information to J&J Enterprises. There were only five people that had access to that information
outside of Edward. He wanted to know
who it was. Brenda's job would be to
get a job at J&J Enterprises, working for one of their high-level executives
and listen for any mention of any one of those five men. She would then report it back to Edward and
he would pay her an additional bonus of fifteen thousand dollars for her
achievement. Then, he would give her
the job in his own company. He had even
offered to make up the difference in the salary he had offered her if J&J
Enterprises didn't match it.
A corporate spy, Brenda
thought, as she paced the room in her pajamas.
That's what she would be if she agreed.
It was technically illegal and if she were discovered, she was sure the
president of J&J Enterprises would have no problem pressing charges against
her and sending her to jail, especially if they were such big rivals of
ELQ's. Was she willing to risk that for
a man she hardly knew and had only met once before? A man who was suddenly proving to be very different from what she
first knew twelve years before.
Brenda had come to visit
Edward Quartermaine and his family with her father. She was twelve years old and had yet to grow into her body. She was overweight, wore glasses, and had
lackluster, stringy mousy brown hair.
As soon as Harlan introduced her, the disgust was apparent on Edward's
face. He held her hand loosely in his
as she held it to him to shake and he dropped it quickly. He introduced her to his daughter, Tracy,
who obviously held her in the same regard as her father. Harlan suggested that she and Tracy take a
walk on the grounds and get to know each other while he and Edward caught up.
Tracy walked ahead of Brenda
through the rose gardens. She spoke in
a haughty tone all about the fabulous private school she attended and she was
thoroughly horrified that Brenda attended a public school. She bragged about all things she had and how
her father bought them all for her because he loved her so much. Surely Brenda's father did the same,
right? He didn't? Oh well, maybe he just didn't care as
much. By the end of an hour, Brenda
knew she hated Tracy more than anyone she'd ever met in her life.
Over the course of the
weekend, Tracy repeatedly showed Brenda why that was. She would send Brenda to find things that didn't exist, to ask
for things she couldn't have, she even locked Brenda in the cage with the guard
dogs. Tracy had claimed they were nice
enough to pet, but as soon as the gate clanged shut behind Brenda, she gave the
order for the dogs to be on guard. The
gardener found Brenda an hour and a half later cowering in the corner from two
Doberman pinschers who were still barring their teeth at her. He then ridiculed her for thinking the two
dogs would hurt her since they were trained never to attack. Brenda was furious that Tracy was able to
humiliate her like that.
At dinner that night, she
stood outside the dining room doors, listening as Tracy complained about 'that
mousy, pathetic girl' and her father.
When he was supposed to be defending them, Edward agreed with her! Brenda was appalled and angry that her
father's supposed friend would say the things he did. When they all sat down to eat, Edward asked Brenda how she was
enjoying her weekend. She looked at him
very sweetly and said point blank what a brat his daughter was and how much of
a hypocrite he was. When they left the
next day, Brenda was never so happy to leave someone behind.
Now, twelve years later, she'd
had to come to that same man and asked for a job. But it wasn't the same man.
Maybe it was because Brenda was now a beautiful young woman that he felt
she was worthy of his kindness, but he had been nothing but pleasant to
her. Even Tracy had been polite and
courteously interested in Brenda when they met again at dinner. Regardless of the reasons for it, Edward was
a different man now and Brenda was having a hard time finding a reason to
dislike him anymore.
All the same though, she had
spent hours thinking about his generous offer to spy on J&J
Enterprises. As she finally lay down to
go to sleep, she had made her decision.
Eight o'clock the next morning
came too quickly for Brenda's preferences.
If she could have put the decision off longer, she would have. Instead, she stood in front of Edward's desk
in the ELQ building and told him her decision.
She would accept his offer to work for him at the J&J Enterprises
building. She simply needed the money
too much to logically turn it down.
Edward was very happy with her
decision and he told her he wanted her to apply that very day so they could get
started. He figured it wouldn't take
more than six months to get her established and find out who the leak was. She could stand it for that long if that's
what it took.
And so it was that Brenda
stood in front of the twenty-two story building that housed J&J Enterprises. She'd called for an appointment that morning
and was told to come in at three that afternoon. In that time, Edward had given her an overview of what J&J
Enterprises did and what they'd done to his company.
Jasper Jacks was the president
and CEO of J&J Enterprises. Edward
said he was a twenty-nine year old billionaire who made his money buying,
breaking apart, and selling companies.
Corporate raiding was a business that could make someone a lot of money
if it was done right. Jasper Jacks
certainly did it right, even at his young age.
Something Edward resented him for greatly. That, and the fact that recently J&J Enterprises had been
able to take three companies out from under ELQ. Each time it had been outbid by only a few thousand dollars. They were carefully crafted bids and Edward
knew there had to be a leak giving out the bid amounts. He knew Jasper Jacks was good, but not that
good, he told Brenda.
Brenda glanced around and
noticed the building that was under construction across the street. It was twice the size and even more
impressive than the one she stood before now.
The sign above the front doors read J&J Enterprises. She quickly deduced that the company would
be transferring buildings and soon, if the progress was any indication.
She glanced at her watch and
suddenly realized she would be late if she waited much longer. She picked up her portfolio with her résumé
in it and went through the glass revolving doors. She was directed to the fourth floor to the Human Resources
Department. She stated her purpose and
was given a standard application to fill out.
Suddenly, as she sat looking
at the form she should have been filling out, she changed her mind. She couldn't spy on someone like Edward was
asking her to do. No matter what he had
done to Edward, Jasper Jacks didn't deserve someone spying on him, certainly
not her. She was not the kind of person
who could gain someone's trust just so she could use it against him. Now, she decided to play for both
sides. She could apply, but she would
make herself seem so undesirable that they wouldn't want to hire her. Then, when they didn't call, she could tell
Edward she didn't know what had happened and she could ask him for a job
again. He would have to give her
one. She would have held up her end of
the bargain. She could win all the way
around this way. Smiling to herself,
she began to fill out the form.
Forty minutes later, Brenda
was called into the Human Resources Director's office. She shook his hand and sat down. He introduced himself as Mike Whitman and
then he looked puzzled as he looked over her form.
"Tell me why you think
you want to work here, Ms. Barrett," he asked, folding his hands over the
sheet of paper.
She could tell he was trying
to figure out what she was doing there based the qualifications she had put
down. Trying not laugh, Brenda leaned
back in her chair and tried to look blasé.
"Oh, I don’t want to work here. But Daddy insists that I get a job, you know." She had left off her college degrees and her
previous work experience as an executive secretary for a legal firm in her
hometown. "You know, he actually
said to me, 'Brendy, you need to find out what it's like to work for a
living.' He was even shaking his finger
at me when he said it. Can you believe
that? Why would I need a job? I’ll just marry a rich man,
right?" She tried her best to
sound like Tracy Quartermaine had twelve years before.
Mr. Whitman was silent as he
looked at her sheet again. His eyes
widened when he turned it over. Under
the question asking the position she was applying for, Brenda had listed her
top job choices as president, CEO, and Human Resources Director, but under
skills, she had written very little.
"Um, how fast can you type?
Or have you done any secretarial work before?" He was trying his best to stay open-minded
about her.
"Oh, I can type, I
think. Fifteen…no, twenty words a
minute is really good, isn't it?" she said in a proud voice, smiling
enthusiastically.
Mr. Whitman's mouth dropped
slightly as he shook his head once.
"Well, thank you, Miss Barrett. We will be in touch if we have a
job to offer you." He stood to
shake her hand again and show her out.
Brenda waited until she was in
the elevator alone before she burst out laughing. She had done it. There
was no way she would be getting a job at J&J Enterprises now. As she exited the elevator, her face
fell. It was pouring down rain outside
and she had just remembered her car was parked three blocks away. She waited at the front door for a few
minutes to see if it would let up at all.
After fifteen minutes, it was still coming down just as hard. But as she stood there watching, she'd seen
a shortcut across the street that looked like it could lead her right to her
car. The only problem was it would
require her to skirt the construction site of the building across the street. She waited only a few minutes longer before
deciding to go for it. Putting her
briefcase over her head to shield the downpour, she ran across the street.
She was walking carefully over
the unsteady muddy ground when she heard a voice shout at her from behind.
"What do you think you're
doing?!" the loud voice yelled out over the rain.
Brenda turned, but as she did,
she lost her balance, twisting her ankle and landing on her knees in the
dirt. When she looked up, she found
herself face-to-face with a gorgeous male face. His aquamarine eyes stared at her as the harsh rain continued to
fall.
"Are you all right?"
the man asked her as he knelt down to help her up off the ground.
Brenda noticed he had an
accent right away. She squinted through
the driving rain. "I'm fine,"
she said. Putting her feet beneath her,
she started to get up. The man stood
with her, his hand under her elbow.
"You shouldn't be walking
here," he yelled at her over the noise of the rain. "It's too dangerous."
"It wasn't until you
shouted at me," she said, smiling a little. "But I'll be going now." As she took a step, the heel of her shoe broke off and she nearly
fell again. If he hadn't been standing
there, she would have fallen.
"Come with me," he
said, tugging slightly on her elbow.
"I don't think so!"
Brenda exclaimed.
He didn't want to argue with
her in the pouring rain. Instead, he
led her by the elbow towards the front door of the building under
construction. Once inside the building
and out of the rain, he turned to her again.
"Will you allow me to call you a cab to take you wherever you'd
like to go?" He combed his fingers
through his wet blond hair and then suddenly grinned at her.
Brenda was suddenly struck by
his good looks and nearly wavered on her feet when he smiled. His accent was more pronounced now that she
could hear him clearly. She wondered
what someone with an Australian accent was doing in Port Charles, New
York. Almost unconsciously, she
returned his smile with a small one of her own. She pushed her hair off her forehead and said, "Actually, I
was on my way to my car. It's only three
blocks from here."
"Well, you can't walk
there in this rain and with a broken heel," he said resolutely. He held up her heel from her shoe where he
had picked it up after it broke off.
Relenting and realizing he was
right, she nodded. "Okay, you can
call someone for me."
He led her to the elevator and
pressed the button to call for it.
"The only working phones and electricity are upstairs," he
explained to her. Once they were in the
elevator, he turned to her again and said, "By the way, my name is
Jax."
"Brenda Barrett,"
she responded to introduce herself, as well, and held out her hand to shake his
formally. "Jacks, huh? Are you the Jacks?"
"That's not what I
said," he answered carefully.
"I said my name is Jax, as in with an 'x.'"
"So you're not the Jacks
that owns this building or J&J Enterprises?"
The elevator dinged on the
floor they were getting off on. He
never answered her question as they walked towards a set heavy wooden doors
across a magnificently decorated reception area with two desks. In the elevator, Brenda had taken off her
shoes and the beige carpet felt like heaven as she walked over it. Jax opened one of the doors and led her into
a huge corner office, twice the size of the reception area and with a very
impressive view of all of Port Charles.
She didn’t want to drip water
all over the rich, deep brown leather couches so she stood still and took in the
whole room. Decorated mainly in soft
tones, the desk and chairs, along with the couches, were the only dark colors
in the room. The contemporary style was
muted by the landscape pictures on the wall.
They were photographs and not paintings of several exotic places. With no signature in the corner, Brenda
guessed they were from a private photographer.
She watched Jax pour himself a
glass of Brandy from the bar lining the center of the far wall from where she
sat. Everything on its beige marble
countertop was crystal and very expensive looking. He poured a glass of water for her, placing a lemon slice in
it. As he brought her the glass, she
asked, "Is there a bathroom I can use to dry off?"
"Oh right, I almost
forgot." He pointed to the side
wall where a door was in the corner.
"The restroom is through that door. You should find a towel on the back of the door."
"Thanks." She got up and went to where he had directed
her. Inside, she found a room decorated
in the same tones as the office. There
was a shower stall with glass doors, a lighted mirror over the beige marble
sink, and a floor that was partially covered in beige tile and partially in
beige carpet. She stood at the mirror
and pulled her brush out of her purse.
Running it through her damp hair, she started to make herself look more
presentable. When she'd first seen her
reflection in the mirror, she'd been appalled at the sight that greeted
her. Her hair was matted down on her
head, her hose were torn, and her jacket was muddy on the sleeves. When she was finished, her hair was nearly
dry as it flowed in soft waves down her back.
She took off her jacket and hose and readjusted the dark purple tank
shell that she wore with her black suit.
Reapplying a bit of makeup, she opened the door again.
Jax was in the middle of
changing his shirt for a drier one when she opened the bathroom door. His soaked dark blue shirt was thrown over
the back of a chair while he was putting on a short-sleeved white button-down shirt. His jeans were still damp, but he had
removed his soaked and muddy shoes. He
stopped in the middle of buttoning his shirt when Brenda reappeared. His breath visibly caught at the sight of
her and almost immediately, he picked up her glass of water, took it to the
bar, and dumped it out. He began to
refill it with some of the Brandy he'd poured earlier.
Brenda walked towards him,
smiling. "Why'd you do that?"
Jax turned and handed her the
drink. "Because now I realize that
I don't need to worry about alcohol consumption with you." His cheeks were reddened with slight
embarrassment as he smiled sheepishly.
She smiled back at him and
took her seat on the couch again.
"No, I haven't had to worry about that for about three years
now."
He sat down on the chair next
to the couch. "That makes you
twenty-four, then?" he asked surprised.
"And he's good with math,
too," she teased.
"Sorry, I'm just
surprised. I didn't think you were that
old."
Gazing around again, she
asked, "So who's office is this anyway?
It looks like it should be the president of the company's." She felt awkward knowing she was probably in
the office of a man she wouldn't be working for. And one Edward didn't like very much. Not to mention one she'd been hired to spy on.
Jax nodded. "It is."
The look of amusement didn't
go unnoticed by her. "Then why are
we here? Do you know Jasper Jacks that
well?"
"You might say I see him
pretty much every day," he seemed to tease. There was a twinkle in his eyes as he smiled a little secretively.
"What do you do for
him?" She automatically assumed,
innocently enough, that he must work for Jasper Jacks and J&J Enterprises. He had a key to the building and knew every
part of it, obviously very well, too.
"Are you the designer for this building?"
"Why would you say
that?"
"When I was going into
the other building across the street, I saw you earlier with another man
outside and you were holding the blueprints."
"I did design some of
this building," he answered her truthfully. She didn't even notice that he was avoiding answering her
questions directly. She accepted his
answers without any suspicion. She
seemed very trusting of this complete stranger she had just met.
"It's a beautiful
building," she said approvingly.
A few minutes of silence
passed before he asked her a question.
"I saw you were coming out of the offices across the street, what
were you doing there? Did you have
business with J&J Enterprises?"
"Oh, no," she
laughed, thinking again of what she had done.
"I was actually applying for a job over there. Somehow I don't think I'll be getting a call
back."
"You don't sound too
upset about it."
"I didn't really want the
job."
"Why? You don't like the company?"
"I don't know anything
about it," she answered truthfully.
"I only applied because someone told me I should."
"Why don't you want the
job then?"
"I don't want to
disappoint the person who told me to apply."
"Won’t the fact that you
don't get it disappoint him or her?"
Jax was studying her intently, his blue eyes watching her as she
answered each question.
"Probably, but it really
doesn't matter all that much."
Jax studied her for a few
minutes before he spoke again. "J&J
Enterprises would lose out if they didn't get you to work for them."
Brenda was surprised. "Why do you say that? You don’t even know me! Or do you just like working for them that
much?"
"I do enjoy what I do and
I have to say I wouldn't work for anyone else.
Plus, I know I'd welcome the opportunity to work with you every
day."
She noticed the teasing tone
that had returned to his voice as he spoke.
"Oh really," she said slowly, grinning flirtatiously a little.
Jax returned the smile with a
lift of one eyebrow. "You know, if
you change your mind, I could probably help you get a job here."
"You would do that for
me?" This handsome stranger was
being so nice to her, it was making her wonder what the catch was. Maybe he was truly one of the last nice guys
left on Earth.
"I'd be happy to do
it." He couldn't explain it, but
he had felt a strange pull to her since he'd seen her in the rain outside. Now, he wanted to be near her as much as
possible and get to know her a lot better.
The more Brenda was thinking
about it, the more she liked this man.
Now, it wasn't about what Edward wanted her to do, it was about what she
wanted to do. And right now, it looked
like she wanted to have the opportunity to work with this man, Jax. Making up her mind quickly, she grinned
again. "I would love to work with
you, Jax," she said, a hint of her great enthusiasm coming into her voice
before she could contain it.
Shortly after promising her he
would secure her a job, Jax escorted Brenda back downstairs. He had called a cab to drive her the three
short blocks to her car. He told her
goodbye and told her that she should hear from someone later in the evening
about a job. Brenda sat smiling in the
cab for the short drive. Her one question
about her whole meeting of Jax was how a designer for the new building for J&J
Enterprises could get her a job there?
Her only guess what that he must know Jasper Jacks pretty well.
'I would love the opportunity
to work with you, Jax.' Brenda voice
echoed those words over and over again in his mind as he locked up the building
to go home. She had no idea she
wouldn't be working with him.
She would be working for him, in some division where there was an
opening. And if there wasn't an
opening, he would create one for her.
He didn't know what it was,
but Jax felt something odd for her. A
strange connection that he couldn't explain if he tried.
His cell phone rang as he
walked toward the car that was waiting for him at the curb in front of the
building. He glanced at the ID on the
phone and answered it. "Jasper
Jacks here," he said coolly.