Weekends Required (Danvers #1)(17)
The silence after that last comment seemed to linger as if Jason was waiting for her to defend herself. Her stomach picked that moment to start to rebel, the nausea increasing with every moment that passed. Never being one to drink much alcohol, even in social settings, Claire’s stomach was in protest mode as the churning became harder to ignore. “Can we stop off at the next rest area please?’
“We will be back at Harold’s soon, can’t it wait?” asked an impatient Jason.
“No, it can’t, please pull over at the next opportunity.”
Jason replied in a surprisingly gentle voice, “Just hold on, there’s a rest area coming up soon.” Claire hoped that she would not cap off what was already a humiliating evening by throwing up all over her boss. He does deserve it though. She was grateful to see lights up ahead as they approached a rest area. As soon as Jason parked the car, Claire bolted from the seat and out the door.
Thankful that the area was very quiet and deserted due to the late hour, she barely made it into a stall before becoming violently ill. She lost track of time as her stomach continued to heave. Claire was startled to feel someone behind her and realized too late that in her haste, she’d failed to latch the stall. She turned around in shock to see a concerned Jason.
“Let me help you, do you feel like you’re finished?” asked Jason quietly.
Nodding yes, Claire started to leave the stall when yet another wave of sickness overcame her. She jumped back to the toilet as her stomach continued to dry heave. Gentle hands held her hair and began rubbing her back. The kindness was almost her undoing; she felt like collapsing to the floor and crying. Jason patiently stood there soothing her and when at last she could leave the stall, he took a wet paper towel and wiped her face. Too drained to fight it, Claire allowed Jason to help her from the restroom and to a bench near her car.
“Let’s sit outside for a few moments and make sure you’re ready to travel before we start back out.” Claire was surprised when he put his arm around her and urged her head to his shoulder. Maybe some fresh air would help settle her stomach.
~~~
Claire awoke and realized she’d fallen asleep with her head on Jason’s shoulder. It embarrassed her to not only be sleeping at a rest area but also sleeping off a hangover on her boss’s shoulder. She was grateful the darkness hid the color she could feel creeping up her cheeks. Great, not only does my breath smell like a dead cat, I probably drooled all over his shirt as well.
“Are you feeling better? It’s probably not very safe to continue lingering here in the dark if you’re ready to travel again.”
“I, I’m fine,” said Claire as she tried to smooth her rumpled and stained clothing as best she could. Only being able to imagine her appearance now, Claire hoped this whole evening was simply a bad dream that she would wake up from soon. Jason effortlessly steered back into traffic, and she hoped that her stomach would hold for the rest of the trip.
“So how long have you been in this, shall we say, line of work, Claire? Was this a childhood dream of yours or something you just lucked upon later?” So much for the softer side of Jason I witnessed at the rest area, thought Claire, this sarcastic question left no doubt as to whom she was dealing with. She tried her best to ignore the question, turning her head towards the window and letting the silence lengthen. “How does one get into stripping anyway? I’ve always found those life choices fascinating.”
Claire replied angrily “I told you I was not a stripper! I work for a party planning company; I do not strip! Why must you continue to harp on that? I think even you’d notice the difference between someone wearing clothes and someone nude.”
“Oh do excuse me, I apologize for the misunderstanding. I’m sure you can see how confusing it would be to see your assistant jump out of a cake at a bachelor’s party in a gentlemen’s club. Then be driving her home because she’s intoxicated outside of a gentlemen’s club, does any of this sound in the least unusual to you Claire?” asked a sarcastic Jason.
“You’re not my mother; I don’t have to explain or justify my actions to you!” replied Claire hotly.
“Actually, Claire, that’s where you’re wrong; you’re my assistant, and as such you’re a representative of Danvers International as well as of me personally. How do you think this would look to our customers if heaven forbid one of them happens to be at a party where you’re performing?” continued Jason.
“That’s not likely to happen,” exclaimed Claire.
“You never expected to see my best friend and I there tonight either did you? That just shows how small the world truly is Claire.”
“You can’t fire me for having outside employment, my contract only states working for direct competition, and I think we can safely rule out that being a problem.”
“If you’d bothered to read your entire contract, you’d find a section about behavior unbecoming of an associate of Danvers and I feel sure that stripping would indeed fall into that category,” Jason replied dryly.
For probably the first time in her life, Claire felt she was entirely capable of violence against another. Having to sit beside Jason in the tight confines of her car while he labeled her as a stripper once again was enough to make someone as calm and mild mannered as her want to reach across the seats and slap him on his smug face. She was in no shape to fight this battle with Jason tonight and win so she settled down further in the seat and closed her eyes pretending to sleep.