Playing a Game of Hearts

Marissa heard a harsh voice call out to her.
"Hey! Get up."
Her eyes flew open, she saw a man leaning over her; he had an irritated look on his face.
"W-where am I?" She stammered, still dazed from sleep. She quickly sat up and smashed foreheads with Alex.
"Ow! Goddammit, be careful! Urgh. You okay?"
"Y-yeah, sorry." She rubbed her forehead and thought back on the day before. Alex sat on the edge of her bed, he was half dressed for work; his tie loose around his unbuttoned collar.
"Get dressed, we have to leave in half an hour."

Alex rubbed the sore spot on his forehead; was it going to be this difficult all the time? He buttoned his collar and tightened his tie, he went downstairs to the kitchen. Opening the cupboard he took out a mug, he made his way to the coffee pot and poured himself a cup. His dog, Harley, ventured into the kitchen; her nails clacked on the hardwood floors. A new, previously unheard, sound met his ears; the patter of human feet on the stairs. He looked up from his laptop; Marissa stood in the door to the kitchen. Her long brown hair falling around her slim shoulders, she slowly made her way to the table.
"What exactly are we doing today?" She asked quietly.
"We're going to my office, you're going to meet Jack and Holly. I have a few meetings to attend to as well."

Marissa fidgeted in her seat, she was worried; what if they didn't believe them? Her mind raced at the thought, she pulled her scarf tighter around her neck. Her dark green parka was pulled over her navy blue, cream, and burgundy jumper. She wore dark blue skinny jeans that hugged her figure nicely, a pair of tan combat boots covered her wool socks. She messed with her mittens and looked out the window again. It was snowing, this would be a rough winter. She busied herself with the individual snowflakes that collided with the window. Her nerves refused to settle, finally she sighed loudly.
"What's your problem?" Alex asked, his long fingers tapping the steering wheel. She glanced at him, "I'm nervous." She admitted.
"Don't be, I'll be there to make sure you don't screw up."
"That's pretty damn rude, you know that." She grumbled out. He didn't say anything to that, his silences was unnerving to her; she began to hum softly.
"Can you not." Alex said glancing at her out of the corner of his eye.
"Well; if you would TALK to me, I wouldn't be so nervous."

"What the hell can we talk about?" the man grumbled.
"What's Jack like? What should I expect?"
"Jack has a lot of energy, so if he starts talking good luck shutting him up. He's pretty blunt about most things, so don't take it the wrong way. All you have to do is smile and behave."
"You make me sound like a trained dog." Marissa said bitterly. Alex pulled into his parking spot, he looked over. Marissa was still annoyed with the situation. He grabbed her hand quickly,
"W-what are you doing?" She sputtered.
"Holding my girlfriend's hand; you can't act like THAT. It's suspicious. Act like you're in love with me."
"H-how am I suppose to love someone I can't even LIKE?" She asked, an incredulous tone soaked her works.
"That's on you. Pull it off somehow, your future job rests on your performance." Alex said, Does he even CARE how I feel? Marissa hissed in her mind.
"Fine." Was all she said. They got out of the car, Alex mad his way over to her. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer to him. "Come on sweetie."

Alex hoped they could pull it off; he felt Marissa hesitantly wrap her arm around his waist. They waled inside the tall office that read 'Raven Industries'. Once they were inside Alex was bet with the smiling face of his partner - Jack Barakat.
"Alex! Good morning, I'm so glad to-" He stopped short once he noticed the short brunette. "Who's this lovely lady?" The taller boy gestured wildly to Marissa.
"Oh, well; this is uh-" He lost composure and stumbled.
"Alex! You didn't tell him about me?" Marissa played hurt.
"S-sorry, honey." He was trying to act love struck, she was doing a good job.
"Honey?" Jack squeaked.
"Sorry, hi! I'm Marissa Clay, I well, I guess - I'm incredibly in love with Alex." She giggled to herself then said "Sorry that sounded super cheesy."
Alex felt his face heat up, why was HE reacting like that.

"Alex I'm in shock. I'm your best friend and you didn't tell me anything!" Jack whined, a huge grin played on his face. Alex chuckled and apologized. Marissa felt she'd seen a new side to Alex, it game her slight hope that he wasn't a horrible person.
"Why didn't you tell me sooner?" Jack pressed, he lead the the way to the elevator as he spoke.
"I'm sorry, it was my fault he didn't say anything anything. W-we met at a Halloween party and have been dating a-"
"A month today." Alex cut her off, he was finally playing along.

Marissa stood beside Alex in the elevator; Jack pressed them for details then said "Oh! I forgot to tell you, John and Kennedy got here a day early. They are in your office to discuss the location they'd like to use."
Marissa felt Alex straighten up a bit and he said "Ah! Perfect, I'll just have to show you around later, sweetie." He added. How far did he want to take this? She wasn't going to kiss him. The doors opened with a 'ding', Marissa looked out and saw two very tall figures. Alex approached them calmly, "Hey!" The blonder of the two called out.
"John, Kennedy: nice to see you again." Alex said with a friendly smile. He pulled the, albeit confused, Marissa long behind him. She felt like a doll, she could feel eyes on her. Looking up she bet the gaze of a shorter guy; he was around 5' 5" or so, father long brown hair, light colored eyes, and a nose piercing. He smiled sweetly, she smiled back.
"Who's this beautiful creature?" The blonder one asked, taking Marissa's hand and placing a soft kiss on it. She blushed and dropped her head.

"This is Marissa Clay, my lovely girlfriend." Alex said.
"Girlfriend? I always thought you flew solo." The darker haired tall man said.
"Oh, I've been rude. Marissa; this is John O'Callaghan," He gestured to the blond. "And this is Kennedy Brock." He pointed to the darker haired one. Marissa shook each of their hands, she looked at the shorter guy and asked "What's your name?"
"Oh! Uh, Jordan Witzigreuter. I'm just an assistant."
"Nice to meet you!" She smiled, he was adorable.

"Do you mind if she sits in on this? I'm going to help her bet a job, I'm bringing her to all my meetings today." Alex asked John.
"No! Not at all, she's a doll. I gotta say, I'm pretty damn jealous of you Lex." John answered with a grin. Alex smiled and pulled her closer to him, Marissa didn't want him to do that. Jordan looked away quickly, No! Ugh, there goes that. She thought with a frown. Alex pulled her into his office and called to the pretty blonde lady who was talking to Jack.
"Holly, hold my calls for now."
She nodded.

"So, we wanna use your Baltimore hotel for shooting. So, we watned to use extras from staff and stuff. It will be about two months of filming." Kennedy explained. He rested his hands of the oak desk, Alex looked at Jack who nodded.
"I think that's reasonable, when did you want to start filming?" Alex asked with a calm expression playing on his face.
"Two weeks, we have to film around the actors schedules." Kennedy stated.
"Okay, so I can assume you'll be overseeing the shooting." Jack cut in.
Marissa watched this take place, she was sat beside Jordan who seemed to be doing something oh his phone.
"Uhhmm, John; we have a problem." Jordan said looking up from his phone.
"What's up?" John asked, looking mildly alarmed.
"Our lead actress just dropped out, the castor is rushing for auditions."
"Okay, she'll be able to handle it." Kennedy said calmly. Marissa watched in amazement, they were all so calm.

The meeting ended and Marissa stood up to stretch her aching back. She felt someone touch her shoulder, she squeaked and saw John standing before her. He quickly put up his hands and stammered "S-sorry! I just wanted to say; if you're looking for a job, we'd be glad to hire someone like you." He grinned.
"T-thanks, really I meant it. That's amazing, I may take you up on that offer."
"Great! I look forward to your answer!" He made his way out of the conference room.
Pulling out her phone she saw a text from Aaron.
- Come get your shit, Bella's moving in tonight. I don't want her to see all your crap around MY house.
Marissa rolled her eyes and replied - Kay, I'll be there in 20 min.
She stood again, she grabbed her coat, mittens, scarf, and beaine. She began to make her way to the elevator, Alex seemed to notice her leaving.
"Sweetie, where are you going?" He caught her wrist just as she pressed the button.
"I have to go back Aaron's and get my stuff, like my car." She whispered to him. He gave her a look and reluctently released her hand, he felt Holly watching them. Without thinking he pulled her close to him.

"W-what the hell are you doing?" She whispered into his chest.
"Holly is watching, look happy." he hissed into her ear. She linked her arms around his neck and then said "Let go." She pulled away and the door dinged open. She stepped into the elevator, Alex followed her. "Holly I'll be right back." The doors closed and he continued to speak "Here's my number, call me when you get back." He entered his number into her phone and gave it back. She nodded then said "Why the hell did you do that?" Her previous anger boiling up.
"Holly was watching, she'd suspect something." Was all he said, the reached ground level and she got out.

"Here take this." Aaron spat. He'd taken an early lunch to come and taunt her. Marissa frowned and continued to pack her stuff into her car. She took the keys to her cherry red 60's Corvette, everything that she wanted was packed into the trunk. She gave him a look and said "I wish you all the karma, it'll come back for you. Just you wait and see." She got in and started the engine up.

Alex looked at Jack, who was eating a sandwich from home. Jack glanced up and laughed "What?"
"Huh? Nothing, I heard you talked to my mom last night." There was a slight edge in his voice.
"Oh, that. Yeah, sorry about that. You just seemed so mad about romance. I'm glad you could get over Lisa finally, I mean it's been six years." Jack said quietly.
"I was over it when it happened. Just didn't trust women for years."
"Why weren't you mad at me?" Jack asked.
"You're my best friend."
"But you were gonna-"
"Enough, I don't wanna talk about it anymore." Alex cut him off.

Marissa sent a text to Alex telling him she was back at the office. The pretty blonde, Holly, bet her at the door.
"Hi! Alex sent me to bring you in. I'm his assistant, Holly Barakat."
"Nice to meet you, Holly. I'm Marissa Clay, most people call me Rissy."
"What a cute nickname!" Holly exclaimed happily.
"How sweet, Alex really is a good guy." Holly said with a smile. Marissa wasn't so sure of that.
"He's been single for six years, I'm so proud of him! I never got to meet his ex, it was before I knew Jack." Holly was rambling on. Marissa smiled and nodded, replying when nessicary. Holly was so set on the fact that Alex just "bad at expressing himself". The elevator dinged open and the pair of women stepped out.

Alex groaned again as they listened to the Baltimore manager drone on and on about how disruptive filming would be to the patrons. After twenty mintues Alex sat up and said firmly "Deal with it. It's going to happen, get over it. Bitching isn't going to solve anything."
The door cracked open and he saw Marissa poke her head in.
"Come in, honey." Alex called to her. She walked in and said "Sorry interrupt, Alex. Holly said you said to come in."
"Yeah, here, sit here." He gestured her his lap. Her face turned red and she hesitantly sat on his knee. He sigh and pulled her back onto his lap completely. Alex had honestly been shocked by how light she was. It was odd, she looked uneasy to be there. But he had to put on a bit of a show for the manager and Jack. His partner grinned then said to the manager "Well Philip, there's nothing you can do about it now."
He could feel Marissa shift uncomfortably on his lap. He wrapped his arms around her to keep her there and said goodbye to Philip.

Both Jack and the man named Philip left, Marissa jumped off of the man and managed to stutter something about her weight. Never had she felt so fat in her life, Alex looked at her oddly.
"What are you blathering about?" He raised a brow.
"N-nothing. Furthermore, I am not a show dog to you. So don't treat me like one." Her face felt hot and tight. He merely rolled his eyes and said "Okay, whatever. I'm done for the day, we're going home now." He grabbed her hand and pulled her along with him.
"Done already?" Holly asked with a smile.
"Yep. Have a good evening, call me if anything comes up."

Deciding that it was best if she left her car there for the night; Alex stole a glance at her out of the corner of his eye.She'd been really worked up about being on his lap. He mentally shook his head; Women. He thought. He felt his phone vibrate in his pocket, no doubt his mother. He stopped in front of Blue Tavern Hill, she gave him an odd look and he got out of the car not waiting for her to follow him. He heard her boot clad feet crunching in the snow behind him after a few moments. They sat at an upstairs table eating quietly, she barely ordered anything that could be considered dinner. Alex watched her pick at her meal and returned his gaze to his own food. Dinner passed without a word, Alex knew she was upset about the lap thing. He paid for the food and led her back out to the car. The silence was thick enough to slice, he would not speak first.

Notes