This is my adaptation of “Rebel with a Cause” by Kim Hansen.

The Rebel, Chapter 20

Harlan Barrett called the board meeting to order. The first order of
business was to make some announcements and to update everyone on
various aspects of the business. Jax paid little attention, waiting until it
was Brenda’s turn, but it was Sonny who got his attention instead when he
call on him for an update on the KLM takeover.

“It looks like the KLM project is reaching a pivotal point,” Sonny
answered on being questioned, his face appropriately grave as he
addressed those seated around him. “I believe we’ll be meeting shortly,
and the serious negotiations will begin.”

“The competition?” Harlan Barrett demanded.

Sonny shook his head. “I’ve tried to go around them, get to KLM first to
let the company directors know of our interest, but J and J caught on.”

Harlan scowled. “They’re tough competitors. They’ve beaten us before.”
He stared hard at Sonny. “I don’t want to lose out to them again.”

“You won’t. I’m ready for them,” Sonny declared firmly. Across the
room Jax smiled to himself. He was ready, too.

“Brenda,” Harlan said, turning from Sonny to her. “You have two new
accounts to report on.”

“Three, actually,” she agreed with a cool smile. “Sonny and I are working
on three together.”

Sonny bowed his head graciously at the recognition but gestured
magnanimously. “Brenda’s too modest. She’s been doing all the work.”

And so can take all the blame. Or so Sonny thought. Jax smothered his
anger that was brewing beneath the surface.

Brenda started to talk, but while Jax listened to her, he watched Sonny.
And after a few minutes, he thought it a shame no one else was keeping an
eye on Harlan Barrett’s favorite vice president. too, for expressions that
flashed across Sonny’s face as Brenda went over figures, dates and
projections spoke volumes.

Cocky expectation and a sublime smile turned into startled disbelief and a
concerned frown. Those, in turn, changed in to absolute shock and an
openmouthed stare. And the performance was repeated three times. Once
for each file Brenda was reporting on, because Sonny held true to form
until the end. He refused to have any faith in her ability to outmaneuver
him one time out of three much less three times out of three.

It will take time to wrap up the details, and the projections aren’t
guaranteed,” Brenda concluded, her delivery cool and professional as she
let her gaze flick over those seated at the table. “But I think the figures
are very close to the mark.”

“Excellent.” Her father all but beamed. “Sonny, I think we can finally get
that back log off your desk. With Brenda’s help, we can clear your
calendar so you can concentrate on KLM.” He leaned forward to point at
Sonny. “Remember I want that company to be ours. We can make a tidy
profit cutting KLM up and selling the pieces off.”

“Y-yes, sir,” Sonny stammered, his usual composure shattered by disbelief
and his skin pale under the weight of defeat.

“Brenda, I want you to go to Sonny’s office and collect some more of his
files,” her father demanded, quickly dismissing Sonny and focusing on
her. “And I want you to give those you’ve been handling on a regular
basis to Ned Ashton. He needs some breaking in, and you need to be free
to do more important work.”

“Hear, hear,” one of the other officers agreed, and Brenda smiled
graciously as the meeting abruptly broke up.

Smiling himself, Jax watched her rise to accept congratulations from some
of the other officers but didn’t linger. He wandered instead, as she
enjoyed the sweet taste of victory, toward the door to wait for her, and
nearly ran into a retreating Sonny.

“I’ll go with you to your office to pick up those files,” Jax offered,
effectively stopping Sonny’s hasty escape. “If you had to carry them all
the way to Brenda’s, something might fall out again.”

Sonny flushed. “You’ll regret this, McCarty.”

“Regret isn’t the word I’d use to describe how I feel right now,” Jax
responded with unflustered calm, pushing his hands into his pants pockets
and carelessly deflecting Sonny’s glare.

Sonny’s fists clenched, his mouth thinned, but he didn’t speak again.
Rather he swung away to storm down the hall as Brenda reached Jax’s
side.

“Was it something I said?” she asked innocently.

Jax turned to look down at her, but he didn’t have to look far. She was
wearing heels again. They brought her up closer to his height. “I don’t
think so.”

Without a thought for those around her, she took his offered arm and
moved with him down the hall towards her office. “And what were you
and Sonny discussing? The conversation looked very intense.”

“Your outfit, actually,” Jax told her with a perfectly straight face and let
his gaze slowly run the length of her body. “He doesn’t like that ponytail,
but I think it’s really cute.”

Self-consciously Brenda put a hand to her hair that had been pulled back
and tied in what she hoped would be accepted as a sleek style. “I don’t
think the term ‘cute’ had been applied to me since I was three.”

“Give me time, and I’ll think of plenty other terms of endearment to
describe you.”

A blush started to flood her checks, but she was saved from comment by
her father, who came up from behind to join them as they walked down
the hall.

“You didn’t mention the Malibu project today, Brenda,” he commented.

“No, because I was planning on driving out today to take a look,” she
answered, stopping to face him but not attempting to take her arm away
from where it was hooked casually with Jax’s. And if her father noticed,
he said nothing and neither did Jax. He just smiled.

“We’ll hear about it at the next meeting, then.”

“You bet.”

Her father turned to Jax. “You’ve been working hard since you came
here.”

“He’s been a big help,” Brenda quickly chimed in. “Maybe we should
give him a raise.”

“Indeed,” Harlan agreed, and held out his hand. “Keep up the good work.
It’s appreciated.”

“Thank you, sir,” Jax accepted, meeting the firm handclasp with one of
his own. And when the older man walked away, “How big of a raise do I
get?”

Brenda turned serious eyes on him. “How big do you need?”

Jax hesitated. The questions were back again, bubbling and standing
between them. She wanted to know who he was. And he was, finally,
almost in a position to tell her. “I’ve been patient. You have to be, too.”

She bit her lip. “I’m trying.”

“And I’m going to get those files from Sonny before he can destroy some
of them.”

She nodded understanding and swallowed her questions to let him slip
away. “I’ll have Lilly meet you in the file room.”

But Lilly was already there when Jax arrived. She was in the corner with
Sonny, who had her cornered against a wall.

To be continued...