**This was my first attempt at writing a story, and I foresee a number of future chapters. Thank you to my friends from the Lit board who helped me with the editing.**
Overtime – Chapter 1
Glancing down at her watch again, Jody mumbled to herself. "This day is taking forever!"
It was 4 o'clock on Wednesday, and Jody only had one more hour before the workday was done and her long weekend began. She had requested Thursday and Friday off to prepare for a friend's wedding. Her friend Lizzy had been like a sister to her all through college, and despite their many differences, they remained close. Lizzy's wedding was on Friday, but Jody was in charge of the bachelorette party Thursday night and still had a million things to do.
"Only an hour to go, kiddo," Marcus said playfully strolling into the room. Jody felt herself getting both irritated and blushing at the same time.
"I don't know why you keep calling me kiddo, you're only a year older than I am," Jody retorted.
"Yes, but I'm 27. I am officially an old man by now. You're only 26, practically a baby."
Marcus watched smugly as Jody's cheeks turned pink. He could never understand why she was so shy. Since she joined the company 6 months ago and started sharing an office with him, Marcus had found Jody to be a terribly sweet and soft-spoken person, but wondered how many people missed her intelligence and great sense of humor. She did not have many other friends in the office as far as he could tell, mainly because she was too introverted to start conversations with people she did not already know.
"Such a shame too," Marcus thought.
In his eyes, Jody was practically a dream girl than any guy would be lucky to have. She was 5'2" with light brownish hair and hazel green eyes. She had a few extra pounds, but it suited her well, as most of it seemed to be in her chest. If she would only notice his less than subtle hints, Marcus would have dated Jody in a second.
"Did I hear something about an old man?" Robert Allen came strolling into the office, shaking his head.
Robert was Jody's boss, and she felt lucky to be working under him. When Jody applied for her job 6 months ago, she never thought she would actually get it, as she did not have nearly enough work experience coming straight out of graduate school. Robert had decided to give her a chance, and taken care to give Jody help whenever she needed it. Jody could not have asked for nicer coworkers than Marcus and Robert. While she did not directly work with Marcus, Jody shared an office with him, and he always made an effort to talk to her and bring her out of her shell. Sometimes Jody thought Marcus flirted with her, but she suspected he thought of her more like a kid sister. Jody thought he was terribly handsome at 6'2" with dark brown hair and light blue eyes. Marcus was the only real friend she had made at work, since her job did not generally require her to work with anyone from other departments other than her boss Robert and the clients. Marcus was an IT guy, but they had run out of room upstairs so he moved in an office in the basement on his own. When Jody was hired, they stuck her in with him, much to Marcus's delight. Peering back and forth between her boss and her office mate, Jody chuckled to herself.
Standing next to each other, Marcus and Robert could not look any more different. Marcus was tall and thin, with dark hair, light skin, and adorable black framed glasses. Robert on the other hand, was barely 5'7" and had a solid body, although he was in great shape at 34 as far as Jody could tell thru his work attire. Robert had reddish brown hair and warm brown eyes. Jody absolutely adored her boss. He worked extremely hard, and had gotten divorced only 4 months ago when his wife left him for another man. He once told Jody that his wife accused him of never being home because she claimed he would rather be at the office than at home with her. Jody could not imagine Robert being a bad husband, even if he did work a lot. He had this way about him that when he laughed; it made Jody's insides light up. Jody wished sometimes Robert were not her boss. She had always been attracted to slightly older men, and Robert was extremely handsome, but she was far too shy to act on it, and she loved her job and would never put it in jeopardy.
"Don't worry Robert, we weren't talking about you," Marcus laughed.
"Good thing," Robert chuckled, "Otherwise I might have to go get your boss Dan and insist he find you a new office so poor Jody here can get some work done for a change."
Of course, Robert knew how hard Jody worked. She was a quick learner and he could tell when he had interviewed her that she was the type to go the extra mile to get a job done.
"Unfortunely, I'm the bearer of bad news." Robert said, "The client pushed up the dates, and they want our Projection Report next Wednesday. I know you're not going to be around the rest of this week, Jody. Do you think you can have everything done?"
Jody pursed her lips slightly. This would be tough since she would really only have Monday and Tuesday to finish the report now.
"Don't worry Robert. I will get it done. I'll just have to learn to ignore any people who try to distract me, like Marcus."
Marcus smirked a little, than turned away to face his computer monitor. "Don't mind me, I'm not even here."
"Alright then, Jody. Have a nice weekend. I will see you on Monday. Let me know if you need extra help if you think you might not make it. Robert walked out of the door and around the corner to his own office.
The last hour flew by as Jody suddenly had a looming deadline trying to get her Reports ready. Marcus asked her questions about the wedding she was attending. Jody explained that she would be spending the next couple days getting her nails done, preparing for the bachelorette party, and then tending to all her bridesmaid duties for the wedding. Jody's friend Lizzy, always more eccentric and outgoing of the two friends, was having a small but elegant wedding.
"So who's the lucky guy who gets to be your date?" Marcus asked.
"I don't have one," she said quietly.
"Aww, you should have asked me," Marcus teased. "I would have been your date for the right price. I take MasterCard, Visa, and goodnight kisses you know!"
Jody laughed, "Too bad I'm broke. Besides, I stopped paying for dates last week. New corporate policy: no more pity dates or men I pay to take me out"
Jody turned back to her desk to so Marcus wouldn't be able to see her blush. She needed to concentrate on work. Soon it was 5pm and Jody waved at Marcus as she rushed out the door.
The wedding Friday turned out beautifully and Lizzy looked stunning. Jody had never found a date in time, although she had wondered how serious Marcus had been about his offer to go with her. Always helpful Lizzy paired her up with on of the groom's cousin who was also in the wedding party at the last minute Jody thought he seemed nice enough, but they were both too shy and barely spoke to each other. Jody wished she could be more at ease around people, but it just did not come naturally to her. She could not remember the last time she had had a real date that was not a fix up by a friend, let alone an actual relationship or sex. As the wedding reception went into the night Friday, Jody found herself worrying about work and her upcoming deadline. She really wanted to prove to Robert that she could get everything done on her own and make him proud. She kissed Lizzy and her new hubby John goodbye and left the reception a bit early to head home. Jody had decided to spend a few hours at work on Saturday and possibly Sunday making sure she finished her report on time, since she did not have any other plans. Jody had never needed to come to work on a weekend before, but she knew most other people in the office did not, so she hoped to have the place all to herself so she could work in peace.
The next day Jody went into the office at about 10:30am after going to the gym. She had showered afterwards and put on a knee-length printed skirt and a simple white t-shirt and sandals. This was not her typical work attire, but since it was a weekend, she assumed it would not be a big deal. There did not appear to be anyone else in the building when Jody got there, so she walked into her office, shut the door, popped a CD in the tower, and put her headphones on. Jody always seemed to prefer working with music on, she felt it helped her keep motivated and upbeat. At around 12:30pm, she had gotten a nice bit accomplished and decided to reward herself with something from the snack machine down the hall. Jody had promised herself she would not stay too late, so she figured a quick snack, and she would be out of the office by 3pm at the latest to get some real food. Out of habit, she closed her office door behind her when she left. The vending machines were down the hall a little ways, and after selecting something sweet, Jody walked back to her office humming the music. Looking at the floor while she walked and munched on her animal crackers, Jody allowed her mind to wander as she made her way back to her door. When she got there, she instinctively reached for the handle, not noticing the door was now open, and she ended up colliding right into Marcus.
Jody looked up, embarrassed, and blushed even harder when she saw Marcus peering down at her in a tight-fitted t-shirt and jeans that looked like they were made especially for him. Despite having shared an office for the last six months, Jody realized she had never been this close to Marcus before as his light smelling cologne began to make her head swim.