Breathless

  Chapter 1

  The autumn breeze blew the dry leaves imitating

  Alex's inner swirl of thoughts and emotions. The

  building, emanating the coldness of the metal that

  created it, stood uninvitingly in front of her sending

  sounds she was not familiar with, containing people

  she never met before; strangers preparing to greet

  another stranger. Leaving the familiarity of her

  car, Alex took a deep breath and moved up the

  loading dock ramp to the door.

  "I can do this," she sighed one-more time before

  entering the plant. Alex walked into the lobby

  that doubled as Francine Malone's office. It had

  once been a hallway with a dead end, but was remodeled to accommodate the office, reception

  area and extended into the main offices. Francine

  looked up briefly from her typing and eyed Alex as

  she walked towards her.

  Francine had welcomed Alex warmly when she

  came to interview two weeks ago. That had

  changed, however, when Alex was given the office

  manager's position that Francine coveted and

  Francine was to continue her secretarial

  duties. She had decided then not to make the

  adjustment easy on Alex.

  "Morning Francine, is Jeff in," she asked her upon

  reaching the desk.

  "Yeah, he's expecting you. Go on in," she said

  jerking her head to the left indicating Jeff’s office

  door. Alex moved past her desk and shook her head at

  Francine's rudeness. Alex smiled slowly as she

  remembered her first comparison of Francine to a

  Shih Tzu dog. With her flaxen blonde hair pulled

  into a banana barrette, way too short skirt and tight

  blouse, it was obvious that Francine had considered

  her job a step up from a strip club.

  As Alex entered, Jeff Blakely, the plant manager,

  was just hanging up the phone. He smiled

  broadly, as he heaved his girth up from his chair to

  greet Alex. She imagined that she heard the chair

  sigh for the brief reprieve of Jeff as he stood. His

  five foot ten frame did little to adjust for the two

  hundred pound plus weight he was carrying.

  "Good morning, Alex," began Jeff, "Welcome back.

  Did you have any troubles finding us again?” "Good morning," taking the proffered hand, "No, I

  didn't. The plant isn’t far from my new house,”

  she replied.

  "So you found a place, huh," he asked sitting back

  down in his chair and gesturing to an armchair for

  Alex, "when did you finish moving?"

  "Friday. I still have plenty of unpacking to do.”

  "That happens. I'm sure you'll enjoy the change of

  pace here, Alex. Like I said two weeks ago, you

  have the energy and the proven track record we

  were looking for. It's hard to find somebody like

  you in Ashmore Valley.”

  "I'm happy to be here. I think Ashmore Valley will

  provide me with the relaxation I'm looking for and

  Hasani will give me the challenges I need.” Jeff smiled at her ambition and her courage. She

  had given up everything she knew in Washington

  D.C. to come here and start over. He had to

  admire her spunk, not most women would give up

  the known for the unknown. Jeff offered a tour of

  the facilities and he explained the basics of Hasani

  Industries. Alex had heard the speech before, but

  now absorbed more of the information. Every

  word sunk into Alex as he described the

  requirements she and the factory.

  As he led Alex through the various shops, she was

  aware of the absence of women on the plant floor.

  Jeff had told her before that the only woman was

  Francine and they had had little success in hiring a

  woman to work in the factory itself. Alex now

  joined the mostly male ranks of Hasani Industries. She smiled to herself knowing that her compatibility

  with men would be priceless in this position.

  "I made the right choice," she thought to herself as

  Jeff led her to the weld shop.

  Jeff showed Alex every nook and cranny of the

  factory. The scent of sweat intermingled with metal

  and oil made Alex aware of the difference between

  here and Capitol Hill. Alex and Jeff were about to

  enter the machine shop when the whine of

  Francine's voice came over the paging system. Jeff

  had instructed Francine to interrupt him only if Mr.

  Hasani called.

  "I'll let James O'Reilly show you back there," he

  said, steering her away from the machine shop, "I

  need to take this call." As they neared the back entry to the offices, Larry

  Christie, the production supervisor, popped his

  head from his office. Upon seeing Alex, he stepped

  across the threshold to greet her.

  "Alex, welcome back," he smiled in his West Virginia

  drawl.

  "Good morning, Larry, it's nice to be back."

  "Is Jeff giving you the nickel tour?"

  Alex nodded her head in assent and again looked

  Larry over. His short stature did little to hide the

  impressive figure that he struck. Larry's voice

  made him sound like a giant and his ability to

  beguile anybody made him look like one. The red

  coloring on his neck and face hinted at his high blood pressure while providing the employees

  fodder for West Virginia/redneck jokes.

  "Well, if you ever want the quarter tour, let me

  know," he finished, lighting a cigarette and heading

  out into the shop to "survey the damage", as he

  called it.

  Jeff continued to lead Alex towards the offices and

  took her in a door beside a flight of steps. Jeff

  explained that the steps went to the second floor

  where the research and development offices were.

  "This is James' office. He should be along shortly,"

  he said and continued through to the other door

  that led back into the center office, the reception

  area and his office. Alex was left standing there as Jeff engaged his

  stubby legs into a trot. When she had come to

  interview, Jeff explained that the assistant plant

  manager, James O'Reilly, was in Saipan. He was

  assisting a customer with maintenance issues on

  their Hasani products. Alex surveyed the office,

  glancing at the plaques on the dark paneled walls.

  Alex felt closed in with the cave feeling of the room.

  The white window blinds, looked like an

  afterthought in the decoration of the room and let

  in some sunlight to relieve the darkness.

  Alex had just taken a seat, when the door from the

  plant burst open and two men as different as night

  and day entered the office. Alex recognized one

  of the men as one she had seen in the machine

  shop when she toured the plant. His appearance

  shocked Alex when she saw him. His blood shot eyes, unshaven face, and long hair pulled into the

  opening of his baseball hat w
as not what she was

  used to seeing. He looked like a misplaced rocker.

  The other man, who she assumed was James

  O'Reilly, confirmed her thinking of what a factory

  employee would look like. His well-kept beard,

  oxford shirt and green button down sweater made

  her feel overdressed in her suit. Now that she

  thought about it, all of them made her feel

  overdressed. Alex crossed her legs as casually as

  possible and waited for them to acknowledge

  her. James and the rocker moved a cabinet that

  stood beside the door against the wall behind his

  desk.

  "Now, what were you looking for, Morgan," he

  asked of the strange looking employee. "A 3/8" tap," replied Morgan, turning his attention

  to Alex.

  "It's right here, where I told you it was," grabbing

  the object from the drawer and thrusting it into

  Morgan's hands.

  "So I couldn't find it, bite me," he responded still

  staring at Alex.

  "Morgan, the language, there is a lady present.

  "Yeah, I saw that," he said salaciously and left the

  office.

  James shook his head, sat down at his desk and lit a

  cigarette, "Back to business. I apologize for

  Morgan. When you've been here as long as I

  have, you'll think you have forth-three children; all

  grown men who act like they're going through puberty again," James watched as a slow smile

  crossed Alex's face and continued, "Since I wasn't

  here when you visited us two weeks ago, I'd like to

  take a few minutes to get to know you. In case

  you hadn't figured it out, I'm James O'Reilly.

  He stuffed the cigarette between his teeth and

  offered his hand from across the desk. Alex stood

  from her chair and shook his hand. As their hands

  met, James and Alex felt the surprising heat from

  the other's touch. Alex sat back down and ran the

  hand over her skirt to cool it off. She felt as if she

  had touched a burning candle. James absently did

  the same on his jeans. He wasn't expecting that

  handshake to stir his soul so deeply.

  "So Alex, tell me a little about yourself; Jeff is

  practically dancing in the streets to have you here. I must say that your resume is quite impressive, but

  I'm not sure you'll be comfortable in this

  environment.”

  As James posed that question and waited for her

  reply, he took the time to assess the beautiful

  woman in front of him. Her fiery red hair was the

  first thing that had caught his eye when she was

  touring the plant, but her blue eyes spoke volumes.

  He could see the depths of her soul and the recent

  pain of losing somebody she cared for deeply.

  James' eyes roved her body creating a mental image

  of her naked and underneath him in the throes of

  passion. He realized that he was losing track of

  the conversation and shook his head to clear the

  image and return to the present. His current

  lifestyle left him in a less than appropriate position

  to be anything more than a supervisor to her. Alex had been outlining her career when she caught

  James' attention wavering. She was watching him

  look her over and found it an opportune time for

  her to do the same. Alex still felt the imprint of his

  hand clasping hers and wondered if his whole body

  felt that way. She looked over his features

  studying the pale green eyes and beard that hid the

  lower half of his face. She wondered what he

  looked like without it. She watched the way he

  sucked on the cigarette and wondered how supple

  his kiss would feel. Alex unconsciously blushed at

  her thoughts and turned her mind back to what she

  was saying. Another inconvenient work

  relationship was not in her immediate future.

  "So, after participating in most of the ways that

  people do business, I thought it would be an interesting career move to see how a product is

  built," she finished.

  "You've had an excellent career. Coming here

  couldn't have been an easy decision," James said

  cocking his head to one side as if trying to jog his

  memory, "Have I've seen you someplace before?

  You look familiar.

  Alex appeared taken aback by the question posed

  to her. She hadn't considered the fact that he

  might recognize her from the picture. "I was

  photographed leaving a restaurant with Senator

  William Adler's chief aide and my fiancée, Tad

  Pierce, in Washington, D.C. The photo appeared

  in most of the national press about six months ago,"

  she responded curtly wondering why she had

  referenced Tad as her fiancée. James sensed her unease with the subject and

  wrapped up the interview, "Well, welcome to

  Hasani. I know you want to get started but, did

  you want to see the machine shop?"

  Alex said yes and James stood up and led Alex back

  into the factory area. The pair were just reaching

  the machine shop area when a buzzer sounded

  overhead. Almost immediately all of the

  machinery in the building stopped and Alex could

  discern the different music varieties better. Every

  corner of the factory seemed to have its own radio

  and each radio its own style. Alex heard the

  sounds of Van Halen, Garth Brooks, Boyz II Men and

  Hank Williams filter out and mix to create its own

  melody. "What's going on," Alex said leaning closer to

  James, who had stopped walking.

  "Break time, it’s a good time for us to go into the

  shop without having to worry about your shoes.

  We only wear steel toe shoes in the factory," he

  replied as several of the employees began to

  converge on the soda and snack machines station

  near two picnic tables. Alex and James moved

  around the men who were heading their way and

  into the machine shop. Alex caught the eye of

  several of the guys as they passed and made mental

  notes of names on their shirts and the faces to go

  with them. She knew she had better learn their

  names quickly to keep her head above water.

  James made the tour short and sweet. He

  outlined the abilities of the machinery, the band saw and finisher. Alex paid close attention to

  what James was saying, but also let her eyes stray

  to the men who inhabited the shop. They had not

  left their area for a break, but stood around

  chatting amicably and picking on a baby-faced man,

  who reminded Alex of a street urchin. James

  walked over to the group and told Alex to watch her

  step over the cooling hoses as she followed him.

  "What's up guys," he said when he had reached

  them.

  "Not much, just picking on Joey here," replied

  Morgan, glancing past James, "Are you going to

  introduce us?"

  "If she didn't have to work here I would say no,"

  replied James caustically turning sideways to allow

  them to see Alex and introduced her. Alex braced herself mentally when one of them

  stood up from his stool and approached
her. She

  saw James stiffen a little out of the corner of her

  eye as the man began to extended his hand towards

  her.

  "Hi," he said as he extended a greasy hand for her

  to shake.

  Alex understood the challenge that he was making.

  To not accept the hand, would make them think she

  was above her co-workers. Alex eagerly took the

  hand and shook it. James relaxed as he watched

  Alex shake hands and engage in a conversation with

  Grayson and the rest of the machine shop workers.

  He had feared the worst and expected her to just

  say hello and leave the shop. Now he relaxed

  some more as he followed the conversation quietly. James found himself learning more about Alex as

  she continued to talk with Grayson, Morgan, Dave

  and Shane. He learned that she had come from a

  small town above Pittsburgh originally and had lived

  in Washington for the past six years. James' ears

  perked up slightly, when Morgan asked about her

  romantic life and she changed the subject. A small

  smile crept over his mouth as he took another long

  drag on his cigarette. She was very unwilling to

  talk about her love life or lack of it. That amused

  him. She would break that habit soon. Nobody

  had a personal life at Hasani.

  The buzzer sounded again signaling the end of the

  break and the guys said goodbye as James and Alex

  made their way back into the office. James led

  Alex into the reception area and showed her to her

  desk. She was just sitting down in the uncomfortably new chair when Jeff came in to

  check on her.

  "Well, looks like you made it in the lion's den," he

  said jokingly.

  "I don't eat office assistants alive, Jeff. Francine is

  still here isn’t she," scolded James.

  "Damn straight I am," came a response from the

  reception area.

  After a few minutes of conversation, everyone soon

  left Alex alone to get acclimated to her

  surroundings. Alex immediately turned her

  attention to the pile that had seemingly come as an

  accessory to her desk. Jeff had made her aware of

  the fact that she would have to be ready to "hit the

  ground running.” She had begun to sort her pile, when Francine

  bounded into the room. Alex studied Francine

  casually as she talked with Allen Morris. Allen was

  the accountant for the plant and Alex's immediate

  supervisor. Alex recognized Francine's flirtatious

  manner and shook her head. She had seen this