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●ALEX POV●

Aria had invited me to come visit Trip but unfortunately I had so many things I needed to take care of today. Both she and Warren left this morning and thankfully a lot of the paperwork and meetings of importance were due last week. I was able to catch up with my role in the company as Warren's second hand and honestly, it was a very seamless transition. The only difficulty was finding a good assistant . For this week, I'm borrowing his temp .

Too bad she's decided not to stay on board when her contract runs out but I can't blame her for wanting a job that uses her degree.  "Mr. Wells?" She knocks on my door .

"Come on in," I permit her.

"I know someone that would fit perfectly for this role . And although I haven't been here long to be able to be trusted for a recommendation,  I think you should take a look at this resume," she says handing it to me.

"Did the applicant go through the online portal?" I ask as I skim through the sheet.

"No, but trust me when I say she's one of the best ," she tells me confidently.

"Tell me how you know her," in the short time I've worked with this temp, we've grown to appreciate her hard work . That's why we were upset when she turned down the full time position.

"She's my husband's sister, my sister in law," she admits, "she just moved here from across the coast . As you see she worked as a PA for Goldsmiths and if you need to check on her background , it's all there with letters of recommendations, " as soon as she said Goldsmiths,  I knew exactly who she was talking about.  EVERYONE has heard of Jasmine Bello and as I thought of the name , that's when I read it on the resume.

"Jasmine Bello," I said softly , "why did she move?"

"Honestly?" She asked.

"Yes."

"You didn't hear this from me and please do not let this be a reason to not consider her, but because of love," she tells me , "she had a very bad falling out with an ex and she needed to leave town . "

"So the rumors were true, that she and what's his name," I begin to ask.

"Yes, Jacob Goldsmith the son of the CEO, used her . He knew that she was precious commodity in the business world, he also saw her as a trophy of sorts . I don't have to tell you the rumors about her beauty are true. Anyway, she caught him in some unethical practices and other things . They had a major disagreement and couldn't stay . She spoke to the CEO about leaving and he wrote her letters of recommendation to help."

"Wow," I say , "please ask her to come in for an interview . I'll let HR know that she can come directly to my office. "

I know this isn't standard protocol , but I couldn't pass up the chance to bring the legend of all personal assistants to the office . Forget the personal messy things, she has been someone many have tried for years to get into their company . I heard that she was getting ready for a promotion when everything fell apart .

I fumbled for my phone to call Warren, "hello? Everything okay?" He answers.

"I wanted to let you know I have a resume in my hands , I let this applicant bypass standard interview protocols and come directly to me," I know he's going to be mad but not for too long.

"Why? You know we don't work that way," he says sternly.

"It's Jasmine Bello."

"Holy shit," he muffles the phone and I can hear him tell Aria to which she said the same thing.

"Alex...," he must've switched me to speaker, "you can have my assistant if you give her to me, I've been trying for years to get her."

I laugh, of course Aria knows of her too , "except her resume fell into my hands."

"Damnit , my PA is great ," she tries to convince me.

"Good, keep him," I laugh out loud again.

"If she doesn't mesh well with you , please send her my way," she begs.

"What do I get in return?"

"My personal assistant," she says with all seriousness.

"Don't let him hear you say that," I warn.

"Whatever . Don't let her go, also, I want to meet her too . Damn, you lucky son of a ---" and that's when Warren got back on the line .

"Do the interview but have HR in the office with you . You'll probably give her the position anyway, might as well save her the trip," Warren advises .

"Okay , thanks War, I'll let you know how things turn out. Have fun visiting Trip." We hang up and his temp is back in my office .

"I have Jasmine on the phone , sir," she says to me.

"Anytime is good," I tell her.

"Can she come in now?" She asks slyly .

I narrow my eyes , "did you know I was going to say yes?"

Shyly she nods and I sigh, "okay, send her in but also ask HR to come up with interview forms and new hire packet," she nods again but this time excitedly.

Ten minutes later head of HR is in my office as we wait for Jasmine to arrive. I'm in the middle of going over interview questions when we get a knock on the door to let me know Jasmine was here .

In walks in a beautiful woman , one that exudes a certain charisma surrounding her. It was like a glowing light illuminated her body when she entered, "Hello, I'm Jasmine Bello," she says as she extends her arm out .

"Please , sit . Let's get this interview started," I managed to say as I shook her hand. She had long loosely curled black hair that rested to the middle of her back . Minimal makeup but enough to complement her olive tanned skin . Large brown eyes , cute button nose and a very well fitting dress that hugged her hourglass shape. It was going to take all of my energy to not be distracted by her obvious beauty.

An hour passed by the time we concluded the interview and paperwork process . She exceeded expectations and I knew I didn't need to see anyone else , "Miss Bello, would you be able to begin work tomorrow morning at 8?" I ask her.

"Definitely, would you like coffee ready when I come in?" She asks.

"Yes, a splash of creamer ," I tell her , "before you leave, I'd like for you to go on down to human resources to finish up there . They'll get your key card ready for tomorrow . Any other questions please feel free to ask anyone .

She gives me a grateful smile , "I appreciate you giving me this opportunity. I won't let you down , sir."

"Please, call me Alex," I tell her.

"Thank you,  Alex," she says as she tucks a stray of hair behind her ear.

Something tells me that working in the office just got more interesting . As soon as she leaves I call Warren again, "hello?" Instead I'm greeted by Aria.

"Hey Ar, is Warren around?" I can hear her move around.

"He went inside to put our things down, did you you hire her?" She asks.

"Yes," I say while she 'damns' me . Even through the phone she makes me smile . There isn't anything she can say or do that'll not make me feel happy, well of course until she chose Warren. But I'm happy that we still remained friends.

"Well???" She asks expectantly.

"She's literally a golden egg that just fell in my lap, ticks off every single thing anyone could be looking for in an assistant," I brag .

"Duh, they don't make personal assistants like her anymore . You are so lucky , I'm not going to deny that I am a bit jealous . Is she as beautiful as they say?" Even, Aria has heard about that.

"Stunning," I spill .

"She would've been great morale for our company," she says , "guys work harder when they have a beautiful person they want to impress."

I chuckled , "You do know you're drop dead gorgeous,  right?" I let out.

"I'm old news, besides they stopped working as hard when Warren and I became official," she backhandedly admits.

"Then light a fire under their asses, Ar," I encourage her.

"That's what Jasmine was going to be !" She argues back.

"Oh well."

"Alex," her tone changes , "be nice to her . She's been through a lot . Her ex is an ass , I know because I've dealt with him . Even I don't like communicating with Jacob."

"You've talked to him?" Curiosity getting to me.

"His father had flown out with him a couple times to our office . He's one of the reasons why I didn't want to do one on one clients ," he hesitates .

"Did something happen?" I can feel my fist tighten up.

"I don't know if-" she stutters .

"You can tell me , he's not here ," I try to coax it out of her.

"He's been banned from our building. He cornered me in my office and tried to assault me. I went to the hospital, Dylan almost murdered him ," she says with a shaky breath.

"What?!" I said with anger in my voice , one that echoed to Warren's since I'm assuming he heard her too .

"War... wait, it was years ago," I can hear her try to explain to him.

"Who was it?" He demands.

"It's Alex's new assistant's ex," she quickly says.

"Jacob Goldsmiths?! I'll kill him."

"Wait, baby, he's not allowed near me or our building. It's also one of the other reasons why I wanted Jasmine . Keep her safe," I heard her tell him.

"Did you know she was in town?" I ask.

"Yes, she reached out to me awhile back . Because of this whole Trip case and then Brittany , I forgot to let her know that she could work with us. But I know you'll keep her safe," she says to me.

"She's more than a pretty face , Alex. She's brilliant and I really want to meet her . We've only ever corresponded through emails," she tells me, "look, I have to go calm Warren down . Congratulations.  Please don't do anything stupid, it's the past . And we should keep it there."

I half agreed with her before we hung up. No wonder she was interested in Jasmine . Aria has a heart of gold and I can appreciate her for that . Now it's hardened my resolve to protect Jasmine even more . I would be inclined to offer that to Aria as well but Warren has her covered .

I think I need to research more about her former lover and see if he is a threat to the company , and to Aria's firm as well .

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And now we've set up the future storyline for Alex. FYI , he's totally enamored by Jasmine as you guys can see and you will hear him battle himself as he still works through his emotions .

He really does love Aria , so we will watch him grow from that . His story will be a slowburn.