The Corruption of Mila (4 page)

The guard glanced up at us, getting ready to stand.

Jax flashed his employee badge as he walked over to the desk. .

“It's just me, Bernie. Why aren't you at home with the wife? I thought you said you had big plans for the holiday.”

Laughing, the guard handed him a clipboard. “We don't celebrate Valentine's Day on the actual day. Everything is so busy; it's easier to go out later.”

“You should at least remember to bring her something home,” said Jax. He signed on the clipboard and then handed it back. “I don't think we'll be in for long.”

“Well, you know you can be here as late as you want, boss. The only other people here to keep me company are the cleaning staff,” Bernie said.

Jax waved. “Don't tell me what happens in the book. I plan on catching up to you one of these days.” He led me to the elevator around the corner, placing a hand on the small of my back. I could barely feel it. Jax must not have been sure if that was an appropriate way to touch me or not. I wouldn't have minded, but it was probably for the better he didn't. The vulnerable side of me may have liked it too much, and ever since we had that conversation in the cab, I was definitely feeling vulnerable.

“What floor are we going to?” I asked.

He moved me aside, pulled a key out of his coat pocket and stuck it into the elevator. That kind of thing was only supposed to happen in movies. After the key was turned, he pushed one of the lower buttons. I'll be honest and say I was happy we weren't going up. I've heard great things about the observation deck on top of the Gizmo Corporation building. It's supposed to be beautiful and on a clear day you can supposedly see most of the state. Unfortunately, I'd probably be too paralyzed with fear to enjoy the moment.

The elevator was zippy. It took all of three seconds to go down a number of floors. How many, I couldn't be certain, because there was no indication on the display.

I laughed nervously as the doors opened and we stepped out into a plain, dark, hallway. “Is this your secret laboratory?”

“Something like that.” Jax flipped the light switch on, and walked down the corridor to a locked door. He scanned his card, and the door slid open.

I pouted. “Disappointing, I was hoping it was going to make you check the irises on your eyes or your finger prints or whatever.”

He laughed. “I'm not a spy. Besides, I designed the card myself. It's practically impossible to copy the coding on it.”

“Am I going to see something in here that'll potentially get me killed?”

“Nah, I keep all of those things in my
other
secret lab.” He winked. “I make computers and phones. Yes, there are things I want to keep hush-hush, but you can relax. Those are all put away and locked up for the night. No confidentiality agreements, no death threats. It's just us.”

We walked in and were greeted with a sweet, melodic, female voice. “Good evening, Jackson and guest.”

“Good evening Vanessa,” Jax said. In a quieter voice, “That's my computerized assistant. I'm hoping to put a version of her out on the newest phone model.”

“That's not anything new,” I said. Gizmo Corp phones had a computer assistant programmed onto their hard drives a while ago.

He laughed. “Francesca is a lot different than Vanessa. She's not quite as special.”

“I am glad you are pleased with my services sir. Will you be sharing me on your new units?” Vanessa asked. Not gonna lie, it was kind of weird having a computer listening in on our conversation and commenting on it.

“Never, Vanessa. You will always be mine,” he said in a playful tone.

I folded my arms in front of my chest. “Do I have some competition now?”

One of his eyebrows rose, and his blue eyes widened with surprise for a moment. “I thought you said I didn't stand a chance with you?”

Oops, I had said that, hadn’t I? I recovered quickly. “Hypothetically speaking.”

“No, Vanessa and I are strictly professional. She has a long-term thing going on with Michelangelo.”

“You created a computer counterpart for her? Or did you just invent this crazy back story for her character because you were bored one day, and he doesn't actually exist.”

Jax bit down on his lower lip and he turned away from me. I'm pretty sure he was blushing again. “A little bit of both columns. Michelangelo does exist. He's the prototype for the new assistant on the next phone. I would like to offer a male and female option for users. However, I did create a little story between the two just because I was bored one day. For kicks and giggles when a male assistant phone links up with a female one, they'll actually flirt with each other. That part is a little glitchy, however. It's one of the features that's setting back release. If I have to save it for next time, I will, but I think it would be fun.”

I nodded. “You'd definitely stand out, that's for sure. It might be a bit of an unnecessary feature, but it'd be fun to play around with and make work a lot less boring. I like that you're thinking about your female users. It's disappointing to not have a sexy male assistant talking to me on my phone.”

“I've heard that complaint a few times, actually. I do pay attention the feedback we're given from users.” He smirked. “Vanessa, please turn the lights on in Studio Seven.”

“Of course, sir,” Vanessa said.

I raised an eyebrow. “Studio Seven?”

“It's one of my presentation rooms,” Jax explained. “You showed me some of what you like to do for fun, so I figured I could do the same with you.”

He led me deeper into his lab, and I couldn't help but notice how pristine the place was. I'm pretty sure it could double as an operating room, it was that clean. Kind of creepy. Sterile places always made me nervous, usually because they had an association with death and disease. Studio Seven, however, did not give off the same kind of vibe. It was still clean, don't get me wrong, but it made me think of a fancy theater rather than a hospital. Only there weren't any chairs. The ceiling was also high and rounded. Every wall had a screen it seemed. I couldn't help but wonder what kind of presentations Jax liked to give inside of the room.

“Go ahead and get comfortable however you'd like.” He walked to the center of the room and flipped open a laptop. Soon his fingers were clacking on the keys with speed and grace. “Sit down, stand, lie down, it's all kind of the same, just make sure you're looking up and you're closing your eyes until I tell you to open them.”

That got me curious. I did as I was told; deciding to lie down so I could get the full effect of whatever it was I was going to see. A quiet hum filled the room, I sensed the lights go off for a moment, and then something else lit up instead. With my eyes closed I couldn't see what, but I could tell that the contrast between the light and the dark was different than before.

“Okay, you can open them,” he said.

I opened my eyes and gazed up in awe at the most beautiful starlit sky. Like, have you ever been camping or out in the middle of nowhere at night when the sky is clear? Have you noticed how there's a bajillion stars up there, and how you can see the outline of the Milky Way perfectly? That's what I was looking at. An exact replica of a perfect night sky.

Jax sat down next to me. “I come here when I want to think. I'll turn something relaxing on and just chill out. There's something humbling and calming about nature.”

“Even artificial nature?”

“It's not the same, but it's something.” He shrugged then snapped his fingers. The scene above us changed. It was similar, but now instead of only the night sky, the Northern Lights were present as well.

“I've never seen these in person,” I admitted.

He laughed. “Neither have I. It'd be nice to try and spot someday.” He looked at me. “Anything you want to see in particular?”

“Anything at all?” I asked.

“Within reason, but yeah, just about anything.”

I thought for a moment. “The bottom of the ocean.”

“Kind of dark down there, but I've got an idea.” He snapped his fingers again. The screen changed to a jungle. Another snap and we were on a beach. One more and we were under the water watching a swarm of fish in a coral reef. The colors were so vivid and the screen so sharp, I thought they might be real.

“All this is missing is 3D!” I marveled.

He gave me a small smile. “I didn't want to overwhelm you with that feature. Besides, I couldn't show you all of my tricks just yet!”

I patted the spot next to me, urging him to lie down. “You better believe you're showing me it another time.”

“So you're going to keep me around, hmm?” He laughed.

“I said we wouldn't work well romantically. That doesn't mean we wouldn't get along as friends.” I fidgeted with my hands.

His gaze roamed over me; I could feel it without having to look. I didn’t want to either, because his eyes were so blue and beautiful. I might have swooned then, because the atmosphere was just right too.

After a minute of only listening to the humming of the projector, Jax spoke. “I think we have more in common than you think, Mila.”

“You're a nerd.”

“So? Don't act like there isn't a comic book punch card in your purse. I saw it. I saw a lot of stuff in there that suggests you're not as cool as you pretend to be. Besides, even if I am a nerd, that doesn't mean we're incompatible. Having different interests isn't a death sentence to a relationship.”

“It's killed a lot of mine,” I mumbled.

He laughed. “No offense, but you seem to have dated losers in the past.”

“And what makes you think you're a winner?” I challenged.

“You'll just have to decide if it's worth finding out or not,” he countered.

I groaned a little. “Great, now you're getting all coy and mysterious on me. Way to make my heart go pitter-patter for you. Because a girl never wants to know if a guy is worth the trouble or not, nope, never.”

“All I'm saying is, I don't think I could prove it to you just through tonight alone. That's one reason why I hate first dates. It's your one chance to try and make a lasting impression, but if people have unrealistic expectations, it's almost impossible to hit the bar.”

“So my expectations of you are unrealistic?” I guffawed at the idea. “About the only thing I was hoping for was that you'd be cute and not a greasy slime ball. Okay, maybe a little dangerous, but there's a difference between living on the edge and being a perverted, desperate, jerk.”

He looked himself over. “I think I passed that, then. Perhaps I'm just offended by your anti-nerd stance.”

“I'm not anti-nerd. You do a lot of great things for society, and I've come to terms a long time ago that someday your kind will rule the world.” I paused as I tried to think of the right way to express all of my apprehensions about Jax openly and honestly. “The nerd thing is a default. That's not the problem. It's the goodie-goodie thing.”

“Morgan said you might have issues with that,” he mumbled. “No offense Mila, but where have the bad boys gotten you?”

I threw up my hands defensively and sat up. “Yeah, I know, I date a lot of guys who are awesome at being jerks. I haven't even dated that many guys, I hope you know. You would be number three. Donovan is the only guy I've been intimate with, if you can even call it that, and the other guy I dated barely counts as relationship experience. Don't talk to me like I'm some kind of troubled hussy!”

“Sorry, that's not how I intended for it to come out. My point is…” He grabbed my hand and the touch just about forced me to look down at him. “Good guys know about adventure too. We can protect, provide, and be everything a bad boy is. The only thing you won't be getting is the same kind of heartbreak.”

“Don't promise something you're not sure you can keep. Even the kindest of people can mess up and hurt others,” I snapped.

“I didn't say a good guy isn't going to hurt you. Nice girls can be just as painful too.” He exhaled deeply. “But a real man is going to do everything he can to make sure you're happy. He'll fight for you and your relationship, and he definitely would never force you to do anything you didn't want to. The bad kind only care about themselves and keep you around until they get everything they want. Don't you want to be with someone who doesn't treat you like a thing?”

I pulled my knees up to my chest. “Of course I do. I understand what you're saying, Jax. You have a great logic that's hard to argue with. If you think you can fit the bill, I dare you try.”

He laughed. “I
have
been trying. When your mind is stuck on something, it's hard to change. You really are stubborn!”

“What all has Morgan been saying about me to you?” I rolled my eyes at the idea of the two of them gossiping about me. She no doubt had told him all about my “sinful” ways. Trust me when I say she makes me seem like I should be burned at the stake because I do things like drink, swear, and dance with some guys at the clubs on the weekend. Plus, my past taste in men wasn't exactly a shining example of mature behavior, but I can't help what I'm attracted to.

He sat up slowly. “She said you were stubborn and spunky, but to not let your rough side push me away. That was about it, outside of the goodie-goodie thing. She warned me you might be apprehensive because I'm nice. Then she babbled about something, but I didn't listen as well as she thought I was. Don't tell her that. I didn't mean to be rude, and I'm usually not, I just didn't want to have too much knowledge ahead of time. That didn't seem fair since you know so little about me. Besides, I wanted to be surprised.”

“I do like a good surprise.”

“Same. Look! Another thing we have in common.” He winked. “I don't want to pressure you into liking me. If you honestly don't, that's one thing. I get this feeling, however, that you're trying to come up with excuses for why you shouldn't give me a chance. Please, let go of whatever misconceptions you have and follow your heart. I'm going to do the same thing. My heart has been through a lot too, so it's just as scared as yours is to open up and feel again. Maybe at the end of the night we won't connect anyway. Just give it a fair a chance. That's all I want. It's what I'm giving to you.”

When a guy pours out his soul to you, it's hard to not turn into a gooey puddle on the inside. Something about his tender vulnerability softened my cold, wounded, heart to the point where for a moment I considered taking him up on his seemingly simple request. A fair chance was the right thing to give him. I knew it deep down inside of myself. Doing the right thing was never easy for me, though.