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Cutler was perfect. His stormy blue eyes locked with mine and we stared at each other. It was almost as if I remembered him from somewhere, but I had never been to England and so there was no possible way I could've met him before. Meanwhile, mother was getting along quite well with Alexander Beckers. She laughed at nearly everything he said and looked like she was flirting with him.

At the moment, I was far more interested in Cutler than with what my mother was doing with Alexander though. It was all good until mother tapped my shoulder and asked, "What do you think, Jenna?" Uh oh, I hadn't been listening to a word they had been saying and now I was stuck having to answer a question. I looked from Mr. Beckers to mother nervously.

Usually, when mother asked me a question like that, it usually had a yes or no answer. I could go ahead and guess the answer. That would certainly be better than admitting that I hadn't been paying attention to the conversation at all. Figuring that the proper answer was more likely a yes than a no, I smiled and replied, "Oh yes, of course."

To my delight, mother beamed at me and turned back to Mr. Beckers, saying, "So we all agree then. It would be lovely." Glad that I had said the right thing, I took a deep breath of relief and leaned against the sofa. I felt Cutler's eyes still on me and dared to glimpse back up at him. He was smirking at me. If I didn't know better, I swear he had known that I wasn't paying attention to the conversation. Feeling a bit embarrassed, I blushed and took to playing with the edge of my sleeve.

"I am very pleased to be working for the East India Trading Company. It is, of course, an honor," Mr. Beckers said. He turned to Cutler and added, "Cutler has been doing wonderfully so far, but he really needs an assistant. I have brought my own assistant from England, but he will have to find one here, I suppose. Do you have any idea how we would go about searching for an assistant?"

Mother looked a bit flustered again, confirming my belief that she was more than a bit interested in Mr. Beckers. Suddenly, her eyes fell on me. I blinked, not quite sure what she was thinking. Abruptly, mother looked up at Mr. Beckers and said, "I'm sure Jenna wouldn't mind helping out until you are able to find an assistant for young Mr. Beckers."

I blinked and tried to figure out what she was saying. Was she actually suggesting that I should work as Cutler's assistant? My mouth fell open and I was quite shocked. Mr. Beckers looked shocked as well. He looked from mother to me and then frowned slightly. Raising an eyebrow at mother, he asked, "Do you think it's proper for a girl to work as an assistant?"

Mother made up a lie, "Jenna helps her father out all the time. She would do a fine job. Besides, this is temporary. What do you think?" Mr. Beckers looked like mother had won him over. After a few more moments of thought, he finally nodded and replied, "Well, I suppose it could work in the meantime. What do you think about this arrangement, Cutler?"

Cutler looked down his nose at me and hesitated. I could feel his eyes on my body as he looked me up and down. Finally, Cutler pointed out, "I do believe she is under fifteen. Perhaps that is a bit too young?" For some reason, I found that I needed this job. I piped up, "I work really hard. You won't have to pay me or anything. Besides, it's only temporary."

Mother gave me a shocked look, obviously not expecting me to want this job. After a few minutes of thought, Cutler looked thoughtful and replied, "Very well. Come to the East India Trading Company office tomorrow before sunset and we shall get started then." Very pleased with myself for managing to get the job, I nodded and flashed him a smile.

"Well then, it looks like that's settled," mother said, looking pleased with herself as well. "I think Jenna and I should be going now. We have a few errands to run." She stood up and curtsied while giving me a pointed look to do the same. I didn't want to leave quite yet, but I didn't really have a choice. I stood up as well and gave a deep curtsy.

"Must you leave already?" Mr. Beckers asked, giving mother a sad look. Mother looked like she was going to squeal like a little girl at his words. To be honest, I didn't think I had seen her so happy before. Hiding her inner delight, mother nodded and kept calm as she said, "I'm afraid so. Don't be afraid to stop by for supper sometime though. You're always welcome at our home."

Looking flattered, Mr. Beckers leaned down and kissed mother's hand. He gazed at her for a moment too long and said, "Thank you, Mrs. Smith." Feeling awkward, Cutler and I simply looked at each other. Finally, Cutler gave me a curt nod and said, "Until tomorrow." I nodded and again had the impulse to ask him if we had met before.

Before things could get too awkward, mother grabbed my hand and led me towards the door. We stepped out into the sunshine and shut the door behind us. When mother started walking in the direction of town instead of back towards home, I was confused. Raising an eyebrow as I tried to keep up with her, I asked curiously, "Where are we going, mother?"

"Oh, well, I think this is an occasion for you to have a new dress. If you're going to be working as Mr. Beckers' assistant, you can't look like filth," mother pointed out. I wasn't quite sure I was too happy about the filth comment, but I was not going to complain. After all, it certainly wasn't everyday that I was given a new dress. I hadn't had a new one for ages.

"Isn't he wonderful?" mother asked dreamily as we approached the dress shop. Thinking she was talking about Cutler, I nodded and replied, "Oh yes. He does have the most beautiful blue eyes." Mother frowned at my comment and opened the door to the dress shop, saying, "You think they're blue? Personally, I was thinking they were more gray than blue."

Suddenly, I realized she was talking about Alexander Beckers, not Cutler. Blushing, I added, "You're probably right. I wasn't looking that closely." Mother nodded and brought me up to the woman who owned the dress shop. Pointing at me, mother said, "I would like to find a new dress for her. It would be nice if it were a cream color. It needs to be somewhat fancy too."

The woman looked me over and then nodded. A few moments later, she came back with a beautiful cream-colored dress. It had a full skirt, ruffled bodice was a plunging neckline, and was quite slimming. Mother handed me the dress and pointed to a room behind us, saying, "Why don't you go try that on? If it fits appropriately, we'll buy it for you to wear tomorrow."

Not going to argue with that, I nodded excitedly and disappeared into the room to try on the dress. I quickly stripped out of my ordinary one and slipped on the new fancy dress. To my surprise, it fit perfectly and exposed a lot of my cleavage. Yes, I know, twelve-year-olds are not suppose to have cleavage. For some reason, I looked much more like fifteen versus twelve though.

I admired the dress in the mirror for a few more minutes before changing back into my ordinary dress. I hurried back out to mother and exclaimed, "It fits great. Can we get it?" Mother nodded and went to pay for the dress. When I heard the price, my jaw dropped. Mother had never spent so much on a dress in her life. She must really be trying hard to impress this Mr. Beckers.

When we were back on the street and walking home, I asked tentatively, "Isn't that a lot of money for a dress?" Mother, looking dreamy still, merely shrugged and replied, "It's alright, dear. You deserve a new dress every now and then." Realizing just how fetched with Mr. Beckers she was, I shrugged and decided to let it go. I wasn't complaining if I got new dresses because of it.

When we reached home, I saw James leaning up against the usual tree. He obviously was waiting for me to come home so I could share the juicy new gossip about the neighbors. Sidling a bit to the left, I asked my mother, "May I go play for just a little bit? I am going to have a rather busy day tomorrow working as Mr. Beckers' assistant and all."

"Hm?" mother asked, obviously lost in her own thoughts. She looked at me and then saw James, "Oh." My heart sank. I knew she didn't really approve of me seeing James, but perhaps she was in a nice enough mood to let me talk to him today? Finally, she sighed and gave in, "Yes, you may go talk to young Mr. Adams. Make sure you are home for supper though."

"Thank you mother!" I exclaimed, giving her a hug. Once she disappeared in the doorway, I ran off to James' side. James smiled widely at me and said, "Hey Jenna. Fill me up on your afternoon." James sat down on the ground and pulled me onto his lap so I wouldn't have to sit in the dirt. I smiled at him over my shoulder, liking the closeness between us.

"Well, the new neighbors are Alexander Beckers and Cutler Beckers," I started out. At Cutler's name, James stiffened and narrowed his eyes. Looking thoughtful, he said, "I swear I've heard that name before, but I can't think of any other Cutlers that I know. Anyways, enough of my forgetfulness. Tell me more about the Beckers. What are they like? Are they all stuffy?"

"No, they're not stuffy," I replied, tucking a strand of wild brown hair behind James' ear. "They're quite nice. Mother is quite infatuated with Alexander Beckers." I exchanged a look with James. James, looking quite surprised, asked, "Really? I don't really see your mother ever cheating on your father, but again, you never know until the deed is done."

Nodding, I agreed, "True. She does like him quite a bit. I don't see the appeal though. He's kind of old and ugly in my opinion. Cutler, on the other hand, is another story. He's got wonderful blue eyes and flawless skin. You haven't even heard the best part yet! Guess what? I'm going to work as Cutler's assistant until he finds someone else to help him out!"

James, unfortunately, did not share my excitement. He looked at the ground and said, "Oh. I thought you said you weren't interested in twenty-year-olds?" Blushing, I quickly contradicted, "I'm not interested in him. All I want to do is help out, that's all. I've always wanted to me in the East India Trading Company office. Don't worry, James. I would never have a chance with him."

Despite the fact that I was saying that, I still hoped that there was a chance for Cutler and me. Sure, I was ten years younger than him, but fate intervenes sometimes, right? James still looked a bit sad. He frowned and asked, "What about me though?" I turned around on his lap to give him a hard kiss on the mouth before saying, "You're the only one for me, James."

James gave me a half-smile, still looking a bit apprehensive. Seeing that it was getting dark, I stood up and blew James a kiss before calling, "I need to get home for supper. I'll see you tomorrow night!" With that said, I waved to James as I ran back towards the house. I realized that for the first time, I had lied to James. Perhaps I wanted this Cutler even more than him.

As I ran home, I suddenly had a strange vision. Stopping in front of the door to my house, I hesitated there and closed my eyes. It was a strange sort of vision, kind of like a flashback. Cutler and I were in a dark room. The two of us were standing up next to a desk, locking eyes. Suddenly, Cutler reached forward and connected our lips. We kissed passionately and I tensed as I felt Cutler's hands all over my body. He started unlacing my dress and my hands started moving too. I unbuttoned his shirt and threw it to the ground. Impulsively, my hands started traveling downwards and undid his pants. I let them fall, getting a wonderful view of a completely naked Cutler. He seemed much more interested in my body though. Cutler let my dress fall, pushed me to the ground, and fell on top of me.

Abruptly, the vision cleared and I was left standing in front of the door like I had been moments before. Taking a deep breath, I cleared my mind and tried the doorknob. Apparently, my mind was even dirtier than I had imagined.