R. Mathewson - Perfection

"Of course," Zoe said, not only because it was her job, but because for the first time in three years she had a boss who asked her to do something instead of slamming more work on her desk as he gave her a dirty look. It was a rather nice change, she thought as she picked up the thin packet.

"I would really appreciate that," Jared said with a warm smile. His eyes shot to the clock. "But it can wait until after your lunch break. I'll cover the phones for you," he offered and before she could thank him he walked back into his office, leaving her stunned.

She got a lunch break? she thought with a smile, but then her eyes landed on Haley. Maybe she should-

"I'm going to call Jason to come get Haley," Jared said, popping his head out of his office long enough to tell her.

"Okay," Zoe said, taking a seat behind her desk. By the time Jason stepped into the office she'd already gone through the packet, making notes of the figures that didn't add up.

He stepped into the office quietly, wiping sweat off his forehead with the back of his arm, acknowledging her with a smile and a nod as he walked over to where his wife slept.

"Hey, my little grasshopper, are you ready to go home?" he asked in a hushed whisper as he laid his hand over the swell of Haley's stomach and gently caressed his unborn child. The gesture was so sweet and romantic that Zoe found herself biting back a content little sigh. She might question his sanity, but she sure as hell couldn't question his devotion to his wife.

"Go away I'm working," Haley mumbled, absently swatting at her husband as she tried to snuggle deeper into the couch.

"I see," Jason said, chuckling softly. "And you're doing a really great job of it, but it's time to go home."

"I'm too tired to go home," Haley said around a small yawn.

Jason leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to her mouth. "I'll carry you."

Haley was quiet for a moment before she responded. "Do I have to be awake for you to carry me?"

He chuckled. "No."

She sighed heavily. "Fine. You may carry me then," she said regally, not bothering to open her eyes.

"That's very generous of you," Jason mumbled, grinning.

"It is, isn't it?" Haley said sleepily as Jason scooped her up into his arms. She curled up in his arms and Zoe had no doubt that she was already asleep before Jason finished standing.

Zoe quickly walked over and opened the door for them. He nodded his thanks to her as he stepped out of the trailer. After she shut the door she walked over to the large stack of ledgers and prayed that the results weren't as disastrous as the last time she looked into bank accounts that didn't add up, because she was pretty sure she'd miss this place if she had to leave.

"You lying bitch!" Trevor hissed as he stormed into her kitchen.

Zoe fought back a smile, knowing exactly what he was pissed about. "Good morning to you, too," she said, focusing her attention on making his lunch and barely biting back a snort of laughter.

"Don't give me that 'good morning' bullshit, Zoe. You know exactly what you did!" he accused, trying to look stern as he pointed a finger at her. His eyes darted down at the food spread out on her counter several times completely wrecking the effect, especially when he went ahead and licked his lips in anticipation.

"Can I have double cheese?" he asked, momentarily forgetting why he was pissed at her, which she noticed happened quite a bit when food was around.

Sighing heavily as if it somehow pained her to do as he asked, she put down the jar of mayonnaise and added extra cheese to his sandwiches.

"Only three sandwiches? Are you trying to starve me?" he asked with a pout that she shouldn't find adorable, but did. "You know we're not all on diets like you, don't you?" he asked as he reached out and pushed the loaf of potato bread towards her in silent demand.

With an eye roll she pulled out two more slices of bread, wondering how she let him talk her into this particular chore. Oh, that's right. Two months ago he pouted and kept on pouting for a week until she finally had enough and agreed to make his damn lunches for him. She hadn't missed the triumphant smile he tried hiding from her, but she let it slide since it meant more hours for her and because he was just so damn cute when he thought he was pulling one over on her.

"Oh god! What the hell have you poisoned me with now?" he demanded, drawing her attention.

"Hey! Stop eating my food!" she snapped, reaching over and taking her bowl of high fiber cereal away from him. He practically shoved it in her hands. "You keep screwing with my calorie count, you jerk."

A woman on a diet who was only allowing herself twelve hundred calories a day was not someone to mess with as Trevor should have already learned, but the man couldn't seem to stop himself from stealing whatever food she was eating. Most of the food she bought was admittedly gross, but it worked. If she hadn't already lost a lot of weight and actually felt good about herself she would have given up a long time ago.

"You owe me an apology!" he demanded. She'd wondered how long it would take him to get back to that. He really had a problem with his focus when food was around, actually now that she thought about it, all the Bradfords she'd come across had that same problem.

"For what?" she asked, trying to appear innocent, but her lips twitching as she fought back a smile kind of killed it.

"For what?" he asked dumbfounded. "For lying to me! You said that book had sex in it! You lied, again!" He folded his arms over his chest as he glared down at her.

"Are you sure? I don't remember saying that," she of course lied. It really did entertain her every night when he would ask if they were getting to the sex part yet. She of course assured him that they were while she did her damndest not to laugh. She lost that battle several times, but thankfully he couldn't see her burying her face in her pillow and laughing her ass off at him.

"Yes, I'm sure, woman! That's two books you lied to me about," he said, still glaring.

"Hmm, you know what, it's been a while so I guess I just confused the books," she said, scrunching her face up in thought. "It's definitely in the third book."

He narrowed his eyes on her. "Are you sure this time?"

"Mmmhmm," she answered, looking back down as she fought not to laugh.

"Fine, I guess we can start the third book tonight," he said in that tone that he used when he tried to make her think that he was somehow doing her a favor. She wasn't fooled, but she didn't care enough to argue.

Over the past two and a half months she'd come to enjoy their nightly ritual. It was nice to have something to look forward to instead of the all consuming loneliness she used to feel. Her days were no longer filled with dread and boredom. Now she woke up looking forward to work, although she missed having Haley to talk to it was still a thousand times better than her old job.

Zoe hadn't really made many friends, but the guys were really nice to her and every now and then Haley called up to say hello. She'd even been invited to Haley's baby shower. Everyone had been so nice and she'd really been enjoying herself that is until Haley's water broke. It got a little crazy after that.

But she did meet some very nice EMT's and even got to help put a splint on Jason's fingers after Haley broke two or three of them during the last contraction. Not that he seemed to care or notice. The man had been a nervous wreck the entire time. The only thing that seemed to calm him down somewhat was when the EMT placed the cutest little baby girl she'd ever seen in his arms.

Little by little, things were improving for her and she couldn't be happier. Even her relationship with Trevor was better. She wouldn't exactly call them friends since they never socialized and he never really went out of his way to acknowledge her at work, but he did provide her with entertainment in the morning and at night so he was a much welcomed part of her day.

She grabbed his lunch box and gestured to the clock. "You're going to be late." She started the five minute process of fitting all his food into the small cooler.

"Shit," he said, reaching into his back pocket. "Let me pay you before I forget."

Ah, payday, her new favorite day of the week. It was nice not to cringe anymore when she got paid. Granted her full-time job paid her more than enough so she had plenty of money to pay all of her bills and put some away, but the money she earned from Trevor was her favorite, probably because she actually had fun plans for this money. If things kept going the way they were she would be taking her first real vacation, ever, in a very short time.

"Gimme," she said, grinning as she held out her hand.

Chuckling, Trevor handed her the money that brought her that much closer to her dream vacation.

"You better get going," she said, gesturing with a banana for him to move his butt.

"Yes, boss," he said teasingly as he swiped her banana.

"Hey! That's a hundred and ten calories, buddy!" she said, hurrying around the kitchen island to rescue her banana, but Trevor was already out the door by the time she made it to the living room.

"There had better be sex in that book tonight, Zoe!" he yelled from the hallway.

Definitely entertaining, she decided as she went back to the kitchen to look for something to replace her banana.

* * *

"Hey, does anyone know where that girl is?" David, one of the supervisors and a complete asshole, demanded as he stormed out of the office.

Trevor ignored the prick as he relaxed and ate his lunch. Zoe couldn't cook to save her life but she could make a damn good sandwich. He was having some of the guys over after work to watch the game. He'd planned on having her order pizza for him, but maybe instead he'd have her run out and buy deli meat so she could make them a platter of sandwiches. Then again he might just have her do both, he thought with a smile. It was damn nice to have someone at his beck and call, he thought with a content sigh.

"Hey, David, I think that's her now!" one of the guys announced.

He watched with bored interest as Zoe hurried past the large dumpsters while hugging a large stack of folders in her arms. She headed towards the office, but was cut off by David.

"Where the hell have you been?" he demanded, getting in her face.

Since it had nothing to do with him he blocked out their conversation and focused his attention back to the problem at hand. Should he just go ahead and eat the cake snacks Zoe packed now or wait for his afternoon break? Such a tough choice, he decided as he ripped open a chocolate cake package and devoured the tasty treat. As he ripped into another treat he resigned himself to sneaking into the office later and stealing some of the fruit that Zoe kept as backup.

He really didn't know how she did it. Two months without decent food was bad enough, but the shit she ate was downright torture. The diet was working. It was hard not to notice that, he thought as he looked up from ripping open another cake snack open to run his eyes over Zoe.

There was no arguing that she looked better than she had two months ago. She'd lost about thirty pounds, but she was still pleasantly rounded, but in a sexy way now. Her hair was shorter, shoulder length now, making her look less plain. Actually, with the light tan she was now sporting she actually looked cute and adorable, not in the cute and adorable sexy way Haley did, but still cute.

Just then she turned, giving him her back as she spoke quietly with the asshole and Trevor found his eyes dropping to that generous ass that even he had to admit was drool worthy. There was definitely no arguing with the results, but that didn't change the fact that he was actually getting a little worried about her.

He wasn't a doctor, but he didn't think the twelve hundred calories she was restricting herself to daily was healthy, especially since most of the time she didn't even come close to that limit. It wasn't as if he was counting her calories, he wasn't, but she kept her diet journal on the kitchen counter and he made it a point to sneak a peek at it every morning and what he saw had him seeing red.

Zoe was starving herself.

A few times he opened his mouth to talk to her about it only to end up shutting his mouth. It was none of his business what she did. If she wanted to survive on twigs and water that was her business. He had his own shit to deal with and didn't need to add the problems of his tenant onto the list.