He wasn’t going to give up. I could see the determination in his eyes. “This is a good one. I can feel it. This could be the thing young people need. They all want to see the world, but few of them can afford to do it. The app will connect those with shared interests, and they can split travel costs ten ways. It will work.”
I sighed, understanding his vision and his passion, but knowing the project wasn’t ready. “Look, Curt, this is a great idea. This is something young people from all around the world could really use and enjoy. I think it’s awesome that you want to try and help people see the world. I think it would do a lot for society in general if people could see and experience new cultures. However, with all of that said, this proposal is missing something. I don’t know what that something is, but I think there is something here. We just have to find it.”
The guy didn’t look happy. I wasn’t a fool, and I wasn’t about to turn down what could be a very lucrative account, but I needed some time. I didn’t want him walking out the door and heading down the proverbial street to my competition.
“You think you have what it takes to find what’s missing?” he asked.
I nodded. “I have a great team of developers and some of the best and brightest in the business. I’ll have a few of my people look it over and come up with some solutions. I’ll present them to you, and you can decide if you want to move forward with us or take it somewhere else. You’ve got something great here, and I’d really like to see it succeed, but in the wrong hands, it could become a PR nightmare.”
He chuckled. “Are you saying your hands are the right ones?”
I grinned. “I’m saying my hands are very capable, and I have a long list of happy customers who’ve been very happy with our work. You don’t get my reputation as being the best social marketing firm in the business by not paying attention to the details. It’s the details that matter, and that’s what you pay me to pay attention to.”
“You sure know how to charm a guy, don’t you?” he asked with a smile.
I leaned back in my chair, completely comfortable with my ability to talk to a client, knowing I could generally use that charm to make a successful deal. “I know what works, and I know what a client really needs. The charm is just a little something extra.”
He laughed again. “All right. When will I hear back from you? As you can imagine, you’re not the only game in town, and I’m determined to get this thing off the ground.”
“I’m going to ask you for a few days, maybe a week. I think you’d rather have a great app than an app that could bankrupt you.” I was not afraid to pull any punches.
“Ouch. Harsh.”
“Truth,” I replied.
“Okay, I’ll wait and see what you have to say,” he said, getting to his feet.
I got up and walked out of the office with him. We talked about our plans for the weekend as we walked. I pushed the button for the elevator and nodded goodbye with the promise to be in touch soon. I turned around, already planning to give the project to my new interns and my existing research department. I wanted to see what they could come up with. If we could collectively come up with solutions to the many problems I saw with the service, it could work out very well for all parties involved.
I started walking down the hall, heading for the breakroom to grab a cold glass of water, when I was nearly knocked on my ass by Bella. “Woah, there,” I said, putting my hands on her shoulders to stop her from mowing me down.
She had been looking in the opposite direction while moving toward me. I had no time to get out of her way.
“Oh my gosh! I’m so sorry! I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going!” Her face turned a pretty pink color.
“It’s okay,” I said, dropping my hands from her arms.
“I, uh, I was headed to Cassia’s office,” she said, looking behind her and then toward the hall she’d just come from.
I grinned. “Are you sure about that?”
She nodded. “I am.”
“Bella?”
“Yes?”
“You are nowhere near her office.”
She groaned, leaning her head back to look up at the ceiling. “I’m so lost. I took a wrong turn. There are a lot of hallways. I had to go downstairs to accounting, and that really got me screwed up. I must have walked in circles for thirty minutes before I finally asked for help. Then, I got back here, but they put me on a different elevator. I ended up somewhere over by a window that overlooked the wrong street. I mean, it’s the right street, but not the same street I was using as my reference with the big fountain in the center of a courtyard. And now I’m all twisted around again.” She rambled, her frustration evident in her voice.
I smiled, fighting the urge to touch her arm again in an attempt to calm her down. Her green eyes were fraught with worry. It was a look I was growing used to seeing on her face. She was high-strung and really needed to relax a bit. I understood the difficulties of a new job in a new country, but she was going to worry herself to death if she kept going the way she was.
“I will show you the way back to Cassia’s office, but for your own sake, you really need to learn your way around,” I said gently.
She scowled. “I know that, and I am trying. It’s just the way I’ve always been. I don’t know why, but no matter how hard I try, I get absolutely confused. I lived in a small town, the same town my entire life, and I still managed to get lost at times.”
I had to fight back a laugh. She was so cute when she was frustrated. I wanted to wrap her up in my arms and take all her stress away. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to imply you weren’t trying.”
She closed her eyes, using a finger to rub her temple through what looked like silky, blonde hair begging to be touched. “I’m sorry. I’m a little overwhelmed. I have to get this back to Cassia, and I have that campaign to go over and make notes on, and I’m stuck here roaming the halls like an idiot.”
“You’re not an idiot,” I quickly replied.
She shook her head. “I swear I’m not that incompetent. I’m just out of sorts. Once I get my bearings, I won’t be like this. Please don’t think this is how I normally am. It’s just the jet lag, a new job, trying to get around a new city and—”
I cut her off. She was unraveling before my very eyes. I didn’t want her to fall apart before she could give the job her best shot. I knew she had it in her, but she needed a little encouragement. I had a feeling she was the type that would never forgive herself if she quit before she got started. I felt I owed it to her to give her that little pick-me-up she needed to get over the hump. I was convinced that was all it was. She just needed to find her footing, and then she was going to do great things—I hoped.
“Stop,” I said, my voice low. “Come with me.”
“Where?” she asked as I started back toward the elevator.
I didn’t answer her. I wasn’t sure what I was doing, but it felt right. Rand’s warning echoed through my head as I stopped in front of the elevator and waited for her to catch up. I tended to forget my long legs covered a lot more ground than most people, especially when I was on a mission. I was absolutely certain he was wrong about her bringing the company down, but if I let her in too close, she would have the power to destroy me. There was something about her, a pull I couldn’t quite resist, that made me feel like she had cast a spell on me. I just hoped I would be strong enough to keep my wits about me.
Chapter 10
Bella
Standing in front of the elevator was making me even more nervous. Was he showing me the door? If so, I wanted to grab my purse. I had left my laptop at the hotel, realizing I would have no use for it here. My purse was a different story. My mind raced, thinking of the many different ways he could fire me.
He stepped inside the elevator, his crystal-blue eyes meeting mine. “Come on, please.”
I nodded my head, fighting back the tears that were trying to fall. I wouldn’t cry. I would hold my head high. “I appreciate the chance to wo
rk here, even for a day,” I told him, wanting to make my exit with as much grace as I could muster.
“You’re welcome. When you are feeling overwhelmed and like the walls are closing in on you, enter this code. One-three-seven-nine.” He was punching the buttons as he spoke.
I looked at him. “What?”
“Enter that code, got it?” he asked.
“One, three, seven, nine,” I repeated. “Where does that make the elevator go?”
“Watch, and I’ll show you,” he said with a smile as the doors slid closed.
My heart raced, panic setting in as I imagined him taking me into a basement where no one could hear my screams. My dad would be devastated if I were murdered or kidnapped and made into the man’s sex slave! How stupid! How dumb was I to get into an elevator with a stranger—even if he was my boss?! The elevator jerked and started going up. My eyes went wide, and new horrors flooded my very overactive brain. Was he going to throw me off the roof?
“If you could see the expression on your face right now,” he said with a grin, shaking his head.
His grin put me at ease. My gut intuition said he was safe. He wasn’t going to throw me off the roof or lock me in a cage in his basement. “I tend to have a very vivid imagination,” I confessed.
“I see,” he said. “That will definitely come in handy in this line of work. It is one of the reasons I hired you in the first place. I saw some of the marketing campaigns you put together for your mock businesses.”
The elevator dinged again, and the doors slid open. He stepped out and climbed the six stairs that took us to the rooftop.
“The roof?” I asked, not sure why the roof was any better than going downstairs to the sidewalk floor and getting fresh air.
“Yes, the roof. Come with me. I hope you’re not afraid of heights,” he said as an afterthought.
“I don’t think I am,” I mumbled, trying to remember a time I had ever been on the roof of a tall building. I couldn’t remember because it had never happened.
“This is where I come when I’m feeling a little overwhelmed and need to get away from the ringing phones and people in general. I come up here.” He stopped about five feet from the edge and pointed.
I looked out, the beach and the sea stretching out forever. The height was just enough to see over the other rooftops. A slight breeze kicked up, blowing my hair across my face. I quickly pushed it out of the way and stared. We both stood in silence, taking in the view. I did feel exceptionally better. The nervous energy I had been feeling, along with the stress and fear of failure, evaporated and floated away on the breeze.
“Wow,” I finally breathed out the word.
He turned to look at me, a warm smile on his face. “Wow is right. This is my little secret and now yours.”
“Really?” I asked with surprise.
He nodded his head. “Yep. You and I have the code. That’s it. Well, Rand does, but he’s afraid of heights, and the only way he is coming up here is if there is a zombie chasing him up the stairs.”
I burst into laughter, appreciating his humorous side. “Good to know. If he’s giving me a hard time, I’ll come up here to get away from him.”
“He won’t give you a hard time. If he does, let me know. I promise, Rand is a good guy.”
“I’m sorry,” I said, realizing I had gotten a little too relaxed and insulted his coworker and obvious friend.
“Don’t be sorry,” he said, his tone serious. “Never be sorry for telling me how you feel. We may not always agree, but I need you to always be honest. When it comes time to start hashing out some marketing campaigns and strategies, I need people who will speak their mind without worrying about upsetting me or some of the other senior staff.”
“I don’t usually have a problem speaking my mind,” I quipped.
He chuckled. “That could be a good thing.”
I let out a long breath, letting the remaining bits of stress leave my body. “Thank you for bringing me up here. I can really get myself worked up sometimes.”
“It’s fine. I could kind of tell you were about to lose your shit.” He laughed.
I burst into a fit of giggles at his choice of words. It was very American and very much something my dad would have said. “I was. I will admit it. I’ve been wound tight for weeks and getting lost again today was just the final straw. I was working up until the day before I left, taking extra shifts and trying to get everything ready for my time away from home. I swear I’ve been frazzled for a month. Before that, it was school and finals and just so much.”
“I think you really need to take the weekend to relax,” he advised.
I smiled and nodded my head in agreement. “I will do that. Actually, Cassia invited me out tonight. She said it’s something a bunch of people from the office do every Tuesday. Do you go?”
He shook his head. “No, not really. I usually work late. Plus, no one wants to hang out with the boss. I want my people to be able to relax and have a good time without worrying about me watching them. I know there are going to be things that they need to get off their chest about me, the work, and, in general, they wouldn’t be able to say those things if I’m standing there listening.”
I wrinkled my nose, realizing he was right. I had been foolish to think a man like Adrian would want to hang out with interns and his employees. I was sure he probably had some model girlfriend that required his full attention.
“I understand. That’s very thoughtful of you.”
He shrugged a shoulder. “I wasn’t always the boss. I know what it’s like to bust your ass for someone else and not feel appreciated. I do try and be a good boss and let my people know how valuable they are, but no one is perfect.”
“How long have you been the boss?” I asked him.
He inhaled through his nose, his eyes moving toward the spectacular view. “I feel like I’ve been working on this for ten years. It didn’t officially become a company until maybe five years ago. Back then, it was me and Rand. It was three years ago things really started to take off, and we just kind of burst onto the social media marketing scene. Back in the beginning, it was me and Rand posting on the various social networking sites all day long. Now, we have our own platform and a slew of services. I don’t think I’ve personally posted anything in at least a year.”
“That’s pretty impressive. Do you mind if I ask how old you are?”
He grinned, winking at me. “How old do you think I am?”
I groaned. “That’s a dangerous question.”
“The dangerous part is the answer,” he said with a laugh.
I chewed my bottom lip. Guessing he was older than he actually was wasn’t as big a deal for a man as it was for a woman. I threw caution to the wind and went with what I suspected. “Thirty? Thirty-two?”
He frowned. “No, I’m twenty-eight. Maybe I should take my own advice and relax a little. I don’t want to age prematurely.”
I laughed. “It isn’t your looks that led to my assumption. I was basing my guess on how much you’ve accomplished. It’s very impressive you’ve done all this before you were thirty.”
“Thank you. I appreciate that.”
“I should probably get back downstairs. I don’t want the others thinking I flaked out and took some long break.” I did not really want to leave the rooftop and the amazing view, but it seemed like it was time.
“I think you can take a few more minutes,” he said. “I bet when you do go back to work, you are going to be fresh and ready to spill out all kinds of ideas.”
“I hope so.”
“Can I say something, and I don’t want you to take offense?” he asked, turning to face me.
That was never a great way for a conversation to start, but it wasn’t like I could say no. Constructive criticism was a good thing, I reminded myself. “Sure, I’d love to hear what you have to say. I could always use advice from someone who is successful.”
“I think you are a very smart person. You’re book smart, wh
ich can sometimes be a hindrance because it doesn’t let your creative side come through. I want you to try and put aside the statistics and all that stuff you learned in school and think like a consumer. Think about what makes you take notice and go from there. You can apply the book smarts later, but I think if you live in that book-smart world, it’s going to limit you. You have what it takes, I can feel it, but you have to let yourself really roll with the flow.”
I smirked, not correcting his phrasing. “I know exactly what you’re talking about. I had a professor tell me I saw in black and white only, but I lived in a grey world, and I needed to step out of my box.”
He nodded his head. “It’s not a bad thing. You’re going to do great, but I feel like you have this wall in front of you. Kick it down, and you are going to do great things.”
I smiled, feeling a little glow roll through me. “Thank you. The word feels inadequate, but really, thank you.”
“You’re welcome. I’m only telling you what I see.”
“Why are you being so nice to me?” I blurted out, realizing about a millisecond after the words left my mouth that it was an internal thought, not something that was supposed to be said aloud.
He grinned, his eyes squinting in the corners as he looked at me. “I like to think I’m nice to everyone. I saw you were struggling a bit, and I wanted to help you out. No matter what you might hear tonight, I do want to be a good boss. I also like to think I have an eye for talent. I see something in you, and I’m excited to see how well we can work together. After all, I am a businessman, and I’m in this to make money and be successful. I’m only as successful as my people.”
I really felt like I was on top of the world at that moment—literally and figuratively. He was a great boss and someone I could learn from. I was going to remember that the next time I felt like I was going to lose my shit, as he said.
“I hope I can prove you right,” I told him, not one-hundred percent buying into it but willing to give it a chance.
Fake It For Me Page 6
