by Ali Parker
“That sucks,” he said, leaning back in his chair and rubbing his chin. “How far along is the project?”
“Almost to completion,” Elon said. “We do our final presentation on Friday morning. We were just about to the place where we would need him. So, we’re in more than a bind. There isn’t enough time to screen someone else and get them in the company and caught up.”
“Man,” he said, shaking his head. “I’m sorry this happened to you guys. Of course, I’ll help you out, man. You’ve been my friend for years.”
“Thank you,” Elon said, letting out a deep breath. “Call me when you’re off, and I’ll give you the details. And please, stay for lunch. It’s on me.”
“Thanks, man,” he said. “And it was nice meeting you, Amanda. I’m sorry you have to work with this guy.”
“It hasn’t been too terrible,” I chuckled, glancing over at Elon. “And thank you, this will save our asses, more so than I thought in the beginning.”
“Really, it’s no problem,” he said.
We left, needing to get back to the team to assure them everything would be okay. The car ride back to the office was silent, and Elon just stared out the window, looking less spunky than he had that morning. I didn’t bring up the fact that he could lose his job. I didn’t think it was the right time or place for that discussion. I didn’t even know if it was any of my business, to begin with. I could see the strain it was putting on him, though, and I felt terrible for him.
When we arrived back at the office, Elon went straight to his and closed the door. I called everyone over to the front and told them the situation was taken care of. Everyone seemed to be a lot less stressed, and that was good because they needed their heads to be in the right place. I went back to my office and walked to the window, looking out over the city. I sat contemplating the news, the day, and everything else that had gone on since this project had begun. I shook my head and walked over to Dalton’s office.
“Hey,” I said. “You have a second?”
“For you, I have two seconds,” he smiled. “What’s up?”
“I have something really important that I have to take care of tonight,” I said. “Would you mind watching Mikey?”
“Of course,” he said with his brows drawn together.
“Thank you.” I smiled.
He didn’t ask any questions, and I knew that he could tell whatever it was, I wanted to keep it to myself. I headed to Elon’s door, and the secretary nodded her head. I knocked hard and waited.
“Come in,” he said.
I opened the door and walked inside, my hands clasped tightly together. I closed the door and faced it for a moment, taking in a deep breath. I was trying to find my nerves, but they were all over the place.
“You all right?” he asked.
“Yes,” I said, smiling and turning around. “I didn’t have a chance to finish what I wanted to say earlier. I wanted to tell you I was sorry for not going to dinner with you on Friday.”
“It’s no big deal,” he said, looking down. “You would have been bored like me.”
“So, let’s go out to dinner tonight,” I said. “Just you and me.”
He slowly looked up from the computer and stared at me for a second. Then, he smiled.
“I would love to.”
Chapter 19
Elon
“Do you want to go when work is done?” I asked.
“That would be great,” she said with a smile.
“All right. I’ll make some reservations,” I said.
“Great,” she replied. “I’ve gotta get the team back on track. Don’t be a stranger out there.”
“I won’t.” I smiled.
When she had left, I leaned back in my chair and smiled. Maybe this day wasn’t going to be as bad as I thought it was going to be in the first place. I called up my favorite Italian joint just a few blocks away and made a reservation for six. I figured it would give us plenty of time to get out of the office and over there. I picked up my cell phone and sent Marcus another “Thank You” text and then headed out onto the floor. As soon as I started working with the team, the spirits rose. They really did look to me for guidance, and Amanda had been right the whole time. They just wanted to know they could trust me in situations like the one that had just happened.
We worked through the day, nervousness filling me as the clock moved closer to six. After everyone else was gone, I grabbed my sport coat and walked to her office, asking her if she was ready to get going. She smiled and nodded, and we headed out. We walked down to the restaurant since it was a nice evening out, and it was only three blocks away. The fresh air helped relax me, especially since I could feel the nerves churning in my stomach. The hostess showed us to the table, and I ordered a nice bottle of wine.
“We should celebrate.” I smiled. “We averted disaster.”
“You averted disaster.” she laughed. “I was just there for moral support.”
“I guess I should explain what’s going on,” I said with a sigh.
“You don’t have to, but I would appreciate it,” she said.
“You know the history of the company, at least what was printed in your intake documents,” I said. “When I started Truitt Marketing, my focus was more on how the business was run than the service provided. I knew that if I had a killer team, a loyal team, the business couldn’t help but take off. I wanted a place where I never got lost and where my teams always felt like they were part of something much bigger than marketing and advertising. It was like that for a good while, but as we grew, things changed. I guess I changed. I got sterile in my position, only taking on client intake, stepping back from the inner workings. When the economy crashed, we, like so many others, took a hit from it. The big difference now is I have a board and shareholders to answer to. One board member, in particular, has had it out for me forever.”
“Let me guess.” She smiled. “Clayton Hayward, the thorn in Chicago’s side.”
“Exactly.” I chuckled. “He tried to blame me for the company’s share fall, saying it wasn’t the economy, but it was my fault. The board has always been loyal, but they’re reaching their wit’s end. So, instead of taking the CEO and operator title from me, they gave me one last chance. I had to be hands-on, get my hands dirty, go in full force, and if the project is a success, I get to keep my position.”
“And if not, you become a silent owner, sitting in the background without any control over the company, just collecting a paycheck,” she said shaking her head.
“Exactly,” I said. “So that is my sad and troubled story.”
“Well, I don’t think you have anything to worry about,” she replied. “This is the best project I have ever seen this team put out. Cartier would be stupid not to sign a long-term contract with you.”
“Here’s hoping,” I said, lifting my glass, tapping it to hers, and taking a sip.
“So, tell me about you, about that little boy you told me about,” I said. “Mikey, right?”
“Yeah.” She smiled. “Mikey is his name. Gosh, it’s been a long time since I told my story to anyone.”
“Well, I’m all ears.”
“I was really young when I got pregnant with Mikey, seventeen I think it was,” she said. “It wasn’t like me. I was not the wild child type, but I fell in love and made a mistake. I decided there was no way around it. I was going to be a mother, so I buckled down and finished high school. His father and I, we had a plan. He was going to get a job, and I was going to take care of Mikey and go to night school to get my degree. It was all planned out. Then, when we graduated, he kissed me goodbye, saying he would be at my parent’s house later, and then never came back. He just dipped out on us. I still have no idea where he went, nor do I really care at this point.”
“That must have been hard,” I said.
“It was, at first, but I had my family there, and I was determined to give my son a good life,” she said. “I went to college, worked as a waitress during the day to
pay for formula and diapers and such, and my mom watched Mikey. When I graduated, I got a good internship and then ended up at your company. I worked on the floor for several years, grinding away until I was promoted two years ago. The rest is history. Mikey is happy, and yeah, things are a struggle, but I’m making it work and always looking for ways to make things better. He’s so smart and has so much potential, I just want to make sure he’s given every opportunity in the world.”
“You sound like you’re doing an amazing job.” I smiled. “Who’s with him tonight?”
“Dalton,” she said. “I can’t really afford to pay the babysitter extra to stay, and Dalton and Mikey are very close. He does me favors from time to time and lets me have a little space to breath.”
“So, he knows about dinner?”
“No,” she said. “I would never hear the end of it from that man. I just asked him, and he could tell it was important.”
“What about your mom? You mentioned over coffee that you take care of your mom,” I asked.
“Oh,” she groaned. “That is a whole other story for another day.”
“Okay.” I laughed. “It’s crazy what we learn about people when we actually open our eyes to them beyond the surface.”
I sat there across the table talking to Amanda, learning about her life, her dreams, her future aspirations, and everything else I could possibly soak in. She was a riveting woman, much deeper and way more complex than I could have ever imagined. Now that I knew about her life, everything started to make a lot more sense to me. She had been so stubborn at the beginning because she was afraid to lose her job, not because she couldn’t find another but because the responsibilities on her plate were larger than all of mine from my entire life put together. She was a strong woman with an even stronger personality. By the end of dinner, I didn’t want to let her go.
“So, I took the project board, turned it over, and just sketched it out right there in front of the client,” I said, laughing. “He didn’t like the one I gave him, so I gave him what he wanted.”
“Oh my god.” She laughed, wiping her mouth with her napkin. “What did he do?”
“He became the first official client of Truitt Marketing.” I smiled. “I wasn’t about to let him walk out without signing on the dotted line. He approved a project drawn in pen on the back of a piece of poster board.”
“That is amazing,” she said. “And it was all history after that.”
“That, it was,” I said, handing my card to the waiter. “We did sixteen advertisements for them.”
“What happened to them?”
“The economy hit them pretty hard, they downsized, and went to in-house marketing,” I said. “It’s all part of the game, though. They got my name out there, and that was worth its weight in gold.”
I signed the credit card slip and handed it back to the waiter, looking across the table at Amanda who had red cheeks and bright eyes. We were both really enjoying ourselves. I thought about asking her out for a drink, but before I could talk, she looked down at her watch.
“Oh, gosh,” she said. “I need to get home so I can kiss Mikey good night before he goes to bed.”
“Of course,” I replied with a smile. “You can take the car, and I’ll catch a cab.”
“Oh, I couldn’t put you out like that,” she said, standing up and walking with me outside.
“I insist.”
“Thank you,” she said
“No, thank you.” I chuckled. “Thank you for having dinner with me. It’s probably the best conversation I’ve had in a really long time.”
“It was my pleasure,” she replied.
There was an awkward moment where we just stood there staring at each other. Her beautiful eyes gleamed up at me, and I could feel the butterflies churning in my stomach. I didn’t know why, but I didn’t go in for a kiss. I just couldn’t take my eyes off her.
“Well,” she said, breaking the silence. “It was fun. I will see you bright and early, so we can kick ass with this project and really stick it to Mr. Hayward.”
“Yes.” I laughed, opening the car door for her and helping her inside. “Have a good night.”
“You too,” she said as I shut the car door and tapped the hood.
I stood there on the corner watching the car drive away and around the corner. When it had disappeared, I put my hands in my pocket and smiled to myself, realizing that I hadn’t had a night like that in a very long time. I was surprised that she’d come by to ask me to dinner, but I wasn’t going to question it. She was absolutely amazing. Instead of hailing a cab right away, I decided to go for a little walk. I used to walk through Chicago all the time, but it had been a while with everything going on at work. I made my way down to the pier and walked down, looking out over the harbor. The ships were docked in the background, and the city was lit up brightly.
There were several Navy sailors out and about, laughing and smiling as they ate dinner and drank beers. I thought about Amanda and how everything had gone. I knew there had been an opportunity there to kiss her good night, but I hadn’t. I still wasn’t sure where she stood with me or how she felt, and the last thing I wanted to do was ruin an amazing evening by overstepping my boundaries.
The cool breeze blew through the harbor and over me, standing there on the pier. Things looked like they might be turning around for me, and all my hard work might be coming to fruition. It was a sense of pride that I hadn’t felt in a very long time, and most of it, I owed to Amanda and the guidance and support she had given me. This girl was growing closer and closer to my heart. I could feel it. I didn’t know if it was good or bad. I didn’t know if not kissing her was the right choice at all, but what I did know was that I wanted to see what was going to happen next. My life had turned into this epic novel, and I was really hoping for a happy ending.
Chapter 20
Amanda
“I saw a bar brawl last night,” Elon said, sitting behind his desk. “It was pretty epic. There were about eight guys involved.”
“Holy crap.” I laughed. “Where did you go last night after dinner?”
“You know, just perusing the clubs.” He laughed. “Just kidding. No, I went for a walk out to Navy Pier. There’s that seafood restaurant at the end, and there were some guys on the patio. Before I knew it, there were fists flying everywhere. I just sat back on the bench and watched with amusement.”
“Boys are crazy.” I chuckled.
“I saw a couple skirts up in there, too. Don’t be fooled.” He laughed.
“Oh, I’m sure.”
“Dinner was really great last night,” he said, softening his tone and his eyes. “I hope we get to do it again, really soon.”
“It was nice,” I said with a flirtatious smile.
“I’m glad now you didn’t go out with me and my brother,” he said, leaning back. “You might have been seduced by his catwalk.”
I laughed loudly, finding myself finding every joke he told funnier and funnier. We were definitely flirting a lot more than normal, but I was enjoying it at that moment and didn’t see the harm in it. We were waiting on Marcus to show up with his designs, so we had a little time to kill anyway.
“Those sailors aren’t very happy this morning,” he said. “I’m sure they’re swabbing the deck or scrubbing the bow, or whatever it is you do in the Navy when you get in trouble.”
“I’m pretty sure you’re thinking of pirates.” I laughed. “Navy is a job just like anything else. They’re probably doing some random duty like picking up trash for the NCO.”
“You know a lot about these Navy boys,” he said, raising an eyebrow.
“I grew up in Chicago. Who doesn’t know about Navy boys in Chicago?”
“Apparently me.” He laughed. “Maybe I should be scrubbing the poop deck.”
“I’ll get you a brush and a sailor hat,” I said, giggling.
“And some of those awesome bell-bottom blue wool pants so my balls can itch like crazy,” he said.
> I burst into laughter just as there was a knock on the door. Dalton opened up the door and poked his head in. I straightened my face immediately, but I was pretty sure from the look he was giving me, I wasn’t fast enough. I pursed my lips together trying to hold in a giggle as he walked into the office.
“Sorry to disturb,” he said, winking at me and making me blush. “There’s a man out here to see you. He said his name is Marcus.”
“Nice,” Elon said. “Can you lead him to the conference room? We’ll be there in just a second.”
“Of course,” Dalton said, glancing back at me and smiling as he closed the door.
“Looks like the cat’s out of the bag.” Elon chuckled.
“He saw me laughing. I’m in for it now,” I said.
“Just tell him I told you really bad news, and you were laughing at my bad luck,” he said.
“Right, like he would believe that for one second.” I giggled. “I could have any face other than angry when he walked in here, and I would have been had.”
“Oh, the office drama,” he said.
“As the Truitt turns?”
“I like that,” he said, standing up. “It has a nice ring to it. You ready to go see what magic Marcus worked?”
“I have been ready since we talked to him,” I said, standing up and opening the office door.
When we walked out, Dalton was standing to the side pretending to read a file. He looked up at me and bit his lip, nodding his head up and down. I rolled my eyes and stuck my tongue out at him, almost getting caught by Elon.
“This guy has some serious talent,” he said. “This should be really good.”
“I sure hope so,” I said with a smile.
We walked into the conference room, and Marcus got up from his chair and walked over, shaking my hand and giving Elon a hug. It was nice seeing that softer side of Elon with his friend. I could tell they really cared about each other. We followed Marcus over to his chair and looked over his shoulder.
