by Ellen Hutton
Chapter 1
For the second time that night Annie walked away from her table towards the bathroom. There was nothing wrong with her, but she was desperate to get away from Dale; the blind date from hell. As she walked into the bathroom she let out a sigh of relief when she realized it was empty. She pulled out her phone and dialed Lidia her best friend and the one who had brought this upon her. When the phone rang and went straight to voicemail she knew her friend was avoiding her call so she dialed her once again. Lidia picked up on the second ring.
“What?” Lidia asked, “shouldn’t you be on your date?”
“There is only so much I can listen to about football,” Annie said dreading the topic of the conversation she was having with Dale.
It’s not that he wasn’t handsome; far from it. He was as dashing as she would ever imagine a guy she would date could be. His bright brown eyes and thick blonde hair were his best features and his angular face with a beautiful chin dimple only served to enhance his beauty. The only problem was that he was as boring as a post.
“He won’t stop talking about football huh?” Lidia asked with a hint of laughter in her voice.
“Why did you even set me up with him if you knew he was so boring?” Annie asked, “I would rather date Liam from financing.”
Lidia laughed then causing Annie to let out a slight giggle.
“I’m serious.” Annie said “You’ve ruined my night. This is the last time I agree to go out on a blind date from work.”
“You could at least try to have fun,” Lidia said
“I wish you were here, so I could strangle you.” Annie seethed.
“Too bad,” Lidia replied, “I got to go. Unlike you, I have a boyfriend, so I don’t have to go on blind dates.”
Lidia hung up and left Annie staring at her phone with a shocked look on her face.
“Last time I take her advice on anything,” Annie said tucking the phone back into her pants pocket.
She walked out of the restroom and made a beeline to her table. She could see the smug look on Dale’s face and she knew he thought they were having sex. If he thought even for a moment that he would be scoring tonight he made a terrible mistake.
“You’ve been gone so long.” He said reaching out to clasp her hand as soon as she sat down.
“Yeah, I had to take a call.” She replied pulling her hand out of his reach.
She watched the look on his face as he leaned back in his seat and she knew what was coming.
“So,” he said licking lips and making her cringe, “we should go back to my place.”
She almost choked when the words left his mouth. She wanted to tell him exactly how little she wanted to spend any time in his home, but she restrained herself and tried to keep her composure.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” She said, “I have too much work to do at home.”
The exasperated look on his face told her he was having a hard time believing she was rejecting his offer.
“Oh come on,” he said “live a little. I think we would have a great time together.”
“I know you would think that.” She replied, “but I wouldn’t be having as good a time as you.”
“You can’t know that if you never try.” He replied leaning forward and pinning her with a seductive stare she knew must have worked with other women before her.
“I think we’re done for the evening.” She replied standing and picking up her jacket.
“Are you sure?” he asked
“Yes, I’m sure” she replied
“Do you need a ride home?” he asked
“No,” she replied flashing him an uninterested smile, “I can get a taxi.”
He nodded and smiled.
“It’s your decision.” He said looking more disappointed as the time went by.
“I had a good night.” She said feebly trying to salvage some of his pride.
She knew that he was used to the women in the office falling at his feet, but she wasn’t one of them. This was a hard blow to his ego and she could tell by the look on his face that it was having a negative effect on him.
“Yeah, would be better if you agreed to come with me.” He said
“Again,” she replied, “I have much to do.”
“Got you.” He said, “do you want me to walk you out?” he asked
“Oh no.” she replied, “I have to run to the ladies’ room before I go.”
“Oh, I understand now.” He said flashing her a smile, “It’s that time of the month. It explains everything.”
She did her best to not smack him over the head, but she had to keep her composure in a room full of people.
“I am actually going to the bar to get a much-needed drink after this terrible date.” She said looking him dead in the eye, “I only said I was going to the ladies’ room to spare your feeling.”
She turned and walked out of the dining area towards the bar. She got the bartender’s attention as soon as she sat down and ordered a whiskey. It wasn’t a feminine drink, but she had been drinking it most of her adult life thanks to her father. He was her best friend and confidant and he had always started a heavy conversation with a shot of whiskey. Since then she always had a drink whenever she was having a hard day.
“Tough drink for such a beautiful girl.”
Annie looked over at the handsome man on the stool beside her and smiled.
“Beautiful girls sometimes need a tough drink.” She said
“Hey, I don’t judge.” He said.
She admired his jet-black hair which was a bit longer than most men in the corporate world wore their hair. She couldn’t help imagining what it would feel like to run her hands through it. He was handsome in a way that reminded her of the men she used to read about in her romance novels as a teenager. His angular face was perfectly chiseled, and his teeth shone as white as pearls.
“So, what’s wrong with you?” she asked
“What do you mean?” he asked looking at her with a perplexed expression.
“Alone at the bar with a face like that,” she said, “something must be wrong.”
He grinned, and she could see his eyes roaming her body. She encouraged his wandering eyes by flipping her hair back and giving him a perfect view of her cleavage. She had worn her extensions today in preparation for this date, but she now knew she should have just worn her short blonde bob and save herself the trouble. Her makeup had been plain because although she had suffered from terrible acne as a child, her skin had healed perfectly. The only exaggerated part of her look tonight was the eyeliner she had used to emphasize her green eyes.
“I could ask you the same question.” He said winking.
“I just sent my date home.” She said, “I don’t think he’s going to get a second date.”
The stranger laughed.
“His loss.” He said
Before she could respond, she heard her phone ringing and pulled it out. The caller ID told her it was Lidia. For a moment she thought of ignoring her call, but she decided to answer it and get it over with.
“Hey, where are you?” Lidia asked
“I’m still at the Liden,” Annie replied
“Oh, the date’s still going?” Lidia asked
“Nah, I’m getting a drink before I head home.” She replied
“Oh, can you come home now, I locked myself out.”
“Perfect” Annie said, “see you in a few.”
“Thanks!” Lidia shouted.
Annie looked at the stranger who sat across from her with a frown. There was so much potential here but she was not in the mood to start anything she couldn’t finish and she knew it would be bad luck if she tried to start something after the horrible date she just had.
“I better go.” She said slipping off her stool and smiling at the stranger.
“Gotta do what you gotta do.” He said
As she walked away from him she made sure
to put extra effort into swishing her hips from side to side so he’d see just what she was working with.
Chapter 2
Annie entered her and met Lidia in the Lobby. Her friend was always leaving her keys at home but, because they usually traveled together to work, they rarely had a problem of Lidia needing her keys.
“You look like you had a great time,” Lidia said as she walked over to her.
“I want you to stay a safe distance from me, Lidia.” Annie said, “or I will kill you.”
“God, it couldn’t have been that bad.” Lidia teased as they entered the elevator. Their shared apartment was on the fifth floor of the massive complex.
“Imagine the worst date you’ve ever had.” Annie said, “then multiply it by a million!”
“So dramatic” Lidia teased with a laugh.
Annie leered at her friends who continued to laugh at her expense and shook her head
“I’m never taking dating advice from you again,” Annie said.
“Oh, come on!” Lidia said “I just wanted you to get out there. You haven’t been on a date in months.”
Annie was about to correct her but then she realized her friend was telling the truth. Since leaving college she had gone straight to work for the Englaise textile company. She had never experienced great love and she honestly didn’t know what it would be like if it happened to her. She had been cautious all her life bout love because she had seen the types of things love did to people. It had driven her father to love a woman who left him and never returned, her sister to a marriage where her husband fathered a child by another woman. She had done her best all these years to avoid love and focus on her career. Recently, she had begun wondering what she would do about the family she envisioned she would as an adult was a dream that was slowly slipping away. Although she knew she didn’t need a man to have a child, she had always envisioned herself having a family as a child; she just hadn’t found a man she could trust enough with that dream.
“I don’t think I need to be dating right now anyway,” Annie said
“I don’t think you should be limiting yourself.” Lidia said, “you might be twenty-five right now but in the blink of an eye you’ll be thirty and I’ll already be married with two kids. “
“I could always come live with you and make your kids my own.” Annie teased
“Dear God, no!” Lidia said with a look of mock horror on her face “my kids will call you lonely aunt Annie. Has a ring to it.”
Annie looked at her with a horrified expression as they stepped out the elevator unto their floor.
“You wouldn’t,” she said
“I don’t think I’d have much choice when you behave like this,” Lidia said
Annie opened the door to their apartment and hurried in so she could decompress. She would have a hard day at work tomorrow and the last thing she needed before a possibly stressful day was Lidia reminding her that she was going to die alone. She had so many projects to work on with her boss.
Being an administrative secretary was hard but Alonso her boss was the sweetest old man she had ever met. He had taken his family business from a simple tailoring shop to a multimillion-dollar garment company. She assisted him in running the company, but she was realizing lately that he was assigned most of his duties to her. She was hoping he would soon retire and make one of his children take over the company. She had met his two daughters Lianne and Melissa who were beautiful and kind. They were both older than her and she was confident that they were able to learn the processes soon enough to take over after their father.
“Listen, Annie,” Lidia said coming up to her as she pulled off one of her shoes and threw it across the room, “I don’t want to pressure you. I just think you at least need to give someone a chance.”
“I know you think that, but I’d rather avoid the whole trauma altogether,” Annie replied bearing her true feelings as she had always done with Lidia.
“Think about it like this, if your father had never taken a chance with your mom, he would have never had you and he loved you and your sister more than anything in the world.”
Annie had never thought of it like that but the more she did, the more she realized that Lidia had a point. He had found some type of love from his heartbreak.
“While I can’t find a viable disagreement at the moment, I don’t feel like talking about this tonight.” She replied.
Annie walked into her room and went right to bed. If she was going to reconsider her life choices, she was in no frame of mind to do it tonight. As she drifted off she thought of the stranger she had met at the bar and the awesome night they might have had if she hadn’t been interrupted by Lidia.
Chapter 3
Annie walked into work the next day with a pep in her step. She was eager to get back to what she was good at without the distraction of a man looming over her. She walked into her boss’s office right into her own and began going over some documents. She usually did this for an hour before going in to see Alonso for his daily briefing.
An hour later she had fully gone over Alonso’s schedule and organized his business meetings for the week. She headed out of her office and into his but stopped when she heard a familiar voice. She looked at the man standing at Alonso’s desk facing away from her and thought he looked familiar, but she couldn’t put her hand on it. She went further into the office and realized that her boss was looking down at something at his desk. He looked up and saw her then smiled
“Ah, just the person I needed,” Alonso said.
Alonso was always up to something and from the look on his face she could tell today he had something special planned for her. She always wondered how he had managed to keep such a thick accent although he had lived here since his early teens.
“Hi, boss.” She said as she approached his desk.
The man whose back was turned to her didn’t move and she wondered why he was standing there. When she got to her boss’s desk she was finally able to get a good look at him. She was shocked to see the man who had been sitting at the bar the night before. She almost stuttered when she spoke but she kept her composure. She had no idea why he was there with her boss and she desperately wanted to find out what was wrong.
“Is something wrong?” she asked looking at her boss and the man who had not yet looked at her
He seemed to be entranced in a document laying on the desk before him.
“Oh dear, I haven’t made the introductions yet.” Alonso said, “Leon, this is my assistant Annie. Annie, this is my son Leon.”
Annie was so shocked she almost fell. Luckily, Leon’s hand reached out and steadied her. The heat of his touch and the intensity of his gaze threw her off yet again. She managed to steady herself just enough to take a seat and looked over at her boss who was eyeing her suspiciously. As far as anyone knew, he had no sons. She had been sure he would pass the company to his daughters but now that she looked on she realized that it was likely that this Leon was his heir.
Leon looked over at her and scrunched his browns. She knew then that he recognized her, and he smirked just a bit.
“Annie.” He said.
Her name fell off his tongue like butter and she realized she hadn’t seen him well the night before. She hadn’t noticed just how tall dark and handsome he was. He possessed the same Italian features of his father and she wondered where he had been all their lives and why he had decided to come in now.
“Delighted to meet you.” She said stretching out her hand for a handshake as she stood.
“The pleasure is all mine!” he said bringing her hand up to his lips and kissing it gently. The smooth of his lips tickled her hand and sent jolts of excitement through her body. She had no doubt that Leon would be a hit among the women in the office.
“I brought Leon here today because I am prepping him to take over the business.” Alonso said plainly, “since you know the most about how things work around here, I’m going to ask you to use h
alf your days to get him up to speed on the company processes.”
Annie wanted to protest. She wasn’t in the habit of slowing down her job for any reason and she knew that if she was going to have to teach a complete novice how to run a company, that would be a problem.
“Are you sure?” she asked looking over at Alonso, “I’ve been working with Melissa on that for a few months now. Maybe she could teach him what I’ve taught her.”
Her words were meant to remind Alonso of his other two daughters who were perfectly capable of taking over the business. The chuckle she heard from Leon assured her that he understood what she was saying.
Alonso sat back in his chair and looked up at her with furrowed brows.
“I know that.” He said in his usual somber tone, “but this is my son, he’s the one to take over and you’re the one to show him about.”
If they hadn’t been in her boss’s office she would have groaned.
“Alright,” she mumbled surrendering.
She knew there was no way she could get away from this and she was upset that her well-laid plans were suddenly off the rails.
“Will that be all?” she asked
“Yes,” Alonso said, “he will begin today, I’ll send him over a few hours from now.”
Annie placed the memos she had done up on Alonso’s table and nodded at him before walking out. She was happy he had given her the few hours because she would have to prepare herself mentally. She had nothing against the man, she just couldn’t understand why Alonso would throw his daughters under the bus for the son she had never heard anything about. He and his wife had fathered two beautiful girls in their younger days. After coming to the states, his wife had died of a rare form of cancer and he had never remarried. His daughters were beautiful women who she looked up to. The young man who stood in his office didn’t look much older than herself and she could bet he knew nothing of the business world. She would have to hatch a plan to change Alonso’s mind or God knows what would happen to the business.
