by Tina Martin
He smiled, completely satisfied in every sense of the word. He was satisfied with life. With everything, and even with the success of his company, he knew that the real happiness he felt was a direct result of meeting and falling in love with this incredible woman one day during a chance meeting at a bakery on the University City Boardwalk – Gianna Jacobsen – who he wasted no time making his wife – Gianna St. Claire.
Chapter 2
The walk-in closet was its own room, but it provided him with enough space for his exquisite shoe collection, high-end neckties, expertly tailored suits, hats, watches, coats – the whole nine. And everything was neatly arranged down to his suits being organized by color. Today, he wore a navy plaid, Italian Kiton suit with a blue and white striped shirt and solid blue necktie, pairing it with his favorite pair of shiny, black Ferragamo shoes. RSC (Ramsey St. Claire) initial cufflinks with the matching tie clip and one of the silver Rolexes completed his power outfit of the day. He was a firm believer that the way a person dressed had plenty to do with how they felt on the inside, and so every day when he left for work, he looked like a million bucks.
He took his favorite briefcase – the black, leather Givenchy one – and walked into the bedroom where Gianna was still sleeping. She’d probably be out for a while since he kept her up late. He walked up to the bed, set his briefcase on the floor then leaned over to give her a light kiss on the temple, whispering, “I love you, Gianna.”
He stayed there staring at her a moment more, reminiscing about what they’d done last night and how many times they’d done it. That reminded him to leave her prenatal vitamins on the nightstand, along with a bottle of water – something he did every morning. Then he picked up his briefcase and headed downstairs.
“Good morning, Sir,” Carson, Ramsey’s butler, said when Ramsey walked into the kitchen.
“Good morning, Carson.” Ramsey took a sip of coffee that was already on the counter for him. “Ah. Delicious. I’m going to need a lot more of this to make it through the day.”
“Late night, Sir?” Carson set a small plate with an egg-white muffin on the counter in front of where Ramsey was standing.
“Something like that,” he answered. He took a bite of the muffin and chased it with a shot of coffee. He glanced at his watch. Then he took another bite. Drank more coffee. “What do you have on tap for today, Carson?”
“Maintenance for the St. Claire castle.”
Ramsey grinned. His house was huge, but he wouldn’t go as far as to call it a castle. “What kind of maintenance?”
“The carpets, for one. They will be steam-cleaned today. I scheduled a routine check for the AC and heating units as well as the backup generator. Oh, and the alarm system is being upgraded today as well.”
“Sounds like you have a busy day ahead of you,” Ramsey said.
“I’m sure you have a much busier day than I do, Sir.”
“You may be right about that. Seems I’m the busiest when I haven’t had adequate sleep.” Ramsey finished his breakfast and took the liberty of pouring himself more coffee instead of waiting for Carson to do it. “Hey, I need you to keep an eye on Gianna for me today.”
“Don’t I always, Sir?”
Ramsey saw the concern on his fifty-five-year-old butler’s face when he’d asked the question. He looked worried, almost like his job was on the line. Everything Carson did was done in a way that bordered on perfection – from his delicious meals to the way he handled the upkeep of the property – probably the reason Ramsey kept him around for so long. The man knew what he was doing. “You do, Carson, but today, I want to know when she leaves the house, where she goes and when she comes back.”
“Is there a problem I should be aware of?”
“No, there’s no problem. I just want to know where she is today. That’s all. Keep an eye on her for me will you?”
“Not a problem, Sir.”
“Good. I’ll have my phone on me, but I do have a few meetings today, so text messaging will suffice.” Ramsey gulped down the rest of his coffee then grabbed the keys for the Audi. “I’m off to the races.”
Carson grinned slightly. “Oh, by the way, Sir, for dinner we’ll be having fried chicken per Mrs. St. Claire’s request.”
Ramsey smiled. “Whatever the lady wants, she gets.”
* * *
“Good morning, Mr. St. Claire.”
Ramsey glanced over at Judy, his secretary, and offered her a quick smile.
“Good morning, Judy,” he replied and kept on toward his office. He didn’t ask her how she was, or what she did over the weekend. As far as he was concerned that was none of his business. Besides, he’d never been chatty with her or anyone else in the office besides his brothers. He liked to keep his work environment free of banter and it didn’t matter how long he’d worked with his employees. They weren’t his friends. They were employees and as long as it stayed that way, he didn’t have to worry about people getting their roles confused. When you were at work, he expected you to work. If you wanted to do anything other than that, it would have to be done on your own time. He had no qualms about sending people home. Letting people go. Hiring new talent.
“I’ll be right in with your coffee,” Judy said before he stepped into the office.
“Please, and make sure it’s the dark roast. I need an extra kick this morning.”
“You got it.”
In his office now, Ramsey set his briefcase on the desk and opened it to remove his laptop. He logged in, checked emails and opened the latest draft he’d been perfecting for the Uptown Paris project. After feedback from Basile and his team, he’d made a few adjustments to the front of the building – ones that would make the structure stand out even more so from the bank towers and high-rise apartments nearby. He leaned back in his chair with his fingers tapping on the desk, looking at the drawing but his mind wasn’t seeing it. There may as well had been a big picture of Gianna on his screen lying in bed with her belly exposed, bearing his daughter. The further along she got in her pregnancy, the more anxious he became about her. He worried more whenever she wasn’t in his sight, hence the reason he requested Carson to keep an extra eye on her, hoping to quell his anxiety. While Gianna didn’t have to work today, he still had his reserves about her being at the bakery alone. He needed to hire help as soon as possible.
To: Judy Keffer
From: Ramsey St. Claire
Subject: Ads
Judy,
Please draft up two ads…looking to hire help at The Boardwalk Bakery. Need a baker and cashier. Word the ads however you like. Starting salary for the baker, $20/hr. Cashier $12/hr. Place them in the Observer and on Indeed. Let me know if you have any questions.
Thanks,
-
RSC
___________
“Here you are,” Judy said as she entered Ramsey’s office with a coffee mug that had the company’s logo on it and motto: Where Excellence Meets Infrastructure. She set it on his desk.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
“Before you go, what meetings do I have on the calendar today?”
Judy never knew when her boss would ask, so she made it a point to get to work early every day to go over his entire schedule. That’s why she could easily answer, “You have a status meeting at nine, of course.”
He nodded. He had a status meeting every Monday at nine with the project managers and whoever else needed to be in attendance, usually his brothers, especially if they had pressing issues that needed immediate attention.
“You also have the meeting with the representative from Glasgow this afternoon.”
“What time is that one?” Ramsey asked after just having a sip of coffee.
“It’s at 2:00 p.m.”
“Good. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, Sir.”
“Hey, I sent you an email a few moments ago regarding some ads I need to be placed. If you can get to those before the end of the day, I would gre
atly appreciate it.”
“Will do.”
Ramsey looked at the drawing again. He sipped coffee while tweaking the design for the umpteenth time. As an architect, revisions are what took up most of his time, and since he wanted his designs near perfect, he didn’t mind the revision process. He welcomed it.
Again his mind drifted to the time Gianna watched him work at his home office. He even let her try a hand at a few lines and angles something he’d never allowed anyone else to do. Only Gianna.
“Excuse me, Sir,” Judy said after she tapped on the door and peeped into his office, taking him out of his reverie.
“Yes, Judy?”
“The team is waiting for you in the conference room.”
His forehead knotted. “Why there? Status meetings are usually held in my office.”
“Well, Sir, if you recall, you were going to meet with CitySites Landscaping this morning but they had to reschedule and—”
“And you didn’t move the status meeting back into my office.”
“No, I did not. My apologies, Sir,” Judy said, sounding nervous. “If you would like I’ll have the team meet you in here.”
“No. There’s no need to reshuffle everyone else when I’m the only person missing,” Ramsey said standing up, folding his laptop closed.
“Again, my apologies, Sir.”
“Don’t worry about it, Judy,” he told her. Judy had proven to be a superb secretary over the years. A few hiccups here and there wouldn’t taint her excellent service to him and his organization.
Taking his coffee along with his laptop, he walked toward the conference room. He could hear the men talking as he approached, but he wasn’t aware all of his brothers were going to be in attendance. They’re sat Royal – the company’s troubleshooter, Romulus – the person responsible for securing land for building projects and then Regal – an architect just like Ramsey. The other two men, Ralph Sheppard and Gilbert Lewis were project managers.
“Good morning, gentlemen,” Ramsey said in his morning, let’s-get-down-to-business baritone.
“What’s up, bro?” Royal asked, foregoing formalities just for the heck of it. He, as well as his brothers, knew how formal Ramsey was at work. It wouldn’t kill him to loosen up a bit – at least from their perspective – but at work, he was all business.
“Good morning,” Romulus and Regal said followed by Gilbert and Ralph.
Ramsey took a seat, opened his laptop again then looked at the Paris drawing. Getting right to it, he asked, “Regal, what’s the latest on Paris?”
“Everything is all about Paris these days,” Regal commented. “Let’s see—Basile was impressed with the preliminary building design. You’re working on the tweaks now which I assume will be ready when Basile is here next Monday to see the construction site.”
“Yes, it’ll be ready,” Ramsey said. That’s if I can stop daydreaming about my wife…
“Romulus, you were aware of Basile’s visit I hope.”
Romulus glanced up from his notes, looked at Ramsey and responded, “Yes. In fact, I would like for everyone in this room to join me for the site tour. I think Basile will be more confident about the project when he sees the collaboration of the team. This really was a team effort.”
“I like that approach, too,” Ramsey said, “So, block out some time on your calendars and plan to be at the site on Monday. Romulus, email everyone with the details and find a nice restaurant close by where we can sit down and have lunch afterward.”
“Yep. It’s already a part of the plan,” Romulus said, tapping his yellow legal pad with a pen. “I’ll make lunch reservations at Palm.”
“Perfect.” Ramsey glanced at his phone to see if there were any messages from Carson. There wasn’t which meant Gianna wasn’t up just yet. Or maybe she was up – just hadn’t made it downstairs yet. He wondered…
“Do we still have that meeting with Glasgow today?” Royal asked.
Ramsey tucked his phone in the upper left breast pocket of his suit jacket. “Yes. They’re sending one of their sales managers directly from Paris. An American guy. I’m sure he’s already in town. Let’s make sure the meeting begins promptly.”
“In your office correct?” Royal asked.
“Yes. My office.” Ramsey felt his phone vibrate against his chest. “Ralph, Gilbert—do either of you have any issues to discuss?”
“Yes,” Ralph said. “Can you make some time to check out the landscaping at the University City site, Sir?”
“Who did we use for that, Ralph?” Romulus asked.
“It was CitySites, wasn’t it?” Regal asked.
“Yes, and I think they did a good job,” Ralph said.
“Why wouldn’t they?” Royal asked. “We’ve been using CitySites for all of our landscaping projects.”
“Correct,” Ralph said, “But if you recall from our previous status meetings, I thought their work was becoming too repetitive. Every site is basically the same, so I had them switch it up from the norm for University City…wanted Ramsey to check it out to see if he liked the new style and to see if there are any design elements we can use for the Paris site.”
“Good idea,” Romulus said.
“That’s if we’re planning on using CitySites for the Paris building. Are we, Ramsey?” Regal asked.
All eyes went to Ramsey who’d been staring at his phone. He heard the conversation between the men but he was more interested in the text message he received from Carson:
Carson: Mrs. St. Claire is up...said she didn’t want breakfast, Sir. I talked her into eating a small bowl of oatmeal and blueberries.
Ramsey: Good. Thank you, Carson.
Carson: Welcome. FYI, she’s going to her sister’s place right after breakfast.
Ramsey: She’s already dressed and ready?
Carson: She is, Sir.
Ramsey: Okay, thanks.
The conference room was quiet except for the tick-tock of the oversized clock above the projector screen.
“Ahem,” Regal said, hoping to garner his brother’s attention.
Ramsey put his phone away and said, “Yes, we are using CitySites for the Paris building. Ralph, let’s plan to meet at the UC site Thursday morning at ten. Will that work for you?”
“That’ll be fine with me.”
“Good. I’ll have Judy put it on the calendar. Anything else?”
“Not for me,” Regal said.
When Ramsey didn’t see any indication that the others had issues to discuss, he said, “All right. Meeting adjourned. Thanks, fellas.”
Ramsey got up, took his laptop and was the first to leave the conference room.
Royal caught up with him before he could reach his office and asked, “Hey, you good?”
“Yes, I’m good. Why wouldn’t I be?”
“You seemed a little distracted back there, and I’m sure it wasn’t my imagination.”
“I’m good,” Ramsey said again. When he came up to Judy’s desk, he said, “Judy put a meeting on the calendar for Thursday from ten to eleven with Ralph Sheppard. Meeting location is the University City site.”
“Okay,” Judy said, scribbling notes.
“And block out my calendar from eleven to five after that. I’ll be off that afternoon.”
“Will do, Sir.”
“Thanks, Judy,” he told her and continued on to his office with Royal trailing behind him.
“How are you doing, Ram?” Royal asked, taking it upon himself to close the door behind himself as he entered Ramsey’s office.
“I’m great. What about you? Any pertinent issues we need to discuss?” Ramsey asked.
“Ram, come on man. I know you’re all work and no play at the office, but it won’t kill you to loosen up a little.”
“You know how I feel about discussing our personal lives at work.”
“But it’s not that much of a distraction. Besides it’s just me sitting in your office right now so you don’t have to worry about the other employees actual
ly finding out you’re a real human. Your secret is safe with me.”
Ramsey glanced across his massive desk at his brother. These days, he felt closer to his brother, Royal, when before the two always butted heads, especially when it came to work but since Royal married Gemma, they had something in common. They were the only St. Claire brothers who were married and making it extra special was the fact that they married sisters – Ramsey to Gianna and Royal to Gemma.
“Okay. I’ll bite,” Ramsey said. “How are you treating my peanut?”
A smile came to Royal’s face. Peanut was Ramsey’s nickname for Gemma. “Good. She’s...” Words escaped him as he searched for the most magnificent ways to describe her. “Can I just say that I never thought I could be as happy as I am right now?”
Ramsey smirked. “You got it bad, huh?”
“I do. I’m not even going to lie about it. I am head over heels in love with Gemma.”
“That’s good. She’s good for you. It still baffles me how hard you fell for her. When I told you to watch after her when she was at the hospital, I didn’t know you would end up asking for her hand in marriage.”
Royal thought back to when he met Gemma. She was sick but beneath what cancer had threatened to do to her, she fought with all her might and chose life. And she was full of life – ready to live. So was he. “Yeah. You made a love connection and wasn’t aware of it. She’s my heart.”
“That’s a wonderful feeling isn’t it?” Ramsey asked. It’s the same way he felt about Gianna.
“It is…makes life so much more enjoyable.” Royal stretched and wished he hadn’t left his coffee on his desk. “How’s life when you’re expecting a little one?”
Ramsey couldn’t mask the smile that came to his face if he wanted to. “It’s nothing short of bliss. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve imagined holding my baby girl and loving her as much as I love her mother.”
