by Iona Rose
I’d watched her break out into wild, unrestrained laughter before and knew this smile wasn’t real. It didn’t reach her eyes, and it made me so very sad. I pulled her into my arms for a hug and held her there… refusing to let go.
I would never know for how long we remained together in that spot, but I was forced to loosen my hold on her when I felt her begin to stir.
Leah turned away from me without a word, and went on her way.
I stood there in the middle of the beach and watched her as she headed over to the tunnel that connected the beach to her hotel.
She went into it and then she was gone.
I couldn’t move.
I wondered again, just why I was letting her go? It had never been in my plan to have something permanent, at least not now, and there was a certain hesitation in me that I couldn’t brush away. “It’s not the right time,” I told myself.
But would it ever be? The question came back to haunt me.
I didn’t have a clue.
* * *
Leah
“I should have kissed him.”
The three of us were buckled in for the flight home, and up till this moment, I hadn’t said a word about the parting, but this regret kept repeating in my mind, and it was close to driving me crazy. I hadn’t even shed a single tear, yet these words refused to let go of me.
Tracy placed her hand atop mine.
Anne turned from her aisle seat to gaze softly at me. “Why didn’t you?”
“Who fucking knows?” I muttered not wanting to think about him or anything else for that matter that had happened in Alanya from this moment henceforth.
The pilot announced our departure, and we began to taxi down the runaway. I wore my headphones, as I slept the whole way across continents and a seeming lifetime, back to Indianapolis.
The moment I arrived back home, Cheryl greeted me at the door.
My corgi had been dropped off earlier that morning by my neighbor, Camilla, after being fed and pampered over at her house for the time that I had been gone.
Her tail was wagging as she circled me in excitement, and my eyes misted at the sight of her. I placed my bags down, lowered to the floor and allowed her to jump into my arms. “You missed me?” I asked, as she showered my face with sloppy, dog kisses.
I felt life begin to come into my heart again.
“Yes you did.” I laughed. “I missed you too, sweetheart.”
I held the puppy in my arms and for the first time in two days, believed that I would be okay.
“It was just a week,” I said aloud to myself as I petted her. “I’ll be over him in no time.”
Chapter 15
Leah
One month later
“Leah, have you seen the new Vice President?” Jeremy, our team’s Junior Illustrator asked.
The last thing I wanted right then was to pull my gaze away from the new project’s proposal request I was reading through, especially as the meeting was about to start.
“Leah,” he grumbled at my silence.
I turned a full smile ready for him. “I’m sorry,” I apologized. “I just got this brief from Henry, and I have to get up to speed before the meeting starts. I don’t know why he would send it so late to us.”
“Marlow took a few days off,” he answered, referring to our team head Henry’s secretary. “And a bunch of people also got sick on the executive floor. They’ve been out of the office for days. Apparently, a flu bug is going around.”
I lifted my head and gave him my full attention then. “What bug?”
“Norovirus-the flu. It started in the media and operations team. Mariah and Anthony are both going to be absent today too.”
I turned to see that the Content Manager and Project Managers usually favored seats in the conference room were unoccupied. “Maybe it’s only going around in their section.” I shrugged and returned to my documents. “At least, I hope it is. I can’t afford to get sick right now.”
“My cubicle is in their section,” he said dryly.
I turned an apologetic gaze to him.
“Well, you definitely won’t be able to escape it.” He shrugged. “I overheard Aarif asking Henry for a day off earlier today.”
“That’s Aarif. He never misses a chance to take a day off, so he might actually not be sick.”
“Well, I should probably take a page from his book and call in sick tomorrow,” he muttered just as the Chief Marketing Officer Bradley Miller and the acclaimed ‘new guy’ came in.
I had seen him around the building, in elevators and in passing but hadn’t paid any attention whatsoever. “That’s him right?” I leaned into Jeremy to whisper.
“Yes, that is him,” he replied with appreciation in his voice.
I turned to him with a cocked head.
His gaze, however, was lost on the suited and sturdily built man with just a dusting of grey at his temples and along his beard. He looked like Joe Manganiello’s twin, and was sinfully attractive. No wonder he had stirred quite the buzz throughout the company during the week.
“You interested?” I asked.
He scoffed in response. “If there wasn’t the chance that I’d be sued for sexual harassment I would have made a move on him tonight.”
I chuckled soundlessly under my breath. “Why tonight? What’s happening?”
He turned to me in surprise. “What’s been going on with you? You’ve been so out of it since you got back from your trip.”
I didn’t want to think at all about his comment, so I ignored him, but I still had one last question before we could no longer speak. I kept my eyes on the executives as they exchanged greetings and handshakes before settling down into their seats. “I’m guessing he brought this account along with him?”
“Earned him the prestigious position of Marketing VP. He’s our boss’s boss. Makes me want him even more.”
I smacked him with my folder just as the meeting officially began.
CMO Miller rose to introduce our new highly esteemed VP Daniel Coghlan. He narrated his accolades.
VP Daniel then rose to his feet and the meeting began. Our task was to introduce the new energy drink into the market, Vita100, a new undertaking from the enterprise that only previously dealt with energy bars. Bottles of the 3 oz drink was passed around and we all took our first taste.
The VP presented the creative brief and established the scope of works. Henry Simmons was officially appointed as Creative Director for the project.
As a Junior Copywriter, I usually didn’t bother much with which projects we were assigned per time, but given the competition we were up against like Red Bull and Monster, this seemed like quite the challenge and just what I needed to completely occupy my mind.
I kept my gaze on the VP as he spoke, surprised when more times than not, and despite the ten other people in the room, his gaze would linger on mine for too long. It made me uncomfortable, and built the doubts about having anything whatsoever to do with this account. Being seemingly noticed already at the start like this, was always a bad sign.
“Since this was a personal brief received, we currently have no other competitors but it doesn’t mean that this account is secure,” he said. “Deskia and Citizen group are also possible contenders so we need to hit this out of the park when we meet the client next Wednesday. That gives us less than a week to come up with a direction solid enough to convince them to hand this over to us.”
He paused for a moment, his eyes roving across the room before surprise-surprise, finally settling on me.
It took a miracle not to roll my eyes.
“Miss Peters?” I presume.
I exhaled heavily. I managed a smile and nodded as respectfully as I could. “Yes sir, I'm Leah Peters.
“You made great contributions to the Cass Beer account in the first quarter of the year I’ve heard. Any ideas so far on the direction for this one?”
I glanced at my boss Henry.
His gaze was encouraging.
/> So I quickly browsed through my notes. “Red Bull’s campaign in March was simple but effective. They targeted mainly students in college but they were also able to through that, increase their sales towards other age groups because most people could relate to having been students previously. So my thought process right now is to choose a very specific audience to focus on, and not just target this to the general populace. Uh… for now the message to be picked up from exhaustion or fatigue or just general life’s discouragement is more heartwarming than the usual ones of bringing out the beast inside you or the fighter inside of you. This drink feels more like an embrace than the kick you need so… yeah. Sometimes, we don’t want to fight just yet... we want to be picked up first. Red Bull gives you wings, this gives you a hug and picks you back up.”
The room went silent.
I could almost feel the eye rolls as I usually expected in these damn meetings, whether I believed what I was saying made sense or not. My consolation over my four years in this career path so far, was that I paid attention and gave my honest thoughts. This was the best I could do.
“Great insight, Miss Peters,” he said. “I’m glad to have you on this team.” He took his seat then.
CMO Miller concluded the meeting, “Hope you all will be able to bond with our new VP here over drinks tonight, and get to work in time tomorrow to begin.”
Light laughter trickled through the room.
“Have a great day,” he said, and along with the other executives, filed out of the room.
Jeremy came to my side. “Great job and grandfather doesn't seem half-bad. Think I should make a move on him?”
I turned to him, confused again.
“Marketing VP,” he explained. “He’s our boss’s boss. Makes him the grandfather.”
I shook my head at him. “He’s not gay.”
“Obviously, but he might be bi. People are all sorts of confused these days, so I better take advantage of it, and take my shot.”
“I’ll be cheering you on,” I told him. “Just don’t get sued or fired.”
“Well, you just have to keep me from having too many margaritas tonight, and I think I'll be able to keep my head on my shoulders.”
The outing was just as I imagined it would be, especially with a new boss around- stiff and tolerable at best. We headed off to a quite pricey bar downtown named Ball and Biscuit and luckily for me, they had food so my sudden craving for some spicy chicken wings briefly took me away from the group. I headed off to a shadowed section of the bar and began to dig silently into my meal when I felt someone take a seat next to me.
For a second I thought it was him.
The aura of authority and the way he approached, was too familiar, while his scent of citrus and to cedar instantly pulled my heart into my throat.
It was however, my new boss.
I still almost choked on the food.
He intervened by ordering me a bottle of water.
“I’m sorry, sir,” I apologized.
He gave me a disappointed look.
“Daniel,” I corrected myself. When I had calmed down enough to meet his gaze, a guarded but kind face awaited me.
“You’re quite the loner, Leah,” he said. “You always seem to somehow extricate yourself from group gatherings.”
I didn’t know what to make of that observation, but deep down, I knew he was right. Ever since I’d returned from my trip, going on lunch break with the others was more of a hassle than just eating mine quietly in the break room. Over the past month especially, I’d now racked up a ready arsenal of excuses to get out of anything social.
I couldn’t help it.
I wasn’t the most outgoing person before the trip, but now since I’d returned from it with wounds that were taking much longer than I’d anticipated to heal, I needed the time apart.
Today however, I had a ready excuse that seemed to be true. Perhaps it was the gradual transition of the weather from summer into the gentle chill of autumn, but I was beginning to feel aches in my body. I sure hoped it had nothing to do with the flu Jeremy had mentioned earlier. “I’m not sure if that’s accurate,” I said lightly. “But today, I can’t deny that it is the case. I feel a bit nauseous and I think maybe it has something to do with the virus that’s going around the building.”
“The flu? I’ve heard about that. Can I buy you another drink before you leave?”
“No sir- Daniel,” I quickly corrected myself.
He rose up from his seat then and placed a hand on my shoulder.
It seemed somewhat innocent, but I could tell when someone was expressing some kind of interest in me that bordered on romance. And this did not seem so pure, or maybe he was just friendly?
Either way, I remained very still.
“You can leave early,” he said. “Hope you get a good rest before tomorrow. There’s a lot of work to be done on this proposal and I’ll be expecting significant contributions from you.”
“I’ll do my best, and thank you.”
He left me.
I watched as he went over to some members of our team who stood in the corner with drinks in their hands.
I immediately finished what I could of my meal, and was out of the door in no time.
Chapter 16
Carter
“You won’t believe what just happened.”
At the unexpected and somewhat unwelcome intrusion into my office, I looked up from the reports I had been reading.
My Chief Financial Officer, Mark Garrity was beaming, his hands hooked on the straps of his burgundy suspenders that somewhat constrained his slightly protruded belly.
“Surprise me,” I said.
He took his seat opposite me. “As of ten minutes ago, David just bagged his first major account for the agency. It's not even been up to a month since we acquired Media Hive and the returns are already pouring in. I told you it was a great deal.”
I shook my head and returned to my report.
“Wait, let me guess,” he said. “Meredith already informed you.”
“I found out twenty minutes ago,” I said. “She has eyes and ears in David’s department.”
“Wow,” he said, in a tone filled with disappointment and irritation. “That secretary of yours is quite aggravating.”
His gripe made me smile. “What did she do wrong? She’s aggravating because she’s great at her job?”
“I’m great at my job too, but you don’t see me overdoing things and stealing the wind out of everyone’s sails.”
“She’s on top of everything that goes on around here.” I shrugged. “I pay her heavily for that.”
“Thankfully, she’s on everything except you,” he said. “Yet.”
I cocked my head at the blunt comment from the older man, and met his gaze.
He nodded. “I see the way she looks at you and cares for you. She’s like a tigress manning the cave and affairs of her cub. Never get involved with her. In fact, never get involved with any woman, especially now that we’re scaling so rapidly. They’ll make you soft… throw you off your game. Ruin everything.”
“You’re still not over Bethany, huh,” I said, understanding the bitterness that stemmed from his experiences with his now ex-wife.
“Will I ever be? Can you believe I'm still paying her spousal support? It's been fifteen years. We were married for only seven. Curse her. Greatest mistake I ever made.”
I smiled, my thoughts bringing up the memory of a certain pair of hazel eyes. I couldn’t stop myself from asking, “If you had to do it all over again, would you still fall in love with her? Get married to her?”
He grunted then and looked away in contemplation. “I don’t know,” he answered honestly. “She was a mistake but the five years when things were good between us, were the best of my damn life. I don’t think that anything will ever come close to topping that. Nevertheless, I’m still fucking bitter that I'm the one paying her bills. I also suspect that she’s refused to get remarried because of my inco
ming checks. I wonder how much of it she’ll want to save before she cuts me off from her life and decides to fully move on. And why the hell are we talking about Bethany?”
“You brought the subject up,” I said. “You were warning me against women in the near future.”
“Heed it. You’ll save your money and your sanity.”
He definitely wasn’t going to like what I intended to ask him next then. “I need you to handle something for me,” I said, just as he rose to his feet. “There’s this marketing agency in Indianapolis.”
“Okay…” he said, waiting for the other shoe to drop.
I picked up the file that I had concluded my analysis on and passed it over to him.
He took it and started to flip through it.
“Pivot Marketing. I want you to look into how we can have them on board.”
He took a moment to properly process what I was asking as he read through their reports and assets. “You want to acquire them? Why? They’re a small marketing agency and although they do seem to be doing fine, we don’t need to have them as part of our portfolio. I thought you were more interested in digital marketing and technological advancement for our next purchase?”
I smiled at him. “I know that we don’t need them, but it will be good to have them. And since they’re small, we have just the right resources and reach that’s well able to entice them enough to become a part of our company. That way, they can move up the ladder.”
He took his seat again, shaking his head slightly to clear it. “I’m confused. Why are you even thinking about this? We just concluded the deal on Media Hive, and if we want to bring another agency on board then my department has a list of five game changers that we could pursue right now. Why are we talking about a small marketing agency in Indianapolis? And so soon after our purchase. We can’t scale too fast or we won’t be able to milk these investments properly. We’ll crash.”
“Let’s take this as a more personal investment then,” I told him. “Whatever it’ll cost, I'll personally finance fifty percent of it, and I'll be in direct control of it for a couple of months. I want to incorporate an advertising department into it to expand its scope of services. It’ll do great.”
