by Adele Huxley
“No, it sounds right up my alley, actually. It’s what we’re here for, right?” She realized she was still holding a full plate of food but her hunger had disappeared the moment Landon touched her. She set the plate down beside the window, took a deep breath, and tried to compose herself. If only her stomach would stop doing that weird flutter!
“Oh wait, StyleSpur—” he said leaning on his back leg. “You’re based in New York, right?”
“Midtown Manhattan.”
“No shit. Parker Jarvis is your CEO isn’t he?” He took a step closer, his eyebrows furrowed, and dramatically looked her up and down from each side.
“What is it? What’re you doing?” she laughed nervously, smoothing her skirt.
“I’m just checking to see if you actually have an asshole magnet stuck to you somewhere. Between our friend Elliot and Parker, you seem to easily attract them.”
“Are you saying you’re an asshole?” Lauren said, finally feeling like she had a chance to gain the upper hand conversationally.
“Not at all. I was attracted to you for a completely different reason.” His steady gaze nearly melted her. He was confident without being cocky, sure of himself without being abrasive. He smiled softly realizing he’d left her flustered and continued. “I’ve met Parker before, a few times. He’s quite the character. How long have you worked there?”
“I was actually their first hire, so just over three years.”
“Pretty and the patience of a saint then. I’m genuinely impressed. Even Parker’s own family can’t stand him for that long.”
“He’s uh,” Lauren paused searching for the right words, “pretty particular, yes.”
“He’s a sexist dick head but I appreciate your diplomacy,” said Landon. He scratched the back of his neck absentmindedly, tempting Lauren to bit her lip. I am so glad I didn’t leave early, Lauren thought.
Completely wrapped up in their conversation, Lauren hadn’t noticed that the crowd was thinning out. People were starting to trickle away from the lunch and grab seats for the next class, something Landon seemed to realize at the same time and checked his watch.
“Ah, nearly time for me to start.” He took her hand in his and said, “It was a pleasure meeting you, Lauren. I hope to see you in the crowd.”
“Th-thank you, you too,” she stammered. With a parting smile, he left her in the quickly emptying room. She took another deep breath and let it out slowly, her pounding heart finally slowing. For moments she stood, her mind reeling until she realized she’d have to hurry if she wanted to grab a seat in time to watch his presentation.
4.
The small, bustling auditorium felt claustrophobic and irritating. Networking and schmoozing continued in the aisles, overly happy expressions plastered on nearly every face. Lauren paused in the doorway and scanned for empty seats, briefly considering just standing out of the way in the back. A bank of bright lights illuminated the stage ahead, a single microphone stand waiting. Not used to high heels, her aching feet screamed for relief. Who knows when I’ll have another chance to sit down.
As she weaved around the small groups, a voice rang out, “Lauren!” She ignored it, assuming that obviously they were calling for another Lauren but the voice was so insistent she felt compelled to look. Glancing to the middle section of the auditorium, she did a double take. There was Sahra, hands cupped to the sides of her mouth, shouting for Lauren’s attention. When they made eye contact she jumped up and waved.
“Lauren! Over here! You can sit here!” she exclaimed. A lump grew in Lauren’s throat as she picked her way through the crowd back to the center. Of course she’s here, she thought sardonically. Let’s see how I make an ass out of myself this time.
Sahra shooed a young girl out of the seat next to her as Lauren sidestepped across laps and legs to reach her.
“Move, just move!” she yelled at the young girl. “God, you’re so slow and useless.”
“Where do you want me to go?” the girl squeaked. “Don’t you want me to take notes?”
“Ugh, just go somewhere else and take the damn notes. As long as you’re in the same room I think you’ll be alright.” Sahra rolled her eyes at Lauren and said, “Interns. Sometimes I think it’s my punishment for not wanting children. At least infants aren’t as needy.” The young girl flinched as she scurried away, her arms full..
“Fancying seeing you again,” Lauren said with a forced smile. Sahra threw her arms around her as if they best friends.
“I’m so glad you’re here,” Sahra said, pulling back and grinning. “These things bore the hell out of me, but now that you’re here I can finally have some fun!”
The two girls sat. Without warning, Sahra reached for Lauren’s chest, grabbing and reading the badge around her neck. They should just staple the things to our foreheads when we come in, it’d save time, Lauren thought.
“Ohhh, look at you Miss Lead Programmer. These events are a little above your pay grade, aren’t they? All this boring investing and funding stuff doesn’t really concern programmers.” She had a way of speaking that just barely skirted insulting.
“Well, not usually but we’re a small team. Everyone plays an important role in the future of our company,” Lauren said trying to remain diplomatic. “I didn’t get a chance to ask you last night. What are you doing for work?”
“I’m at Morowitz Ventures,” she said smugly.
“Wow, they’re huge,” Lauren replied legitimately impressed. Morowitz was one of the most difficult capital firms to score a meeting with. They had a sterling reputation. Any company lucky enough to secure funding from them was essentially a guaranteed success.
“I know, right? Score one for Sahra,” she laughed. “I’m their senior technology analyst, which is good. To be honest, I love it, right? But I really want to be in acquisitions. It’s so much more fun than staring at code all day. Like I have to tell you, right?” she said playfully slapping her on the knee.
The lights dimmed and a balding man walked to the microphone. As the crowd hushed and took their seats, he started, “I hope you’ve all had a great day so far at the Second Annual MashMeet. Now, we’ve got quite the treat for you. Our next speaker, Landon DeWitt, is the founder of Inspiration Partners. Entrepreneur Magazine just granted the firm with the coveted Golden Goose award. As if that wasn’t enough, Landon has been listed in various top 30 under 30 lists more times than I can count. He’s here to tell us what he looks for and, more importantly, what you should look for in a partner.”
Landon casually walked up the steps at the side of the stage as the crowd applauded and Lauren’s breath caught in her throat. Sahra elbowed her and said, “If every speaker looked like him I might actually bring myself to pay attention, right?”
Safe in the cloak of darkness, Lauren took the opportunity to let her eyes drift over his body. She sunk low in her seat, crossing her legs. It felt voyeuristic, dirty. Landon was smartly dressed, his light blue shirt sleeves rolled up to his elbows. His tailored trousers snuggly fit his slender frame. Lauren had to admit, she loved the look of a fit man in business clothes. He moved comfortably around the stage as he spoke and Lauren found herself more than just attracted to him. She was fascinated, drawn. He was intelligent, driven, and obviously well-respected.
She made a valiant effort to take notes during the first twenty minutes of his presentation but found her mind wandering too much. She watched his lips and wondered what it would be like to kiss them, watched him gesture with his hands and remembered what they felt like on her back. There was something so unfamiliar and sexy about his confidence. As the lights came up and Landon started taking questions from the audience, Lauren realized the presentation had excited her more than she’d realized. She shifted in her seat, the wetness between her legs betraying her lack of concentration. Glancing at her notebook, she was shocked she’d taken as many notes as she had. I doubt any of them make sense.
Sahra, on the other hand, had spent most of the presentation alter
nating between texting, playing games on her BlackBerry, and snoozing slumped in her chair. Lauren hoped she’d might be able to sneak away but after the Q&A session was completed, the auditorium burst into loud applause, the boisterous crowd stirring her sleeping neighbor awake.
“Oh wow, I don’t know how I’m gonna make it through the rest of the day,” she said catching a yawn with the back of her hand.
“Yeah, I could use some coffee but I thought it was good. Really informative but you probably know everything he was talking about, of course,” she said with more of a bite than she’d intended. Sahra glanced down at Lauren’s notebook and chuckled.
“It’s not college anymore. I don’t need to copy your notes.” She looked around and spotted the young girl from earlier two rows in front of her. “Elsie. Elsie!” She draped herself over the man in front of her and pushed the girl on the shoulder. “Elsie, show me what you took down.”
The startled girl spun around and handed her a notepad. Sahra glanced at it and from the little Lauren could see, it looked nearly like a full transcription in shorthand.
“Elsie, what is this shit? I can’t even read it.”
“My name is Chelsea and I’ll write it out fully when we get back to the office. I’ll get it to you as soon as I can,” the girl replied, her face turning red. Sahra tossed the pad of paper back with a huff.
“Whatever. Let’s go grab a coffee, I think they have refreshments set up outside. I need to wake up.”
A large crowd had formed again, lured by free caffeine, danishes, and the chance to hand out twenty more business cards to people who were just going to throw them out. As they weaved through the clusters of conversations, Sahra stopped to say hello to people here and there. Lauren just couldn’t find a good opportunity to slip away.
“You seem to know lots of people here.”
“Oh well, you know. I know faces and they mostly know me. Working at Morowitz is kind of like being a celebrity in these circles.”
Once they’d gotten their drinks, Lauren found herself unable to escape Sahra’s grasp. She managed to thwart her every attempt to leave. As Lauren stood listening and nodding to her she thought, Every sentence begins with ‘I’. ‘I did this’ and ‘I know her’. Amazing how much one person can change over only a few short years. Suddenly, Sahra broke off mid-sentence, looked over Lauren’s shoulder and said loudly, “Landon, loved it. Just loved it.”
And then, there he was.
“Sahra, so glad you enjoyed it. How’s Murray doing? Keeping you busy, I hope.”
She stepped forward slightly and touched his arm, subtly boxing Lauren out of the conversation. “Oh you! He’s good. Just got back from Seattle. Things are really popping up there, though I don’t have to tell you that.”
Lauren didn’t know where to look or what to do. It was clear Sahra had no intentions of including her in the conversation or even introducing them. Landon caught her eye briefly and raised an eyebrow but Sahra wasn’t letting him get a word in edgeways. He finally cut her off and spoke directly to Lauren, speaking almost over Sahra’s head.
“Lauren, what did you think of the presentation. I hope you got something out of it?” Lauren felt a blush rising as her mind raced back to the indecent thoughts she’d been having as she’d watched him speak.
“Oh, how rude of me!” Sahra exclaimed. “Landon, this is my dear friend Lauren Kemp.”
“We’ve met,” he replied not taking his eyes from hers. Sahra’s face twisted briefly with that information but quickly recovered.
“I thought it was great. Took lots of notes. It was really interesting,” she said patting her notebook. God, could you be a bigger dweeb?
“Listen, I hate to run but I need to mingle. I’d love to talk to you more.” He pulled out his phone and asked, “What’s your number?” Lauren nervously sputtered the numbers out, half afraid she’d forget them. Her phone buzzed in her purse and he smiled. “There, now you have mine too.”
“Of course, you’ve still got mine, right Landon?” said Sahra.
“It was great meeting you. We’ll speak soon,” he said to Lauren, his golden brown eyes holding hers before turning away.
The two girls stood speechless as he walked away, Lauren enjoying Sahra’s shocked silence for once.
“So, uh, I think I’m gonna take off,” Lauren finally said after a moment. “It was really great running into you here, though.”
“Oh, yeah, totally.” She was slowly regaining her composure. “I’m probably gonna head out too. You’ve got my card. We definitely need to get together before you go.”
“Sure, of course,” Lauren said before waving goodbye. It wasn’t often she got to feel smug but she was certainly enjoying it this time.
5.
“‘Landon DeWitt is Silicon Valley’s model entrepreneur,’” Ali read in a newscaster voice. “‘His poise in the boardroom is matched only by his poise on the catwalk.’ Then there’s a picture of him at some charity fashion show.” Ali turned the laptop around so Lauren could see the screen. The photo showed Landon in a tight shirt and designer jeans standing at the end of a small stage. It could have easily been a modeling shot, his white smile beaming into the crowd.
“That’s him,” she tried to say casually. She was sitting at the desk in their hotel room as Ali lounged on the bed.
“And he came up to you?”
“Be nice! You don’t have to act so surprised.”
“Seriously Wren, he’s ridiculous,” she said spinning the laptop back. “He’s rich, Calvin Klein model gorgeous, and does charity work. Not even court-ordered charity work.”
“And he’s smart. He gave one of the best talks of the day...from what I heard when I could focus,” she said slyly.
“I applaud even that effort. So wait, tell me again. He saved you from some creep and then shut down Missy Miss right in front of you? Then he just rode away into the sunset?”
“Pretty much.”
Lauren’s phone buzzed on the table, causing her to jump.
“It’s him, isn’t it?” Ali said bouncing to the edge of the bed with excitement. “What’d he say? Did he ask you to marry him? You’ll make me the maid of honor, right? I practically set you two up.”
“Stop!” Lauren laughed. “It’s just Parker.” Ali’s face dropped comically. She slid down the slippery bedspread to the floor, landing in a heap.
Lauren read the text a few times and still couldn’t make sense of it. She read it aloud.
“‘Just got the call. You’re doing better than I expected out there, keep it up. I want a meeting after your flight Monday. Faith is taking care of everything.’” Lauren frowned. “What’s he talking about? We’re flying home tomorrow.”
“Maybe he sent it to the wrong person?”
“I suppose...lemme ask Faith what’s going on.”
Hey Faith, just got a text from Parker. Can you confirm our flights for tomorrow please? He’s confusing me :)
Before she’d even had a chance to set the phone down on the desk it started ringing. Thinking it was Faith calling her back, she swiped to answer, not checking the number.
“Hey. What’s going on over there? I told you the office would fall apart without me.”
“Oh, I’m sure it is,” a deep voice responded. With a gasp, Lauren wrenched the phone from her face and checked the number. Area code 415...
“Sorry, I thought you were someone else,” she tried to recover, mind still searching to locate the voice.
“I figured since I got your number at a business event I didn’t have to be coy and wait a day before calling. I’m glad I didn’t since apparently you were meant to fly out tomorrow.”
Lauren was staring at Ali when she realized who the caller was. Her eyes wide, she mouthed, It’s him!
“Who?” she whispered. Lauren wildly pointed at the laptop. Ali threw her hands in the air in a silent cheer.
“Lauren, are you there?” Landon asked.
“Sorry, yes, I’m here.”
“Good. So, the limo should be there in about an hour. I hope that gives you enough time for you and your friend to pack up.”
“Wait, what? What limo?”
Ali jumped to her feet, hands clamped over her mouth in excitement.
“Ah, your office probably hasn’t gotten in touch with you yet. I thought East Coasters were supposed to move fast. New York minute and all that. I just got off the phone with Parker and arranged for you to stay out here a couple more days. I understand StyleSpur is looking for Series B funding and I thought we could use the extra time to talk things through.”
“Okay, that sounds great but why do we have to pack our bags? We already have a hotel room.”
Hearing that, Ali jumped up and down, flapping her hands like a flightless bird trying to take off. Lauren turned her back and covered her other ear with her free hand.
“I was already on my way out of the city when the idea struck me so I figured, why turn back when I can bring you up here with me.”
“And where exactly is ‘up here’?”
“I’m at my little place in Sonoma. Plenty of spare rooms, great restaurants around here. You and your friend are welcome to stay over the weekend. I have plenty of work to do so it’ll feel more like a vacation than business, I promise. Plus, I’ve got a nice little barbecue planned for the fourth.”
“It’s a little presumptuous, don’t you think?” Lauren felt a bit put out. She didn’t like being passed around like a commodity, plans made without any of her input.
“I’m giving you the opportunity. It’s completely your decision whether you take it or not. I have to go but I hope I see you pulling up in a couple of hours. Take care, Lauren.”
She hung up the phone and stared blankly at the screen until it went dark.
“I swear, I’m gonna straight up slap you if you don’t tell me what’s going on.”
Lauren said in a nearly monotone voice, “He called the office and arranged for us to stay over the weekend at his house in Sonoma. A limo is coming to pick us up in an hour if we want to go. Apparently he wants to go over stuff for StyleSpur. Oh, and he’s having a party for the fourth.”
