Romantic Promises (Alluring Promises Series, #2)

by Baker, Janice

  Well, his more so than mine. He is extremely busy since he is currently doing his residency in the emergency room. Charles is going to be the best cardiac surgeon in the country and will join my father’s practice after his residency. I’m very proud of him, as are my parents. They absolutely adore Charles.

  I received a text back saying he would have only about twenty minutes to grab a quick bite and to meet him at the café, just down the street from the hospital where he works. I normally don’t mind driving the fifteen minutes to get there just to see him. The traffic I encountered today tells a different story and I tried my best to keep calm as I maneuvered my car through it.

  I finally arrived five minutes late, but glad I would be able to see Charles. Sometimes there are weeks we don’t get to see each other because of his hectic schedule. I walked in and spotted his chestnut wavy hair and dazzling smile. He was already eating lunch… next to Amanda. Amanda, the amazingly skinny doctor who is also doing her residency with Charles.

  Amanda is sort of a hot button in our relationship. She started the same time as Charles and he spoke very highly of her. A lot. So much that jealousy got the better of me and I started several fights about how he works with her all the time and eats with her all the time. I continually felt foolish as he reminded me that they have a lot in common and so much to talk about since they are both interns and both have their specialty in the same field. Charles made sure to try to tell me that just because they are together all the time doesn’t mean anything beyond a professional relationship.

  He also tries to tell me that he prefers my curvy womanly body instead of her stick thin boyish body. Being a woman, that didn’t really make me feel any better since I know she doesn’t have to work out to fit into cute clothes, whereas I feel like I gain ten pounds, just by looking at ice cream.

  I took a deep breath and smiled in an attempt to fight my jealous thoughts and at least appear confident. I walked over and gave him a kiss and said a friendly hello to Amanda before going up to the counter to order my sandwich. I came back to the table and sat as close as I could next to Charles. They had already ordered their food and were eating. Side by side. My stomach dropped with that dreaded jealous feeling. I pushed it aside, not wanting another fight with Charles about this.

  I smiled pleasantly at her. “How are things going, Amanda?” I asked as politely as possible.

  “Great, they are going great. How are things in the human resources field?” I wasn’t sure if my mind was trying to pick up anything annoying or if her tone in that question really did have a sarcastic undertone to it.

  “Great. Very good, thank you.” I found myself at a loss for words as I tried not to stare at her dark brown hair, which was pulled back haphazardly into a ponytail today. Normally, she looks more put together and I straightened my posture feeling a little better about myself that my hair looked perfect today.

  I started to twirl my engagement ring around my finger. I have a tendency to do that when I’m feeling inadequate or nervous. I used to do it with the ring my grandmother had given me on my right hand, but now that I have a huge engagement ring, my fingers found that ring more appealing to twirl. Charles sweetly covered his hand over mine, knowing my habit. I smiled over to him.

  “So, when is the date? Did you two set the wedding date yet?” Amanda asked as she took a bite of her salad. Her very healthy salad. Suddenly I cursed myself for ordering a sandwich. The Reuben sandwich looked so yummy when I ordered it, but all of a sudden I realized how fattening it would be. I was glad it hadn’t arrived yet.

  I looked over to Charles and smiled. “We still haven’t set the date. His schedule is so difficult with his residency, we might just wait until after.”

  Amanda nodded and continued to chew her bite. She swallowed and then quipped, “Well, you know what they say – don’t wait too long or you just won’t do it at all.” The smile I had on my face dropped quickly and Charles gave my hand another reassuring squeeze.

  I leaned forward, unsure of why she said that, “Who says that?” And then I realized I sounded desperate so I added with a small smile, “I mean, who are ‘they’?” I gave a fake chuckle, but really inside I was beginning to wonder what she was trying to insinuate. Not to mention, I noticed the quick eye glance between Charles and Amanda as she said that. Just then, my sandwich was brought over by the waitress.

  “Honey, you shouldn’t have ordered that. It always upsets your stomach. Remember the last time you ordered that?” He rolled his eyes and then glanced towards Amanda while he whispered, “She was in the bathroom most of the evening.” I glanced down at my engagement ring and started to twirl it. Now I really felt stupid for ordering the Reuben.

  I gave a weak smile, not looking up and meekly admitted, “Uhh, that’s right. I forgot. It just looked so good on the menu.”

  Charles gave me a small touch on my arm and then wiped his mouth with a napkin. “Well, I’m so sorry lunch was so short, but we have to get back already. Gotta make rounds,” He said as he stood up and kissed my forehead. Amanda stood up also and gave me a small smile.

  “It was great to see you again. Enjoy your Reuben.” She seemed to say it in a nice way, but I’m certain she didn’t mean it as such. All I could do was nod as I watched the two of them walk out of the café. As I sat there by myself. With my Reuben sandwich.

  My phone rang and I hoped it was my roommate and best friend, Aubrey. It wasn’t. It was Mom. My day just keeps getting better, I thought to myself as I answered, faking a cheerful voice, “Hi, Mom.”

  “Hello, Vanessa.” She greeted me with her condescending tone. “I was hoping you and Charles could meet at the club Sunday night for dinner. We are hoping to pin you both down on a date for the wedding.”

  “Mom, I already told you that we’re probably going to wait until after his residency. He’s much too busy right now.” I glanced down at my Reuben and my mouth watered instantly. I decided to take a small bite, making sure to chew quietly.

  Food always comforted me and right now, talking to my mom, I needed comfort food. Not to mention seeing Charles walk out with Amanda and being so happy to get back to work with her also added to my “need.”

  “That’s nonsense. Your father and I were married during his residency. Although we didn’t have a honeymoon until after, we still managed just fine.” My mom retorted, dismissive of my response.

  My father is a surgeon and she wanted me to marry a doctor or lawyer immediately after college. I completely embarrassed her at their country club by pursuing an HR career. I was told it was “beneath” them. She was in seventh heaven when Charles proposed to me. Dad was thrilled because he had watched Charles through his medical schooling and cannot wait to add him to their practice.

  “Yes, but you two didn’t have the huge wedding you’re planning for Charles and me,” I countered as I picked a small piece of crust off my sandwich and popped it in my mouth.

  “Well then, just let me do all the planning like I wanted to.” I shook my head as if she could see me through the phone.

  “No, no, Mom, I want to plan my own wedding.” I was going to try to dig my heels in on this matter for as long as possible.

  “You don’t know the first thing about planning a wedding, much less the guest list that needs to be compiled. I sent over my first draft of who needs to attend and you still haven’t responded.”

  “I didn’t respond because your list is over two hundred guests. That’s not even including Charles’ family or my guest list for that matter.” Not that I had a huge guest list, but I still needed to get my point across. I wanted a small wedding. It seemed that everyone else, including Charles’ family, wanted a huge one. His mother was constantly trying to plan the wedding as well. I was actually a little glad we were putting it off until after his residency, which might be another two years.

  “Regardless of the time frame, I still want to go ahead and book the venue. There is a waiting list, but if we plan ahead I’m sure we can get the
country club on the perfect date.” I rolled my eyes because I cannot stand their country club. All their friends and acquaintances were always looking down at me because I wanted to pursue a career instead of getting married. When Charles proposed, I was actually “spoken” to again without the evil glances. The fact that we’re not married yet, still garners those glances. I was glad Charles was becoming a doctor so I could say I at least married someone with a more prestigious profession.

  I decided I needed to get off the phone with her before I said something I would probably regret. “Mom, I’m sorry, I didn’t realize the time. I really need to get back to the office. There’s so much traffic today.” I was glad she accepted that and I was able to hang up the phone without getting into any type of argument. No one in my family was happy that I have a career. I still don’t understand how I had the courage to go after a profession. My entire life, marrying either a doctor or lawyer was drilled into my head.

  I asked the waitress wrap up my Reuben so I could eat it back at the office. Sitting in the café by myself was too depressing anyway. At least at the office I could close my door and stuff my face while vacillating about my overbearing mom and my fiancé and his very pretty co-worker.

  I was pleased to finally be able to park in my own reserved parking space. I returned to my desk and closed the door, relieved to be alone with my own miserable thoughts. I unwrapped my sandwich and took a drink from my diet soda, needing some caffeine to get me through the rest of the day.

  I reviewed my schedule and the action items I needed to complete. I thought about calling Ms. Leonard to inform her that she would not be employed by our company. That might give me a little bit of satisfaction. Maybe my day would pick up after I make that call.

  I took a huge bite of my sandwich as I thought about Charles and Amanda. Annoyingly, they actually made a very cute couple, I thought to myself as I tried to chew on the enormous bite I had taken. That bite took ‘stuffing my mouth’ to a whole new level as the dressing dripped down my chin. I held the sandwich, debating on going ahead and stuffing my mouth further or wiping the dressing that dripped down my chin, when my office door flew open. I dropped my sandwich and tried to chew faster as I grabbed a napkin and looked up to see who stormed into my office.

  Mr. Williams. Jerk. His expression of smug surprise and delight from seeing me in such a gluttonous state made my blood boil. And all I could do was try to chew the rest of my food as I wiped my mouth.

  His crude smirk showed exactly what he was thinking. “Now that’s what I call a sandwich. That looks really good, Ms. Hargrave. Is that a Reuben?” He actually seemed a little too delighted in my choice of sandwiches. Unfortunately, all I could do was nod as I continued to try to chew and swallow the huge amount of food in my mouth. I cursed myself for taking such a huge bite.

  He motioned to the corner of his mouth with his index finger, letting me know that I had not fully wiped away the dressing from my mouth. “I love Reubens, but I can’t eat them that often.” He leaned in and lowered his voice, “Gives me the runs.” He scrunched up his face as he said that, which reminded me of what Charles said earlier and just intensified how annoying Mr. Williams is to me.

  I finally swallowed the last of the food I had in my mouth and asked, “Is there a reason you came barging into my office without knocking, Mr. Williams?”

  “Yeah, actually, I wanted to see if you hired anyone yet as my admin.” Then he gave me a cool smile. God, I hate that he’s so good looking. My heart actually skipped a beat, which angered me even more that my own body reacted to him.

  I faked a smile, knowing he was hoping Ms. Leonard would be his admin. I couldn’t wait to burst his happy little bubble. “Actually, I haven’t had anyone qualified yet. I want to make sure you have the help you require in order to be the best Vice President of Inside Sales, as possible,” I said smugly with another fake smile.

  “Oh I see. Thank you very much. What about the candidate you interviewed yesterday? She mentioned she was interviewing for the admin position.”

  HA! I practically shouted to myself. I knew it.

  I quickly responded, “She wasn’t qualified for the position.”

  His brows pulled together. “Oh? Can I see her résumé?” He asked as he stepped into my office and closed the door behind him.

  “Of course, Mr. Williams.” I offered as I opened the file on my desk.

  As I handed the file to him he gave me a cute smile as his eyes quickly met mine. “Matt, remember? Call me Matt, please.” My heart skipped a beat just from his quick gaze. Then I watched as he reviewed her résumé. I looked down and began to wrap up my sandwich and take a quick drink of my soda.

  He pulled his brows together as if he were concerned. “It looks like she worked at an internship before she graduated. I’m sure she’s qualified from working there.” He placed the résumé back on my desk, turning it so I could view it as he pointed to the internship listed.

  I returned his fake smile and pointed out, “Then why didn’t they hire her?”

  He jerked his head up, the corner of his mouth pinched back as if it were a stupid question. “Probably, because they wanted something for free. That’s why companies offer internships – to get free workers.” Then he pointed back to her résumé, changing his expression to a small smile. “It looks like she worked really hard in school too. I’m sure she could use a break to get her first job.”

  I paused and stared at him for a couple of seconds. He seemed to really be pushing for her and I was positive yesterday wasn’t the first time he had met her. “You know a lot about her résumé for just glancing at it. Do you know her, by any chance?” I asked as I pursed my lips together.

  I could tell by the change of expression on his face, he knew her very well. His eyes softened and that corner of his mouth turned up, a small adorable dimple I hadn’t noticed before formed. My heart sank for some reason and I couldn’t pin point if it was jealousy over him pushing for the job for her or because he knew her so well. I pushed away my thoughts as he answered me.

  “I think I’ve met her a couple times, maybe.”

  Bingo. I’m sure he’s seen her dance as a stripper. “Did you help her with this résumé?” My eyebrows were raised and I wasn’t sure if I really wanted to know the answer.

  He gave a small chuckle. “I may have given her a few pointers, that’s all.”

  I nodded my head, “Yeah, I bet you did.”

  He pulled his eyes together and then snapped at me, “You want to ask me something? Ask it.”

  “I’m just saying that we can’t go around hiring strippers.” I went ahead and let him know that I know her little secret before I added, “It’s morally against our policy.”

  He stood up straight and crossed his arms across his chest. His happy go lucky attitude was completely gone and he was completely agitated. “Really. Where the heck does it say that in our company policy? Show it to me. Pull it out right now.” He demanded as arrogantly as possible. All bets were off with him and he was really angry now.

  Shit. He called me out and I don’t have anything to prove to him. “I don’t have time for this right now. I have another interview coming in. Now if you’ll excuse me.” I pointed to the door in an effort to get him out of my office and away from the fact that I have nothing to show him.

  He took a seat and sat back, his muscular arms still crossed on his chest. He stared straight into my eyes and smugly asked, “Why don’t you want to hire her?”

  I made a disgusted face before pointing out the obvious as I pretended to straighten up my desk. “She’s a stripper,” I bluntly stated as I took a stack of files from the corner of my desk and organized them, slamming the bottoms onto my desk. Unfortunately, a file folder slit into the palm of my hand causing a paper cut. It hurt like hell and I tried my best not to look at it or react to the pain searing through my palm.

  He huffed. “She was a stripper. She’s smart. I thought you’re that type of business woman that make
s sure women take over the corporate world. You know, rising women to the top and all. You’ve judged her now.”

  My eyes flew back to his as I scoffed, “I’m not judging her.”

  He stood up and placed both knuckles on the edge of my desk and glared into my eyes as he leaned in. He lowered his voice slightly to make his point to me. It was more of a low growl because I could tell he was really trying to drive his point across to me. “Yes, you are. Here’s a girl who’s trying to do something better with her life and you’re not giving her a fair chance because of whatever reason.” He stopped and that same corner of his mouth turned up into a smirk. “Are you jealous of her or something?”

  I couldn’t hide my disgusted look that he would even think I’d be jealous of a stripper. I leaned forward meeting his expression as I replied, “So, because she doesn’t have the qualifications needed in order to be your Administrative Assistant, you’re going to throw some stupid male response in my face that I’m jealous? You are very full of yourself, Mr. Williams.”

  He pulled back slightly and crossed his arms again, smiling. “Then give me one good reason, besides her bad career choice, why she shouldn’t be hired.”

  I practically spat out the obvious, “She lacks technical skills and previous experience as an assistant.”

  His smile brightened and he shook his head briefly. “Everyone needs to start somewhere. How the hell are you supposed to get experience if no one gives you that first break?” I hated that he had a reasonable point.

  Done. I was done with this stupid little tiff we were having. Tired of him trying to get his way and I just wanted him out of my office with his stupid smug attitude. I stood up and placed my fists on my desk, like he did previously, and leaned in. Of course as soon as I did that, his cute little eyebrow whipped up and a half smile crept over his face. “Fine. You want her as your admin without prior experience, you’ve got it.” I watched his eyes graze over my body and tried to ignore the excitement that started to well up inside of me. I took a deep breath to get my message through to him and hopefully get him out of my office. “But don’t come crying to me when she can’t figure out how to prepare your sales reports and data. You won’t get another admin.”