by AJ Riley
What was it he was going to offer her? Another vacation with the chance to see if they could make something between them work? Hell, he didn’t even live here on the island. For all he knew they could live on opposite ends of the country. Then what could he offer her? He loved her there was no question of that, but could he uproot his entire life to be closer to her?
With a resounding yes rolling around in his head, he turned and strode toward the door.
Armed with the information he needed he delved into trying to find her. Any trace of her. He just needed a hint at how to go about getting to her. Growling with frustration, he slammed his hand against his desk. Just when he was about to give into temptation and toss his computer across his office there was a quick knock on his office door and Greg stepped in.
“Well are you about done going about this the slow way?” Greg asked as he sat in front of Russ’ desk. “We’re all tired of being on full alert. Tired of trying to stay out of firing range. Frankly I’m just tired of you.”
“If you’re here to take shots at me, go away. I’m frustrated and angry. I have an address and phone number and still I can’t seem to dig up any information on her. Everything I find leads me to a Garret Foundation or a Shirley Jenson but not to her directly. What the hell am I doing wrong?” He angrily ran his hand through his hair.
“Well I told you that I knew how to find her. Are you to the point where you’re going to ask for help or do I need to wait another few weeks?”
Pushing back from his desk he paced the room knowing Greg could help but after the way he acted that night he hated to ask Greg for anything. He kept waiting for Greg to ask for details about what happened, but he never did. That just made Russ feel worse.
“Okay you win. Will you help me find her?”
Smiling Greg slid a business card and a file folder across Russ’ desk and waited for him to sit back down.
Russ picked up the card and stared at it as if it held all the answers. Amanda Garret of Garret and Son’s was embossed across the front in gold lettering. He held the card up in an “and” gesture and waited for Greg to elaborate. Greg just sat there as if it should explain everything. It didn’t. He picked up the file folder and flipped through the pages.
He looked at Greg “these are the ads that I told you I approved. Why give them to me again? I thought you were handling this?” He was so frustrated by Greg’s lack of anything helpful that he couldn’t see straight let alone follow a trail. He just needed Greg to spell it out for him.
Sighing Greg finally said, “Hello Garret and Son’s... Amanda Jenson... are you connecting the dots yet?”
“No spell it out for me.”
“Shit, are you drunk? Ok I had to dig to make the connection when the names didn’t fit immediately either.” Greg smiled and shrugged his shoulders at Russ’ irritated look. “What, I thought you were smarter than me? Shirley Jenson married Jeremy Garret a billion years ago. Jenson is her mother’s maiden name. Her name is actually Amanda Garret. As in Bryce Garret, her grandfather. Are you starting to connect the dots now? I’m tired of playing this game.”
Fuck, the owner of Garret Media is her grandfather. If what Greg was telling him was the truth no wonder Janice had made all the snide comments about people using Amanda for a meal ticket. She had to have put up with all the gold diggers that he did. Looking at the ceiling to clear his head he took a deep breath then refocused on Greg. “Are you sure?”
Greg chuckled, “I met with her myself right before your impressive drinking display. She hasn’t connected me to you yet but I’m sure that she will eventually. Especially since I have a meeting with her in a few days to go finalize everything.” Greg paused to let that sink in before he continued. “She has no clue who you are or for that matter that you know who she is. As far as I know she was here for a vacation nothing more. She made a special trip back to the office for the rush meeting you forced her to take the night you ended up with her sister.”
Russ’ face paled. This was entirely his fault. He made a mess of everything. He had to get to her to apologize. He had to tell her the truth. Frustrated he swiped his hand across his desk and scattered all the papers to the floor.
With a few choice words from Greg, Russ looked up to see what was going on. Greg was looking at an envelope stuck to the back of a file that had fallen in his display of temper.
“What’s that?” Russ asked with a sinking feeling.
“Shit.” Was all Greg said as he handed it to Russ?
With shaking hands, Russ took the envelope and turned it over. His name was scrawled across the front with the date and time stamp that the front desk used for messages. This was not looking good for him. Russ broke the seal and removed the folded piece of paper from inside. What was written there made his heart stop.
I hate to do this in a note, but I don’t have a choice. I had an urgent message from an important client and I must fly back to Los Angeles for a meeting. I will be back as soon as I can. I’m so sorry to leave like this. I wanted to find you, but I didn’t have a way to contact you.
Amanda
p.s watch out for Janice, I think she’s up to something.
Russ fell back into his chair. This was not possible; how could this be happening? He needed a plan. A good plan that would get them together, so he could explain things to her. He didn’t know how he could possibly explain everything, but he needed a chance to ask, beg if necessary, for her forgiveness.
“Greg, I need you to tell Amanda that we want to hold off on the launch for the hotel for now. I have a plan.
CHAPTER 23
“Mr. Miller it’s so nice to see you in person again. It’s been awhile.” Amanda said as she entered the conference room. She reached her hand out to shake his and she felt Greg’s eyes on her and stopped to look at him. He seemed to be scrutinizing her again. She held herself still and returned his stare. She had this nagging notion that he looked familiar. Like she had seen him somewhere outside of her office. Funny hadn’t he thought the same thing before? She shook her head to clear the thought. She motioned for a chair. “Mr. Miller if you’re ready.”
He seemed to shake himself from his thoughts “I’m sorry, yes let’s get this going and I thought I asked you to call me Greg.” He said with a smile. He took the seat indicated and pulled a folder out of his brief case. “I’m sorry if this comes across rude but you don’t look well. Is everything okay?”
Amanda was taken aback by his question. It was a simple enough answer but the answer lead to more questions that she was not up to explaining.
“Yes, I’m fine thank you for asking. Just a bit under the weather. It seems to be going around.” She replied with a smile.
“Yes, I’m sure it is. I’m sorry but I can’t get over the difference from the last time that I saw you. Have you lost weight?”
Okay now she was getting irritated. Who did he think he was to be questioning her? She really needed to get this meeting over with. She hadn’t planned to come in today, but he had asked for her specifically as usual and she hated to disappoint a client. She wanted to get this launch over with and out of her hair before his boss changed his mind again. As soon as his boss gave the okay for the rest of his marketing to be brought to her company, she was scheduled for a month-long vacation. Her grandfather had insisted and true to form, he always got his way. At least this time it wasn’t to fix a mistake.
“I’m sorry but I don’t see what that has to do with our meeting. I have another appointment, so I really need to get this meeting started.” She replied coldly and took the file as he slid it to her.
Greg cleared his throat. “Yes, of course. I’m sorry for asking. As you can see in the notes, my boss would like the campaign to be split in two. The first cycle will have all of the hotels with the exception of the smallest one The Palms. He has some concerns with the marketing strategy for that one. He would like to have the hotel launched separately.”
“Yes, you explained all of that in your ema
il. Was there something specific that he wanted changed?” Amanda was getting a headache. She hadn’t had breakfast, but she couldn’t seem to keep anything down. She just wanted to get rid of the headache, crawl back into bed with the curtains drawn and the house dark.
Why was he going over everything that had already been addressed in previous emails? What was his boss after that he needed to have the one hotel launched separately? She just wanted this meeting over.
“Well the owner has decided to rename that one hotel. Even though it is part of the larger chain, he wants it to stand out on its own. Have its own identity.”
“Greg, I don’t mean to be rude, but we have already been over this. The palms got its own look, new brochures, a completely different direction than the rest. What is it the owner would like to change now?” She asked trying not to let her irritation show.
“As I said he has decided to change the name. Something that would make a special aspect that is dear to the owner’s heart stand out.”
Amanda withdrew a notepad, so she could take notes on the changes. This account was beginning to be a pain in the ass. Even though she was tempted to hand it over to someone else she wasn’t one to give up this easily. If she did what would that say about her. “Okay, what’s the new name? Are the campaign ideas that I sent him okay just with a name change or does he want a new design just for this one hotel?”
“Its new name is Paradise Falls, and he wants it separate. He wants something different drawn up. While what you sent over was fine for the other hotels he still isn’t sold on this one. He asked that the rest move forward as planned but wants you to stop this one until he can look at the new ideas.”
She hesitated at the name. Her hand started to shake. Hadn’t she called the hotel she just left paradise? Her own little paradise while she was with Russ by the falls. She didn’t believe in signs, but what else could it be? How does everything keep bringing her thoughts back to him?
Greg cleared his throat.
“I’m sorry, lost in thought about the new name and how to go about linking it with the other hotels but keeping it separate. What kind of a time frame are we looking at to get this accomplished?”
“He wants it done as soon as possible. He is willing to pay extra to get this done so it can launch within the time frame that we have discussed previously.”
Her head was spinning at the amount of work that was going to be involved to accommodate his request. “He is aware of everything that will have to be done? Letterhead, news articles, press release, things of that nature.
“Yes, and he still wants it done yesterday. I’m sorry to drop this on you but I am flying back out to meet with him tomorrow, so I need to take an answer to him.”
“I will have mock ups by the end of next week for his approval, but I have to wrap up a few personal loose ends before I can commit myself completely to the new ads. I will have it ready to launch with the rest but let him know it is going to cost him.”
“As I was saying Miss Garret, my boss feels that Paradise Falls is special and wanted it to stand out from the rest of this chain of hotels. He feels that you need to come down personally and look at the place before he can sign off on any of the advertising that you have suggested.”
Amanda was going to be sick. This is it, she thought to herself, she was going to embarrass herself and throw up all over this table in front of a client. How could she go back to that hotel? She could run into Russ, she could not run into Russ. She didn’t know which scared her more.
Oh no, no, no she couldn’t go. She couldn’t go down there and do her job because she was a coward. She knew that if she did run into Russ all of her self-control would fly out the window. She wanted so much for him to tell her that her stepsister didn’t mean anything to him. She wanted him to beg for her forgiveness.
Yeah right, she told herself. Then what? Ride off into the sunset and live happily ever after? That wasn’t real life. Could she possibly trust him after sleeping with her sister? Could she ever really know if he loved her or her money? Could she really take that big of a risk?
She felt the tears starting to build behind her eyes. She had to get out of this room before she did something stupid like accept his invitation. Amanda rose from the table and the room started to spin. Luckily, it righted itself but not before it made her nauseas. Amanda put a hand over her mouth and ran from the room. She barely made it to the ladies’ room before she lost what little was in her stomach.
Russ sat in his office and waited for word from Greg. He had wanted to fly to LA and be the one meeting with Amanda. Greg had talked him out of it, saying that it had to play out this way if he wanted a chance with her, if he really wanted her to come back to the island so he could tell her everything.
Russ lunged for his cell phone when the notification for an incoming text sounded. The words he read had his stomach sinking.
It’s bad. She looks bad. I don’t know what happened. Waiting for a response about coming to the hotel.
What the hell kind of vague bullshit was that. He knew it was a text but come on man give him something. His fingers flew over the keypad as he typed out his response. Bad? Bad how? Pissed off bad? Why wouldn’t she come? She doesn’t know it’s me, does she?
Russ had expected the meeting would be tense, after all Greg knew how he felt about Amanda, but he hadn’t expected the text to tell him that Amanda looked bad. How is it possible for her to ever look bad? The minutes dragged as he stared at his phone waiting for Greg’s response.
Sick. Like she hasn’t slept in weeks. Lost weight. I’ll call you in a bit.
Sick? His woman was sick, and he was just sitting here. Maybe he needed to get on a flight and go to her. Screw Greg and his ridiculous ideas to have her come here so he could explain. Russ stood up abruptly and shoved his cell phone back into his pocket. He was half way to the door when he stopped himself. No, he would wait and see how Greg’s idea played out. If it didn’t work to his satisfaction he would be on the next plane to LA.
Amanda sat on the floor of the bathroom in the handicap stall and prayed for the floor to swallow her. How could she go back in there and face him after she fled to throw up? She couldn’t, she would have to get Stacy to cover for her. As if her thoughts of Stacy had pulled her out of thin air there was a knock on the stall door.
“Honey unlock the door.” Came Stacy’s concerned voice.
Amanda stood and flipped the lock. She returned to her spot, sank back down onto the floor and put her head in her hands.
“Oh, honey it’s not that bad.” Stacy slid to the floor beside her and wrapped her arms around her. “Everyone gets nauseous. Your client will understand and if they don’t too bad. Just explain it to them.”
Amanda turned disbelieving eyes toward her best friend “Explain what exactly? That I am so unprofessional that I went to one of their resorts, had an affair with an employee, and got knocked up?”
“Well when you put it that way.” Stacy chuckled
Amanda couldn’t help herself, she started to giggle. “What am I going to do? They want to have me visit the hotel, the same one where I met Russ, and meet with the owner to go over the spread for the new ads. I don’t know if I’m strong enough to do that. What if I see Russ?”
Stacy pulled back to look into her friend’s face, “So what if you see him? Hold your head high and make him wish that he had never screwed up a good thing. Seriously though you need to talk to him and let him know about the baby. He has a right to know. If he is stupid enough to not want any part of the baby’s life, then you are off the hook and you can do it without him. After all you have me and I’m all anyone needs.” She laughed and bumped shoulders with Amanda.
Starting to feel better after her conversation with Stacy she was almost convinced that she could do this, no she would do this. Amanda stood up, straightened her shoulders, and walked to the sink to splash some water on her face.
“Thank you.” She told Stacy as she wrenched open the bath
room door and made her way back to the conference room.
“I apologize for the interruption Mr. Miller.” She said as she resumed her seat.
“Should we reschedule? I can see that you are not feeling well, and I would hate to keep you.” Greg offered.
“No, this meeting will conclude shortly and I’m fine. Really. Okay, to his invitation that I need to see the resort please inform him that I have already been there, and it is a very nice hotel. I feel confident that I can do the hotel justice without viewing it again.” She could tell that he was going to argue so she continued. “Also, I have a meeting out of town scheduled already that cannot be changed. I will be out of town for the next month and will be unreachable. I had hoped that we would have our business concluded by the time I left.”
“When are you scheduled to depart?”
“I leave at the end of the week.”
“May I ask where you’re headed?”
“Actually, it’s confidential. You understand. It’s just business.” She watched as he typed something into his phone and seemed to wait for a response. They sat in a heavy silence for eternity. Well only a minute maybe two but her nerves were strung as tight as they would go. When his phone pinged, he looked up apologetically.
“I’m sorry but my boss said either you make an appearance at the hotel or he will take his business elsewhere. And he does mean all of his business.” Greg said grimly.
She could tell it pained him to be the one to give the ultimatum, but it didn’t soften the blow at all.
“Then tell him the meeting will have to be in tomorrow. Unfortunately, I can only spare a day to meet with him. I need to get back and tie up a few loose ends before I depart. That is the best I can do.” With that, Amanda rose and stretched her hand out toward Greg.
