by Raine Miller
“Okay, so I am sorry I did not come to visit you,” he apologizes again. “It sounds as if you had plenty to share with me. It’s just I spend a lot of time at the arena with physical therapy and practice sessions.”
“It’s okay, Boris, I totally get it. I’m probably very low on your priority list as you’re settling in.”
“No, not true. My financial situation is quite important to me, as my new contract is in play and I don’t want to lose more than I already have. I came to you for help, Talia, and I’m just sorry I haven’t been able to get back to you sooner.”
I consider him for a second. “So, I had a crazy idea.”
“Which was?”
“Maybe we can hire you a part-time assistant? Like, someone to manage your calendar, organize your bills, prioritize things for you? Just, maybe, ten hours a week. The person can take calls for you, set appointments, you know…help keep you organized?”
“I don’t think that’s necessary.”
I fold my arms over my chest and stare him down. He takes a drink of his tea and looks out the window.
“Look, Boris, people are taking advantage of you. It’s important we have someone looking at all angles of your life to make sure it doesn’t continue to happen. Getting you help you need is a first start. I can help you find the right person, someone you can trust.”
“I trust you,” he says quietly, still looking out at the sidewalk traffic going about their Las Vegas business as usual.
This warms my heart, but it’s not enough. “That’s awesome, so trust me now when I’m saying that I think this is a good first step in getting your finances on track.”
One corner of his mouth puckers, a sign he’s considering my idea. Finally he sighs, and focuses back on me, a half smile on his handsome face. “Okay, Talia. If you think it will help, I will give it a try.”
“Great. I’ll do a little digging and find some folks for us to interview together. I promise this will be really good. And it will make me feel better to know someone is looking out for you.”
Boris nails me with his chocolaty eyes and asks, “But who looks out for you, Talia?”
My breath catches in my throat, and it takes me a second to bring my shorted-out brain waves back online.
I manage to steel myself enough to say, “I do.”
Even though I know it’s a lie.
Thirteen
Shower Dreams
Boris
Talia’s office is so small. Too small, really. I feel like a bull in a china shop, especially since Talia still hasn’t unpacked the boxes upon boxes of files stacked all over the place.
There’s still only the one extra chair, and it is home to a large stack of said files at the moment. So when the second candidate that Talia has chosen to interview for this position she thinks I need comes in, there’s still nowhere for the candidate to sit. The first interviewee was clearly very thrown by the not sitting, and paced nervously the whole time.
This candidate, however, looks around and says, “What a cramped space. I’m Ally. Well, Allesandra really, but I go by Ally.”
Talia shakes Ally’s hand. “Yes, well, maybe the next position I fill will be for a person to help make this space more functional. Let me introduce you, however, to Boris Drăghici. He’s a new center for the Crush, just moved here from Austin, and in need of someone to help manage his calendar, bills, and calls.”
Ally, to my surprise, shakes my hand and then begins moving files around. She starts with the chair, grabbing the whole stack of files and moving them to the file cabinet along the wall. She peers at the boxes and then starts moving things into more permanent homes. All the while, she talks.
“I hope you don’t mind,” she says. “I’m a little OCD and my mind just automatically goes to organization. I won’t be able to focus until I’ve done this, and hopefully it will help you have a more functional office space, regardless of whether I get the job or not.”
I look at Talia, unsure if this is good or not good. Talia wears a small, sly smile, as if she purposely left the files on the chair to see what people would do. I can suddenly see the design of this, the purpose for leaving her office so disorganized. She wants a self-starter. And Ally seems to fit the bill.
“Ally,” Talia says, “tell us about you.”
“Well, I’m getting my master’s degree in business management at UNLV.” Ally shuffles some files into a drawer. “I only have ten to fifteen hours a week to work, and this seems like it would offer great experience in schedule management and client support.”
“Do you have experience working with sensitive information, Ally?” Talia asks.
“I worked as a student caller during my undergrad program, so I had access to a lot of personal information through that.”
“And what about serving in a gatekeeper capacity?”
“I worked closely last semester for a professor who had me managing his scheduling. He was in the middle of a huge research project and needed close time management. I screened all requests for meetings and worked with him to prioritize, so he could optimize his work time.”
“Boris, do you have any questions for Ally?” Talia shares a look with me but I’m not sure where she’s going with this.
I shrug. “Not really. I am not sure how I would utilize a person such as yourself. This idea is new to me.”
“What is your relationship, may I ask?” Ally asks.
Talia sits back in her chair, her eyes narrowing. “Mr. Drăghici has hired me to take over his investment strategy.”
“So it’s solely professional?”
“Yes,” I say, just as Talia answers the same.
“Thanks,” Ally says. “So, Ms. Wentworth, since Mr. Drăghici says he’s not sure how this position will work in his life, I assume the genesis of it comes from you?”
“Yes,” Talia answers stiffly. “I suggested that Mr. Drăghici hire someone to assist him in organization. He’s got a brutal training schedule and needs someone to help him fit in other important appointments, manage his bill payment schedule, and keep him otherwise organized. Maybe more importantly, he needs someone discreet and trustworthy.”
“What am I missing here?” Ally asks, looking at me.
“I am getting ripped off by my current investment agents,” I tell her. Talia groans. I’ve let the proverbial cat out of the bag, I think. But I see no reason to hide it. Whoever we hire needs to know what this job is really about. “I have severe dyslexia and need someone to assist in reading my mail, organizing it, and instructing me on due dates and required follow-up.”
“Ah,” Ally says, finally shutting the file cabinet drawer and sitting in the now-empty chair. “That makes so much more sense. And it sounds like you understand what value this role could bring to your personal life.”
“I am starting to see it, the more we talk about it,” I admit.
“Well, since I would be working for you, I’d love to talk with you at some point about how we might work together,” Ally says. “Perhaps over coffee?”
I open my mouth to answer but am not sure what to say. Is this appropriate? I have no idea of the rules of engagement here. I just answer, “Perhaps, if we decide to move you forward as a candidate, we can do that.”
Talia winks at me, a smug smile on her pretty lips, and I know I answered correctly. She says, “Okay, Ally. Well, we’ll talk about each candidate once we’ve finished interviews and get right back to you.”
Ally stands and shakes both our hands, giving us a firm grip and a final statement regarding her interest in the role. She leaves and we both stand in silence for a moment.
“You liked that she organized those files,” I finally say.
“I did.” Talia grins. “I wanted to see if anyone was self-starter material. She definitely was. Though I didn’t like the question about our relationship. It seemed inappropriate. And asking you to get coffee and talk without me in the room? What was that?”
“I think she was trying to f
igure things out,” I suggest. “She was trying to figure out who she would really be working for.”
“You, of course.” Talia tilts her head at me and gives it a little shake.
“But I’m not sure you gave her that impression.”
Talia pouts, sticking out her bottom lip a bit. It’s very cute and I want to laugh, but I pretend a cough instead.
“I just want to make sure we get the right person for you, Boris.” She’s eyeing me suspiciously now.
“I know, and I appreciate it. I guess I don’t really care who we hire.”
“Which is exactly why I’m being such a hard-ass in these interviews.”
“And I’m okay with it.” I shrug it off, hoping she lets it drop.
“So while we’re waiting on the third candidate, I should tell you about my conversation with Vlad Nechaev.”
“Yes, he called me after to make sure you were really acting on my behalf. Apparently, women sometimes call and pretend to be girlfriends or wives in order to try to access the finances of his clients.”
“Really? People do that?”
“Yeah, I guess so. I assured him you were who you said you were.”
“Well, he was weird to me.” Talia sounds annoyed which I also find cute. “He’s a bit of a chauvinist.”
“That’s probably true.”
“He said he’d talk to your advisors and have them get in touch if that’s what you really wanted. Honestly, though, I am weirded out by the fact I can’t just call them myself, professional to professional. Aren’t you weirded out by that?”
“It has always been this way.”
“Did you hire these guys yourself or did someone hire them for you?”
“I have been making money playing hockey since I was very young, Talia. I was fourteen when I left home for training and started getting a stipend from the Russian Olympic committee. It was put into an investment account right away and has been managed there ever since. Even after I came to the United States, my money went to that account. Some is directed to my local checking account, but most goes to the investment accounts. I have never met the person who makes these decisions.”
“It just seems crazy to me.”
“It probably is, but I didn’t know any different and I’ve never needed much to live on, so it did not occur to me to get serious about my investments until my most recent contract. Scott, my agent, actually suggested I not divert money to overseas account managers. He helped me set up local banking, so none of my new money would go to these people. This is the first time in my career I’ve thought maybe I needed someone else to review how I was doing.”
“I’m gonna give Scott a big kiss the next time I see him. He did you a huge favor.”
I don’t reply.
Scott may have indeed done me a favor, but I sure don’t like the idea of Talia kissing him.
Even though I know I shouldn’t think this way, I can’t help feeling jealous at the idea of her kissing anybody else.
But me.
But me? Where did that come from? Talia told me that she didn’t look like a librarian or was sexy. At that moment, I didn’t comment, but in my head, I disagreed firmly. I don’t know what a librarian looks like, but I do know what a sexy woman looks like and Talia is that. But how can she not know?
My life has been full during the last week and a half, but it doesn’t mean my mind stopped wandering to Talia. I had blamed that on the interview with Scarlett, and time with Pam too. Both women had implied that it wouldn’t take long for a woman to want me, Boris, and not the NHL star player. And each time, my thoughts turned to Talia. Funny, quirky, and seriously sexy Talia. And now…now I don’t want her lips anywhere near Scott’s. Or any other man’s. Like I always do, though, I file those thoughts away and focus on the task Talia has for me today. Interviews.
We interview two more candidates and it is obvious, when we finish, who the best candidate is. We call Ally Armstrong and ask if she’s available to come back to Talia’s office.
“Congratulations, Ally, we both felt you were the best suited for this assignment. Do you have any additional questions?” Talia tells her from behind her desk, looking so fucking hot with her glasses perched on her nose, her long hair down over her shoulders, and her tight skirt hugging all the right places as she fishes around in the file drawer for something. I’ve spent two hours in the presence of this smart, incredibly sexy woman. I’ve tried to stay focused on the interviews, but I’m not sure if I have successfully masked my attraction. Especially since the mention of the kiss—
“Thank you for the opportunity to help out,” Ally says brightly, interrupting my musings. “Boris, I still think we need to have that conversation to talk more about the role before I can get started. How about right now?” I look to Talia just as her office phone rings. She motions that we should go ahead without her and picks up the call.
Just a few moments later, Ally is making note of the fact I do not drink coffee as we sit down at the Starbucks on the corner. She’s got long, brown hair and bright green eyes. She’s striking, I suppose, but in a harsh way. Her features are sharp like her tone. Pretty much everything about her is sharp. To the point, she lacks warmth. It doesn’t matter, of course. Her job is to keep me on task.
“Do you have specific food preferences?” She starts jotting notes into her phone.
“No. I’m not picky. Though I do not love onions.”
“Noted,” she says. “Tell me about your practice schedule.”
I walk her through our pre-season schedule, including additional training and conditioning sessions. Then I mention my concussion protocol and ongoing muscle therapy.
“Ms. Wentworth was right. You do have a lot going on.”
“I do, and the season is long. We are on the road for days on end so it can be hard to figure out how to fit other things in. But you need to know my appointments with Talia are critical. She’s helping me out of a…situation, and it’s important she gets the time she needs with me while we sort it out.” I don’t feel I owe Ally any more than this right now. After she’s signed an NDA and a contract maybe, but not yet.
“How does your dyslexia affect your daily life?”
I breathe in and out through my nose and push my lips to one side while I think. “I function just fine. Playing hockey does not require a lot of reading, as you can imagine, so I’m not affected much there. At home, I do have some issue with paying bills on time, and sometimes with paying the right amount. I can use someone to organize by due date and instruct on amounts, for sure.”
“I can probably do you one better by setting up auto pay on most of your bills. They’ll just take what they need when it’s due and you won’t have to do anything at all.”
“That would be great. I live very simply. I would like access to some funds of course, but most of what is left after bills will be sent to my investment accounts with Talia.”
“Okay, we’ll get things set up. Do you have an account already with her?”
“No,” I say, sounding surprised even to my own ears. “I have spoken to her so many times, but we haven’t opened the account yet.”
“I’ll make you an appointment to set things up for your new money. If she works things out with the previous investment managers, she can add it in.”
“I will take your word for that.”
Ally is a taskmaster. She grills me about my life, which I realize sounds very boring as I talk about it. She says she’ll set up automatic grocery delivery for my staples and asks me to make a list while we are here. She asks if I would be comfortable with her having a key to my apartment so she can meet the delivery and also manage my bills. Do I want that? I’m a very private person, so do I want someone in my home without my knowledge? “I’ll have to think about that,” I say.
As we finish, she asks, “Do you have children, a wife or girlfriend?”
I shake my head realizing it’s a valid question, even though I find it annoying.
“Good
,” she says. “Okay, I’ll work up a plan and text you tomorrow.”
I nod, standing. After I pick up a cup of coffee to go for Talia, we quickly and silently walk back to the office.
Talia is peering at her computer screen as we enter but she smiles widely when I hand her the paper cup. “That is the best thing I’ve seen all day.”
I want to tell her that her beautiful smile is the best thing I’ve seen all day. It nearly made my heart stop, if I’m being honest. I can’t tell her though. It’s inappropriate considering our working relationship.
Instead, I just nod and sit down. I witness Ally sign the NDA and contract, which will only be effective once her references have been contacted. Talia made it clear to Ally that a thorough background check would take place before any access was granted to my personal business. I could end up in the same situation I was before if I’m not cautious. Ally signs the documents and tells Talia we need to set up a time to get an investment account established so that she can work with Crush finance to assure anything above and beyond living expenses gets invested. Talia says she and I can work on getting the account established, no problem, and Ally says she would like to start by setting up regular investment meetings twice a month.
They converse as if I’m not in the room, after which Ally turns to me and promises we’ll work on more personal issues in the next few days. I attempt to shake her hand but she goes in for a hug instead, wrapping her arms around me and pressing herself flush against my body. I stand stiffly as it happens, my eyes flitting to Talia, whose eyebrows are raised high on her forehead. Ally walks out. What the hell just happened?
As soon as she’s out the door, I voice my thoughts. “Ally is…aggressive.”
“You can’t sleep with her.”
Shocked by the comment, I turn sharply to find Talia studiously poring over something on her desk. She appears to look uninterested, but the slight crease between her eyes gives her away. Is she angry at me?
“I would never cross a professional line like that.”
