Yay! I'm on a roll! I think this is going to be one of my favorite stories… *grin* Please, please, tell me if you start to get bored! I'll try to spruce it up, but you know me… nothing is ever as it seems. A humongous thank you and hug to Lillian who edited this for me and boosted my ego! (We are still not sure if that's a good thing).
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Business To Attend To By Silver Running Water Chapter 4------------------------------------
I stared at the telephone rather sullenly and was beginning to doubt his sincerity of calling me. My god, how hard was it to pick up a phone these days? And assuming that he wasn't lying when he told me he was a businessman, I'm going to assume that he has a cell phone, so the excuse that he couldn't find a phone wouldn't work.
Giving the phone one last glance, I uncurled my legs and slid off the sofa chair. I padded across the kitchen counter and began to flip through several documents lying there.
After several moments of mechanically turning over pages, an idea popped into my head and I headed over to the computer.
---
"So then what?"
"Well, I promised to call and then left. I'm telling you, she's a gorgeous woman. Not to mention she has a sense of humor. She didn't hit me when I said that comment."
"The one about you wanting to see under the sheets to make sure she's still a goddess after being drunk."
"Something like that."
"Oh god Andrew. I bet you haven't called her even though you probably promised her."
He shrugged. "I'm getting to it. If I call immediately, it'll seem like I'm desperate, and I do not want to seem hopeless with her. She's just amazing."
"I'm sure."
"No really. The sex was unbelievable." He laughed.
"Isn't it always with the women you pick up? They're professional aren't they?"
"You're such a comedian, really. Well, I think the sex was great. I was fairly drunk though."
"That's a shocker; a CEO drunk. Alert the media. Does she know?"
"No. I only told her that I was a businessman."
"What'd she say?"
"That she was a business…woman. Clever eh? What's the big deal anyway?"
"I just don't trust them that's all. Gold diggers are what they all are."
"Even yours?"
"Especially mine."
---
"Mr. Shields, what's the name of your wife?" I asked him as I unpacked one of his few boxes in his new office. It was the same office that Mr. Logan once occupied. God, that makes me feel old. It's as if the CEO's keep changing, but I, the aging secretary, never changes and lives through each CEO. Catch my drift?
His head snapped up and he stared at me suspiciously. "Why?"
I frowned at him, confused. "What do you mean why? So that way I'll be able to call her by her name when she calls. Kathy Logan and I were always chatting while she waited for him."
He narrowed his eyes and continued to unpack the other box. "I don't have one."
"Alright. A fiancée or a girlfriend perhaps?" I asked him casually, though I must admit a small part of me wanted him to say no.
"Of course I have one. But that's still none of your business."
It was really a very microscope part of me that wanted that. I was getting a little offended. I was his secretary, I have a right to be treated with respect, and mind you, if I wasn't, I had power to move a few things around and ruin his job.
"Look, Mr. Shields, I don't know what's wrong with you this morning, but we certainly aren't starting off on the right foot. Let's try this again."
I closed my box and retreated out the door and closed it behind me, grabbing the coffee along the way. Counting to five before I knocked, I waited for no response and pushed the door open.
"Good morning Mr. Shields! I hope you're ready for your first day today. Your schedule has been kept moderately clear today except for a noon luncheon at a local restaurant with Mr. Stevens, which I'll remind you of when it's around eleven. The rest of your day will be spent unpacking and meeting your employees." Smiling superficially, I handed him his coffee, which was a bit cold already.
He stared at me with an unreadable expression on his face before he reached out a hand and took his coffee.
"This is the way it'll be everyday. It's won't hard to get used to. So, do you have any questions?"
Mr. Shields narrowed his eyes uneasily before shaking his head and I gave him another phony smile before resuming my task of unpacking.
"Good."
I glanced at my silver Chanel wristwatch. It was an elegant watch with diamonds around the face. It had been given to me as a gift and I had no desire to replace it for one of the new, chic versions. I only use it to tell time.
"It's almost eleven o'clock, Mr. Shields." I told him, sticking my head into his office.
He nodded and I turned around. "Ms. Anderson?"
"Yes?" I stuck my head back in.
He paused and opened his mouth, before shaking his head. "Nothing."
My eyebrow was raised as I left his office, but then I just shrugged it off. I had moments like that before.
When Andrew neglected to call me, I had sat down at my computer and begun to write, having only a vague idea of what I was writing about. Often, I would do this. Just sit down at my computer and type something.
A secret desire of mine has always been to write a column about life in general and reality. It's number one on my Things-To-Do-Before-40 list. I had to bump the age up a bit because I'm already nearing thirty.
Anyway, I started to write something about waiting for a man and taking actions into your own hands. Actually, I'm a little old fashioned. The idea of calling a guy and asking him out makes me slightly uncomfortable.
I admit that I acted very out of character the other day with Andrew. But I just felt that I could loosen up. I wanted to loosen up. Maybe it was all the alcohol that made me hate my prudent image.
Talking about men, I wonder why Mr. Shields wouldn't tell me whether or not he had a girlfriend or something. He shouldn't be ashamed of the fact. How strange.
Maybe, I thought, I can find something on the Internet. After all, if he was CFO of our rival company, nothing is kept a secret.
And so, my plan of continuing to write what I hadn't finished the previous day was thwarted by my desire of knowledge and gossip. Although truthfully, who would I gossip with? My stuffed kangaroo?
---
Darien sat in his black leather chair and uncharacteristically inhaled the smell. Oh, this was nice. Very nice. His thoughts wandered from the size of the room, whether or not civilians could see him way up there, and finally landed on Ms. Anderson, his personal secretary.
She was something. He just wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. He allowed himself to admit that she was attractive, much more striking that his previous secretary, for sure. But, she just wasn't the type of girl he was looking for.
It was true though; he did feel remorseful for being rude to her earlier. She was right, they did get off on the wrong foot and if he calculated correctly, he would be at the company for about a year and a half.
He glanced at his Rolex watch. Dammit, he inwardly swore, he was already five minutes late for his luncheon.
---
Darien calmly walked into the small Greek bistro and a waiter promptly appeared.
"Mr. Shields, welcome. It's a pleasure to see you again. Mr. Stevens is waiting for you at your usual table, follow me."
"Has he been here long?"
"Not very. He arrived about 15 minutes ago." They appeared at a table and a man with blond hair glanced at them before he stood.
"Darien, good to see you again."
Darien glared at his friend. "My dear Andrew, you've only but had the pleasure of my company last night. Or have you forgotten already?" He asked sarcastically as he took a seat.
"Of course I have not forgotten; it is hard to forget that I've been in such wonderful company such as yours." Andrew grinned.
"Cut it, Andrew. I have to get back to the office. Let's get this meeting along." Darien nodded curtly to the waiter who brought his usual. "So far, I have a certain degree of trust from everyone, but they're waiting for some big decision to come so they can pounce on me."
"Well, don't give them a reason to mistrust you at all. I am still working on covering up all your tracks."
"Anything I need to remember?"
Andrew gave a casual shrug. "You were the CFO of a small company located in Japan, then left because you didn't believe in some of the things they were doing."
Darien ate his food slowly, absorbing the information. "Did you already enter this into the International Database?"
"Yes. I just need to work out a few details and we're set. So what did you do today?"
"Unpacked. Check is on me."
"It always was."
---
I pushed the door open and rushed to the phone. I had heard it ringing while I was fetching my keys.
"Hello? Hello?"
"Serena?" A deep voice asked and I recognized it immediately.
"Andrew! You called."
He laughed. "Of course. I said I would, didn't I?"
I blushed at the thought of doubting him. "Yes, well… yes you did." I kicked my shoes off and took a seat on my nearby sofa.
"Anyway, I was wondering," he coughed, suddenly nervous. I smiled in anticipation but didn't interrupt. "If, well, if you wanted to have lunch tomorrow. I know this really great place and you'll absolutely love it." He rushed out the last bit and I laughed softly.
"Of course I'd love to." This was fabulous. I was finally shedding my conservative image layer by layer.
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If you're wondering why it's taken so long, it's because I wanted to make this chapter longer to get some things rolling already and build up the suspense, ya know. That, and I'm too busy re-reading the Shopohalic books by Sophie Kinsella. They're absolutely fab!
Did I mention that Lillian is awesome? I'm gonna pimp her ADORABLE site: -- VISIT!! And VISIT-- (my site! ^_~)