Hers

CHAPTER 2

Instead of driving to my office this morning, Clyde makes his way across town to the Alexander Mobile headquarters on Park Ave. The streets are bustling with businessmen making their way to their offices, which are scattered all over the city that never sleeps. Taxis swerve in and out of traffic like kamikazes on a mission.

The car comes to a stop, I grab my laptop case, and exit. Setting my black Jimmy Choo pumps onto the sidewalk, I run my hands down the white skirt that falls just above my knee, over the black thigh high stockings, that match the long sleeve black and white polka dot top under my peacoat, and I walk into Alexander Mobile like I own the place. Well, I kind of do now; at least my company does.

I pause briefly at the security desk to grab my badge, and become more acquainted with the security staff. I’ll be setting up an office in the building, so everyone is going to become quickly familiar with me. As I take strong, sure strides to the elevator, I observe strangers staring, while exchanging whispers. The rumor mill has been rich in the wake of Mr. Stern’s shares being sold, but I don’t think anyone expected my powerhouse ass to be taking his spot.

It’s nine-fifteen, and I’m banking on the board of directors being in the meeting room as planned. Being on time is not negotiable for me, ever. It is one of my biggest pet peeves. I don’t need directions, and I hop in the elevator for the thirty-fourth floor. I’ve been in this office a number of times over the past month, securing the deal of a lifetime. I could navigate this space with my eyes closed.

The doors open and close. People come and go. Finally, after the what seems like the longest elevator ride of my life, the doors open to the sprawling executive offices of Alexander Mobile. With determined step, I walk toward the glass-sided conference room. Mr. Stern catches my glance, and meets me at the door with open arms. I place a chaste kiss on his cheek and enter the room.

The men at the table fall silent. All stares turn toward me, just as Mr. Stern sits down in the luxurious office chair next to me.

“Board members, I would like you to meet your new boss. This is Ms. James.”

Without looking at the men, I place my laptop case down on the table. “Good morning, gentlemen. It is nice to meet you all. Why don’t you all take a moment and introduce yourselves? Starting with you.” I point to the large, balding man to my left, pulling my laptop out, and setting up my makeshift work station at the head of the table. I take off my coat as the men start to sound off like a prison roll call.

“Edward Williams.”

“Jonathan Stein.”

“Matthew Sullivan.”

“Daniel Alexander.”

“How nice to see you again, Daniel. We’ll have to catch up.” I wave on the next guy, not giving Daniel any more attention. He’s completely stunned.

“Aaron O’Donnell.”

“Levi Parker.”

His voice, his name. I look up, across the sprawling dark wood table, and make eye contact with the last voice. Levi Parker. Holy. Fucking. Shit. My heart skips a beat, and I see my career falling apart before my eyes. The guy I fucked two nights ago, up the goddamn ass with a strap-on, is one of my new fucking board members. I. Am. So. Fucked. So fucked. So beyond fucked.

My nerves are on fire, and I do everything I can not to flip the fuck out in front of these men who should be fearing me. Daniel’s attention is piqued as Levi and I exchange glances across the table.

Calm the fuck down, Seven. Calm down.

I hit Daniel with a smile, and start my business as if I didn’t just have an internal mental breakdown.

“Good morning, gentlemen. It is nice to meet you all. Please give me a couple days to become acquainted with everyone. Your names will be my first priority. I am sure Mr. Stern has filled you in on all the details of the purchase of Alexander Mobile.” The men nod, and continue to watch me like a hawk. “There will be a series of changes over the next few weeks. I will be bringing in a five person team to audit the way business is handled. As you know, this is typical protocol with any corporate takeover. I will also be setting up an office here, where Mr. Stern currently houses his, since today is the last day he will be with us. I will be here two full days a week, Wednesday and Friday, and two half days a week. Monday morning, and Thursday morning.” I pull out a stack of business cards, and start walking the room, stopping at each man to pass one along. “All of my contact information is available on these cards. E-mail is the easiest way to contact me, but my cell phone, and office line at White-Woods Global are listed. Do not hesitate to use them if needed.” I pause in front of Levi as I hand the card over.

He doesn’t make eye contact. He barely acknowledges the card. Maybe he’s as nervous as I am about this entire thing. Maybe, just maybe, he will forget the night ever happened. Wishful thinking? Yes. Reality? Probably not. If he enjoyed it half as much as I did, he has been dreaming about it every night since. I’ve fucked a lot of guys in my day, but there was just something about the encounter as a whole; I just can’t shake it.

“If there isn’t anything pressing, I am going to show myself to Mr. Stern’s office. I will be available until noon today. Please, don’t hesitate to stop in.” I close my laptop, slip it into my bag, grab my jacket off the back of the chair, and hightail it the fuck out of there. Never looking back to see the kind of looks floating around the conference room. Men like them don’t like a woman in charge. They don’t want to answer to a woman at work. Which is why I am a rarity in the boardroom.

I find my way into Mr. Stern’s office, and it has already been cleaned out. He sits on the sofa in the corner, sipping on a glass of single malt Scotch. Jesus, old man, it’s not even noon.

“Make yourself at home, Seven.”

I place my bag down on the desk, and he rises to his feet. “I was just on my out anyway. I have to make my rounds through the departments. Say my goodbyes.” Like that, the old man walks out without a second thought. Whatever.

Pulling out my laptop, I take on my biggest task of the day: my email inbox. What a fucking nightmare, as always. Typing away, distracted by the internet, I hear the door open. Automatically assuming Mr. Stern forgot something, I ignore whoever enters the room. It isn’t until I can feel a set of eyes burning a hole into me that I look up from my busy work.

Levi is standing at the desk, his cold blue eyes burning holes through me. He doesn’t speak, and we spend a long moment engaging in a staring competition. Something I outgrew about ten years ago. I break the silence. “Levi.”

“Seven.” He returns the uncomfortable formality between us.

“What can I help you with?” I try to break the tension, but I already know why he’s in my office.

“I think we should talk. You know. About, well…” He stops, because he is as uncomfortable as I am with the situation.

“Look, had I known we would be in this position, I would never have offered the other night. But since we’ve found ourselves in this precarious situation, I’d rather not talk about it now, or inside these office walls. We can meet up after work, but this conversation isn’t happening here.”

He nods in agreement.

“Tonight, we’ll do dinner.” He speaks with certainty. I don’t want to like his demand, but I cave to the offer.

I nod in his direction. “Seven at Tokyo Fusion on 34th,” I say before shrugging him off. He nods and walks out of the office, just as Daniel decides to enter. Seriously, this is turning out to be the most complicated fucking buyout ever.

“Seven James. I can honestly say, I never thought I would see you again.” His words slice through me like a knife. Something about him is like pouring salt in the wounds of my raw soul. I should be overjoyed to be here, taking the only job he has ever wanted, but seeing him face-to-face still fucks with my mind on so many different levels. Age hasn’t been kind to him. His previously thick sandy blonde hair is thinning, and a bald spot peers through. You can tell he’s desperately tried to cover it. I chuckle to myself. Wrinkles surround his eyes, and worry lines are front and center. If I didn’t know any better, I dodged a bullet when he walked out on me. Ugly ass!

“Daniel Alexander. We meet again, love.” I smile, and stand. As I brush my skirt down, I’m sure to accent every curve he’s missing out on. “It has been ages, what… seven years?” I know it’s been five, but adding time helps.

“Five, only five,” he replies as a smile begins to pull at the corner of his mouth. Slow and seductive. The same smile he used to win me over, so many years ago.

“Five, huh? Well, it really is a pleasure to see you. You look…” I want to say horrible, but I keep it polite. Kill ’em with kindness, right? “Great. You look great Daniel.” I extend my arms, and give him a big, friendly bear hug.

“I have to admit, I never thought I’d see you in a boardroom, let alone mine.” He speaks with confidence, like he actually has ownership in this company.

“Actually, it is your father’s boardroom, but continue.” The little dig makes me feel so much better.

“How have you been? Are you married? Please, let’s catch up.” He sits down, and I walk around the desk, plopping down in my chair. My eyes drag over his left hand, wedding band firmly in place on his ring finger, and I know the answer to so many of my questions already.

“Single as the day I was born. I don’t need a pesky romance in the way of my plans to conquer the world.” I laugh at my own joke, as does Daniel. He knows me well enough to know it really isn’t a joke at all. “Just been busting my ass, living the young, wild, and free lifestyle. I can see you settled down. What was her name? Susan? Sheryl? Sidney?”

With barely a smile, he corrects me. “Samantha.” Samantha Rockwell. I knew her well enough, but wouldn’t give him the pleasure of that slice of knowledge.

“Just darling. Any children?” He always wanted a big brood of brats. Kids, just not my thing.

“Three, actually. We have twin girls who just turned one, and a six week old little boy.”

I have to laugh; that’s a shitload of kids in a year.

“Wow. Well, they must keep you busy.” I silently laugh at the miserable, sleep-deprived look on his face. The admission of that flock just explains part of the reasons why he looks like he’s been rode hard, and put up wet. “They must be a handful!”

“Oh, that is an understatement. Samantha really has her hands full.” I could imagine. No. Not really. Nor would I ever want to image.

“Well, Daniel, it was great catching up, but I have a ton of e-mails I need to sift through before I leave here at noon. I’ll be back on Monday morning. If you need anything in between now and then, feel free to shoot me an email.” I smile; it’s fake, and I hope he can’t see through the show.

“I look forward to working with you, Seven.” Like that, he is gone.

I came here to take his job from him, take the company he thought would be handed over to him when his father retired, had the fool not lost the majority of his stocks to Mr. Stern a decade ago. However, the bold man I once knew is gone, replaced by the shell of a broken man. I thought I would get a thrill from this deal, but in reality, I only feel bad for him. All those years of plotting revenge down the shitter. He ran his own life into the ground without any help from me.

I pick up the phone and dial Olivia. On the first ring, her cheerful voice greets me.

“Livie, get me Mikal, my interior decorator. I want this office overhauled by the time I get back on Monday.”

My phone vibrates across the sprawling antique oak desk, signaling a message. Without looking, I know it’s Star. She doesn’t like to talk on the phone; text is her preferred method of communication. It’s been two full days since the blow out with Evan, and she completely went off the radar. It’s her coping method, so I always just leave her be.

I let out a sigh, thinking about the night I shared with Levi; it was off the charts. Something I would more than enjoy doing on a regular basis. But just like every other hookup in life, it’s in the past now. Exactly where it would stay, unfortunately. An unfamiliar twinge of emotion rips through my stomach. What the fuck do you call that?

As much as I’m not the kind of girl to spill my problems to a room full of BFF’s after a slumber party with manis and pedis, Star is my other half, my built-in therapist in life. I can tell her anything, just like she can do the same. In time, we would sit down to have drinks and she would spill the details of her relationship with Evan. From the sex, all the way to the breakup. It’s like a form of therapy for her too. As far back as we could remember, we both had each other, and really no one else. Well, I do have an older brother, but I haven’t seen him in ages.

The phone vibrates again.

I spit out the Starbucks tea I’m sipping on, spraying my computer screen with the faded pink liquid. Again? What the fuck is that?

The humor of the situation would give her a laugh. I’m sure she’s sitting on the other end of the phone hooting over my own misfortune. Out of all the hookups in my life, and fucking believe me, there have been plenty, something like this has never happened. Ever. Work and play have never crossed paths, and honestly, I never thought I’d see the day when they did.

It would all have to wait, sit on the back-burner until dinner tonight, when I would sit down as a businesswoman and discuss the arrangements we would have to live by from here on out. I can deal with Levi; he seems like a pleasant enough guy. I’m positive he won’t want our rendezvous to be boardroom knowledge; it would mar his reputation far more than mine. In fact, I can use that leverage to my benefit. He keeps his mouth shut; if not it will be the funeral of his career, not mine.

Married? I doubt it. But knowing all the other board members donned wedding bands, including Daniel, it only makes me think he has something to hide. What the fuck? Why do I care about his current relationship status? Jesus! I need to clear my head, leave for the damn day already.

It was the truth. Not since Daniel, the man who took my virginity, did I sleep with the same man, or woman, twice. Only Star.

Looking over at the clock, it finally reads six. I’d only expected to stay at the Alexander Mobile building half a day, but stacks of paperwork kept me swamped with business. An hour is all I have to get home, change, and make my way to dinner, where I will start my game of blackmail with Levi. Although I hope it doesn’t come to that.