Chapter 13

Chapter 13
Via

I woke up on my fortieth birthday feeling no different than the day before. There was no “aha-moment,” no feeling of dread, no sense of uneasiness. Nothing.

I rushed to the mirror to make sure Mother Nature hadn’t decided to throw wrinkles and creases on my face all at once—to make sure she wasn’t trying to play some cruel joke on me.

She didn’t, and she wasn’t.

I prepared for work like I always did, trying my best not to think about how sexy Jason Ice was or about his sleek black Bugatti that was parked right outside.

I slipped into my favorite white dress and matching blazer; I’d always admired how the ruffles flattered my curves and made my waist look two sizes smaller.

I read the birthday cards my daughters left on the kitchen table and rejoiced at the fact that they’d bought a cake from the store instead of attempting to bake one.

I was sure I would never get the chance to drive a Bugatti again, so I took the long way to work. I coasted through the residential neighborhoods, cruised past a few parks, and circled around corporate five times before pulling into the executive lot.

“Miss Donovan?” My assistant Rita met me as soon as I walked inside the doors.

“Yes?”

“First off, Happy Birthday! Second off, the Klein brothers specifically requested you to lead the ad project for their new eco-tablets. Should I tell them you’ll be available to do that?”

“Yes. That’s fine.”

“Great.” She scribbled a few things on her pad and struggled to keep up with my walking pace. “Mr. Barnes is out sick today; his wife called from the hospital. That leaves you to work with the beta script team this afternoon.”

Perfect...

“Anything else?” I pushed the door to my office open.

She and I both gasped. My office was filled with bouquets of calla lilies and roses, with white and pink balloons that completely covered my wall of windows.

Wow...

“I’m not sure when all this got here...” She scratched her head. “Anyway, I need your notes on this year’s proposed budget as soon as possible, and Mr. Ice booked a thirty minute meeting with you at eleven o’ clock.”

“What? What was that last thing you said?”

“Mr. Ice wants to meet with you at eleven o’ clock—in his office.”

About what?

“Is that all?”

“No,” she said. She pulled a small pink card off her clipboard. “Happy Birthday again, Miss Donovan. You’re way better than the last director I worked for. I really mean that.”

“Thank you, Rita.”

I moved a vase of lilies from my chair and flipped open the silver card that sat on top.

Via,

I hope you’re enjoying your birthday. I’m looking forward to spending part of it with you tonight.

—Your completely immoral and highly inappropriate Boss,

PS: You’ve looked stunning every day this week...

I was flattered but I didn’t have time to wonder about why he’d sent so many flowers, and I knew I wouldn’t have time to meet with him; I had too much work to do.

From eight o’ clock to nine o’clock, I made sure everyone in the department was on task and supervised the interns’ brainstorming meeting. I even managed to spare a few extra minutes to get ahead on some of Mr. Barnes’ past due assignments.

From nine o’clock to ten o’ clock, I conferred with the art directors about “sPhone blue” visuals, sat in on a conference call with the national marketing committee, and started reading the proposed expense reports for our eco-tablet campaign.

At ten fifty five, my phone rang.

“Via Donovan. Who am I speaking with?”

“Miss Donovan, this is Angela, Mr. Ice’s secretary. I’m looking at his schedule and I see that he requested a meeting with you today. Are you on your way up?”

I have two hundred pages to read...

“No, Angela.” I flipped over a sheet of paper. “I am not. Could you please inform Mr. Ice that while I do accept last minute appointments from clients, all internal personnel—even my own superiors, have to schedule their appointments at least twenty four hours in advance. That’s company policy as of sixty days ago. He’s the one who sent out the memo, so he should know that.”

The line went silent. I was sure not too many people rejected a meeting with the CEO.

“I um...” She coughed. “I will let him know that, Miss Donovan. Have a great day.”

“You too.” I hung up.

I continued looking over the expense reports, making small notes here or there. I was halfway done when I heard a knock at my door.

“I don’t want anything for lunch, Rita! Thank you though!”


The door opened and in walked Jonathan.

He smiled as he shut the door. “Good morning, Miss Donovan.”

“Hello, Mr. Ice...” My mouth went dry and my body tensed at the sight of him. He really was a pure example of what a perfect man should look like. He was dressed in an impeccable black suit with a white button-down shirt, and shiny silver cufflinks that gleamed against the light.

His eyes were regarding me intensely, and I knew that he was slightly running his tongue across his lips on purpose.

He sat down in the seat across from my desk and smiled even wider. “How are you today?”

“I’m quite fine, and yourself?”

“Pretty good. You know, I don’t normally get scolded by an employee, but it’s refreshing to know that there are other policies that need to be changed.”

I didn’t say anything. My heart was beating too fast and I didn’t want him to sense that I was completely captivated by him.

Think about his age...Think about his age...

He put his elbows on the desk and leaned forward. “You couldn’t spare thirty minutes for me?”

Take a deep breath, avert your gaze to the wall behind him, and clear your throat...

“Mr. Ice—”

“You really don’t have to call me that when we’re alone.”

My breath hitched at the way he’d said “alone” and I took another deep breath.

“I feel more comfortable calling you that since this is, and will always be, a strictly professional relationship. And no, I could not spare thirty minutes. Our head director called in sick today, and since I have to handle his reports as well as my own, I don’t have much free time.”

“Fair enough,” he said as he looked into my eyes. “I just wanted to personally return your car keys.” He placed them on my desk. “And tell you Happy Birthday in person.”

“Well, thank you very much and I appreciate all the flowers. Your spiel only took three seconds though, so there was no need for a thirty minute time slot. If you don’t mind, I need to finish my reading now. Have a great day, Mr. Ice.” I looked back down at my work, hoping he would say “You too” and leave my office, but I sensed him standing up and walking over to me.

I tried my best to act like he wasn’t in the room, to stay focused on the document I was reading, but I felt him hovering right behind my shoulder.

“Via...”

I slowly turned my head and looked up at him. “Yes?”

He was silent.

He reached down and ran his fingers through my hair—slowly and gently, making my heart beat ten times faster. He leaned in like he was going to kiss me—tilting my chin up so my lips could touch his, using his other hand to caress my neck, but then he suddenly stopped.

He stepped back and sighed. “What time does your birthday party start tonight?”

“Nine...” I could barely hear my own voice.

“Well, I have a last minute meeting tonight so I might be really late. I’ve been looking forward to it all week.”

Silence.

I looked into his eyes and he looked back into mine. There was palpable tension in the air and I wanted him to slice through it. I wanted him to step back over and kiss me until I was out of breath, to rip my clothes off and—

His cell phone started to ring, breaking us out of the spell.

“Hello?” he answered, keeping his eyes on me. “Yeah...by noon on Monday. Okay...Okay, I’ll be right there.” He headed for the door. “I’ll see you tonight?”

“Yes...” I waited until the door closed and slipped out of my chair.

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