“I swear to God, if every single one of my watches and cufflinks isn’t accounted for by the end of the day—”
“You’ll fire me?” She smiled. “Really?”
“I’ll definitely—” I paused, suddenly seeing where she was going with this. “I’ll have to consider all of my options if that is the case, Miss Lauren.”
If you think I’m going to fire you over some shit I can afford a hundred times over, you have another think coming …
“Good to know.” She picked up a fork and placed it right into the green mashed potatoes. “Is there anything else I can do for you today, Mr. Parker?”
I tapped my fingers atop my desk, temporarily distracted by her bright pink lips and form-fitting beige dress. “That’s all for now, Miss Lauren.”
“I’ll be patiently awaiting your next request.” She gave me a slow smile, one of the rare flavors I couldn’t quite read, and then she left the room.
The second the door shut, I picked up my phone and called Cynthia.
“Yes, Mr. Parker?”
“Can you kindly have one of the interns bring me some lunch? Preferably something without green mashed potatoes?”
“Um.”
“Um? By um, do you mean ‘yes and right away’?”
“No, sir. I meant that won’t be possible. Miss Lauren let all the interns have today and the rest of the week off. She said you wanted it that way, so you could focus all of your energy on the Von Strum stuff.”
WHAT? “Oh, I see.” I felt my blood beginning to boil. “Well, when you get a chance, can you please pick up a new order for me from the cafe that I like?”
“Um, well.” She cleared her throat. “She let me off for two weeks, sir. I’m heading home to New Jersey right now. I guess I forgot to unlink my cell phone from my desk phone.”
I ended the call.
Okay, Miss Lauren. Two can play this goddamn game …
Eighteen
Tara
I slept in for the first time in two years.
Rolling over in bed, I looked at the clock and saw that it was only nine o’clock. I grabbed my phone off the nightstand and noticed that my text inbox was full and my unread emails totaled three hundred and seven. Out of habit, I was tempted to start answering them all, to call my town car driver and ask that he immediately rush me to work, so I could salvage the rest of the day, but I turned off my phone instead.
If Preston didn’t fire me over five “lost” Audemars Piguet watches, then he would definitely fire me for not showing up to one of his most important strategy meetings of the year. I set my alarm for noon and rolled back over, falling asleep.
Later that afternoon, I took a walk through Central Park before calling my driver and asking him to pick me up at a florist stand.
“Is everything alright, Miss Lauren?” He jumped out of the car and opened the back door for me. “Everyone at the office thought something had happened to you and I couldn’t reach you on your cell phone.”
“Everything’s perfectly fine. I just decided to take the day off.”
“The day off?” He looked at me like I was speaking a foreign language. “Are you sure you’re feeling alright?”
“Absolutely.” I laughed and slipped onto the backseat. “I’m sure.”
As he drove, I turned on my phone and saw that my email inbox was now over five hundred messages, and the first page of messages were all from Preston.
Subject: You’re an hour late.
Subject: The Von Strum prep meeting is today.
Subject: Why am I still missing five watches?
Subject: Now, you’re two hours late …
Shrugging, I turned it off again.
“Can we stop at Sweet Seasons for coffee first?” I asked.
“Of course.” His eyes met mine in the rearview mirror. “Good thinking, Miss Lauren. Mr. Parker is always more understanding when he has some coffee in his hand.”
This coffee isn’t for him, it’s for me.
I used Preston’s black card at the shop, treating every customer inside to a free cup on his behalf, and then I bought ten of their eighty-dollar gift bags for no reason.
When I arrived at the office, the main receptionist stood up from her desk. “Miss Lauren?”
“Yes?”
She walked over to me, her eyes wide. “Miss Lauren, are you aware that you’re wearing sweatpants and a tank top? You know how Mr. Parker is about the dress code here. Would you like me to call your contact at Nordstrom and see if she can rush over a suit?”
“No, that’s okay. I’m sure Mr. Parker won’t mind me looking like this today.”
She swallowed and stepped back, looking as if she was the one wearing sweats instead of me.
I gave her one last smile and walked over to the elevator bank, noticing the silent stares of everyone in the lobby. I held back a laugh and hit the button for the top floor.
Stepping off the car seconds later, I swiped my card against the access panel and made my way to my side of the floor.
“Good morning, George.” I spotted him sitting in the hallway. “Is it going well so far?”
“Good morning, Miss Lauren?” He looked at his watch. “It’s four o’clock in the afternoon.”
“Oh, I didn’t notice. Well, I hope you got a lot of work done today, then.”
“I probably would’ve gotten a lot more done if you were here.” He looked at my outfit and shook his head. “Mr. Parker wants to see you. I suggest you change clothes first.”
“No, thanks.” I smiled and headed to Preston’s office.
When I stepped inside, I saw that he was standing by his windows—wearing the dark grey suit and silver chromed tie I loved him in the most. He was running his hands through his freshly cut hair, and for a split second, I almost forgot why I hated him so much.
“George said you wanted to see me?” I asked, and he immediately turned around—instantly turning me on the second his eyes met mine. “I’m so sorry that I’m four hours late to today’s meeting.” I rushed the words out before he could respond. “Did I miss anything important?”
“Not at all, Miss Lauren.” He eyed my outfit and stepped closer to me, and that smirk I was all too familiar with crossed his lips. “When I realized you weren’t going to arrive at your usual time, I told everyone we’ll start whenever you get here.”
“Then maybe I shouldn’t have shown up at all.”
“Maybe.” He closed the gap between us. “But like I’ve told you previously, you’re incapable of being idle in the daytime.”
“That’s probably the only thing you know about me.”
“I also know that you’ve never been fucked properly,” he said. “But that’s a story for a different day.” He kept his eyes on mine and pulled his phone out of his pocket, holding it up to his ear. “Mrs. Vaughn, Miss Lauren has finally decided to arrive, and she’s wearing exactly what I expected. So, can you kindly come upstairs with the wardrobe I ordered this morning, so she can pick something more appropriate to wear for our rescheduled meeting?”