“There’s no need to drive.” I pulled out my phone. “I took my helicopter here.”
He shook his head. “You have nothing else better to do with your money, do you?”
“Would it make you feel better if I told you I have a niece who doesn’t give a damn about it and only wants to play with fifty cent cardboard boxes and teddy bears?”
He laughed and patted my shoulder. “Only a little.”
Thirty-Four
Tara
I walked through the doors at Marriott International for another day, shutting my office door behind me. Heartbroken and angry, I was still so wired into Preston’s life, that I was still having my new town car driver taking me to Sweet Seasons every morning, and some of Preston’s old contacts were still calling my phone and telling me things I no longer cared about.
Since I wasn’t petty like he was, I forwarded all those calls to his new assistant, and even sent Cynthia text messages about little things I happened to remember from time to time. Then again, since I’d learned a thing or two from his petty playbook, I blocked all his phone numbers and deleted them. (Yes, even though I knew them all by heart.)
Ugh. Fuck him.
I pulled up my new CEO’s schedule for the day and pulled out my notepad, so I could take some notes.
Brunch meeting regarding property contracts, afternoon Skype session about legal fees with the Voight Company, and an inventory session with the interns.
I refreshed the schedule again, knowing that this couldn’t be right. Yet, no matter how many times I refreshed it, those three meetings were the only things that appeared. I looked at the schedule for the entire week and saw that there were only two to three events per day.
That’s it?
I picked up my desk phone and called his secretary.
“Good morning, Miss Lauren!” she answered on the first ring. “Is everything going okay during your first week?”
“It’s been more than okay so far.”
“Well, great! How may I help you?”
“I was looking over the schedule for Mr. Greywood, and there are only two to three things a day. Is there a private calendar I’m missing?”
“No, that’s right. Mr. Greywood likes to keep his days simple and stress-free.”
“Well, since most of these meetings are already handled, do you have any idea what his current general counsel would do? I don’t want to contact him about this just yet, since I’m trying to be a great interim, you know?”
“If I were you, I would just enjoy the lush job, Miss Lauren,” she said, sounding genuine. “Mr. Greywood doesn’t trust women, and he hired you and me to make himself look good on the outside. His true general counsel is a guy named Bob who he trusts with his life. But that job is so hectic, that no woman would be able to handle it. Trust me.” She laughed. “Treat yourself to one of our spas downstairs, answer a few emails, and check on things every hour or so. Then take a breath and smile because you officially have the best job in all of New York.”
“Right …”
“Is there anything else I can do for you?”
“No, but thank you and the rest of the staff for the sweets basket.”
“We didn’t send you that sweets basket,” she said. “That came from Preston Parker.” She ended the call, and I stared at the basket—tempted to toss it into the trash.
The last thing I needed right now was any memories of him. I stood up and left my office, hitting the lights.
I’d rather take her up on that spa offer.
Two Weeks Later
Thirty-Five
Tara
Subject: How’s your job at the #2 hotel chain?
Subject: I need to talk to you about the last time you were in my office.
Subject: I’ve called you fifty times this week.
Subject: Did you block my number?
Subject: I know you see these damn emails, Tara …
I deleted the latest page of Preston’s emails and headed downstairs to the tech department.
“Good morning, Miss Lauren.” The director smiled at me. “How can I help you?”
“I’d like you to flag and block an email address from sending things to my inbox from here on out,” I said. “For some reason, my blocker isn’t working.”
“Of course, Miss. What’s the email address?”
“Oh.” He sighed. “I’ll see what I can do.”
“You’ll see what you can do? All you have to do is place it on the block list just like all the other addresses you have blocked.”
“Well, it’s slightly more complicated than that. It takes a lot of technical skill, and sometimes certain addresses slip through anyway.”
I gave him a blank stare.
“The internet is a crazy place, you know? It’s super crazy.”
“How much is Mr. Parker paying you to keep him off my block list?”
“What?” His cheeks reddened, a dead giveaway. “Nothing. I wouldn’t dare take his money for something as simple as this. I mean—”
“How much?”
“Two thousand a week.”
“I’ll double it.”
“He said you’d say that if you found out,” he whispered.
“And?”
“He said that I was supposed to call him when that happened.”
“You’re not going to call him,” I said. “Because if you do, I’ll have you fired for fraternizing with the competition.”
“Competition? Marriott is nowhere near the same league as the Parker Hotels, Miss Lauren. The Parker Hotels are like so way ahead that it’s almost laughable.”
“That’s not what your employee handbook says.” I narrowed my eyes at him. “You will not call him. I don’t care what he offered you. Clear?”
He nodded. “Clear.”
“Good.” I started to walk out of his office, but he called my name, making me look over my shoulder. “Yes?”
“Um. He offered me a bonus if I could make you finally open one of the baskets he’s sent.” He walked over to our main storage room and opened it, revealing all the huge gift baskets that arrived three times a day like clockwork. “So, would it kill you to open one and let me get a picture for him? I mean, it’s just a picture, and you’d be helping the less fortunate, right?”
I shook my head and walked away.
Jesus, Preston.
Thirty-Six
Preston
I wasn’t used to Tara not talking to me.
I wasn’t used to not seeing or hearing from her for this long and I’d yet to admit it, but the shit hurt like hell. It especially stung more each time I had to call for my new executive assistant who was nowhere near as good as she was, or anytime Violet asked if she was coming over.
She was ignoring all of my emails and text messages, and if I knew her like I thought I did, she was probably placing all of my gifts in a closet somewhere.