Falling for the Boss (6 page)

Laci poured herself another glass of wine.  “Is there any passion between the two of you?”

Victoria
blushed.  “I don’t think…”

“You haven’t slept with him yet have you?”

“No!”
Victoria
replied.  “
Barry
is a gentleman,”
she said.  “Besides,
sex is overrated anyway.”

“You’ve been dating the man for over a year, you’re planning on marrying him and yet you still have tested the goods, so to speak,” Laci said, winking at her sister’s blush.

“Don’t even try that.  You’re not the type to sleep around either so don’t condemn me for not doing anything about a physical relationship with Barry,”
Victoria
said, but she couldn’t look her sister in the eye when she said that, too embarrassed about the conversation.  And there was also the knowledge that she didn’t have any need for a physical relationship with Barry.  It was something that had crossed her mind occasionally when he’d dropped her off after their dates with a chaste kiss, something both of them were satisfied with. 

Laci let out an unladylike snort. 
“Yeah, but I’m twenty four.  You’re twenty-eight.  There’s a world of difference there.”

“I’m not sure age has a whole lot to do with sex at either of our ages.  We need to find someone that interests us.”

Laci tapped her finger against her head, thinking about the situation. 
“I think you need to meet a man who is more forceful,
more masterful.  Maybe then you’ll have sex with
someone like that
.”

“Laci!  I’ve
never heard you talk like that,”
Victoria
admonished, laughing at her sister’s statement. 

“Well, I was thinking that maybe the reason you’ve been so hesitant with Barry is because you haven’t met anyone that really floats your boat, so to speak.”

Victoria
had to laugh at her little sister.  “Well, I don’t know if that’s the case, but thank you for the turn of phrase.”

Both women were quiet for a moment, each lost in their own thoughts.  Suddenly, Laci burst out, “Ok, enough of this melancholy.  This is a celebration. 
I’ll b
ring out the ice cream and
you
pop in a mo
vie.  We’re doing this in style!
”
and she danced into the kitchen to get the ice cream. 

After having huge bowls of ice cream, t
hey sipped
the rest of the
wine and watched movies
.  L
aci ate two
more
bowls of ice cream before finally falling asleep on
Victoria
’s couch. 

Chapter 4

Victoria
woke the next morning, prepared to head in early
to her office to try and clean up her projects before her two week notice ended.  She
was racing around
trying to get ready for work
when the phone rang.  She considered not answering it but remembered her conversation with Laci last night about
Barry
and thought it might be him. 

“Hello?”

“
Victoria
?  This is
Jim
.  I got your resignation
this morning
.  Don’t bother coming in
to finish out your two week’s notice
.  We only like loyal employees here at Global Corp!” he
snapped
gruffly and slammed down the phone. 

Victoria
held the receiver away from her ear and stared at it as if it had grown a head.  For a few minutes, she felt as if she had been fired, but then her shoulders relaxed, her mind cleared and a small bubble of excitement burst within her.  She was free! 
Victoria
hadn’t realized how much she had hated that job until now. 

Looking around her small apartment, she wanted to step out onto the balcony and yell at the top of her lungs.  She didn’t, of course, since it wouldn’t be appropriate, but she giggled slightly as she put the phone back in its receiver. 

She immediately dropped her purse and rushed over
to her still sleeping sister, shaking her shoulder to wake her up.  “Laci!
  Wake up!
”

“Wha
..
?” the sleeping woman asked, not bothering to open her eyes. 

Victoria
wanted to dance around in her excitement.  She gently shook her sister instead. 
“Wake up!  I don’t have to go into work today.  Want to come shopping with me?”

That woke up the sleeping woman instantly.  “What happened?  Why don’t you have to work?”
Laci asked, rubbing her eyes to clear them from the fog of sleep. 

“My boss called and said that he’d
received
my resignation and that I didn’t need to fulfill my two weeks notice.”

The confused expression on her sister’s face cleared and she smiled brightly.  “Well in that case, let’s get moving.
”  Throwing off the blanket
Victoria
had put over her legs the previous night, she stood up and bounced to the bathroom.  “
I don’t have classes until tomorrow.  I think you need a
whole
new wardrobe for your
fantastic
new job.”

Victoria
laughed.  “I don’t have the money for a new wardrobe, but maybe a few more nice suits.”

“No way,” Laci said,
popping her head
back
through the doorway of the bedroom.  She’d almost made it to the bathroom to shower when she’d heard her sister’s comment
.  “You’re going to step out in style if I have to push you ye
lling and screaming.  And jeans!
  You’re going to buy a pair of jeans
.
  You don’t own any but I’m betting you’ll look fabulous in them.  With your legs, how can you not?
”
she said, ignoring
Victoria
’s skeptical look. 

Laci rushed into the shower and was ready in record time.  She had some clothes in
Victoria
’s apartment since she was there so often
so she just pulled on a clean outfit and they were off for a day on the town
.  They spent a leisurely morning sipping coffee, getting their nails done then spending the day at the mall.  Laci convinced
Victoria
to buy one pair of jeans and several more casual sweaters for site seeing in all the different places she would be traveling to over the next year. 
Victoria
also bought two new suits
, one in a soft yellow and another in a
creamy green that brought out the green in her eyes.  She liked the more feminine shades
instead of her usual black and navy blue. 

Victoria
also called Margie and told her that she had been released from giving two weeks notice so she was free to start immediately. 

“That’s great news,” Margie
exclaimed.  “Can you come in for a travel briefing on Friday?  Mr. Attracelli will be going over the schedule for the next few months and briefing the team on the issues
they’ll be researching in each city
.”

“I’ll be there,”
Victoria
replied.  They discussed the details and a few minutes later,
Victoria
smiled at Laci.  “Well, that’s that, I guess.”

“You’ve just committed yourself to a whole year of world traveling,” Laci sighed.  “I’ll miss you but I’m very excited fo
r you.  And with a gorgeous man like Tommy too!  Wow.  You really have it all now.
  You need to get some sexy new clothes to wow that man.
”

Victoria
shook her head immediately.  “No way am I getting involved with Thomas Attracelli.  He’s my boss and that’s all.  There should never be anything between co-workers, much less a manager
and a
subordinate.”

Laci deflated.  “Why do you always have to play by the books?  Just once, I’d like to see you do something daring and against the rules.” 

“Rules are in place for a reason.  I like rules.  I like knowing what is expected.  It keeps me sane,” she laughed. 

Chapter 5

The next three months went by in a blur
for
Victoria
.
 
The team
traveled
a lot
and worked long hours.  There were times she wasn’t sure which city she was in.  She never complained though.  She loved the work and got to see some of the sights although it was usually in the early mornings on the way to the office or the night lights as she traveled from the office to their hotel. 

The first two weeks, Thomas’s team was in
Seattle
,
Washington
where she got an afternoon off and traveled to the skyscraper to enjoy the view
.  Then a month in
Chicago
with one weekend off. 
Even though they didn’t have much time off, Thomas took the team out to dinner several times a week and they joked with each other, laughing about the problems they were having or the odd characters they ran into.  Thomas seemed to know exactly when to treat them to a night out, gauging the stress levels of the team accurately and letting them blow off steam when needed. 

By the
end
of June,
Victoria
felt as if she were finally getting a grip on her job.  She was exhausted but challenged.  The team seemed to work non-stop.  Sixteen hour days were the norm and each of them only took time to pass out in the hotel before starting over again
the next day
. 

She started t
o understand the team’s persona
lities a little bit as
well.  Bob was the joker.  When
ever there was a lot of stress or something happened on the road that interfered
with the work schedule
, it was always Bob that stepped up with a joke or a sarcastic comment that broke the tension. 

Mike was the diplomat and communicator.  He made sure everyone knew what was going on wherever they were, no matter what city.  Mike tended to sit back and let the issues wash over him.  That allowed him to see the bigger picture and step back to analyze the problems and come up with a solution.
Margie had been correct in her assessment of Mike’s skills as a human developer.  The man had a knack for generating team spirit and focusing the employee’s efforts. 

Thomas was a genius,
Victoria
thought.  He masterminded the whole team, kept them on track and had the intuition of a psychic.  Before the team landed in any city, he already had a good idea of what the problems were and how
the team should
go about fixing them.  He directed the team’s research with a skill that
Victoria
had never experienced before but was constantly surprised and impressed with. 

At the end of June
, they had an assignment in
New York City
and
Victoria
was thrilled when Thomas declared a night off. 
Victoria
immediately headed for Broadway and saw Cats.   It was the same in each city they worked; Thomas would give them a day or a night off from their research and
Victoria
would sample the main attraction
each city offered
. 
To get the tickets wherever they were,
Victoria
utilized Thomas’s headquarter secretary, Martha, who stayed in
Washington
,
D.C.
and coordinated their travel arrangements.  She also was a whiz at getting tables at the best restaurants or tickets to a play
, concert or opera
, even if it was sold out.