Trust in Advertising (11 page)

“Vincent, it’s fine. I quit. I left my laptop and BlackBerry on the desk, and you can search my purse for stolen office supplies if you want, but I don’t know what else there is left to say. I made a mistake and am very sorry. I spent the last few days digging through every slip of paper on that desk trying to figure out where the files you wanted were, but your system made absolutely no sense, so I … I just … organized it. It wasn’t until Sean, I—I mean Mr. Adler, told me how particular you were about your things that I realized what I had done and that I had overstepped my bounds. I apologize.”

Vincent sat silently behind his desk, clenching and unclenching his jaw as he seemed to be making up his mind about what to do. The silence in the room became deafening while Lexi waited for the yelling and screaming to begin.

Instead, she was shocked when Vincent slumped back into his chair and sighed.

“First of all, Alexandra, I don’t accept your resignation right now.” He bent over and yanked open one of the file drawers at the bottom of his desk, and then glanced back at her. “Second, you aren’t going anywhere until you explain this meaningless filing system to me so I can get some work done.” Vincent’s eyes softened ever so slightly as he leaned forward in his chair. “And third, I’m still waiting for that cup of coffee.”

Lexi stood up from her chair and remained frozen in place for a minute, debating what the hell she should do next. Part of her wanted to bring him that coffee and then dump it square into his lap for the way he had treated her the last few days and for his tantrum a short while ago. But as she stared into his eyes, she felt herself getting lost in them. He was peeking up at her. The scowl had been replaced by a much softer expression as he waited for her to make up her mind.

As she tried to decipher the look on his face, it finally dawned on her—this was her chance. For some reason he was giving her an opportunity to redeem herself, to prove her worth and show him exactly why he should keep her at Hunter. Lexi mulled it over in her head, and her stubborn streak set in, causing her to dig in her heels and fight for what she wanted. And for now, she wanted this job, with him. God help her. Before she could stop herself, the words fell out of her mouth.

“Black, right?”

Vincent slowly nodded his head.

Lexi stumbled out of Vincent’s office, still in a daze.
What just happened?

Vincent was obviously still upset about what she’d done, but for some reason he 61

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was giving her another chance, and from what Leigh and Sean had hinted at all week, that never happened. Lexi picked up a coffee mug off the shelf in her office and tried to figure out the reason for Vincent’s uncommon charity towards her.

Could he have suddenly remembered her and that was the reason for this last minute reprieve? The fact that he continued to refer to her as Ms. White or Alexandra, however, told her he still had no clue who she was. The only other thing that made sense was that she owed Sean big time. Whatever he’d said to Vincent had made him back off and treat her like human being rather than a malfunctioning robot.

Lexi brought the steaming cup of coffee to the door of the office and gently knocked, figuring it was better to be overly formal at this point rather than assume she could just walk back in there.

“Yeah.” Vincent responded. He had stripped out of his suit jacket and loosened his tie. Distracted, he stared at the files in his drawers, deep in thought.

Lexi carefully placed the mug on his desk and waited for Vincent to say something. She watched him stubbornly stare at those files for a good five minutes before he sat back and shook his head in frustration.

“What the hell do the dots mean?” He spat out the question like it was the most awful thing that had ever crossed his lips.

“It’s a color-coding system. I thought it would make it easier to distinguish different kinds of files.”

“I get that it’s a system; I’m not a complete moron. What I am asking is—what do the colors represent?”

Lexi stood up, her legs shaky from her nerves as she slowly approached him and knelt beside the opened drawer. She could smell the rich spice of his cologne when he bent over her shoulder to watch intently as she began her explanation.

He was so close that she could actually feel the heat coming off his body. Her heart raced, and she desperately tried to keep her voice even as she spoke.

“Files with a black dot are accounts we went after, but never got. Red dots are closed accounts. Yellow dots are files that are for campaigns that are over, but there is still some part that is active, or we are in talks with them about the next season’s ad. Green dots are active campaigns, or companies we are currently trying to acquire as clients.” Lexi pulled a few examples for Vincent to flip through.

He handed back the folders, then reached around her to pull a file of his own, his larger body crowding hers. Lexi shivered as his tie brushed against her arm and prayed he hadn’t noticed her reaction.

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“What do two dots mean?”

Over the next half hour, Lexi explained every detail to Vincent. The system wasn’t elaborate or complex. It was actually very straightforward once the reasons for grouping certain items together were clear. During that time, Lexi also began to understand Vincent a little better. She watched him pause and try to figure things out himself before asking a question. Most people would have sat back and let her explain every detail, but not Vincent. He would stubbornly study things and get frustrated with himself when he couldn’t understand. Then he’d finally ask the question that he couldn’t answer. After the fourth time this happened, it was obvious to Lexi that Vincent Drake did not like to ask for help.

That was probably what bothered him the most about Lexi’s reorganization—the fact that he couldn’t figure it out and was forced into the uncomfortable position of needing to rely on someone other than himself. Lexi saw him visibly relax as he felt more confident with his understanding of things.

She was replacing some files into the tall file cabinet in the corner when the sound of his voice caught her off guard. What shocked her even more was what he said.

“Thank you.”

Lexi’s mouth hung open slightly as a pained look crossed his face when he said the words. Not wanting to irritate him further, she tried to be nonchalant.

“Any time. It’s what I’m here for.” She closed the cabinet drawer and went back over to the other side of his desk.

Before she could say anything else, he cut her off. “You can go now.”

“I really am sorry, Vincent. I feel like we got off on the wrong the foot here.”

Vincent didn’t say another word. Instead, he just nodded his head in agreement, his intense eyes locked on hers.

“Well, I think that’s it.” Lexi slipped her arms back into her coat, then picked up her purse from the floor and slung it over her shoulder. When he didn’t say anything to stop her departure, she began rambling. “If you can’t find something, they have all my phone numbers downstairs. Just call and I’ll come back in and try to figure out what I did with it.” A nervous smile crossed her lips as Vincent sat in his chair like a statue, still allowing her to blather on.

“Well, it was nice seeing you again, Vincent. Take care.”

Lexi gave him a curt wave, and then scrambled out of the office, desperate to get away from his intense stare. A goodbye would have been nice, or at the very least some indication that she had actually done a decent job, but that was 63

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probably asking too much after what she did to his office. Lexi leaned against her desk and took one quick look around the little area that she had spent the last week getting to know every inch of. She turned off the monitor on her computer and was about to walk away when she heard the chirp of her BlackBerry. Puzzled, she picked up the phone.

Alexandra,

The work day doesn’t end for a few more hours and there is stil plenty for
you to do. I expect you to get those mockups from Tony and bring them
to me immediately. And don’t forget, if they aren’t ready or he gives you
any trouble, fire him.

V.D.

At that moment, Leigh snuck around the corner and saw Lexi standing next to her desk with a look of complete shock on her face. She ran over with a box of Kleenex clutched in her hand as she wrapped her arms around her and rocked her from side to side. “Lexi, what did he say this time? I swear, if he was rude, I’ll pummel him. The last girl, he demanded to see her elementary school report card because there was no way she could have possibly been promoted past the sixth grade in his opinion. The poor woman was hysterical by the time she hit my desk.”

Lexi pulled herself away from Leigh and stared at the tiny display. After the third time she read the message, she bit her lower lip to suppress the grin that was about to explode across her face. She had done the impossible. She somehow earned herself a second chance with Vincent Drake. When she showed the message to Leigh, her jaw fell open, and she flopped into one of the chairs beside Lexi’s desk.

“Now I’ve seen everything.” She looked up at Lexi and grinned. “I swear, if I were you, I’d stop and buy a lottery ticket on my way home from work, because this is probably the luckiest day of your whole life.”

Lexi shrugged out of her coat and quickly tossed it onto the rack beside her desk, ready to get back to work. She slipped the BlackBerry back into her pocket and linked her arm with Leigh’s. “Okay, now tell me where on Earth I’m supposed to find this guy, Tony.”

Leigh groaned. “Tony’s a pig, so be prepared. If he gives you any attitude, tell him to cram it.” As Lexi pushed the down button on the elevator, Leigh gave one final word of advice. “And just to be safe, don’t let him within arm’s length of you. The guy is one more grope away from a sexual harassment lawsuit.”

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“Good to know,” Lexi called back nervously as the doors closed behind her. Of course, if she survived her run-in with Vincent Drake, how bad could this Tony guy be?

Lexi had been down to the twenty-second floor a couple times before, but was still a little unsure about where she was going. As she tried to get her bear-ings, she turned a corner and ran into someone.

“I’m so sorry!” Lexi quickly bent down and grabbed the papers that had fallen to the ground. When she lifted her head, she was met with a bright smile.

“We meet again, Lexi.” Lexi sighed in relief when she saw Mrs. Dee grinning above her. “What brings you to this floor?”

“Um, sorry about crashing into you.” She handed her the papers. “I’m actually looking for Tony. I need to get some mockups for Vincent.”

“He’s down at the end of the hall, last door on the left. Sorry I can’t stay and chat.” Mrs. Dee tapped the folder in her hands. “I have another presentation to get busy on. Have a nice day, Lexi.”

“Thank you!” Lexi called after her, wishing she had been able to ask her a few questions about dealing with Tony.

She crept down the hall, and found the door to the production room open.

A small group of people were gathered around a table. Not feeling comfortable disturbing them, Lexi stood silently in the doorway until someone noticed her there.

“Can I help you?” one of the women asked as she looked over her shoulder.

“Sorry to interrupt. I’m looking for Tony?” A dark haired man stood up, his eyes blatantly roaming over Lexi’s body. Her stomach began to lurch as he stepped closer with a sneer on his face.

“To what do I owe this pleasure?”

“Vincent sent me down to get the Max ad mockups,” Lexi said, backing away from Tony as subtly as possible.

“Vincent sent you down?” He barked out a laugh. “Did you hear that, guys?

Vincent
sent her down here.” The group stopped what they were doing and began chuckling while Tony folded his arms across his chest and leaned closer. “How is my dear friend,
Vincent
? Does he still have that large pole jammed up his ass?”

Lexi did her best to keep her composure, but everything about Tony gave her the creeps. Vincent was right—he was an asshole, and for some reason Tony seemed to have a major beef with Vincent too.

Tony crept closer and dipped his head toward her neck unexpectedly, drawing in a deep breath. “Mmmmm. I’d love to get a taste of you, honey.”

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Creep.

After the day she’d had, Lexi was done playing Tony’s game. “First, my name is Lexi, not ‘honey.’ Second, I need those mockups now. Vincent’s waiting.” How she managed to say that with such authority and conviction, Lexi had no idea, but she thanked her lucky stars that it worked. Her sharp response knocked Tony off guard and, more importantly, shut him up for a second.

When he heard the snickers behind him, he snapped out of it and went on the offensive again. “Let him wait. What do I care? I think we still have a few things to touch up on them, anyway. I’ll get it to him tomorrow, maybe.” Tony snarled. “Now where were we?” A sinister grin slid across his face as he stepped closer to Lexi, practically backing her up against a wall.

She stuck out her hand and planted it firmly on the center of his chest, allowing her nails to dig into his flesh as he tried to press in closer.
I am not a
doormat,
she reminded herself
.

“
We
weren’t anywhere. You were bringing me those mockups in the next thirty seconds, or I’ll happily pass on the second part of the message from Vincent, which has to do with you being fired if you make me wait for them any longer than that.” She dropped her hand so Tony wouldn’t feel how badly she was trembling as she faked her bravado.

The humor and slimy charm were wiped off Tony’s face by Lexi’s biting words. They were soon replaced by simmering rage. He turned on his heel and stalked across the room, snatching up two large presentation boards and thrusting them at Lexi.

“Anything else you need, honey?” he sneered, trying to save a little face.