Trust in Advertising (12 page)

Lexi paused to appraise the boards, even though she had absolutely no idea what they were supposed to look like. She wanted to make him squirm, arrogant jerk that he was. She felt Tony’s beady eyes lock on her as she kept him waiting.

The room heaved a collective sigh of relief when Lexi smiled sweetly.

“This should do it. If Vincent has a problem with them, I’m sure you’ll hear from him yourself.” She gave a polite wave to the rest of the group. “Thank you for your help. Have a great day.”

When the door was safely closed behind her, Lexi slouched back against the wall and heaved a sigh of relief, her heart nearly pounding out of her chest.

She had no idea where the brazen, ballsy side of her had come from, but she was sure glad she had found it; otherwise he probably would continue to pull the 66

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same crap whenever he saw her. If nothing else, he would probably think twice about how he spoke to her in the future.

With a new sense of confidence, Lexi took the elevator back to the twenty-third floor. She flashed Leigh a big smile and a thumbs up as she walked past her desk carrying the large presentation boards under her arm. She was hopeful that Vincent might be slightly impressed that she had marched into the snake pit with Tony and come back with the prize.

Another test passed
, Lexi thought as she set the boards on her desk.

She was about to buzz Vincent when a gorgeous brunette glided past her desk, making a bee line for Vincent’s office. The woman reeked of perfume.

Not wanting to face the wrath of Vincent if someone walked into his office unannounced, Lexi jumped up and positioned herself between the woman and the door.

“Can I help you?”

“Excuse me? Are you serious? Get the hel out of my way.” The woman glared down her nose at Lexi, her attitude almost as offensive as her scent.

Lexi stood her ground. “Do you have an appointment?”

“With Vince?” The woman’s fury grew as Lexi raised an eyebrow and waited for an answer. “Yes, I had an appointment with him this morning in the shower.

I also had a rather long one last night in the back seat of the limo on the way home from the airport. Should I go on?”

So this is the girlfriend. She’s even more unpleasant than Leigh described.

“No, thanks, I get the picture. But he’s on the phone, so would you mind waiting until he’s done before you go inside?”

The woman’s lips pulled back in a sneer. “I don’t believe we’ve been formally introduced.”

“I’m Lexi, Lexi White. Vincent’s new assistant.”

Lexi politely extended her hand to the ill-mannered woman, who regarded it like it was covered in toxic waste. “Lexi, how lovely. I’m Jade, as in the international supermodel Jade, and for your information, I wait for no one. So why don’t you go scurry back to your desk and make me a cup of coffee, non-fat creamer and two Splendas?”

As Jade was about to muscle her way inside the office, the door flew open.

Vincent filled the doorway, glaring at them. “Do you two mind? I’m on the phone with a client, and all I can hear is your incessant bickering.”

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Jade pointed her lengthy acrylic claw at Lexi. “Sorry, Vince. But she wouldn’t let me in to see you.” Her brightly painted lips turned out in a ridiculously childish pout as she played with his tie.

Lexi bit back a grin as Vincent swatted Jade’s hand away. When he looked over at her, Lexi’s eyes went down to the floor, embarrassed at making yet another mistake where Vincent was concerned. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know who she was.”

“Jade, have a seat. I’ll be with you when I’m off the phone,” he said coolly before slamming the door shut in both their faces.

“This is bullshit!” Jade snarled before flopping down into one of the chairs by Lexi’s desk and glaring at her. “Great, now he’s all pissy. Thanks a lot.”

Lexi bit her tongue and sat back down behind her desk, setting the mockups safely against the wall when Jade rudely propped her spikey heeled pumps on her desktop without regard for what she might be ruining. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched her dig through her gaudy designer handbag and pull out a nail file. She completely ignored Lexi, which was just fine with her.

The phone broke the awkward silence. “Vincent Drake’s office, Lexi speaking.

How may I help you?”

“Lexi, it’s Leigh. Is the wicked witch of the west still there?”

“Why, yes, as a matter of fact that’s correct.” Jade’s head popped up. Her ears must have been burning.

“Did she get into his office?” Leigh asked nervously. “I should have warned you she was pushy.”

“That would have been helpful, but don’t worry, no harm no foul.” Lexi began scribbling random notes on a scrap of paper to keep from laughing.

“You kept her from barging in? Oh God, I bet she was pissed.”

“Absolutely,” Lexi said sweetly, not missing a beat. Jade’s eyes narrowed and fixed on her as she leaned forward and tried to see what Lexi was writing. “Is there a message I can pass on for you?”

“Yeah, tell the scrawny lightweight to go eat a cookie. Some decent food might put her skinny butt in a better mood.”

“I agree completely. Thanks for the call.” Lexi quickly hung up the phone and grinned, forgetting that Jade was scrutinizing her every move.

“Something funny? Was that a personal call? I bet Vince would be very interested to know that you were taking personal calls at work.”

Still amused, Lexi couldn’t help but smile back at Jade. Her good mood only annoyed the supermodel further. “Actually, that was Leigh giving me a message.”

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Jade rolled her eyes at the mention of Leigh’s name. “Figures you two would be friends.” She muttered something about them being two peas in a pod, and then turned her attention back to her nails. “And where the hell is my coffee?”

Lexi grudgingly got Jade her coffee. However, the job became much more entertaining when she realized there was no Splenda to be found. Not wanting to come back empty-handed, Lexi improvised and used real sugar, tucking the empty packets deep into her pocket to hide the evidence, and then tossed in a splash of half-and-half for good measure. She placed the steaming mug in front of Jade without a word and went back to work while the viper sucked down every last drop of her calorie-enhanced coffee.

Lexi noticed the small red light that indicated Vincent was on the phone go dark, and she waited for him to come get Jade out of her hair, but that never happened. For fifteen minutes Lexi watched Jade alternately check her watch, look over at Vincent’s door, and let out a loud huff. By the end of the fifteen minutes, the vein on the side of her head looked like it was going to burst.

Finally the door opened. Vincent’s face was buried in a pile of papers.

“Alexandra, did you get those mockups yet?”

“Alexandra? What the hell? How about ‘Jade, darling, thank you so much for waiting’?”

Vincent’s head whipped up at the sound of her voice. It was obvious he had forgotten that she was even there. “Jade, yes, what are you doing here, exactly?

I thought you had a meeting with your agent.”

“I did, but it ended early, so I came to see you.” She glanced over her shoulder and gave Lexi a dirty look. “Can we take this conversation into the office where we can have some privacy?” Without even waiting for his answer, she brushed past him and wormed her way inside.

He rolled his eyes in irritation, then glanced back at Lexi and saw the mockups leaning against the wall. “Is Tony still employed?”

“Unfortunately, yes.” Lexi sighed.

The corner of Vincent’s mouth turned up slightly into the closest thing to a smile that Lexi had seen on his face yet. “Damn.”

“Vince!” the impatient banshee wailed from behind him. “Come here, baby.”

His tiny grin vanished as he turned and ducked back inside his office. Before he closed the door she heard him groan, “Jade, please get off my desk.”

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Lexi spent the rest of the afternoon running errands for Jade. Jade needed bottled water; Jade needed a salad from the deli with fat-free dressing because her blood sugar was low. Vincent needed a reservation at Umami because Jade had a taste for Sushi tonight. And apparently her world was going to end without a new tube of red lipstick.

A few minutes before four, Lexi went up front and sat down on the floor behind the large receptionist desk with Leigh.

“Is that miserable woman still here?” Leigh sympathetically patted Lexi’s shoulder. “Or was I lucky enough to be away from my desk when she made her grand exit on her broomstick?”

“Nope, she’s still here.” Lexi stuck her hand on the desk and fished around for a piece of paper. “Does Vincent have any messages?”

“Sorry, not right now. Only Mr. Adler.”

Lexi climbed to her feet. “Well, give me those. I’ll go walk them back to him. I have nothing to do. Jade’s holding Vincent hostage, and he can’t get any work done, so I’m free until she makes her next low-calorie or fat-free demand.”

Sean wasn’t in his office when she got there, so Lexi slipped the papers on his desk and was about to make a hasty retreat when his booming voice greeted her.

“What, you organized Vincent’s desk, now you’re going after mine? Doesn’t he have anything to keep you busy?”

“I’m just dropping off messages. I’ve learned my lesson, I swear!” Lexi threw up her hands in surrender to his dimpled grin.

“Have a seat.” Sean motioned to the chair beside his desk as he scooped up the messages. He quickly glanced through them and then set them to the side and leaned back in his chair with his hands tucked behind his head.

“So, a little birdie told me you were down in productions today.”

Lexi knew he must have heard about her run in with Tony somehow, but she shrugged it off, hoping he would drop the subject. “Yeah, Vincent needed the Max mockups.”

“M-hmm. So, how was Tony?” Sean’s knowing grin made Lexi’s cheeks turn pink.

“Fine. He gave me the boards and I left.”

“Really? Because the way I heard it, you stiff-armed him in the chest and gave him forty-five seconds to put the boards in your hands or he was fired.”

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Lexi looked down at her hands folded in her lap and shrugged. “Well, that’s not entirely accurate.” She peeked up at Sean and smiled. “I only gave him thirty seconds.”

Sean doubled over in laughter, his hands slapping down onto the desk top.

“I bet the guy blew a nut over that! Next time you need to go down there, you have to come get me.”

“Sure, Sean, next time I’ll bring an audience.”

“Why are you wandering the hal s, Lexi? What’s Vincent up to this afternoon?”

“Jade.” She had to stifle a giggle when Sean moaned.

“I knew I smelled sulfur in the hallway earlier.” Sean shook his head as he grumbled a few other choice things under his breath. “Well, feel free to hide out in here for as long as you need to, but I’m actually leaving for the day. I get to go check out this sweet Ferrari that we’re using for a photo shoot next week.”

“Sounds like fun. I better get back to my desk. I have a few things I want to get finished before I leave.” Sean led her to his office door. “I also wanted to thank you for whatever you said to Vincent today. I thought for sure he was going to fire me, so thanks.”

Sean leaned against the door and smiled. “Sorry, Lexi, I wish I could take the credit, but the reason you’re still at Hunter is all you. Vincent was dead set on firing you when I left his office. I just told him not to be a jerk when he did it.”

Lexi was still trying to sort out what Sean had told her when she sat down behind her desk. Knowing that she had managed to save her job on her own gave her quite a sense of accomplishment. She only wished she knew what it was she had done to impress Vincent.

Lexi’s good mood was instantly quashed when she saw Jade slink out of Vincent’s office. “See you at eight, Vince.” Jade made a show of straightening out her clothes and hair as if they’d just had some illicit tryst in his office.

Ew
.

Ignoring the childish posturing, Lexi turned her attention to her computer screen until she heard the repeated tapping of Jade’s talons on her desk. “Yes?”

Lexi asked.

“I just want to get something straight with you. If you ever make me wait to see Vincent again, I’ll have you fired within minutes. I kno—”

Lexi’s phone rang, so she held up a single finger to Jade, stopping her venomous tirade in its tracks. “Yes, Vincent?”

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“I need those mockups now.”

“I’ll bring them in as soon as Jade leaves.” The hateful woman crossed her arms and tapped her foot impatiently while she waited for Lexi to get off the phone.

Vincent sighed. “I thought she left.”

“No, she’s just … explaining something to me. This shouldn’t take much longer.” Lexi casually spun her pen on the desk, not letting Jade know how badly she was getting to her.

“Let her know I can’t leave the office until I see those boards, so if she wants dinner … Never mind. Just bring them in when she leaves.” The line went dead.