Trust in Advertising (14 page)

She stumbled back toward her desk, trying to put as much distance between herself and Tony as possible before she lost it completely. Vincent kept pace with her, but said nothing except “I’m sorry.”

For some reason, that infuriated Lexi. “Why on Earth are
you
apologizing to me? Tony was the asshole, not you. All you did was defend me.” She stopped and sagged against the wall, catching her breath. “Thank you for that, by the way.”

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“His problem is with me, not with you, so try not to take it personally.”

“Oh, I take it very personally when someone accuses me of …” Lexi waved her hand in the air suddenly at a loss for words. “Well, you know exactly what he was accusing me of.” She blew a stray hair out of her face and crossed her arms. “This sucks.”

Vincent leaned his shoulder against the wall beside her and nodded his head. “Welcome to my world.”

“Promise me one thing.”

Vincent raised his eyebrow as Lexi watched him expectantly. “Name it.”

“That you’ll keep your word, and if he crosses the line like that again, I get to fire him.”

Vincent winked at Lexi, pushed off the wall, and started walking to his office. “Hell, I’ll even let Sean videotape it.”

Lexi buried herself in her work for the rest of the day after the unfortunate run-in with Tony. When she arrived at work on Tuesday, it was back to business as usual. Vincent stayed in his office preparing for an important meeting the next day, and Lexi ran back and forth to the copy room, collating presentation packets and adjusting the graphics.

When she finally sat down at her desk, the phone rang right on cue. Lexi rolled her eyes and answered it. “Good morning, Vincent Drake’s office. This is Lexi White speaking. May I help you?”

“Good morning. This is Anna Caldwell, Vincent’s sister. I wanted to check his schedule for the day … wait, Lexi White? I went to school with an Alexandra White. Odd question, but you didn’t go to Riverdale High by any chance did you?”

Lexi’s eyes grew huge with surprise, and then she smiled. “Hi, Anna. I’m shocked you remember me after all these years. How are you?”

Anna laughed. “How could I not remember you? We worked on the yearbook together junior and senior year.” Lexi found herself grinning at Anna’s excellent memory. “I’m great. How are you? I can’t believe you’re Vincent’s new assistant.

How weird is that? What a small world.” Unlike her brother, Anna sounded like she hadn’t changed a bit since high school. Her kind nature drew people to her.

“I bet Vincent freaked out when he saw you.”

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Well, he freaked … just not in the way you’re thinking
, Lexi laughed to herself. She answered as honestly as she could. “Actually, Anna, I don’t think he remembers me.”

“Wait … what? Are you serious?”

“Yeah, but it’s fine. It’s not like we were friends back then or anything, and it has been ten years.”

“That man is the most unobservant moron. Oh, the reason I called is that my daughter Madison and I were going to stop by today. How does his schedule look?”

“Actually, he’s free around noon, and he doesn’t have any lunch meetings today so that’s probably the best time. I’ll let him know you’re coming.”

“No, I think we’ll surprise him. Madison and I showing up unannounced won’t be nearly as surprising as finding out he went to high school with you.

You must have just started there not too long ago. I bet he’s been a complete jerk, too. I can’t wait to see his face! See you in an hour, Lexi.” Before Lexi could protest, Anna hung up the phone, her infectious laughter still ringing in Lexi’s ears when she placed the receiver back into the cradle.

Well, hell …

Lexi spent the next hour making sure there was a fresh pot of coffee, all calls were returned, and Vincent had everything he needed before Anna arrived.

She wanted him in the best possible mood before he found out who she was.

Part of her was afraid he would see it as a betrayal or the last straw and fire her on the spot, but the other part of her wanted to see what would happen. Would he remember her at all, or was she actually as invisible in high school as she had tried to be?

Anna and Madison arrived at Hunter just before noon. “Lexi!” Anna wrapped her arms around Lexi. “You look gorgeous, exactly the same.”

Lexi blushed at Anna’s kind words and was stunned by the show of affection from someone she hadn’t known very well or seen in years. “And look at you.

I love the short hair.”

Anna ran her fingers through her curled tresses, which were the same rich color as her brother’s hair. “Thanks!”

A smaller version of Anna with long hair and the same big brown eyes stepped forward and extended her hand to Lexi. “I’m Madison Caldwell, and I’m five years old. Nice to meet you, Miss White.”

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Lexi bent down to Madison’s level and smiled. “It’s very nice to meet you too, Madison. Please call me Lexi.”

“So, Lexi, tell me what you’ve been up to. I remember you went out east for school, right?” Anna sat down in a chair, and Lexi slipped into the one beside her. Madison hopped up into the leather chair behind Lexi’s desk and began pecking away on the computer.

“Maddie, stop.”

“It’s fine.” Lexi stood up and stepped behind the desk. “Do you want to type a letter for Uncle Vincent?” Madison grinned and eagerly nodded her head as Lexi opened up a word processing program so she could type freely.

“Thanks.” Anna smiled as Lexi returned to her seat. “So, what have you been doing the last ten years, and how did you end up working at Hunter?”

Lexi shifted uncomfortably in her chair, not sure if she was up for spilling her long and painful history to someone she barely knew, but Anna’s warm smile and welcoming personality made Lexi feel like it would be all right, so she opened up about everything. She told her about dropping out of school to take care of Harry, about how she’d basically spent the last eight years as his nurse until he died a few months ago. A stray tear fell down Anna’s face as she listened to Lexi’s story, and by the end, they were both clutching tissues and wiping their eyes.

“Lexi, I’m so sorry about your dad.”

“Thanks.”

“Mommy, look what I made!” Madison’s brilliant smile lifted their spirits.

“That’s fantastic, honey.”

“Here, let me print it out for you. Push this button, and then the paper will come out right here.” Lexi pointed under her desk.

Madison jumped off the chair and intently watched as the paper crept out of the printer inch by inch. “I got it!” she cheered and waved it over her head.

“Wanna hear what I said?” she asked Lexi.

“Absolutely.” Lexi smiled as Madison crawled into her lap and began reading the random letters and numbers.

“Dear Uncle Vince.” Lexi bit her lip to keep from laughing, assuming Madison must be the one person on Earth who could get away with calling him Vince without him minding. Lexi had noticed the way Vincent cringed when Jade used the nickname. “I want you to come to my house and play Barbies 81

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tomorrow. Mom said it was okay, and this time you can pick the wedding dress, I promise. Love, Madison Caldwell.”

“That is the greatest letter ever. I’m sure he will love it.” Lexi stood up with Madison in her arms. “You know what we need? An envelope. Do you want to come with me to find one, and maybe on our way back, we’ll stop by the lounge?

I know where Leigh hides the chocolate chip cookies.”

“Mommy, can I please go with Lexi?” Madison’s big brown eyes pleaded with her mom.

“Sure, honey. I’ll go talk to Uncle Vincent about boring grown up stuff until you get back.” She gave her daughter a quick kiss and patted Lexi on the arm. “Thanks.”

“No problem.”

“Good afternoon, dearest brother of mine!” Anna sang as she strolled into Vincent’s office unannounced.

“Would it kill you to knock for once, Anna?” Lexi heard Vincent’s deep voice chuckle as she walked away.

Lexi carried Madison down to the supply room in search of the perfect envelope for her precious letter. As soon as Lexi set her down, Madison pushed a chair over to the counter and climbed up, watching Lexi open the cabinets and pull out a box of white envelopes.

“Do you have any pink envelopes? This one is yucky.”

“No, sorry, only boring old white ones. But I do have some markers you could use to decorate it. Would you like to do that?”

“Yes!” Madison squealed.

Lexi gave her a small pile of highlighters and colored pens. Madison bent over and drew an adorable picture of two blobs. She explained the one with a bow in its hair was her and the one with a tie was Vincent and they were having a tea party.

“Do you like having tea parties?” Lexi asked as she watched Madison continue her art project.

“Oh, yes. Uncle Vincent is my best guest. He drinks all the tea!” She giggled and swung her feet over the side of the counter, recounting all the details from her last party, including the purple hat that Uncle Vincent looked very pretty in.

“That sounds like fun.” Lexi smiled, imagining Vincent on the floor drinking tea, sporting a glorious, purple brimmed hat on his head. When Madison declared her masterpiece done, Lexi helped her tuck the letter into the decorated envelope.

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The little girl stuck out her tongue, and Lexi gently ran the flap across it, then let her press it down, sealing the envelope.

“You have to come to my next party, Lexi. It would be so much fun.”

Madison grinned, then jumped off the counter and put her hands on her hips.

“Now, let’s go find those cookies!”

Lexi held Madison’s hand as the pair made their way back to the lounge.

She hoped they wouldn’t run into Tony or his accomplice this time. If he was there, Lexi decided she would take Madison downstairs to the deli and buy her one of their giant cookies rather than risk Tony saying something inappropriate about Vincent around his niece. She was relieved to find the room empty as she crouched down beside Madison near the corner cabinet.

“Leigh puts cookies in here for me. She said I can share them with all my friends, so would you like one?”

“Please.” Madison’s smile grew exponential y when Lexi gave her two cookies instead of just one. “Lexi, I like you.”

“I like you too, Madison. I’m glad you came in to visit your uncle today.”

“Next time, I’m coming to visit you too.” She threw her arms around Lexi’s neck and hugged her tightly.

“I would love that.” Lexi smiled, enjoying the feel of the tiny girl in her arms. “Come on, you have a letter to deliver.”

“Can we take a cookie to Uncle Vincent? He eats cookies with me all the time.”

“I think he would love that.”

When they arrived back at Lexi’s desk, Vincent’s door was still shut. He and Anna were obviously still in the middle of their conversation.

“Let’s go give this cookie to Uncle Vincent.”

“I don’ think we should interrupt your mommy and uncle when they’re talking. That would be rude.” Lexi directed Madison back to her desk and sat her back in the leather desk chair. Lexi hopped up and sat on the desk.

“Okay.” Madison munched on her cookie, crumbs falling onto her navy blue dress. “Can I call him?” She eyed the telephone with a big smile.

“I think that would be a wonderful idea.” Lexi leaned over and rang Vincent on their private line, putting him on speakerphone so Madison could hear him as he answered.

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“Yes, Alexandra?” Vincent’s voice over the speaker made Madison giggle.

“Who’s Alexandra?” she whispered loudly to Lexi who smiled and pointed at herself. “Oh, no, it’s not her. It’s
me
, Uncle Vincent!”

Vincent suddenly sounded alarmed. “Madison, are you alone out there?

Where did Alexandra go?”

Lexi rolled her eyes and shook her head. “I’m right here. Relax. Madison has something for you, but we didn’t want to interrupt you and Anna.”

“It’s a present!” Madison held the cookie toward the phone like he could see it.