Trust in Advertising (20 page)

“What do you think of the gala so far?”

“I’ve never seen anything like it. We didn’t have parties like this where I lived before I moved to San Francisco.” Lexi chuckled as Mrs. Dee shook a few hands of people passing by.

“I have to ask, how are you enjoying your job?”

“It’s great.”

Mrs. Dee didn’t even try to hide her surprise. “Really? You enjoy working for Vincent?”

“Sure. He can be short tempered, impatient, and stubborn, but I pay attention to the way he does things and make sure that everything is in order for him.

That seems to help make him less irritable. He actually chatted with me today, so I think maybe I’m making progress,” Lexi said hopefully. “But underneath all the hostility, he’s a nice guy. I can tell.”

“That’s wonderful. I’m glad you don’t regret your decision to come to Hunter.

Of course, I hear Mr. Reid is still hoping to change your mind this evening and get you to work for him. He said something about a dance?”

Lexi paled considerably, her jaw dropping in shock. Mrs. Dee quickly laughed and let her off the hook. “I’m sorry, dear. I was just kidding. The Reid tango is infamous. I assumed Leigh warned you.”

Lexi let out a huge sigh of relief and watched Mrs. Dee greet more guests.

She introduced Lexi to the Warners, who owned a large investment firm based in Seattle, as Lexi knew from her cards. They were considering moving their base of operations to San Francisco, so Vincent wanted to make sure he took a moment to introduce himself.

“What do you do at Hunter, Lexi?” Mrs. Warner asked.

“I’m Mr. Drake’s assistant.”

“How is he to work with?”

“He’s wonderful. Everyone at Hunter is. It’s like a big family, very supportive and welcoming. I’m very happy there.”

“I’ve heard wonderful things about them, so I told Arnold we needed to come say hello. He can be so stubborn sometimes, but when I get a feeling about things, I make him listen to me. For some reason, I have this feeling that 114

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Hunter is a company we could work with.” Her husband gave her a little nod, indicating he saw someone else he needed to talk to. “Duty calls. I must go be a social butterfly. It was lovely meeting you, Lexi.”

“You too, Mrs. Warner. Good luck in the marathon.” Lexi remembered this detail from her research at the last second.

“Thank you so much!” Mrs. Warner turned to Mrs. Dee and beamed. “I like this girl. We’ll talk more later. Tell Vincent to save me a dance.”

“Brava, Lexi!” Mrs. Dee clapped happily. “Mary Warner is one tough nut to crack, and you just impressed her.”

“Oh, thank God. This is so nerve-racking trying to keep everyone straight.

She was either training for a marathon or had recently taken up painting, but I couldn’t see her wearing a stained art smock, so I went with my gut. I don’t know how Vincent does this.” Lexi glanced around and saw Anna and Erik slowly inching their way across the room.

Mrs. Dee smiled and watched the crowd move around them. Lexi saw her nod her head and make eye contact with certain guests, giving them that extra welcome to make them feel more comfortable. Her floor length dress sparkled as the light from the candles on the table flickered, casting rainbows on the curtains behind her. Lexi’s eye was drawn to a spectacular piece of jewelry around her neck.

“I love that necklace.”

The gorgeous emerald solitaire was framed by diamonds on either side.

The way it caught the low light in the room and sparkled was magnificent. The matching pair of emerald earrings brought out the deep color in her eyes.

She touched her neck gently. “It was a gift from my son.” The pride in her voice told Lexi the piece of jewelry was very special to her.

“Well, he has great taste.”

Mrs. Dee was clearly distracted by something and said, “In some things, yes. But not everything.”

Lexi turned and followed her gaze up toward the entrance, and that’s when she saw them. Vincent and Jade were perched at the top of the staircase, looking like a perfect wedding cake topper, except for the fact that the bride was dressed more like a streetwalker than a virgin. Jade, of course, was striking a pose and waiting until everyone in the room whispered and pointed at them. Her dress was a reflective silver rather than white, the hemline barely hitting mid-thigh.

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She stood on her tiptoes and gave Vincent a peck on the cheek, revealing the deep V in the back of her dress that went lower than good taste should allow.

Lexi was certain most of the attention Jade was garnering wasn’t positive, but Jade didn’t seem to mind in the least as she continued preening for all to see.

As Vincent offered his elbow to her, she snaked her arm around it, and the pair began their descent.

They were such opposites. Lexi couldn’t understand what Vincent saw in her. Other than the fact that she was beautiful, she was nothing like him. He was focused and determined. She was flighty and all over the place. Vincent worked his tail off day in and day out, but Jade’s biggest concern seemed to be choosing the correct nail polish, yelling at her agent, and deciding where to make Vincent take her to dinner. They continued their approach, Jade basking in the attention, while Vincent was all business, completely focused on work and scanning the room for the people he needed to make contact with.

While Sean looked debonair in a just-one-of-the-guys way, Vincent looked sophisticated, aristocratic even. He walked into the room, and people whispered and pointed at him, intimidated, but captivated. Women blushed when he smiled in their direction, and men nodded their heads respectfully. His crisp, black tuxedo was a perfect contrast to the casual disarray of his hair, which Lexi could tell he tried very hard to tame. But in the end, it had a mind of its own, and once he ran his hand through it nervously, as he so often did, the sexy, untamed waves returned.

Lexi had no idea how long she had stood there, heart fluttering wildly in her chest, but she was vaguely aware that she had begun mumbling. “Heavens.

It should be illegal to look so good. I mean just look at him.”

Mrs. Dee overheard her quiet ramblings and smiled. “He is a handsome young man. However, his choice of dates makes my skin crawl.”

Lexi stifled a laugh.

“Oh, my goodness, did I say that out loud? How embarrassing.”

“You think that’s embarrassing?” Lexi chuckled, sipping the wine in her glass. “What if I told you I had a crush on him in high school and never had the guts to say a single word to him? I was so shy that he didn’t even remember me when I started working for Hunter. Now
that’s
embarrassing. Oh, and I’ve been giving Jade regular sugar and whole milk in her coffee instead of Splenda and non-fat milk for the past two weeks because I hate the way she barks ‘Lexi, coffee’ every time she steps foot in the office.”

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As soon as the words had left her mouth, Lexi wanted to suck them back in, but something about Mrs. Dee’s kind disposition put Lexi at ease and made her say things she wouldn’t normally share with anyone but Hope.

Mrs. Dee arched an eyebrow at Lexi’s confession. “Really?”

“Unfortunately, yes, to al of it. I was hoping the extra calories would put Jade in a better mood, but sadly, my plan failed. And the thing with Vincent … never mind. ” Lexi sighed and wistfully stared at Vincent leading Jade in their direction. She watched the seductive way his shoulders rolled with each graceful step and the tempting way the corners of his mouth twitched as he smiled at the guests around him. As he scanned the room, he finally caught Lexi’s eye, and her stomach flipped when his eyes locked on her. Rather than look away, his intense gaze raked over her body, as if taking in every detail from her hair to her shoes, making her cheeks warm with blush.

“Well, he was an unobservant boob in high school,” Mrs. Dee whispered in her ear as Vincent and Jade came to stand beside them, Vincent’s eyes still fixed on Lexi. “However, that may be changing.”

Jade appeared to be utterly bored until she saw Lexi. Then she cast a murderous glare, looking her up and down, appraising her gown and trying her best to make Lexi feel inferior. “Well, isn’t this cozy?” Jade sneered.

Vincent shot Jade a reproachful look, and then turned his attention back to the women. “Ladies, you both look beautiful this evening.” He briefly met Lexi’s eye again and smiled, then he kissed Mrs. Dee on the cheek. “Mother, they’re almost ready for you to give your speech.”

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Lexi froze, looking repeatedly from Vincent to Mrs. Dee as her face turned a bright shade of red. “D for Drake … Mrs. Drake?” Lexi squeaked out, stumbling slightly from the shock of it all.

“Please, call me Elizabeth.”

Everything began moving in slow motion for Lexi as she watched Vincent and Jade exchange a confused look while Elizabeth simply grinned. The conversation she had been having with Mrs. Drake moments ago came roaring through her head, and her embarrassment grew exponentially with each passing second.

Lexi pointed a shaky finger at Mrs. Dee. “You—you’re Mrs. D-Drake?”

Her throat constricted uncomfortably.

“Yes, dear. I’m Mrs. Drake,” Elizabeth said with a smirk, the same smirk she had seen on …

Lexi spun to face Vincent, and then she glanced back over her shoulder.

“You’re his mother?” Mrs. Dee nodded her head while Vincent stared at Lexi like she was a lunatic. “Oh, my God, now I remember.” Lexi clasped her hand over her mouth as a vague memory of Elizabeth in the kitchen of her house making sandwiches for the yearbook committee hit her like a ton of bricks. She had probably only crossed paths with Elizabeth Drake a handful of times, but now each and every one of the encounters became crystal clear in her memory.

Lexi kicked herself for not recognizing her sooner. “And I just told you …” Lexi’s voice trailed off as the room began to spin.

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She felt so stupid. Leigh had told her Vincent’s family owned the company, but she had been so flustered over seeing him again, that she hadn’t put it all together … until now. Not only had Lexi said these things to Vincent’s mother, she’s said them to the
owner
of the company.

“What’s wrong with you, Lexi? Are you drunk?” Jade snapped. “Who the hell did you think you were talking to?”

Lexi didn’t know if she should laugh or cry. She opened her mouth and random sputtering came out, so she tried to cover the verbal breakdown with coughing. “Sorry, crab cake down the wrong pipe.” She sank down into a chair, covered her face, and tried to catch her breath.

Someone, please kill me
, Lexi thought over and over in her head.

Vincent took a step closer to check on Lexi, but Jade wrenched his arm and held him at her side. Instead, he asked stiffly from a distance, “Are you okay?”

Jade rolled her eyes and did nothing to hide her displeasure. “She’s fine, Vincent. Come on, let’s get a drink. I see some
interesting
people over by the bar.

Sober up, Lexi, before you make a complete ass of yourself. Elizabeth,” Jade said with a curt nod, then steered Vincent away from the women.

Mrs. Drake shrugged her son and his girlfriend away with a wave of her hand. “Always a pleasure, Jade,” she said through gritted teeth as she sat down and turned her attention to Lexi. “Are you feeling better, dear? Ignore, Jade. I do.”

“Jade is the least of my worries right now. Can we please erase the last ten minutes from the record? That, or just kil me now and put me out of my misery.”

Lexi’s cheeks flamed red with embarrassment as the realization sank in that she had just confessed her deepest, darkest, secret crush to none other than Vincent’s mother. She was absolutely mortified and afraid to look Mrs. Drake in the face.

Elizabeth’s warm hand settled on Lexi’s shoulder. “I only have a few minutes, but I need to make a confession, Lexi. I remembered you.” Her voice was as soft as a whisper. “As soon as I saw your name on the job application, I knew who you were. I may be the president of this company, but before we hire someone from the outside, I’m personally involved in the selection of candidates. And when I saw your resume, I knew you were exactly what we needed.”

“Mrs. Drake,” Lexi started, only to be interrupted.

“It’s Elizabeth, dear.”

“Elizabeth,” Lexi said slowly, “why exactly am I here? I don’t want to be a charity case.” Lexi’s pride kicked in, and her insecurities roared to the surface as she began convincing herself that Elizabeth only hired her because she felt sorry for her.

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“It most definitely was not charity, Lexi. You’re here because I needed you, because my son needed you. Whether he understands that yet or not. It’s a long story, but he needed someone to be on his side.” She laughed. “Someone to be brutally honest with him, but most importantly, someone he can trust.”

“And that’s me?” Lexi asked incredulously.

“I think so,” Elizabeth said softly. “He’s been having a hard time the last few years, trusting the wrong people and making more enemies than friends.

In case you hadn’t noticed, he’s not the same boy he was back in high school. I hoped I could trust you to keep an eye on him, if that makes sense, and you’ve come through in spades.”

“You do know we weren’t friends in high school.”

Elizabeth smiled sweetly at her and patted Lexi’s hand. “True, but Anna spoke highly of you back then, and I volunteered in the school office once a week. You’d be amazed the gossip you hear in there.”

“Oh, gosh,” Lexi cringed imagining the rumors that had probably been spread about the weirdo new girl during her two years at Riverdale High.

“Don’t worry, dear. It was all good about you. Your teachers always spoke of how hard working you were. Vincent on the other hand …”

Lexi couldn’t stifle her laughter. She had overheard plenty of stories about Vincent’s antics senior year, mainly pranks he pulled not only on the students, but faculty as well. “Remember the time the football team dared him to put the principal’s house up for sale in the newspaper? The poor man came home one day and saw the ‘for sale’ sign and thought his wife had thrown him out.”