Trust in Advertising (9 page)

When the phone chirped, Lexi cringed but didn’t pick it up, afraid to see his response. When the noise continued, she went into a full-fledged panic—this wasn’t a text message. The phone was actually ringing, and she had to answer it and speak coherently to him.

Shit, shit, shit.
Lexi’s heart pounded like a jackhammer in her chest, and she felt like she might throw up.
Calm
blue ocean, Lexi,
she repeated over and over in her head to try and settle her nerves.

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Trust in Advertising

“Hello?” Lexi’s voice quivered as she spoke.

“You have the file in your hand?” Vincent’s deep, sultry voice took her back ten years, making her stomach flip and her palms sweat.

Hello to you too, Vincent. Long time no see. How have you been? I’m fine,
thanks for asking.

“Yes, Vincent, I’m looking at it now.”

After a long, uncomfortable pause, he spoke. “There should be papers in there about the early pitches. What were the two layouts they rejected before finally accepting our campaign?”

Another test? He thinks I’m lying about finding the file. Can you say “major
trust issues”? What the hell happened to him?

“Um, hang on … Well, from what I can find, it looks like they rejected the ‘Once in a lifetime’ pitch and ‘Say it with diamonds’ last October before finally accepting the ‘Eternal love’ concept in mid-June of this year.”

Silence on the line.

“Fax those numbers to Mrs. Kimber at B and B Associates. Their number is in my Rolodex. They’re the Hunter accountants, and they needed that information last week,” he said gruffly without a single word of thanks.

“Anything else?” Lexi tried to hide the annoyance in her voice.

“You’re not fired,
yet
. Goodbye, Alexandra.” And without even waiting for her response, he hung up.

“The name’s Lexi, but thanks, Vincent. Your appreciation is really overwhelming.” She wanted to scream, but instead marched into Vincent’s office and found the Rolodex buried under a pile of magazines marked with a colorful array of Post-it notes.

As she lounged in his large leather chair behind a wall of clutter, Lexi decided that her project for the next day was to organize Vincent’s desk.

That way, she wouldn’t waste hours the next time he called with a ludicrous scavenger hunt.

The following morning, Lexi walked into work in a comfortable pair of slacks and a sweater, the perfect outfit for crawling around on the floor of Vincent’s office, separating mountains of papers by category, project, and date.

49

Victoria Michaels

“You have a message, Lexi.” Leigh held a tiny pink paper out to her.

“Do I even want to know?” Lexi asked as she hesitantly turned the paper over and read it. Thankfully, it was from Sean.

Thought you’d like to know Vincent cal ed me last night and said he was impressed with you yesterday. I know he’d never tell you himself. If he tries to fire you again today, my offer still stands.

Sean

Lexi grinned and tucked the paper into her pocket while she headed to her desk.

“Have a nice day,” Leigh called after her.

“Thanks!”

Lexi’s morning reorganization project got off to a slow start, thanks to none other than Vincent Drake himself. He had her running all over the building picking up designs from the art department, faxing copies down to his hotel in Grand Cayman, and searching his desk for yet another missing file or microscopic piece of paper. She even had to go pick up his suit at the tailor’s. By lunchtime, she was ready to throw her phone out the window just for the sheer joy of seeing it smash onto the concrete and shatter into a million tiny pieces.

“Who works this much while they’re on vacation?” Lexi wondered out loud as she stopped a stack of folders from toppling off Vincent’s desk. “Honestly, go sit in the sun, drink a fruity drink with one of those cute little paper umbrellas and a piece of pineapple in it, and leave me alone so I can get some work done.”

She was sorting papers into the piles she had scattered across the office carpet when her phone chirped.

Alexandra,

I am still waiting on the phone number for the photographer we used
on the Wilson shoot. If it’s more than you can handle, I can always hire
someone who doesn’t find the job as challenging as you do.

V. D.

“You’re not going to fire me, pal, after I’ve run my fanny off for the past two days. I’m lasting long enough for you to get back into town so I can tell you I quit to your face.” She gripped the edge of Vincent’s desk and pulled herself to her feet. “And my name is Lexi!”

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Trust in Advertising

Vincent,

If I don’t have that phone number for you in ten minutes, I’ll grant your
wish.

Lexi

She pressed send and stormed down the hallway, a woman on a mission.

She rounded the corner, breezed past the chairs outside the office, and without knocking, threw open an office door to find Sean leaning back in his black leather chair, his feet propped up on top of his desk as he chatted on the phone.

“Come on, babe, I can’t help that. Now you’re being ridiculous. Well, what do you want me to say?” He rolled his eyes and motioned for Lexi to have a seat. “Hey … Wha- … No, listen, someone’s here. I have to go. Can’t we just talk about it later? Hello? Hello?” He slammed the phone down on the desk. “Sorry, domestic situation. So, what can I do for you? Or better yet, what has Vincent done now?

“I need a phone number.”

“Hired assassins don’t come cheap, Lexi. Do you have enough cash on hand?” Sean leaned forward and began flipping through his Rolodex. “Guido the Squid is good and works on credit, but he’s kinda messy. How about Jimmy?

You get a discount if you use him, cuz he only has one hand.”

“I’ll keep that in mind, but not what I’m here for … yet. I need a phone number, and I can’t find it in any of Vincent’s files. And believe me, I’ve searched every scrap of wrinkled paper in his office. I’m looking for the number for the photographer from the Wilson shoot last month.”

“Well, of course
that
isn’t in his office.” Sean went to one of his file cabinets.

“What a jerk. He could have just called me about it.” He flipped through a few folders, and then tossed a small business card into her lap.

Lexi read it and sighed in relief. “Thanks, Sean. You’re a lifesaver!”

“What are you supposed to do with the phone number?”

“I need to text it to him in—,” Lexi glanced down at her watch, “—less than four minutes, or I told him I’d resign.” She jumped up from the chair she had been sitting in and headed for the door so she could get back to her phone in time.

Sean chuckled. “I have a better idea. Tell him to just hit three on his speed dial. That photographer, Erik Caldwell, is his brother-in-law.”

I swear I’m going to kill this man.

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Victoria Michaels

Lexi didn’t even remember storming down the hall, but the next thing she knew, she was sitting behind her desk, clutching her BlackBerry so tightly that it was seconds away from crumbling into dust in her grip. Calmly, she sent Vincent the phone number.

Vincent,

Here’s the phone number you so desperately needed. I hope your brother-in-law and Anna are doing well.

Lexi

That was the last communication she had with Vincent that day. Over the next three hours, she finished organizing his office and was amazed at how much bigger his desk looked minus all the files. Everything was coded, dated, and filed.

She even downloaded many of the active account files onto her BlackBerry so she would have everything at her fingertips no matter where she was.

Let him try and confuse me again tomorrow.
Lexi snickered as she stood in Vincent’s office admiring her handiwork.

“Sweet merciful crap! What the hell happened in here?”

Lexi smiled over her shoulder at a gaping Leigh. “Looks pretty nice, doesn’t it?”

“He’s gonna die,” Leigh answered as her hands covered her mouth.

“Did you even realize he had such a beautiful desk underneath that giant pile of papers?”

“There you are, Leigh. I’ve been trying to call you … oh my God. Wait, did I turn down the wrong hallway? Whose office is this?” Sean stood in the doorway and glanced at the shiny silver nameplate on the desk. Then he stared at the girls with a look of horror on his face.

“It’s still Vincent’s office. I just cleaned it. Doesn’t it look nice? Now I won’t have to bug you so much, Sean. I know where every single paper is in this office.”

Sean and Leigh exchanged a knowing glance.

“Okay, why the silent treatment?”

“Vincent’s going to have a heart attack.” Sean rubbed the back of his neck and looked around the room.

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Trust in Advertising

“A good heart attack or a bad heart attack?” Lexi asked, suddenly questioning her decision to reorganize the office of the executive vice president without his permission.

Sean let out a sigh. “I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.” He winked at Leigh. “You better call me the
second
he steps off that elevator.”

Still feeling dejected by the potential disaster brewing at work, Lexi dragged her weary feet all the way up to her apartment. Instead of crawling into bed like she should have, she walked across the hall and began banging her head against Hope’s door. The bronze-skinned beauty opened the door, still dressed in her overalls from the shop, and froze.

“What’s wrong? And why are you knocking on my door with your forehead?”

“Well, do you want the good news or the bad news?”

“Give me the good news first.” Hope ushered Lexi into her apartment and sat her down at the kitchen table.

“Okay, the good news. I managed to successfully complete all of Vincent’s mental Olympics for the day.”

“Good for you! Does the idiot remember who you are yet?”

“No, he’s still clueless and that might not be a bad thing once you hear the bad news.”

“Lay it on me.”

“I cleaned his office.” Lexi rested her head on the table, her cheek pressing against the cool, polished wood surface.

“And that’s bad news, why?”

“Apparently, he doesn’t like people touching his things, which I didn’t know. I mean, he’s had me rooting around in his office for the last few days. But according to Sean, Vincent lives his life in an ‘organized state of chaos,’ and I just messed with that elaborately screwed up system. I’m in so much trouble.”

Hope rubbed her hand over her friend’s back, trying to console her. “You don’t know that for sure, Lexi. Maybe he’ll be impressed with the fact that you took the initiative.”

“I’ll be fired before my butt hits the seat of my fine Italian leather chair first thing Monday morning. I can kiss my onyx BlackBerry, laptop, and corporate credit card goodbye. I knew this would be a disaster. Honestly, only Vincent 53

Victoria Michaels

Drake could drive me absolutely insane like this, and I haven’t even spoken to the man yet. I feel like I’m in high school all over again, driving myself crazy over someone who doesn’t even see me standing right in front of him.”