A Million Kisses or More (35 page)

Chapter 16

CALIFORNIA

Ana looked at the tall building in front of her, still not quite believing she was in L.A. and had survived four days without Harrison. The drive had been torture because her heart was back in Minnesota and she had to fight the urge to turn around and go back home. Once she had reached Denver, she almost did go back and she had spent nearly two hours at a rest stop arguing with herself over what to do. She had even called Harrison. If he had told her to come home, she would have. But, no, he had to be the voice of reason, telling her that it was only a year and he promised he would do everything in his power to come out in a few weeks for a visit.

That promise was the only thing that kept her driving westward.

The first thing she had done upon arriving was take a picture of herself standing on the balcony and send it to Harrison, texting
I wish you were here
. The view was magnificent and must have cost a small fortune and she had no idea why she was living there, with or without a roommate. The keys had been waiting for her at the front desk, as her contact at Madd told her they would be. But while the keys had been there, her roommate had not. The only reason she could come up with to explain the lush living arrangements was the fact that someone at the agency discovered who she was… or rather who her father was. It was depressing to realize she hadn’t truly earned the internship on her own and she was half tempted to accept her mom’s offer and leave.

But she made a promise and the least she could do was go into the office and find out what was expected of her.

As she stood in front of the office building, she figured she’d give it at least a week to see if it was worth the agony of being without Harrison. The building itself was all chrome and glass and intimidating as all hell. The Madd office was on the fourteenth floor so she pushed the butterflies down, smoothed her hands over the charcoal pencil skirt, and made her way to the elevator bay. Pushing the 14
^th
floor button, she wondered what she was going to be doing, hoping like crazy that it would be enough to keep her thoughts from straying to Harrison. She had a job to do and she couldn’t afford to daydream about her future with the man she loved.

The smile that slipped out was a given; the little squeak that drew the attention of her fellow elevator riders was not. Blushing, she concentrated on the numbers as they went up, trying not to draw any more attention to herself. Taking a few deep breaths to calm her nerves, she focused on her job, whatever it may be.

Finally, the doors opened and she stepped out into another chrome and glass area, only Madd was written in huge letters behind the front desk. A woman with hot pink hair, several piercings, colorful tattoos, and dark rimmed glasses was sitting behind the desk. Glancing around, Ana was made aware of the eclectic dress code, though the most prevalent seemed to be black and/or leather. She was seriously uncool and perhaps she would have to reconsider her wardrobe since she didn’t own a single leather item and the only black she had was one of Harrison’s shirts. Well, it was only a year. She wasn’t going to waste any of her funds on clothes that she wasn’t going to wear back in Minnesota.

“Hi,” she said, putting on a bright smile. The woman blinked her eyes and Ana realized that the glasses didn’t even have a prescription. Ignoring the questions bubbling up inside of her, she said, “I’m Ana Smithfield and I think this is where I belong?”

The woman’s brows pulled together as she looked down at the desk. Sifting through a pile of papers that was sitting there, she apparently found the right one. Pulling it out, she scanned the pages before she looked up. “Hmm, this is interesting.”

“What?” Ana asked, standing on her toes, trying to peer over the edge to see what was written. Unfortunately, the angle was wrong and she couldn’t see anything.

“Usually the interns start out in the mailroom,” the receptionist said, turning the page and scanning the second piece of paper. Glancing up, she explained, “The boss wants everyone to learn the business from the ground up to build a better understanding of this place.”

“That makes sense,” Ana said in agreement. Almost afraid to ask, hoping she wasn’t going to be placed in filing, she asked, “Where did they put me?”

“Apparently you were requested by Ms. Moore to be her personal assistant,” the woman said, still reading the papers. “Since she’s out of the country, she wants you to house sit for her as well.”

Ah, that explained the amazing apartment and lack of roommate. “I’m assuming that’s only part of my duties?”

“What?” the woman shook her head and looked up at Ana. It took her a moment to focus before she said, “Yes, of course. You’ll be working in her office – there’s a desk set up for you – and you will be dealing with the day-to-day things, her correspondence, her errands, her appointments, whatever comes up. Occasionally, you may be asked to do other things but your primary responsibilities will be taking care of Ms. Moore’s business needs and her social media accounts.”

That didn’t sound too bad, though she had no idea what she was going to actually be doing.

The receptionist snorted as she handed Ana the papers she had just been reading, “Must be nice being the sister of one of the Veeps.”

Ana tilted her head to the side as a ball of excitement and nerves wove together in her stomach. Ms. Moore was her mysterious sister? Why hadn’t her mother told her that her sister was a vice president at Madd? God, how old was her sister? If she was already vice president of a major company, she had to be close to forty, right? But Maddox Cooper was only forty-five or fifty, so that couldn’t be right. “Where is Ms. Moore?”

The woman’s lip curled as she glared up at Ana, “Ms. Moore manages several of our more popular bands. She’s touring Europe with
Isadore Lies
.”

Though Ana was grateful for the answer, she knew nothing about managing a band and wondered how she was going to be Ms. Moore’s assistant. Glancing over the papers, she realized that the information had been for her and her alone. Frowning at the receptionist, she asked, “Are you always so snoopy?”

The woman’s eyes widened, her eyebrows flying over the top of her glasses, as she jerked backwards. “I beg your pardon?”

“I should think so,” Ana growled, glancing back down at the note her sister – her
sister
! – had written to her. “This wasn’t meant for you.”

Dearest Anavrin –

As you have by now realized, I am not there to greet you personally and for that I do apologize. It’s not every day I get to meet my only sister. One of my bands is touring Europe until the end of March and I have to be here with them. You have no idea how much trouble a bunch of young men and women can get into when they aren’t properly supervised. Anyway, I hope you’re settling in okay and the apartment is comfortable. Janice will give you a list of your responsibilities. I look forward to meeting you! When I get home, we will finally have a chance to sit down and talk, get to know one another as adults.

Your older sister,

Abby Moore

Ana smiled to herself as she glanced up and asked, “Are you Janice?”

“No,” the woman glowered. “That’s Ms. Moore’s secretary.” Pointing down the hall, she said, “Last door on the right. I’m sure you’ll be
well
taken care of here.”

With a tight smile, Ana made her way down the hall, her steps slowing when she realized her sister had a different last name than their father. What did Abby look like? Did the two of them look anything alike? Did the other employees know that Abby was Maddox Cooper’s daughter? Did they know that Ana was? Did Ana get the job because of her familial connections?
Had
they known who she was? It was a valid question since she had searched the internet for any mention of her or her mother and had found nothing. She had so many questions and yet she had to wait three whole months before she’d get any answers.

And on top of everything, she missed Harrison with every beat of her heart, every breath that she took. The mystery of her sister was the only thing that kept her from returning to Harrison.

*****

For nearly three months, Ana was kept inordinately busy, which was good because it kept her from missing Harrison every second of every day. The only time she didn’t miss him was the time they spent on the phone and this past weekend when he had visited. She almost felt bad because she had promised to explore the city with him and instead they had spent the entire weekend at the apartment exploring each other. There had been a moment of panic when the condom broke but she hadn’t been too worried considering all of the times they had tempted fate with no repercussions. All in all, it had been a good weekend that was over way, way too soon and it wasn’t likely to happen again.

Sitting at her desk, she was about to take a bite of her sandwich when her phone rang. “Hello?”

“Anavrin?” There was a hint of a cultured accent to the beautiful female voice but Ana had no idea who the caller could be.

“Yes?” she answered, setting the sandwich down, oddly nervous and excited all of a sudden.

“I need you to make reservations at Harry’s,” the stranger said. “For two o’clock.”

Hearing his name made her heart skip a beat. Squeaking, she asked, “Harry’s?”

“Is that a problem?” the mystery woman asked.

“What? No,” Ana answered quickly. It was just the name of the man she loved, the man she missed more than life itself. But she only had nine months left. Nine long, long months. How was she ever going to survive. “So, two o’clock at Harry’s?”

“Yes.”

“How many guests will there be?” Ana asked, hoping she sounded somewhat professional despite the nervous excitement. Hearing Harrison’s name had snapped her even further out of the work zone she had been in and she wasn’t able to return. Something momentous was about to happen, she could feel it in her bones.

“Just you and me, Anavrin,” the woman said, amusement in her voice. “I’m finally back and I thought it was time we met.”

“Miss Moore?” Ana asked, dumbfounded.

“Abby, Anavrin,” the woman said, outright laughter replacing the amusement. “We’re sisters. The least you can do is call me by my name.”

“Then, please,
please
, call me Ana,” Ana said. “Only my mother calls me Anavrin. Well, she’s the only one who gets away with it.”

Abby chuckled, “I’ll see you at two then, Ana. We have much to discuss.”

With that, Abby hung up without giving Ana a chance to say goodbye. With a shaky hand, she looked up the number for Harry’s on her computer and then called it. A female answered on the sixth ring with a brisk, “Harry’s.”

“Hello, um, I’d like to make reservations….”

“I’m sorry but we don’t offer reservations,” the woman said, interrupting. “It’s first come, first served and you have to wait in line like everyone else.”

“Crap,” Ana muttered under her breath, wondering what would be her best option. But if Abby wanted reservations at Harry’s, then Ana would make reservations. Somehow. “Could you maybe make an exception just this once?”

The woman laughed, “Sweetheart, if I made an exception for everyone who asked, we’d turn into one of those frilly restaurants that think too highly of themselves.”

“But I’m meeting my sister for the first time in my life… in fact, I didn’t even know I had a sister until a few months ago and now I’m her personal assistant but she’s been away for the past couple of months and she just called and wanted me to make reservations at Harry’s,” Ana said in one breath, without any pauses. Glancing at the clock, she saw that it was almost 12:30. If she couldn’t get reservations, she could race over to the restaurant and stand in line for an hour if necessary. “Harry is the name of my fiancé… well, Harrison is his name but his family calls him Harry even though I prefer Harrison, and….”

“You remind me of my sister,” the woman said, chuckling. “I’ll pencil you in for one thirty.”