Gone - Part One (3 page)

"Everything is signed." She runs her hand over the edge of the papers. "You can start whenever you want."

Today wouldn't be soon enough. After a woman had knocked on the door fifteen minutes ago with my employment contracts in her hand, I'd fallen into a pit of pure joy. The small details about where I'll live and how much notice I need to give my boss at Star Bistro seem inconsequential right now. Rowan had offered me a temporary position filling in for an employee who was set to start her maternity leave in a few days. I read the fine print and I know logically that the position will only last for three months. I also know that I'm going to make the most of every single hour I'm here. I'll impress them to the point that they won't have a choice but to offer me something permanent. I won't waste this opportunity. I can't.

"I know you have to make some arrangements back in Boston, Lilly." She tucks the papers I just signed into a file folder. "Why don't you give me a call tomorrow and let me know if next Monday works for you."

"Next Monday will be perfect," I shoot back gleefully. "I can't thank you enough for this opportunity."

"You'll fit in well here." She takes a step back signaling for me to stand. "I'm excited to share the news with Clive."

I'm on my feet before his name leaves her lips. In my giddy state I'd forgotten the not-so-small detail of Clive Parker and the fact that he owns the company. My only hope is that he won't put the pieces of the puzzle together and realize that the Lilly that was hired to work on the fifth floor in strategic development is the same Lilly who wrote the detailed manifesto about the best way to suck a man off. By the time he connects those unfortunate dots, I'll have secured my place as a valuable member of the Corteck team.

I volley back and forth on my heels trying to lasso all the nervous energy I feel pumping through me. "I can't thank you enough for giving me this opportunity, Ms. Bell. I promise I'll work as hard as I can."
              She races her hand along the sleeve of my blouse, stopping to rest her fingers against my shoulder. "My name is Rowan. You'll call me Rowan and I know you'll do good things here."

I have to. Before the papers arrived, she confessed that she'd have to work some human resources magic to push the person who was supposed to be getting my position into another division. I realize the lengths she's going to help me and I know that it's based primarily on her miscalculating my connection to Clive's brother. With the number of employees that walk through the turnstile in the lobby each day, I doubt that I'll even pass her in the hallway during my time here. I'll quickly become just another payroll number.

"Do your parents live in Boston?" she asks, catching me off guard. "Is this going to be your first time away from home?"

I reach for the edge of her desk to steady my knees. There's no possible way she can understand the tidal wave of emotion that races through me whenever anyone asks about my parents. It's something that I should be accustomed to by now. Friends and classmates asked the same thing on graduation day when I crossed the stage to accept my degree. "I've lived in an apartment near campus for a few years."

She nods and I instantly recognize that the answer matters little to her. She was asking merely as a courtesy. "I'll be in touch tomorrow. I have your cell number."

I take the hint and move towards the open door of her office. "You can reach me at any time. I work tomorrow but I always have my phone in my apron."

"It's been great meeting you, Lilly." She reaches towards me with her hand outstretched. "You're a very welcome addition to our family."

I turn to leave after shaking her hand briskly. I freeze in place, my eyes stuck on the buttons of a crisp, white dress shirt that is covering the chest of a man. I breathe in deeply inhaling the intoxicating scent of expensive cologne. My gaze follows the path of the buttons to his neck, before it rests on his neatly trimmed beard and a pair of blue eyes that I'll never forget.

"Lilly," he says my name in a low rasp. "I'd like a moment."

***

"Would you like something to drink?" Clive asks me from where he's sitting in a leather chair behind his massive wooden desk." I can have my assistant bring you another glass of water or maybe something stronger is in order?"

The glint in his eye suggests that he's testing me. My racing pulse suggests that I'm on the brink of having a heart attack. When he'd asked Rowan for the papers I'd just signed, I saw all my aspirations being handed over to him. I'd silently followed him down the corridor to the bank of elevators and rode helplessly up to the thirty-seventh floor with him knowing that my brief moment of jubilant celebration had crashed into a million non-repairable pieces. My life, as I'd hoped it would be, was no more and it was all because of my stupid need to flirt with some random online.

Way to fuck yourself over, Lilly.

"Lilly?" He leans slightly forward, his elbows catching on the edge of the desk. "Can I get you anything?"

"No," I say sullenly as I try to sink into the chair across from him. There's no way I can hide my embarrassment and disappointment. I feel as though the brass ring I'd always wanted was firmly within my grasp for a mere ten seconds before it was jerked violently away by a gorgeous man who can't take his eyes off me right now. Normally, I'd be flattered by that. It's hard to feel anything but regret and humiliation.

His eyes finally leave me as he leans back in his chair, crossing his legs. "Let's talk about why you're here."

"I was hoping to talk to you," I offer because it's the truth. My initial reason for making this trip was to secure a meeting with him under the guise of explaining why I sent Parker that package filled with erotic delights. I was going to skillfully use that to segue into a discussion about my merits as a potential employee. It's a huge leap but I know if I choose my words carefully, that I'll make my point and convince him that Corteck needs me.

"Why would Rowan offer you a job?" He picks up one of the pieces of paper and tilts it towards me. "Did you bring up Parker's name during your meeting with her?"

I touch my forehead briefly before I trace a path down my nose with my index finger. "I did, yes."

His entire body shifts in his chair. His shoulders push back as his head tilts to the side. "You used your relationship with my brother to get a job here?"

I don't know how to answer that. I did. I didn't do it intentionally but that matters little now. Rowan had made it clear that she had nothing to offer me until I brought up Parker's name.  "I just mentioned his name."

"You work at a café, Lilly." He leans forward now, tossing the entire file folder on his desk. "The position you were hired for is highly technical. You're not qualified for it. Is this part of the game you've been playing with my brother?"

I fight the urge to stand and race out of his office.  Instead, I slide my ass to the edge of the chair I'm sitting in, I rest my hands on my lap and I say very clearly and calmly, "I'm more qualified to work here than most of your staff. I don't want your brother. I want you."

No. Wait. I didn't actually say that, did I?

I pull my eyes from the file folder that contains my signed employment contracts to his face. His gaze is set on my lap and where my hands are firmly clasped together. "I'm sorry, Mr. Parker. That came out wrong."

He doesn’t acknowledge my words at all. His eyes stay locked on my hands. I move them slightly and that's when I realize. I look down to where my skirt has inched up my thighs revealing the top of my lace garters. I fumble for a moment, teetering back and forth from one ass cheek to the other while I pull the fabric back into place. This can't possibly be going any worse. He has to think I'm an exhibitionist by now. I wouldn’t blame him. He's seen more of my body and lacy lingerie than most men I've dated.

"I graduated at the top of my class from MIT," I begin before I stop to cross my feet at the ankles for safe measure. "I've developed several apps that are available in various marketplaces right now."

"You what?" He reaches to pick up the file folder again, skimming over each of the papers. "Why is none of that in here?"

I scoop up my oversized handbag from where I rested it on the floor near my chair and rifle through it. I tossed a copy of my resume and college transcript into it before I left Boston. In my haste to get ready to come here today, I'd forgotten about it. I fish the crumpled mess out of the bottom of my purse. I try to smooth out the wrinkles on my lap before I hold them in the air over his desk. "I brought these."

I see the hesitation in his eyes before he finally reaches to take the papers from me. I can't blame him. Everything about me screams desperate nymphomaniac to him. It's a wonder he hasn't called security to have me removed from the premises yet.

He studies both documents carefully, his brow furrowing as he scans the bottom of my resume where I've detailed the three apps I've developed in the past two years. "This is very impressive. You graduated with honors from MIT?"

I swear that's sarcasm laced tightly into the question. Normally, I'd jump onto a soapbox and rail on the person questioning how a young woman can have the technical knowledge to go shoulder-to-shoulder with male counterparts twice her age. I can't do that now. I have to remember that I'm the one who unwittingly sent him a nude picture. It's no wonder he doubts my academic ability. Smart girls know better than to expose themselves to men they don't know.

"You had a heavy class load," he goes on. "How did you manage to carry that and have time to invest in programming these apps?"

"I love programming." I lean back in my chair. "Two of them began as class projects but I realized their potential so I developed something else for school and focused on these in my spare time."

He straightens his shoulders. "I've had someone dedicated full-time to developing a mobile app that travelers abroad can use when they're faced with a medical emergency."
              I pull in a deep breath and try to contain the smile on my face. "As you can see on my resume, I've developed an app just like that but with mine, travelers are able to tell instantly if their insurance will cover their emergency medical situation. They can then easily find a clinic that accepts that insurance based on their current GPS. "

"It's remarkable," he says under his breath.

"I also added a feature that I think is invaluable," I begin before I stall to exhale deeply. "The user can program in all their vital health related information including current conditions, prescriptions, and any primary doctors so that if they're incapacitated at any point, the medical personnel helping them will know what they're dealing with."

"I stare at him waiting for his response. His jaw clenches slightly as he lowers my resume and transcript back onto his desk. "What's really going on here?"

My hand leaps to my cheek. I know my face is flushed. I can feel the heat coursing through me. "What do you mean?" I volley back with little emotion.

"Who sent you here?" He tilts his chin towards me.  "You need to tell me right now who the hell sent you here?"

I close my eyes briefly as I try to absorb the words he just threw at me. "No one sent me here. I'm here because I want a job."

"You want a job?" he shoots back. "You tried to seduce my brother and now you're telling me you developed that app all by yourself?"

Wow. Just wow. Asshole alert.

I push my body forward hoping that the action will give me the courage I need to get through this conversation. "Mr. Parker, what happened with your brother was an unfortunate coincidence. I started talking to him completely by accident. I was actually testing out the mobile dating app that your…"

"You expect me to believe that you didn't know who Parker was when you sought him out?" he interjects.

"Sought him out?" I'm on my feet now. "No offense, but your brother isn't really my type."

"Clearly," he growls the word at me as he pushes himself up to a standing position. "Judging by that envelope you mailed to my place, you're willing to do anything to get my attention. It was obvious I'd come looking for you after I got a glimpse of your body."

Was that a compliment? Does it matter at this point? "I sent that envelope to your brother for fun."

"For fun?" he parrots back. "You sent that envelope to my address knowing I would see it. You wrote a letter telling me how you wanted to suck me off."

"No." I want my voice to sound louder than it does but I can't pull anything from within me. "It's not like that."

"What's it like?" he sneers. "It's clear from the contents of that envelope that you were hoping to fuck either me or my brother."

I shake my head so hard that my hair falls into my face. "I wasn't hoping for that. I was only trying to have some fun. It had been a long time since I…" I stop myself. I'm not about to confess that I haven't gotten laid in months.

"A woman doesn't send a man a detailed," he stops to point his finger in the air at me. "A very detailed letter about sucking his dick if she's not looking for a piece of it."

I pull my hands to my face trying to cover up the panic I'm feeling. "I didn't think you'd read the letter."

"You sent a letter to my house about blowing me and you didn’t think I'd read it? I want to know right now who sent you, Lilly. Was it someone from Veriolt? Are you working for Taylor Lungrund? I'm going to find out either way. Make it easier on yourself and just spit it out."

"I have nothing to spit out." It's a poor choice of words given the current discussion, but I'm going to own it. "I'm being completely honest with you."

He's a lunatic. I completely understand now why he's often labeled as difficult and offensive in the press. He actually thinks I'm a spy for one of his two biggest competitors. "I don't know what you're talking about. I've been trying to get a job here for years."

"Bullshit." The word is brutal and direct. "Why haven't I heard about you until now? Explain that to me."

I take a step back out of pure need. I can see the anger within the fine lines around his eyes. His entire face has shifted to a darker place. "Mr. Parker, please."

"Please?" he hisses the word at me. "Please what, Lilly?"

This is it. I have one chance to convince this man that I'm not a mole sent in by one of his competitors to undermine the integrity of his latest developments. "I've always admired you," I say the words even though they sound lame and contrived. "I've applied for the internship program for the past four years and I've written you many emails explaining how I think I can improve things within your organization."

The twisted look of confusion on his face mirrors what I'm feeling inside. That sounded too pompous and expectant. I'm a young woman barely out of college who just told a man who has one of the most brilliant technical minds of my generation that I'm here to do him a favor. "I can verify all these random claims you're making."

I nod briskly. "You should. I mean, yes, please do that."

He leans back against his desk, crossing his legs at the ankles. "I will. In the meantime, why don't you explain one improvement that you'd make today?"

He's pushed me into a corner. The smug expression on his face suggests that he thinks that I'll cave under the pressure of the question. I catch the movement of his brow as he cocks it up.

"Well," he begins as he taps his expensive black shoe on the floor. "I'm waiting, Lilly."

I cross my arms, push my shoulders back and try to contain a small smile. "The dating app you launched three months ago is a piece of shit. The framework is lacking, it has no fluidity at all and the fact that you're charging users for it is a crime."