Something About Lorelei (6 page)

Lorelei

Instead of going to Central Park for lunch, I met Stella at a coffee shop down the street. As she was talking about how shitty her day was going, I blurted out, “Can you believe he hates kids?”

“Huh?” She gave me a blank stare as she bit into her croissant sandwich.

“Jack. He told me today that he hates kids.”

“Why does he hate kids?”

“I don’t know. He wouldn’t say. He just said he doesn’t like them.”

“You never told him about Hope, did you?”

Taking a sip of my coffee, I sighed. “No. Why would I?”

“Why wouldn’t you? He’s your boss and I sort of think he should know you have a kid. But then again, since he hates kids, he may fire you just because you have one.” She smirked. “Just keep Hope to yourself.”

“You don’t have to worry about that. I have no intentions of telling him anything about my personal life.”

“Good girl.” She grabbed her purse and threw it over shoulder. “I have to run. I have a meeting in ten minutes.” She gave me light kiss on the cheek. “Try not to kill him.”

“I won’t, because if I did, then I wouldn’t have a job.” I smiled.

Before heading back to the office, I stopped at Starbucks and got Jack his usual lunchtime coffee. When I walked into his office, he was on the phone, so I set it on his desk.

“Hold on, James,” I heard him say. “Lorelei?”

“Yes.” I stopped and turned around.

“Did I ask you to get me this?”

“No, but you always want one at this time.”

“Today I don’t, so please take it away.”

My God, the man was an idiot. I took the cup from his desk and took it back to mine. If he didn’t want it, then I did. Ever since I told him I couldn’t go to Paris, he had the worst attitude with me. It was like he was holding a grudge against me for not being able to go. He walked out of his office and didn’t say a word where he was going.
Good riddance
was what I thought. The less he was around, the better off I was. In fact, I couldn’t wait for his dumb ass to leave for Paris.

Garrett smiled at me as he walked towards Jack’s office.

“He’s not in there,” I spoke.

“Where is he?”

“I don’t know. He isn’t talking to me at the moment.”

Garrett let out a laugh. “Why? Did you spill coffee on him again?”

“No. He wanted me to go to Paris with him and I told him I couldn’t. So now he’s all pissed off.”

“Did you tell him why you couldn’t go?”

“I lied and told him my mother wasn’t feeling well and I couldn’t leave the country.”

“You really can’t go because of your daughter, right?”

“Yes. You never told Jack about Hope. Why?” I asked.

“There are some things Jack doesn’t need to know and I felt if I told him about your daughter, he would have told me to fire you. He’s not exactly fond of children and he would have felt that you having a kid would get in the way of business.”

“I know. We already had that discussion about him not liking kids.”

“Listen, Lorelei. Don’t let Jack get to you. Just come in, do your job, and all will be good. Jack will talk to you again when he comes back from Paris.”

“Really? Because I like it when he doesn’t talk to me.”

He laughed. “You’re the best PA yet. I have to run. I have a meeting. If you see Jack, tell him I stopped by.”

“That means I’ll have to talk to him.” I smirked.

Garrett pointed his finger at me and winked before walking away.

****

Jack

As I was at the airport checking in, I noticed my boarding pass said “Economy seating.” What the fuck? I pulled out my phone and called Lorelei.

“Mr. Sutton’s office.”

“It’s me. Why the fuck am I sitting in economy?”

“I don’t know. I didn’t make your reservations.”

Shit. That’s right. Amber did. That bitch.

“I can get it changed for my flight going there. Call the airlines and get it switched for the return flight. I don’t have time to deal with this.”

“I’m sorry about that, Jack. Maybe your last PA did it because she was planning on quitting and you pissed her off,” Lorelei spoke.

“Excuse me?”

“Just an observation. I’ll get the return flight changed over.”

“You better!”
Click.

I had been on edge all week because Lorelei wasn’t joining us in Paris. This would have been a fantastic experience for her and everything would have been paid. Since she loved fashion and the industry, she could have learned a few things on this trip, plus I would have been with her and been able to spend a lot of time with her. Maybe get to know her better.

As I was talking to the girl at the ticket counter, she informed me that all first class seats were booked. Now I was really pissed and I needed to figure a way to get a seat in first class. Damn that bitch, Amber. Lorelei was right. I bet she did this on purpose and she was probably sitting at home right now laughing her ass off knowing that I’d be stuck in economy.

I took a seat at my gate in between my mother and an older gentleman. I glanced over at his boarding pass that was in his hand and saw he was in first class.

“Excuse me, sir.”

“Yes.” He looked over at me.

“I see you’re sitting in first class. I will reimburse you for your ticket, plus I’ll give you an extra five thousand dollars if you switch seats with me.”

He arched his brow as he stared at me. “Seriously?”

“Yes. I will call my assistant right now and have her wire you the money.”

“You just bought a very expensive seat in first class, son.” He smiled.

I smiled back and pulled out my phone, dialing Lorelei.

“Mr. Sutton’s office.”

“It’s me again. I need you to wire sixty-five hundred dollars to a Mr. Thomas Burkhart. I’ll put him on the phone so he can give you his account number.”

“Umm. Okay.”

Once he finished giving Lorelei his account number, he handed my phone back to me.

“Make sure it’s done ASAP. Like right now, Lorelei.”

“I am doing it now. So let me guess. You just bought the man’s seat in first class, right?”

“Yes.”

“Have a nice flight, Jack.”

“I will now.”
Click.

Lorelei

What a pleasant and quiet week with Jack gone. Such a shame it was coming to an end and he’d be back in the office on Monday. I even snuck out early a few days and picked up Hope from school.

It was Sunday afternoon and Hope and I packed our last picnic lunch of the year and met my mom, Nick, Stella, and Sebastian in Central Park. The weather was starting to change and it was getting chilly. After eating lunch, Sebastian and Nick took Hope over to the swings.

“When is Jack expected back?” Stella asked.

“His flight gets in tonight and he’ll be back in the office tomorrow.” I sighed.

“That man sounds like a horrible person,” my mother spoke. “I don’t know how you can stand working for him.”

“I have no choice, Mom. He can be a handful, but he’s nothing I can’t handle.”

“I think Mr. Sutton has a crush on your daughter.” Stella smiled.

“Stop that! He does not.”

“Well, if he does, Lorelei isn’t that stupid to get involved with a man like that. Right, honey?”

“Yes, Mom.”

“But…maybe a little casual sex wouldn’t hurt.” She smirked.

“MOM! He’s my boss.”

She shrugged. “So what. Sex is sex. It doesn’t have to mean anything. I had plenty of sex with different guys after your father died.”

I covered my ears with my hands. “STOP IT!”

Stella fell back on the grass in hysterics.

“Relax, Lorelei. Did you really think I didn’t have sex until Nick?”

“She hasn’t,” Stella spoke as she sat up.

The look on my mom’s face displayed a great deal of shock as she looked at me.

“For real? You haven’t had sex since Brett?”

“I am not talking about this.”

“Sweetheart.” She reached over and grabbed my hand. “You’re too young to go without sex for that long. What is wrong with you?”

“What? How could you ask that? Nothing is wrong with me. I just haven’t had any interest in men since Brett died. Hope is my life and I’m not going to screw it up by going out and having meaningless sex with strange men.”

“You’re not screwed up, are you?” She winked.

Thank God that Nick, Sebastian, and Hope walked over because I couldn’t take any more of this conversation with my mother.

“Are you ready to go, baby? We need to get you in the bath.”

“Are you going to pick me up again tomorrow?” she asked as she put her arms around my neck.

“No, sweetie. Mr. Sutton will be back in the office tomorrow,” I spoke as I ran my hand down her hair.

“Hey, Hope, I have an idea,” Stella spoke as she took hold of her hand. “I happen to be off of work tomorrow, so how about if I pick you up from school and we can go shopping. I need some new makeup and I would like you to help me pick out some new colors.”

Hope’s eyes lit up and I gave Stella a small smile.

“I would love that. Is it okay with you, Grandma?” she asked.

“Of course it is, baby girl.”

“Thank you.” I mouthed to Stella.

****

After Hope’s bath, we sat down at the kitchen table and I began sketching a new dress while Hope did her homework. Suddenly, I heard my phone beep from my purse. It was my business phone and there was a text message from Jack.

“I’m back in New York. I hope you didn’t miss me too much. We have a lot to go over tomorrow, so be prepared for a very busy day.”

Great.

“Welcome back. I will see you in the morning.”

“Don’t forget my coffee.”

I rolled my eyes.

“I won’t. It’s become part of my morning routine.”

“Good. Try not to spill it this time.”

“I’ll do my best. Have a good evening, Jack.”

“You too, Lorelei.”

“Who were you texting Mommy?” Hope asked as she looked at me.

“My boss.”

“Oh. Addison’s mom and her boyfriend took Addison to the zoo yesterday. She told me on Friday how she couldn’t wait to go.”

“That was nice. We can go to the zoo if you want.”

She shrugged and went back to doing her homework. I could tell something was off with her and it bothered me.

I prepared myself the next morning to get ready to walk into the lion’s den. Walking into Jack’s office, I noticed he wasn’t in there, so I set his coffee on his desk, and as I was walking out, I ran into him in the doorway. I mean, literally ran into him. He lightly took hold of my arm.

“Good morning.” He smiled.

“Good morning. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. I love it when beautiful women run into me.” He winked.

Shit.
Vibrations down below were starting and my stomach began to flutter. He called me beautiful. The mere sight of him was intoxicating. I guess not seeing him for a week really heightened his sexy factor.

“How was Paris?” I asked.

“Paris was good, but it would have been even better if you were there,” he spoke as he took a seat behind his desk. “How is your mother?”

“Oh, she’s feeling much better.”

“I see. Was it just a virus or something?”

“Yeah. We think so.”

His eyes glared at me. A glare that told me he knew I was lying.

“Hey, Jack,” Coco spoke as she poked her head in his office. “Mom needs us upstairs now. Good morning, Lorelei.” She smiled.

“Good morning.”

Jack sighed as he got up from his desk. “Lorelei, we’ll go over a few things when I get back.”

I gave him a small nod and followed him out of the office. Taking a seat at my desk, I turned on my computer. Curiosity got the best of me so I googled Paris Fashion Week and a shitload of pictures popped up with one Mr. Jack Sutton and a glamorous-looking brunette. Something inside me sparked. A touch of anger, jealousy perhaps. I didn’t really know and I didn’t like it. My mind began to fill with images of him and her in bed. Some of the pictures were of them sitting on the balcony sipping coffee in their white robes in the early morning hours overlooking the beautiful city of Paris. ‘It would have been even better if you were there’ kept playing over in my head. If he was with her the whole time, how the fuck would it have been better? I shook my head, came to my senses, and closed down the browser.

As I was trying to focus on my actual job, Jack strutted down the hall and asked me to come into his office.

“First thing on the agenda is I need you to go over to Chanel and pick up their new flap handbag in burgundy. Also pick up matching gloves and a scarf. Then you are to head over to Ralph Lauren and pick up one of their wool down men’s jackets in black. Also pick up a scarf, but make sure it has a design on it, and black leather gloves.”

“Is that all?” I asked.

“Yes. You may leave now.”

I got up from my seat, and as I was about to walk out of his office, Jack called my name.

“Oh, Lorelei, I need another box of condoms.”

I stopped dead in my tracks and didn’t turn around. “Okay.”

I bet he needed another box of condoms after his week in Paris with that skinny bitch. After Chanel and Ralph Lauren, I stopped at the drugstore and went straight to the counter.

“Hello, Lorelei.” Juan smiled.

“Hello, Juan. Mr. Sutton needs more condoms.”

“I’ll be right back.”

“Do me a favor and grab ten boxes.”

“Ten?” he asked with surprise.

“Yes.”

A few moments later, he returned with the condoms, rang them up, and bagged them. Grabbing the bag, I walked out and headed back to the office. Throwing the bags on my desk, except for the one that the condoms were in, I walked into Jack’s office, where he was having a conversation with Garrett. I dumped the bag on his desk and let all ten boxes fall upon it.

“There. Now you should be set for a while.” I turned around, said hello to Garrett, who was sitting there with a wide grin across his face, and stomped out of Jack’s office.