I’m lost. Who cares? I stare at him, impatience dripping from me like a tropical rain. I raise an eyebrow and shrug.
“Come on, Mark. We don’t have all day.”
He stops and takes a deep breath. After a second, he removes his glasses and puts them on my desk.
“Anyway, the long and short of it is, we had a really nice afternoon together, and we got to talking about everything under the sun. You know how I studied in Argentina for six months when I was in college? Well, I told her that, and Maria wanted to hear me speak Spanish. She was laughing at me because Spain and Argentina pronounce some vowels completely differently and you know, she’s from Spain. Madrid to be precise. So we ended up breaking open a bottle of wine, and...I don’t know, Mr. Lane. Before I knew it, we’d been up all night talking in this amazing mixture of English and Spanish, just sharing ideas and really vibing, you know?”
His eyes are shining. By now, I know what he’s leading up to and my panic is gone. In fact, I find it kind of funny. But Mark’s still babbling, nervous and somewhat incoherent.
“The truth is, we’ve seen each other every day since the day we met. Last night, I asked if Maria if she would be my girlfriend and she said yes! But I couldn’t feel comfortable with it until I spoke to you. Not after everything you’ve done for me, sir.”
He practically hangs his head now like a puppy expecting to be chastised. I merely roll my eyes and grin.
“Wow,” I tell him, “that was not what I was expecting to hear when you walked in.”
“Are you angry with me?” he asks in a timid voice, venturing a glance at my face.
“Angry? Not at all, Mark. I broke up with her, didn’t I? Maria’s fair game. So no, I’m not angry. I’m happy for you.”
His eyes go wide, but then he bolts up straight and laughs in surprise. “Really? Oh wow. Thank you, sir, thank you!”
There’s really nothing to thank me for. After all, he’s just lightened my load by about a million tons, but for now, this is enough.
“I have to make a phone call, Mark,” I lie, “but I’ll call you in around lunchtime.”
“Sure thing, Mr. Lane,” he burbles, tapping his glasses smartly. “I’ll get a head start on those investor emails.”
“Thanks, buddy. And congratulations. About Maria, I mean.”
He flushes and almost skips out of my office. I give him a short nod as he leaves, shutting the door behind him.
Maria already has a new boyfriend? And it’s my twenty-six-year old assistant Mark? It’s hysterical, thinking about my geeky hipster-ish PA with that wasp of a woman, but hey, opposites attract right?
Besides, this is great news. If she’s already getting cozy with Mark, that means she probably didn’t really like me that much in the first place. The woman was definitely more upset about the blow to her pride than anything else.
Plus, this is a suitable ending to my tiff with Casey. I can’t wait to tell our intrepid reporter about the development because now she’ll see that I never meant to hurt anybody … and that she and I are free to begin our romance with a clean slate.
14
Casey
Midway through the day, Pierce calls me from the office. On the phone, he sounds gruff and confident, but somehow earnest and endearing too. Oh my god, have I gone soft? Because I slept with him, and it was one of the best nights of my life. But at the same time, I know men are often only about the physical – any emotional feelings that come afterwards are just a byproduct that they wish didn’t exist. So I have to stay strong, and yet, butterflies flutter in my stomach at the thought of Pierce.
Because the billionaire’s invited me to dinner for two at 7 p.m. at the most prestigious restaurant in New York City, Le Bijoux. Oh my god. Do I even have anything suitable to wear? I’m sure the other ladies will be dolled up to the nines, so I can’t exactly throw on a work dress and be done with it.
As soon as I hang up, I dash to Nicole’s office. As the food editor of Two One Two, she’s been lucky enough to dine at Le Bijoux a number of times and knows what to expect.
When I arrive at her door, Nic sees my blushing face and immediately senses that I’m finally going to spill the beans. She leaps out of her chair and opens the door, gripping my hand with excitement.
“Hot seat time?” she asks gleefully. I nod.
Between Nicole’s nosiness and my inability to stop going over every detail of my weekend tryst with Pierce, I dish every detail of the affair.