“Milo. You’re here early.” She looks annoyed and I realize my hunch was right. I guess she’s heard the rumors, too. She’s been coming in earlier and earlier trying to beat me in the office.
Yeah, good luck with that. I’ve had insomnia for years so it’s no hardship to come in early when you never went to sleep.
“I’m always here early. Haven’t seen you in before sunrise too often though.” I chuckle at the sparks in her eyes. Damn if looks could kill she’d have me on a spit roasting over a fire by now. “You must really want that partnership, huh?”
As I walk down the hall toward my office, I hear the shuffle of Mya’s feet as she jogs after me. “What does that mean?”
In my office, I set my briefcase next to my desk and hit the mouse to wake up my computer. Mya leans against the doorframe.
“You haven’t heard?”
She crosses her arms. “Spit it out, Hamilton. Did James actually say he’s taking on a partner or is this just the millionth rumor since Elizabeth left?”
The owner of the Mirage Agency, James Lawson, has been running things alone since buying out his former partner, and former wife, Elizabeth. Ever since, we all assumed he’d never consider taking on a partner. Which was disappointing because I’ve loved working here but knew I’d have to eventually move on as my career progressed. But then last week, he let it slip in one of our meetings that he’s been thinking of expanding and it would require a change in management.
Which of course was when I started formulating my plans.
“Not in so many words. But he did say that he wants to expand beyond the coasts. D.C. and L.A. are great of course, but he wants Mirage to be able to compete on a national level. Which means offices in New York, Seattle, Miami and possibly Houston to start. He’d need to have partners to handle that kind of workload, right?”
Mya’s mouth has fallen open at this point, fueling my usual dirty fantasies of what those lush lips can do. But before I can say something guaranteed to put the fire back in those begging brown eyes, the man in question appears in the hall behind her.
“Change of plans. I’ve moved the weekly status meeting to first thing today. I have a last minute call I need to take this afternoon.”
I nod at James to let him know I’ll be ready. Once he leaves, Mya turns to face me again, her eyes shooting daggers.
“That partnership is mine. I’ve been here longer, worked harder and been more loyal than any other associate here.”
I grin. She’s feeling the heat of a little competition already, huh? My smile seems to only annoy her further which of course gives me great incentive to keep doing it. If she only knew how much enjoyment I get watching her cheeks flush and those perfectly shaped breasts bounce behind her conservative blouses when she’s pissed.
“Stop smiling, Hamilton. I’m serious. This promotion will not be just one more thing you steal from me.” Then she turns on one skinny stiletto heel and twitches off.
Mya’s accusation is still ringing in my head hours later. What the hell does she think I stole from her?
“So I have this idea. I think it could be even better than what we’ve come up with so far.”
The squeaky voice of Wallace Burns assaults my ears from the right. Our team meeting just concluded and I figured for once I’d be able to get out of there in under an hour. But… best laid plans and all that.
James glances at me briefly before nodding at Wallace. The Mirage Agency takes a team approach which means that junior associates are assigned to the team of a senior marketing associate. Wallace is my newest team member. We encourage open communication from the lowest marketing associate to the highest executive. Which is a great idea … in theory.
“So I was thinking we could show the car hauling a bus. You know, to show its power. It has,” Wallace glances down at his notes, “366 horsepower. That’s a lot for a hybrid. We should showcase that by having it haul things through a forest or something.”
“A forest?” James echoes lightly.
“Yeah. The Luxiva is going to be the most powerful yet environmentally friendly hybrid yet. I figured we could symbolize that with the forest.”
Someone down the table coughs nervously. I roll my eyes. Mya’s lips curl up briefly into a smile before she takes a sip of her coffee.
James gathers the files on the table in front of him. “Great initiative, Wallace. That’s exactly the kind of excitement we like to see from our junior associates. We’ve got a winning proposal here to present to the Luxiva brand next week but keep up the enthusiasm.”
Everyone in the room takes his bullshit pat on the back for the dismissal it is and soon the room is a flurry of movement as several bodies stand, stretch, collect coffee cups and in general get the hell out of there.
Meanwhile I’m still thinking, I stole something from her?
In the hall Wallace says, “I should’ve run that idea by you first, huh?”
No shit, Sherlock. “That would have been wise.”
Wallace sighs. “James probably thinks I’m an idiot now.”