“That’s it, I ought to be in a nursing home. They’re teaching about me in colleges now like I’m Charles Dickens two hundred years dead,” he said with a wry laugh.
The man didn’t look a day over forty, although I knew that he was forty-seven or would be soon. Not quite twice my age but near enough. He had the confidence to laugh about his age, which was dead sexy as well. His low, rumbling voice and big hands were more of an aphrodisiac than oysters and champagne on a beach at sunset.
It felt as though my whole body had some kind of uncontrollable reaction to him. His physical presence after two years of fantasizing about him was potent. Ugh, why did I keep thinking of sex words like potent and aphrodisiac? I was not a fourteen-year-old boy, and there was no reason to have sex on the brain. On my first day at work. In an office with my actual boss and her actual boss.
“Thank you, Brent,” Kim said with a smile, totally oblivious to my internal meltdown. Speaking of melting, I was sweating. I had armpit sweat and my hairline was getting damp. My body was trying to lure him with pheromones or something. I wanted to laugh because it was so ridiculous that I was trying to appear cool and professional while my body wanted to fire on all cylinders. I nodded to Mr. Waltham and headed out the door.
“Please, join us at the board meeting tomorrow. You’ll gain a lot of insight into how things are done. It’s like a window to the inner workings of the company, and you’ll meet some real heavy hitters. Some of the most philanthropic and forward-thinking men and women of our time sit on this board. They put my poor efforts to shame, I can tell you,” he said.
“We’d love to, thanks,” Kim said, answering for us both. I was glad to get into the elevator.
“Is he always like that?” I said.
“Acting like he’s offended about his age? No. He does have a rather dry sense of humor, but you’ll get used to it. He’s a fair man, and intelligent beyond anything I can describe. You can be proud to work for him,” she said almost reverently. “You seemed nervous in there.”
“I was. I mean, the guy’s a legend, Kim. He’s been on magazines, and he accepted the James Award for Environmentally Conscious Business last year—it was televised from Lincoln Center.”
“You watched that?” she said.
“Didn’t everyone?”
She chuckled. “I don’t think everyone watched it, no. The fact that you did makes me think you’re either extremely dedicated to your work, or else you’re a corporate fangirl.”
“Can I claim both? Because I will admit I’ve followed his career.”
“But when I offered to introduce you last summer, you turned me down.”
“I was wearing a flowered sundress. I was too nervous about meeting him and I looked like a refugee from the set of Little House on the Prairie in the 1970s.”
Kim laughed, “I think you and he would get along fine. You sound like him.”
“I bet he’d look pretty good in a sundress,” I quipped.
“Very funny. Now let’s get you to work.”
I spent the afternoon getting up to speed on updated policies and the procedures for annual appraisals and for employee improvement plans. I was put to work on refining the remediation recommendations for employee absences with Heather, a woman I’d worked with before. She was informative and the work was interesting, which made the day fly by.
As soon as work was over, I texted my friends back home to let them know that day one was a success and that my boss was super-hot.
Maddie replied first. I think ur allowed to sleep with him as long as you don’t harass him about it.
But Sarah Jo said it was unethical to sleep with the boss. To which Layla replied, shut up ur still in college u have guys in the dorms to sleep with whenever u want.
I laughed myself silly over the exchange, but I knew there was no real chance I’d be personally involved with the famed CEO of Astley Corp. The most I could do was log a stellar job performance for my own HR record and catch the occasional glimpse of him in a meeting or coming out of an elevator. He was exactly that rare, Clooney brand of dashing handsomeness, the sort that came with a perpetual bronze glow to the skin and an effortless charm designed to make women drop their panties instantly.
I was tired that night and went to bed early, but I woke the next morning energized and excited about the board meeting. I wore my dress—the navy blue sheath I’d bought at a consignment shop. It fit perfectly, and with my taupe shoes, it looked really sophisticated. I had some tiny pearl studs that had been my grandma’s, so I wore those. I twisted my hair back and pinned it into a low ballet bun at the nape of my neck. I felt like Grace Kelly. If Grace Kelly had had dark hair and been ten pounds overweight from eating one too many takeout pizzas and not doing enough yoga during grad school.
I breezed through security and met Kim in the coffee room on the HR floor. She drank a half-caffeinated mocha, but I stuck to water because I wanted to avoid coffee breath. It wasn’t like we would be playing spin the bottle in a board meeting, but I wouldn’t risk it anyway.
“I’m going to take notes,” I said, showing her the leather folio with my legal pad and pen in it.
“I’d be disappointed if you didn’t. Although everyone else uses a tablet or a phone.”
“Dare to be different, “ I said.
In the conference room, I boggled a little at the length of the table—a stunning creation of renewable bamboo rather than the rain-forest-trashing mahogany that was so popular in executive suites. The room was facing west, designed to avoid glare in morning meetings, and a craft service worker was pouring juice and coffee at a drink station in reusable glassware. I was glad that the company didn’t talk about environmentalism and then eat donuts on styrofoam plates like hypocrites. There were no donuts in evidence though. Only beverages and fruit. I wasn’t going to sit there eating a banana and looking suggestively over it at our CEO. I nearly snorted at the thought.
The seats filled and the meeting came to order. While the secretary read the minutes of the last meeting, I snuck my phone from my handbag and texted Maddie: he is so hot I considered making eyes at him while eating a banana and suppressed a laugh when she replied, do it, deep throat that banana. You’ll make an impression for sure.
“Miss Sherman, was it?” Brent Waltham said.
My eyes snapped to his and my face flushed.
“I realize you’re of a younger generation, but in my day when you were caught passing notes, you had to read them to the whole class.”
2
Brent
At first, I was irritated. I’d given the girl the opportunity to sit in on a board meeting. It was quite an honor. And she had the audacity to play on her phone while Marian read the minutes of the last meeting
I called her out on it. I didn’t get to my level of success by indulging people who lacked decorum and dedication.
“I apologize, Mr. Waltham. I shouldn’t have had my phone out, you’re right. I was texting a friend back home, ironically, about how exciting it was to be included in the meeting. As you can see, I take the meeting seriously. I came prepared to take notes.”
She held up a notepad in a folder. I frowned at it, “You brought paper?”