“I guess I should get back to my practice huh?” She shrugged. “Don’t forget to call me after you talk to him.” She walked towards the east elevators and I walked towards the north ones.
Another overview session with Mr. Barnes and the rest of the directors was the last thing I wanted to do today. No one ever had anything remotely interesting to discuss in those meetings. It usually just entailed Mr. Barnes spewing out brainstorming ideas until Bob from demographic research fell asleep and banged his head on the table—everyone’s cue that another dreadful meeting was over.
I took my place at the glass conference table and sat down.
“Good afternoon, everyone!” Mr. Barnes seemed extremely chipper today. “As usual, we have some very important ventures and promotional plans we need to discuss. But, before we get into that, I want to introduce you to someone who has never visited us before...All the way from the fiftieth floor, founding member and CEO Jonathan Statham!”
Everyone stood and clapped as he walked into the room. I gave a soft clap and was about to begin my standard “tuning everything out” routine, until I noticed that all the female directors were salivating—yes, salivating, at whoever had walked through those doors.
I turned my head to the left and saw that the “Jonathan” I’d met at the grocery store last week was the Jonathan Statham.
My jaw dropped as I looked him over. He was even sexier in his navy blue suit. He’d shaved his stubble and his dark sleek hair was combed off his face —not a single strand was out of place. His eyes were gleaming in a seductive hue of blue, and I couldn’t take my eyes off his lips...or that smile...
He nodded his head at each and every one of us, raising his eyebrow once his eyes found mine.
His lips curved into a wry smile and he began to speak. “It’s an honor to be at your meeting today. With over four thousand employees, it’s hard to know everyone, but this year I want to make myself more transparent, more available.” His eyes met mine again.
“I’m sorry I don’t tell you how much I value you every day, but I really do,” he continued. “As you know, we’re going through a restructuring phase. We’re going to be shaking a few things up over the coming weeks by hiring new talent. Not to worry though, no one is losing a job. We’re about to sign four major clients and we want to make sure our marketing team is as strong as it can possibly be.”
Just fire everyone and start over if that’s the case...
“I’ll turn things back over to you now, Mr. Barnes.” Jonathan walked around the table and took a seat directly across from me.
The art director who was sitting next to him blushed bright pink.
Everyone was on their best behavior for a change. People were participating in the brainstorming session and contributing ideas instead of scrolling away on their phones or looking out the windows.
I contributed whenever I was called, and couldn’t help but notice that Jonathan was watching my every move. Occasionally, he would redirect his focus to the projector screen or on whoever was speaking, but his piercing blue eyes always found their way back to me.
Why is he staring at me? And why is he making it so damn obvious?
I answered another question about our latest ad campaign and caught Jonathan winking at me as he poured himself a glass of water. I tried to look away from him, but it was too damn hard.
He was too damn sexy.
I was glad I’d perfected the poker face a few years ago; I was a master at looking unaffected.
Maybe Sandra’s right. Maybe I can date him and at least get some good sex out of it. I haven’t had sex in a long time. A very long time...Wait, is four years really that long of a time?
“Miss Gracen?” Mr. Barnes interrupted my thought-fest.
“Yes?”
“Are you still willing to work as team coordinator rather than going to the company’s IPO ball this summer? You sure you want to gift your ticket to an intern?”
Jonathan tilted his head to the side and narrowed his eyes at me.
“Yes, Mr. Barnes.” I swiveled my chair around. “I don’t want to go. I think we should gift it to the intern that works the hardest over the next few months.”
“Excellent idea!” He began to say other things and I made a conscious effort to keep my eyes glued on the presentation.
I looked at my watch every five seconds, hoping the meeting would come to an end so I could jump up and leave. I thought that there had to be something wrong with me. I couldn’t believe I was actually fantasizing about a man who was eleven years younger than me.
“Miss Gracen, did you bring that segment data with you?” Mr. Barnes intruded my thoughts again. “Did you include the latest prototype research?”
Could you please end this f**king meeting?!
“Yes.” I held up a blue folder.
“Great! Could you give that to Mr. Statham please? And how about you, Mrs. Turner? Did you happen to find out if—”