Lovely Liaison

ZOEY

Daniels was on me the moment I walked in. I hadn’t even settled into my chair before he was there, face all red and puffed up.

I wasn’t sure if he was mad about me being absent... or if he had a hunch I’d slipped out for an interview... or if he was still sore about the fire alarm incident.

“You always get your ducks in a row, and now you want me to buy that something just ‘popped up’? Did you forget who calls the shots here?”

I wasn’t about to be the day’s entertainment, so I rose from my desk and made a beeline for the employee lounge.

“I wrapped up all my morning and afternoon tasks ahead of time, handed off the rest, and everything went smoothly. So, I’m done discussing this. Excuse me.”

That didn’t soothe his temper.

He tailed me to the lounge, blocking the door to corner me into a conversation.

“We’ve been at odds since day one, how can we fix this?”

“You could start by giving me the same respect and space you’d give a man, and if you did, we wouldn’t be having this chat.”

I slipped past him and into the lounge. He followed, shutting the door behind him.

“Are you insinuating something?” he asked.

“Don, I’d really like to just get back to work.”

“What’s your deal?” he almost yelled, losing his cool.

The door swung open, and Pete, one of the staff, walked in. Seeing Mr. Daniels uncomfortably close to me, he asked, “Uh, Zoey, you good?”

Don huffed and crossed his arms. “Zoey is fine, Pete, did you need something?”

Pete pointed at me. “There’s a delivery for you.”

He held out a bouquet of flowers: white tulips. Not my favorite, but they were pretty.

Daniels’ face twisted in a jealous rage and he stormed over to snatch the flowers.

“This is a workplace, not a damn high school! Who sent you those? That idiot boyfriend of yours?”

Pete scampered out of the lounge, scared.

Daniels read the note attached to the flowers.

“Tulips, the flower of apology. I’m sorry, okay? Please reconsider. JH”

JH.

Julian Hawksley sent me flowers.

Wow…

“Who the—” Don began, but his attention was pulled back to the lobby.

I saw Rufus by the entrance, wearing a travel coat.

“What’s going on here? Who’s this guy? What’s he apologizing for?

“He sends you flowers, it’s no big deal, I try to give you one harmless kiss on the neck—this is getting out of hand, Zoey!” Don said, tossing the flowers at me.

I caught them, then stormed back toward the lobby door. “I agree! I quit!”

He reached out and wrapped his arm around my waist, spinning me around—in front of everyone—and tried to grab my hip with his other hand.

“Zoey, what’s—” he began.

“DON’T TOUCH ME!” I screamed, kneeing him in the groin.

He crumpled to the floor, gasping for air.

The office went silent, everyone in shock.

“It’s been a blast, folks, hope you enjoyed the show. And thanks for the backup.”

I walked toward the door where Rufus was standing.

He smiled and held the door open for me. As I passed by, I said, “I’m reconsidering your offer.”

“Please do,” he replied.

***

Ben and I hopped in a taxi to my mom’s place.

He was on a video call with a female artist. He had his earbuds in, so all I heard was his really broken Spanish.

We hadn’t had a chance to catch up before we arrived at my family’s house.

He’d been away for about two months, after all, and they’d have questions for us, especially about when a proposal might be coming.

I was twenty-seven, and we’d been together for three years. In my family, that’s not how things usually go.

My family was always tight-knit, and even though we were all grown up, we still visited my parents regularly.

Mom, the twins Kathy and Mateo, and Kathy’s husband Peter, were all smiles seeing Ben again.

“Good to see you, Ben!” my mom said, giving him a big hug.

Ben hugged back. “Thanks, Barbara, thanks for having me over.”

Soon, they were all over him with questions and chatter.

The house hadn’t changed in years, although my mom had gotten a drooling dog to help her around.

But even as she battled her illness, I was amazed at how she kept pushing forward.

She knew how to roll with the punches.

I hoped I had that same resilience.

As expected, the conversation quickly veered towards plans and the future…and the present.

I knew it would stir up a fuss, but it was better to get it all out at once.

I gave them a toned-down version of my last day at Vlashion, and then told them about my interview at Hawksley.

My mom served the lasagna she’d made. “You’ve been in three offices in a row now with men who don’t know how to behave. Will this new guy?”

Mateo jumped in before anyone else could speak. “Is this the brother who’s all serious and everything?”

“No, that’s the younger one,” Kathy answered, “that’s Jensen.”

“Of course she knows,” Peter said, teasing her a bit.

She smiled. “Because I happen to be informed, not that I’m looking elsewhere, darling. This is the slightly wilder older brother.

“But I haven’t heard anything too bad about him,” she continued. “Would you be working around him?”

I gave a nonchalant shrug. The interview hadn’t exactly been a treasure trove of information, not before Julian turned into a drooling mess, much like Mom’s dog.

Kathy shrugged too, a hint of disappointment in her eyes. “...He’s a looker…”

Ben grumbled, his voice full of concern, “I think you’re making a mistake, Zoey. Maybe you should try to get your old job back before you dive headfirst into this new mess.”

I could feel my blood start to boil. He didn’t have a clue what he was talking about, but that didn’t stop him. It was one of his less endearing traits.

Kathy chimed in, “She knows how to take care of herself.”

Seeing red, I shot back, “You’re damn right I do. And I doubt I’m getting my job back after I kneed Don Daniels in the balls, so…that’s that.”

I’d conveniently left that detail out earlier, but it sure did the trick of silencing everyone now.

Suddenly, my phone buzzed in my pocket. I pulled it out and saw a call from an unknown number.

Butterflies fluttered in my stomach, freezing the bite of lasagna mid-swallow. I had this gut feeling that this call was going to change everything.

“Don’t take a call during dinner,” Mom chided.

Ignoring her, I left the table and stepped into the living room, answering, “Hello?”

“I understand you had a rough afternoon.”

“Excuse me?” I said, not quite placing the voice on the other end.

“Rufus mentioned you and your boss had a bit of a kickboxing match.”

I couldn’t help but smile.

It was Julian!

I let out a small laugh, then closed the door for some privacy—though everyone tried to follow me. Eventually, I had to barricade myself in the bathroom.

“I’m fine, thanks.”

“Oh, I’m sure you are, all my money was on you. I know a prizefighter when I see one,” he said.

Rolling my eyes, I grinned. “Mr. Hawksley, it’s late.”

“Only if you’re boring,” he said, “which you aren’t. But you’re chomping at the bit, so let’s talk.

“I gave you some sass today,” he continued, “maybe too much. Sorry about that; I’ll watch it in the future.”

He went on, “Final question: you said you wanted to be in my chair earlier. If you were, tell me one thing you’d do with Hawksley Enterprises?”

They were interested in me. This could actually happen.

I didn’t want my excitement to get the better of me, so I took a breath...and in that moment, I realized a boring or standard answer wasn’t what he was looking for. So I threw him a curveball.

“I didn’t mean I wanted to be CEO of Hawksley; I’d have my own company.”

“...Wow. That’s theoretically impressive. Tell me more,” he said.

I was full of crap, but if I played it cool, hopefully he wouldn’t see through it.

“Oh, I only discuss those matters with potential investors,” I said, refusing to give him a straight answer.

“Well, I’ll have to have my assistant schedule a meeting—you know, Hawksley is always looking for new initiatives, new endeavors…”

“But let’s put a pin in that one and aim for the elephant in the room,” I continued. “What do you think about our offer? You want to get on this train?”

“Can I ask you a question? Why do you want me so bad?”

“Did I say ‘so bad’?” he followed up.

“You said a lot of things.”

JULIAN

For the first time in a long time, I was at a loss for words.

The moment I saw her in the lobby on Friday, something just felt…right.

Natural. Simple.

Not that she was simple, but being with her was. Most people quake in the presence of a billionaire CEO.

She didn’t. She just fit. She understood me.

“Mr. Hawksley? Job applicant and aspiring Marketing Manager got your tongue?” Zoey Curtis asked.

Life is usually boring and predictable, but in the span of twenty-four hours, she’d defied both those expectations.

And I’ve always had a knack for getting into trouble when I get bored.

ZOEY

“Mr. Hawksley? Are you still there?” I asked.

The line had gone quiet after I asked him ‘Why me?’ and I assumed the call had dropped because Julian Hawksley was not a man to be silenced.

“You killed it in the interview, you hit every tip in the magazine article, which, I may remind you, was one hell of an article with one hell of an interviewee…”

I smiled and bit my lip. His effortless humor threw me off, but I needed to stay focused.

“Uh huh,” I said, trying to clear away the warm cobwebs clouding my mind.

“Now, we’re offering you the moon, and I happen to know you’re on the market. Are you in or out?”

Mateo opened the bathroom door. Everyone else was crammed around him, spying on my call. Each of them looked anguished, waiting on my answer…

I didn’t really have a choice, but that was not enough reason to choose foolishly.

I had let opportunities go in the past when I needed to make a pivot. I’d done that for my Mom.

But why would I do that now?

Hawksley Enterprises was a world-renowned brand…

And my would-be-boss was world-renowned as well. A brilliant businessman with a sharp, insightful mind who could teach me and help me climb the ladder.

Not to mention we got along like a house on fire.

Not to mention I was thrilled at the possibility of spending hours and hours alone with him.

Did I fully trust he wouldn’t give me more attention than I was comfortable with?

I wasn’t sure, but you only live once.

“I’m in,” I said.