Page 59 of Corporate Escapades

“My lips are locked shut, and you can have the key,” he laughed as he exited Vic’s office.

What a funny dude,thought Vic, as he closed the door behind him.

Paris arrived at ten to eleven and took a booth inside Alli’s Tanzanite Fields Café, on the opposite side of Sense of Adventure from their coffee shop, Java Dough. She loved the quaint little café, which she helped design and decorate in memory of her sister, who loved Mediterranean cuisine. The endeavor had been rough, as it came around only six months after her sister's death, but she wanted to make her proud, so she pushed through and created something amazing as a memorial for her.

The café offered small plates ranging from cheeses and olives to fish, rice, and assorted fruits. All of the meals were simple yet satisfying. Alli had chosen the Mediterranean way of eating, and she had been quite healthy because of it. Paris wished she could commit to such a lifestyle, but her motivation had been derailed by the loss of her sister. Some days it took all of her energy to simply get out of bed.

“Ah, you are here,” said Tom, breaking into Paris’s thoughts. “What are we having?”

“I haven’t ordered anything yet, but I’m thinking about some olives and cheese along with a salad. What do you normally order?”

“I’ll probably go with a salad as well. Whatever today’s special is.” He swept into the seat across from her and pulled some papers out of his briefcase. “With all the changes taking place over the past few weeks, Angela and I have had to deal with most of your case files. I took yours, and she took Vic’s. Chase and Mya helped, but we didn’t feel comfortable letting them take the lead on anything.

Now that you’re back, I’ve chosen a couple of files to get started. I’m sure you’d like to jump in full force, but I’ve been told to give you some smaller clients to see how you handle yourself.”

“What? Seriously?” blurted Paris. “Who told you not to give me back my prior clients? I’ve been doing this for a few years. Why on Earth would anyone think I couldn’t handle my usual caseload?”

“The entire board agreed. I tried to talk them into letting you resume the files you had previously, but they thought starting slowly was the best answer. Don’t worry, I’m sure things will go back to normal in a week or two.”

“This is crap,” snapped Paris. “I mean seriously—a load of B.S. I should just leave and start over. No one is backing me.” Parisknew she was pitying herself, but at that moment, she struggled to care. How could they do this to her? She worked her way back here, and now she couldn’t even resume what she loved. How maddening.

Tom frowned. “Come on. Don’t get so down on yourself. I believe in you. I know what will cheer you up. Let’s go to dinner tomorrow night. We can hit that wine bar you like and let off some stress. What do you say? Join me?”

His eyes sparkled as he looked at her, waiting for the answer. Was he asking her out on a date? Rethinking the situation, she said, “Is this pity or something else?” She watched as one side of his mouth raised into a smirk.

“Do you doubt me?”

“Tell me,” she urged. “Why?”

Leaning back in his chair, he stretched his arms out and said, “We’ll call it something else. Just say you’ll come.” Leaning in, he arched his eyebrow and said, “If you come out with me, I’ll give you a third client back.”

Charming,thought Paris. Her lust for him, as well as for gaining back her clients and a little piece of normalcy, had her agreeing to his request. “Okay. You have a deal.” In response, Tom handed her three files. Her heart fell. None of them were more than a couple of days of work.

At the end of the workday, Vic met Paris by the doors and walked with her toward home. “How’d your day go?” he asked with genuine interest.

“It’s become clear that we’re once again the babies of Sense of Adventure. I’ve never felt more rejected, and out of place as I did today with the piddly clients Tom gave me. None of them were previous files. They were all new and small beans. I knocked one of them out this afternoon. It was a themed birthday party for a six-year-old. A six-year-old! I can plan that in my sleep, for heaven’s sake.”

“I know how you feel. Angela told Chase which files to give me. Of the five, none were major accounts.”

Paris stopped walking and stared at him. “Five? You got five cases? Tom was only going to give me two. He told me that the directive was straight from the board. I had to agree to go to dinner with him in order to get a third.”

“I have no idea. Chase handed me the files and said he was instructed that these were the files I would work on this week. He said nothing about the board. Maybe we’re being held to separate standards?”

“Maybe,” she sighed. “This is frustrating.”

“Or,” said Vic as he reached out and grabbed her hand, “maybe he lied to you? Has he ever shown interest before this point? I mean, he basically bribed you, right?” He stared back at her with concern.

“No,” she rejected, throwing his hand down. “He wouldn’t lie to me about the files. What reason would he have? That’s an idiotic assumption. And I wouldn't call it a bribe. He's just being nice and trying to cheer me up.” Turning on her heel, she marched off, leaving him standing alone.

“It was simply a consideration. Maybe he doesn’t want you to succeed.” He called after her. He was hurt by Paris’s reaction. He would never say so, but he didn’t like how it felt to be rejected by her. How could she trust Tom more than him at this point?

By Tuesday’s end, Paris was nearly finished planning all of her client’s events. The only step left was to run the plan past her clients and then finalize and sign contracts with all the vendors. The process was quick, since Mya had already ironed out the main details, and Paris merely had to track down the specifics from each vendor. She wished she’d been given an adventure to plan, but Tom had commented about how that was more intense and wouldn’t be suitable for her, as she had just gotten back inthe saddle and adventure planning required a lot more time and focus.

Sitting down at her desk, she sipped on a cup of green tea with honey. She thought about her discussion with Vic the prior afternoon. Was he showing feelings for her? She couldn’t see how it was beneficial to either of them. Paris knew his interest rarely lasted more than a week, and he often had up to four women on the hook at once. She could not allow herself to have feelings for someone as careless as he.

What’s more, if she were to fall for him, and then he broke her heart, they would still have to work together on a daily basis. How unbelievably awkward would that be? On the upside, he would most likely lose interest by the week's end, so she wouldn’t have to worry about it any longer. With that realization, she breathed a sigh of relief.

Looking up from her desk, she noticed Tom in the hall. He was carrying his briefcase, which meant he was going home to get ready for their dinner meeting. She’d have to abandon the remains of her tea and high-tail it on out of there to be ready when he arrived to pick her up.

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