Page 85 of A Hard Sell

Luka headed down the hall, a little nervous as he settled across from Ilona, flashing back to the last time he had sat there.

“Luka.” She appraised him. “We’re looking at doing a little restructuring now that Morgan is gone. How would you like to be a Vice President?”

Luka stared at her. “What?”

“You and Thomas will be the leads on Sartini Wines. You’ll have people working directly under you to head up each department, but you’ll oversee the entire team.”

The same role as Thomas.Luka’s mind spun.

“There’s a raise, of course. And you’ll still work with Thomas as long as he’s here.”

“Um, yeah. Yes. Yes, I would like that.”

“Excellent.” Ilona stood to shake his hand. “Congratulations.”

He went back to his office, insides fizzing with excitement.

Thomas turned to smile at him. “Congratulations.”

“You knew?” Luka’s legs were rubber as he fell into his chair.

“Ilona wouldn’t let me say anything.”

“I can’t believe it.”

“You deserve it.” Thomas’ eyes sparkled.

Luka flushed. “Thank you.”

Word spread around the building. Finn and Rory arrived shortly after Luka had returned to his and Thomas’ office.

“Exchange after work, Mr. VP! You’re buying!” said Finn.

Then Tawney threw her arms around Luka and kissed his cheek multiple times. “I’m so proud of you, you brilliant boy!”

Later on, when Thomas was off checking some numbers with Rory, Aleandro stuck his head in. “My most sincere congratulations to you on your promotion, my friend.”

“Thank you very much, Aleandro.” A thought tickled at his brain. “Actually…can I ask you something?”

“Of course.” Aleandro came in and shut the door, sinking gracefully into a chair.

“I was just curious, if you don’t mind me asking. You hired Penelope before you fell in love with her, right?”

Aleandro’s face melted into a soft smile. “Indeed I did.”

“Did you ever…worry about dating someone you worked with?”

Aleandro laughed. “Constantly. I agonized about it for weeks.”

“What made you decide to go for it?”

“Well…” Aleandro took a moment to collect his thoughts. “When I was a young man volunteering for the Red Cross, my supervisor was this grizzled old cowboy from Texas. He had the hat and everything. But he was the most organized and relentless person I’d ever met. One night we were talking about our work and I complained how ineffective I felt, how we were barely making a dent in the misery of the world. He pulled his toothpick out of his mouth and said, ‘Yeah, but we made a difference for these people right here today, didn’t we? That’s all life is, Al. You do what you can to make things a little bit better for today. Just today.’ And I realized… A day with Penelope compared to a day without her? It wasn’t even a question. Why would I not take that chance? If I can make today better, why wait for happiness?”

The words settled heavy in Luka’s stomach.

“My advice for anyone would be to seize love if you have a chance for it.”

Luka swallowed. “Thank you, Aleandro.”

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