Phillip paused, probably, Daniel believed, to calm himself down. What always frustrated Daniel was Phillip’s assumptions. Why Phillip assumed that Daniel’s success somehow automatically translated into his own success was beyond unreasonable to Daniel. He never so much as mentioned such an ascendancy to Phillip. He never promised him shit.
“They won’t admit this but they changed the plan in the middle of the game,” Phillip said.
“English, Phillip.”
“The board has decided not to name an interim replacement for Murdock after all.”
Daniel sighed. It was disappointing to be sure. “Did they?”
“They did. The chairman will handle the duties of the CEO’s office until a permanent replacement can be named. They’re compiling names now, but it could take months.”
“Okay. That’s surprising.”
“But not disappointing?”
“Of course I’m disappointed, Phillip. I had no idea they would react this way.”
“I don’t know why the hell not. You slighted them, Daniel. Having your secretary tell them you couldn’t make it! And no explanation. Nothing. You know better than that. Tell them that your mother died, your daddy was in a car wreck, something unavoidable. But oh no. Not Daniel Crane. He doesn’t sweat the small stuff. Well the small stuff just sweated you, my friend.”
Daniel didn’t respond to that.
“We’ll have to see if your name makes the final cut.” Phillip went on. “My hunch is that it will, but I can’t be sure about that at this point. I’m not hearing anything right now. They were highly pissed with you, Daniel.”
“And I’m sure you, the great PR man that you are, has a recommendation?”
“Call for a private audience with the chairman. Apologize. Explain to him why you couldn’t make the biggest meeting of your life. Even if he doesn’t understand, he’ll at least forgive you. He’s your biggest supporter. He views your absence as a personal affront to him.”
“Okay.”
“So you’re going to do it?”
“I’ll see.”
“I know you, Daniel. That means no. It won’t be groveling.”
“Sounds that way to me, kid.”
“But it won’t be. You’re just playing the game, that’s all.”
A game. Young guys like Phillip thought of everything as a game. But there was nothing playful about this to Daniel. Even as VP of Dreeson he was stretched too thin. He could only imagine what life would be like for him if he were to take the full reins.
But before he could respond to Phillip, a loud, agonizing sound suddenly cried out. Daniel, startled, looked toward the bathroom. “I’ll talk to you later,” he said, and tossed the phone on the bed just as Phillip shouted his name.
He hurried into the bathroom. He knew it was Nikki. Her voice was carrying even above the sound of the running water. His heart pounded as he slung open the shower stall. Nikki was dropping to the floor sobbing, the water splashing down upon her narrow, brown back. She looked up at Daniel. The tears in her beautiful eyes made him shutter.
“People died today,” she said through her sobs. “People died. And for what? For what? It was awful!”
Daniel’s heart melted. She was so tough in a lot of ways, the queen of toughness when she wanted to be, but she was also inexplicably vulnerable too. Emotion overtook him as he stepped into the shower, the water pelting against his expensive shoes and suit, and got on his knees. He reached out to her trembling naked body, and pulled her into his arms.
Nikki woke up in time to reach for the ringing phone just as it seemed ready to go to voice mail. She turned onto her back. She was still so groggy that she could barely open her eyes.
“Yeah,” she said into the phone in a husky, raspy voice.
“Good morning.”
“Daniel?” she asked, surprised. The last thing she remembered was his arms holding her in a tight embrace. She looked beside her. She was now alone in bed. “Where are you?”
“I’m at work. Which is where you need to be.”
She frowned. “What time it is?” she asked, sitting up. She took her hair and lifted it back and out of her face.
“It’s only seven, you have time.”
Nikki sighed relief. “You made it sound like I was late.”
“You will be if you don’t get up.”
Nikki threw the covers off of her, revealing a body naked, but also wet between the legs. She vaguely remembered Daniel entering her early this morning. Or did he open her legs and was licking her? She recalled his mouth on her, but she also recalled his penis. Most likely both, she decided. “I’m up,” she said, as she headed, with her cordless phone in tow, for the bathroom.
“How do you feel?” he asked her.
“Still sleepy.” Then she stood in the mirror over the bathroom sink and looked at herself. She could still remember all of those poor people running, and such sadness she remembered seeing in their eyes. “But I’m okay.”
“I need you to do me a favor,” he said.
“Like what?” Nikki asked. It was usually her asking him for favors. Whenever the script flipped, she was always willing to help.
“I want you to go over to my house, and then I want you to go into my office.”
“Okay.”
“You’ll see a stack of thick folders either on my desk or on that side table by the couch. I want you to get the one with POV written on it, I think it’s the blue folder, and bring it to me.”
“Must be important.”
“Very important. I need it for a videoconference this afternoon. So have it here before then, all right?”
“I will.”
“All right, darling, I’ve got to go, but you drive careful out there. If you’re running too late for work and can’t get over to the house to do that for me, just call me and I’ll make other arrangements.”
“I got it,” she said. “I won’t be running late.”
He told her to phone him nonetheless if there were any glitches, said goodbye, and hung up the phone. Nikki tossed her phone aside too. Looked at herself in the mirror again, and sighed. She still couldn’t get yesterday, and all of that destruction, out of her mind.
A little over two hours later she stepped off of the elevator on the top floor at Dreeson and headed for the double doors at the end of the hall. Office of the Vice President was written in big, bold, semi-circled letterings above the entranceway. Every time she saw that title, and realized her relationship to the man who owned that title, she smiled. When she was in college she wasn’t thinking about any man whatsoever, while her friends were obsessed with finding that elusive Mister Right. For her to be the one to end up finding him, when she wasn’t even looking for him, was almost amazing to her now. She felt blessed was the truth of it, and never hesitated to thank God for giving her Daniel. Many people said she didn’t deserve him; that she was too young and too liberal and just too out-there for an elegant man like him.
But God said different.
“Well good morning,” Whitney said as soon as Nikki entered the suite’s double doors.
“Hey, Whit, what’s up?”
“What’s up with you? Shouldn’t you be at work this morning?
“Daniel in?”
“He’s in. But he’s in a meeting.”
Nikki smiled. “Why am I not surprised? He told me to bring this folder to him ASAP.”
“Oh, really? Dang. He’s in a DND. I’ll see if one of his assistants can help.” She picked up the phone, but looked at a list of extensions before she dialed. Nikki began walking around the suite. She knew that DND meant do not disturb, and she also knew how angry Daniel could get if Whitney were to disobey that order. So she didn’t object.
“You know what,” Whitney said and then began dialing. “I better let Miss Chandler handle it. She’s only been here a few months, but she’s already like his right hand man. Or woman as the case may be,” Whitney said and glanced over at Nikki.
Nikki knew
what she was implying, but she let it slide. If she worried about all these females that surrounded Daniel, all she would do was worry. She had to trust Daniel. And with every passing day, she was doing a better job of it. She wasn’t perfect with it, by any means. But she was better than she used to be.
After a few minutes, Melanie Chandler entered the double doors and headed for Whitney’s desk. Nikki was standing at that desk.
“Well hello, Nikki,” Melanie said cheerfully. “I understand you have something for me.”
“For Daniel, yes.”
“He’s in a DND, Mel,” Whitney said. “You think you can get that folder to him? Apparently it’s important.”
“Oh, certainly,” Melanie said with a smile. Nikki handed her the folder. “I’ll make sure he gets it,” she added. “So you can run along now.”
Whitney couldn’t believe she said that. She looked at Nikki.
And as Whitney suspected, Nikki was offended. “No,” Nikki said, “you can run along now and take that folder to your boss, and, oh yeah, that’s right, to my man.”
Whitney smiled.
That bitch, Melanie said inwardly, staring at Nikki. But she, amazingly, managed to smile. “Have a nice day,” she said.
Nikki smiled too, with the same degree of manufactured warmth Melanie’s smile portrayed. “You too,” she said.
Melanie left. Whitney laughed out loud when she did.
“I can’t stand her,” she said. “She’s good at her job. I’ll give her that. She works her ass off for Mr. Crane. But when he’s not around she’s awful. She’s so condescending.”
“I’m saying,” Nikki said. “But anyway, I’d better get going. Or, run along, as she puts it.”
Whitney smiled. “You need to stop.”
“I’ve got to do some sourcing for my story on that Springfield riot from yesterday, so I’d better get at it.”
“That’s right. You were over on Springfield, weren’t you, girl?”
Nikki nodded. “Yeah, I was.”
“I thought so. Mr. Cane looked mortified when he came out of his office and told me to notify the board that he wouldn’t be able to make that big meeting. Then he just took off. I knew that meant you had to be there. That man loves you so much, Nikki.” Although, Whitney inwardly added, that didn’t mean he was faithful to her.
Nikki nodded her head. “I thank God for him.”
“You should. He’s special.”
“But you mentioned a big meeting. What big meeting?”
“He didn’t tell you?”
He never did. “No.”
“They were going to name him the acting CEO of Dreeson, until they could find a permanent replacement for Mr. Murdock, which most people figured was going to be Daniel anyway. They’re getting rid of Murdock, you know.”
Nikki was stunned. “Really?”
“Yup. It was a big deal around here. But they got upset and changed their minds when Mr. Crane didn’t show up for the meeting. But that man wasn’t thinking about no meeting. All he was thinking about was getting to you.” Then Whitney smiled. “He’s getting too old to be running behind you, Nikki.”
Nikki wanted to joke it off, but she couldn’t pull it off. The idea that she was always the source of his devastation wasn’t funny to her. At all.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Luke ordered a beer and leaned back in his booth at Wanda’s. The lunch crowd was animated as everybody were laughing and talking and hurrying through their meals, seemingly not giving a second thought to the three young people who lost their lives yesterday on Springfield Avenue. But after his beer arrived and the waitress left, he couldn’t think about anything else.
He was horrified by the scene, and when Avery called in with the news that Nikki had managed to get through the police barricades and had entered that war zone, his heart dropped through his shoe. He spent ten minutes yelling at Avery for letting her do it, realizing as he yelled that nobody stopped Nikki Graham from doing anything. But the idea of it, of that beautiful lady running for her life, and nearly losing it, still brought chills to his spine.
Those chills kept rolling when Nikki entered Wanda’s. She was wearing a pair of tight jeans and a tucked-in polo shirt, looking more like a college kid than his twenty-four-year-old ace reporter. And to Luke she was still, even dressed like that, the prettiest human being in the joint. And as she walked toward him, as her small hips swayed and her tight thighs shook, he wanted her so badly he could taste it. And if it wasn’t for that damn Daniel Crane, he believed, he would have had her in his arms, and his bed, tasting every inch of her by now.
“There’s Miss America,” he stood up and said, as Nikki arrived at his booth.
“Hey, Luke,” she said, sitting down. “Were you waiting long?”
“Just a couple hours.”
“What?”
“I’m kidding, Nikki, come on.”
She smiled. “I’m sorry. I’m just...”
“You’re just still getting over that horror show from yesterday. And you still showed up for work this morning. I couldn’t believe it.”
“I know, but I’ll go stir crazy if I stay home. Staying home is not an option.”
“Thanks for coming to lunch with me.”
“Any time. But you didn’t have to do this, you know.”
“Oh, yes, I did. Two near-death experiences since I’ve been your editor? This is the least I can do.”
Nikki smiled. The waitress came up and she ordered juice. When the waitress left, Luke smiled.
“OJ for the lady,” he said.
“I’m sure your pocket can handle it.”
“I don’t know now. I’m no billionaire like Daniel Crane.”
“He’s no billionaire.”
“He’s something. I heard he’s got holdings in companies as far away as Switzerland, and you know what that means. Switzerland? Swiss bank account? He’s got something.”
“Whatever,” she said. “We can go Dutch if you like,” she said, hoping that such a comment would force Luke to change the subject.
“Not on your life,” he said. “A man who makes you pay for a drink is a very sick man.”
Nikki laughed. “What is this? Flatter Nikki day?”
“Yeah. Why the hell not? You got it going on like that ma’am, I cannot tell a lie. From the first moment I saw you I wanted to. . . ”
“To what?” Nikki asked, a smile still on her face. She, like Luke, was in a playful mood. Something about surviving, where the day after was so refreshing, where she was still standing and still alive to talk about it, made her giddy. “Go on, Luke. And tell the truth. From the moment you first saw me you wanted to what?”
“To tap that ass! All right? There, I said it.”
Nikki laughed. “You are so diplomatic.”
But Luke turned serious, hoping he hadn’t gone too far. “I’m kidding now. I didn’t mean to be disrespectful.”
“I know you didn’t. And you weren’t kidding either. You were just being honest, which is always cool with me because I’ll take truth any day of the week. A friendship can only thrive if truth is there. And you did say you wanted to be my friend.”
Luke smiled. She almost seemed flirtatious, which he didn’t quite know how to take. “That’s right,” he said.
“But just to be clear,” she said, “friends are all we’ll ever be.”
So much for her flirtatiousness, Luke thought. “Understood,” he said.
Nikki’s glass of juice arrived, and she and Luke made a toast. “To the victims,” he said, and Nikki quickly concurred.
“You did good, kid,” Luke said after gulping down half of his beer. “The way you went into that war zone when even the cops wouldn’t penetrate it said a lot about your courage. You’ve got that crazy kind of courage that I like. It reminds me of me. I mean, life is a risk anyway. And when it’s your time to go it’s your time to go. So why be a tight ass?”
Nikki nodded. “That’s what I’m talking about. Like A
very. You should have seen him, Luke.”
“The boy was scared?”
“Oh, man,” Nikki said and laughed. “Your boy was terrified. He wouldn’t let me out of the car at first. He was so shaken.”
“And I’m gonna tell everybody too.”
“Don’t you dare!”
“Why the hell not? He think he’s the mack daddy anyway, so why the hell not? It’ll bring his scared ass back down to earth a little.”
“Don’t do it. Most people aren’t like us, Luke. Most folks would do exactly as Avery did and keep their behinds in the car.”
Luke nodded and watched her sip from her glass of juice. They did have a bond, he felt, a kind of devil may care attitude that both of them have had to suppress. He suppressed his when he agreed to run a newspaper, and she, he believed, suppressed hers when she agreed to hook up with the king of tight ass, Daniel Crane.
“So,” he asked, “how’s Mr. Crane taking all of this?”
“He’s upset about it.”
“He blames me of course.”
“There’s nobody to blame. We were doing what journalists are supposed to do. What I hate about it is how I caused him to miss out.”
“You? What did you do that was so wrong?”
“Nothing wrong, but. . . ” Nikki thought it best not to discuss Daniel’s personal business with Luke. “Anyway, after work I’m going to go to the grocery store, buy some food, go to his house, and prepare him a meal to die for. That’s the least I can do for him.”
Luke wanted so badly for it to be him she was preparing a meal for. But he smiled anyway. “Sounds great,” he said.
Nikki’s Lexus pulled into the horseshoe driveway of Daniel’s lakefront home. She got out, grabbed the grocery bag off of the passenger seat, and made her way up the circular steps to the front door. She checked his mailbox, as she usually did, and pulled out a stack of mail. Then she swiped her keycard, pushed open the door, and walked on in.
DANIEL'S GIRL: ROMANCING AN OLDER MAN Page 17