by Dawn Tamayo
“Do you like it?” Jake asked before he popped in another mouthful of pudding.
“Yes I do, it’s just a shame that it’s quite a closed market really. There’s not many openings for promotion and so it’s hard to climb up the ladder. But I’m hopefully getting there.”
“And you’re getting married?” He said pointing his spoon towards her engagement ring.
“Yes in a few months time.” She smiled as she moved the ring around on her finger. She had always wanted a big white wedding ever since she was a little girl, she thought that every little girl probably did, and soon she would be having hers with an incredible winter wonderland theme.
“No last minute nerves?”
“No, why would there be? We have been together for nearly ten years, we met when we were at University together and things just kind of went from there. As for the wedding, everything’s arranged, I did that last year when Mark proposed. It’s just final numbers to be confirmed now, and that’s it.”
“And your fiancé, what’s he like?” Jake asked as he pretended to be more interested in his dessert than her answer.
“He’s a nice guy. He’s a banker in private finance, a real city guy, born and bred in London.”
Jake thought about that for a moment, London was nice, great even with its amazing history and beautiful buildings, but he couldn’t imagine being without the Miami sun and sea.
“So you’re really off the market and getting married huh?” Jake sighed dramatically putting his fork down letting the last few bites of his dessert beat him.
Victoria nodded and smiled.
“Well that’s just my loss then.”
“Oh I don’t know about that. From the research I did on you today I would say you are doing pretty well as it is, and you don’t need another woman to add to your already long list.” After googling Jake Cumberland when she returned from lunch there were several press articles about his company, but his partying and womanising antics dominated the U.S. internet by far. In fact Victoria had lost count of the number of different woman Jake had been photographed out with in the last few months alone - it was ridiculous.
“How can you say that?” Jake feigned hurt feelings – he could guess exactly what Victoria had seen and it was all true.
“Because the photos don’t lie Jake.” She laughed.
Jake raised his hand and called for the bill. Victoria rooted inside her handbag reaching for her new business expense credit card to pay for it.
“No, let me.” Jake said as he took out his wallet.
“No Jake, this is a business dinner and you are the prospective client. I can’t let you do that.” Victoria insisted taking the bill as the waiter put it down on the table.
“Really? Because I enjoyed tonight far more than any other business dinner I’ve ever had! Besides a lady never pays when she is out with me.” Jake said seriously. Tonight didn’t feel like business at all, in fact he had been having such a good time he had almost forgotten this was supposed to be about business.
“Then don’t think of me as a woman, just think of me as a business acquaintance.” She said seriously.
“Now that I am afraid is impossible.” Jake said as he sat back in his chair and obviously looked Victoria up and down, and for the numerous time tonight he felt his body twitch with longing at the mere sight of her, all curves and smiles so close to him.
“Well okay then, how about this. I am not paying, Ben Churchill is. Or at least his company is, and please let them pay - I really want to actually get to use my new company expense card more than once because unless I get your account I will be losing it pretty dammed quickly along with my job too.” Realising what she had said Victoria quickly tried to backtrack. “Oh I think that came out wrong. I didn’t mean it the way it sounded.”
Jake looked at Victoria seriously, “Yes you did.”
She blushed and cringed inside, “Sorry I shouldn’t have said that, that’s really unfair and totally unprofessional.”
Jake watched her for a minute, he knew a liar when he saw one and Victoria wasn’t having him on. He had never met this Ben Churchill but what a crappy boss he must be to threaten a member of staff with losing their job if they couldn’t personally persuade a Chairman to give them a huge account like his. He disliked the man already.
“Are you serious? Your boss told you to land my account or be fired.”
Victoria didn’t know what to say. She wasn’t about to lie to Jake, that wasn’t her style. But it was totally unprofessional of her to come out and say it was true, and she had said far too much already. “Look Jake, I think that just came out wrong.”
“Oh I don’t think so. In that case he can definitely pay!” Jake said trying to keep it light – he didn’t like bullies and this Ben Churchill seemed to be a real live one.
Smiling Victoria handed her new business credit card to the waiter. It was a tiny triumph knowing her boss had just paid for their delicious dinner. In fact it had been a thoroughly lovely night altogether.
Victoria looked at her watch, it was nearly 10 o’clock and she couldn’t believe they had been sitting chatting for over three hours. Jake wasn’t in any hurry to go but he slipped his jacket on as he saw Victoria stand up.
“Home now?” He asked wishing it was his home or the hotel room Victoria was going back to, and not to wherever she lived with her fiancé.
“Yes. Thank you for your time this evening, and I’ll see you tomorrow afternoon?”
Jake nodded as he walked Victoria out into the cool night air. He discretely passed a tip to the doorman and told him to hail a cab for Victoria.
“What about you? Do you need a cab back to your hotel, it’s getting a bit chilly now.” She said as she climbed into the back of the black cab and Jake closed the door behind her.
“No, I have an appointment to go to anyway.”
“Oh no, I’ve made you late. I am so sorry, were you supposed to be meeting someone?” Victoria felt guilty - of course Jake Cumberland had better things to do than spend the evening having dinner with her she thought.
Jake laughed, and there were those gorgeous clear blue eyes sparkling at her, “Don’t worry, it wasn’t important. And Vicky you should know by now that I do whatever I want to do.”
Victoria sat back in the taxi as it pulled away thinking about what Jake just said, “I do whatever I want to do!” and she had no doubt about that! She was sure Jake did exactly what he wanted, and she doubted that many people ever said no to him either. Jake had a way of making people do whatever he wanted them to do, and by their own choice too! Victoria couldn’t help smiling knowing he had made himself late for an appointment because he was having dinner with her. She laughed knowing it was silly but her ego had just been given a little boost. Anyway it sure beat sitting at home waiting for Mark to come home, again. Victoria took her mobile phone out of her bag and saw three missed calls from Alice. She guessed Alice was calling to tell her the final figure for yesterday’s fete. Victoria opened up her messages and saw a text message from Alice too. Reading it she frowned:
Need to talk to you but in private.
Call me asap when you are free and alone please. A xx
Victoria sat looking at the text message as the taxi manoeuvred around the winding London streets. That was strange, Alice didn’t usually send her cryptic messages, it wasn’t her style, but Victoria looked at her watch and decided it was too late to call her back now being nearly eleven o’clock at night - Alice would be tucked up in bed since she liked to be up at some hideously early hour in the mornings walking her beloved dogs across the fields, and Victoria didn’t want to wake her up now. Whatever it was would surely wait until the morning. As the taxi pulled up outside her house she could see Mark was home. She quickly tapped a text message back to Alice telling her she would call her tomorrow and stepped out of the taxi.
CHAPTER THREE
Victoria woke up knowing today was going to be a big day for her with Jake Cumberland’
s pitch this afternoon. She had tried to get hold of Alice this morning but they had been playing phone-tag and had both missed several calls from each other, nevertheless Victoria planned to call her straight after work today on her way home, she was sure she would get hold of her then. But in the meantime Victoria’s morning consisted of working flat out with Ben Churchill and their team on their imminent pitch. She was excited and nervous all in one, and the adrenaline could be felt from everyone.
“Mr Churchill, Mr Cumberland is here to see you.” The receptionist called through on the telephone.
“Send him straight up, don’t keep him waiting.” Ben Churchill said and scanned the room making sure everything and everyone were in place just as he wanted it. Ben Churchill knew he was the best, and his company was an award winning agency, but an account like CT Holdings was like gold-dust and he wanted it badly.
Victoria straightened down her red and black suit dress and adjusted the thin red belt feeling just that little bit smarter even though she knew she looks perfectly good the way she was; today her hair was platted back and secured to the back of her head with a large clip whilst several curls of red hair hung down around her face softening the effect. Quickly she turned to the glass window behind her and checked her lipgloss – yes still there. She wanted to make a good impression, there was a lot riding on this meeting.
Jake walked into the meeting room like he owned it. He smiled brightly and headed straight for Victoria holding out his hand to shake hers. “Good to see you again Victoria. Thank you for inviting me here today.” Out the corner of his eye he could see the big paunchy man almost splutter when Jake didn’t approach him first and inwardly Jake smiled. Jake loved rubbing a bully up the wrong way, it was almost like a game to him because he knew he would always win, and people like him who had the means at their disposal had to stand up for others who couldn’t stand up for themselves.
“Thank you for coming Jake.” Victoria said as she stepped forward from behind the big conference table and took Jake’s hand feeling him give her that now familiar squeeze and she looked at him seeing a cheeky look in his eyes. For a moment her stomach flipped and she felt like she wanted to giggle conspiratorially, she had a feeling Jake was going to have fun today. Turning to her boss Victoria introduced them, “Jake, I would like you to meet Ben Churchill. Mr Churchill this is Jake Cumberland.”
“Call me Jake, Ben.” Jake said shaking the large man’s outstretched hand.
“Glad you could make it Jake. Would you like to take a seat?” Ben said feeling extremely pleased within himself now he finally had the elusive Jake Cumberland in his office and he had no doubt he would be able to impress him with Churchill Turnbull & French’s pitch.
“I would love to, and it’s nice to finally meet you after hearing so much about you from Victoria.” Jake flashed his blue eyes quickly at Victoria and she nearly choked hoping he wasn’t going to play any games at her expense.
“Really? All good I hope.” Ben Churchill said as he looked at Victoria with a ridiculous smile on his face; he’d never actually smiled at her before and she shifted uncomfortably in her seat.
“But of course. She certainly sold me on coming here today, it seems you’re quite some boss.”
Victoria had to look away to hide the grin on her face. ‘Really Jake!’
Jake took a seat as directed and looked around the table. His eyes quickly scanned across the artwork and picture boards strategically placed around the room - Victoria was right, they had some great ideas. He sipped at his coffee and watched her sitting across the table as Ben Churchill, being the Partner, took the lead in his presentation. She looked amazing today in her power-dress and he loved the little pieces of hair teasingly falling down the sides of her face. There were another two associates sitting next to Victoria giving the obligatory head nod in agreement every now and then, and Jake had no doubt they could deliver exactly what they were proposing.
Jake looked at his watch realising the allocated half an hour was nearly up and he had to get back for a presentation at Olympia. He put his hand up and the room fell silent.
“Well I have to say I am impressed.” And he meant it too. This morning he had spoken to his advertising manager and asked why they hadn’t taken up Churchill Turnbull & French’s offer of a presentation before, and he was told they thought the company was too conventional and not as funky and cutting edge as their marketing and advertising company in the USA. Jake paused for a moment in thought - he could see their point, it was a very traditional set up, but the ideas on the table here today were excellent and they could certainly use some of them, if not jazz them up a bit.
“Okay Ben I like what you have shown me so far, so here’s the deal. I think we can do something.”
The tubby older man smiled.
“But as you know I have never done things the usual way, so what I propose is that your point-person spends a little time with me and my marketing team in Miami and then we can put our CT Holdings’ feel to your ideas. If it works out, then I think we could have a great campaign with you over here.
“That’s great. No problem.” Ben said beaming from ear to ear now. He gave Victoria a brief wink and she sighed, thankfully her job was safe and a promotion would be on the cards.
“So, as I am sure you can understand I am going to want this to happen before your final pitch for the campaign and then if all goes well we can sign on the dotted line.”
For a moment Jake saw the man’s smile drop, but just as quickly it was replaced, ever the professional. “No problem. Gina will be happy to fly across for a few days. You name the day and she’ll be there.”
Jake looked across to the woman sitting at the end of the table, Gina - he was sure she would be perfectly good at heading up the team and being their point-person, but that wasn’t what he had in mind. He shook his head as he stood up, buttoning up his suit jacket signalling the meeting was coming to an end.
“No, Victoria is going to be the point-person on my business.” He could hear the small gasp from Victoria but he didn’t look her way, and neither did he look at the other two team members who were almost choking on their coffee. Jake kept his attention firmly on Ben Churchill.
“Jake with all due respect, I can assure you that Gina is a highly respected and an excellent marketing ……..”
“No Ben,” Jake interrupted, he knew exactly what he wanted and nothing less would do. He knew men like Ben Churchill and had no doubt that as soon as he walked out the door Ben Churchill would be giving Victoria the photocopying and art room runs, not the fair shot she deserved. Victoria was good, he could see that for himself, and he liked that she had the guts to go after his business solo and tell him exactly what she wanted, no playing around, no games. He liked people like her, he liked women like her. In fact Jake liked Victoria. “I am sure Gina is very good and I will be very happy for her to work on the account, but if it wasn’t for Victoria I wouldn’t be standing here right now, and I think we all know that. She has already shown me what she can do without any back-up from your excellent company, and she has been right in the thick of it with one of my own publicity stunts already. Victoria is the woman for the job.”
Ben Churchill’s cheeks were turning a shade of red, he didn’t like being told what to do, not even by one of the best clients he would ever get.
Victoria was still sitting in shock. She had no idea Jake was going to come out with this! She couldn’t go to Miami, she was in the final stages of preparing for her wedding, and yes she had most of it organised but there were still dress fittings to do and last minute little things that would come up. What the hell? And what was Mark going to say about this, she wasn’t sure he would be too happy with her jetting off to Miami for a few days.
“I need Victoria in Miami by Monday. We have a very busy marketing schedule planned for the next month so I am going to need her there for most of that. Shall we say at least two or three weeks, maybe a bit more.” Jake turned to Victoria, he could se
e she was shell-shocked. “Is that okay with you Victoria?”
“Erm I don’t know, I’m sorry.” She mumbled not sure what to say. This was a huge opportunity, something she had wanted for so long, and more. But why did it have to come at such a bad time?
“No that’s fine Jake. Victoria will be there, we’ll take care of it.” Ben quickly interjected.
“I must go now. Can you walk me out Victoria, we can discuss a few of the finer details on the way.” Jake said as he opened the meeting room door and waited for her.
Finally she found her feet and walked with Jake out of the room and along the hallway.
“Jake, I’m sorry but I don’t think I can go. You know I have my wedding in a few months time.”
“And you told me it was all organised. So what’s the problem?”
“Can’t Gina go and I’ll be your liaison here?”
“You know you’ll be back to running errands for that fat-cat boss of yours before the afternoon is out if you don’t come. Is that what you want? I’m handing you a chance to prove what you are made of. You wanted your chance didn’t you? You wouldn’t have come to me yesterday if you didn’t. You’re hungry for this and you know it!”
Right now looking into Jake’s intense blue eyes as they bore into hers she wasn’t sure what she was more hungry for, the job or him. In her high heels she was only an inch or two shorter than Jake, he was standing so close now she could feel his breath on her skin and she was all too aware of the faint aroma of his aftershave. She mentally shook herself, ‘don’t be so ridiculous, what’s wrong with you?’, she took an involuntary step back.
Jake held out his hand and Victoria took it to shake goodbye.