Wanted: Girl I Once Met

by Sonja Gunter

  “It’s about damn time,” he retorted, pushing aside the charts when Mrs. Weber announced Philip.

  He watched as Philip casually strolled in. If Philip hadn’t been his best friend, he’d have fired him on the spot for his cocky attitude.

  The jerk was acting as if he had nothing to do!

  Two could play this game so he calmly waited for Philip to sit down, not giving Philip the satisfaction of seeing he’d actually been waiting all day.

  He watched Philip nonchalantly sit down and place the coveted report on his lap. He’d seen Philip watching him the entire time since he entered. Philip was good at reading him, so he guarded his emotions from him. He waited and waited for Philip to break the silence, hoping he wouldn’t lose his dart partner.

  “I have the information you requested. Do you have time to go over my findings or should I come back later?” Philip asked in a businesslike tone and then started to stand.

  “Philip, sit your ass down! You’ve advanced yourself to three months of no dart matches!”

  “Oh, Mark, come on! You know I was enjoying the moment. You wouldn’t do that to me,” Philip pleaded with a twinkle in his eyes as he handed over the file to Mark. “Who would play darts with you if I don’t?”

  Ignoring the remark, Mark opened up the coveted file. Most of what he read he’d seen on her résumé. Nothing stood out. He turned the pages in hopes of finding something, not really sure what that something was. He hardly ever requested an investigation on a female employee. In fact, this had been a first.

  Rane’s past was very clean. No bad info— What the fuck? He leaned forward and re-read the paragraphs. She had an ex-husband that was a total asshole based on the information Philip had unearthed.

  He slammed the file down on his desk and stared at Philip.

  “Where is the ex-husband?” Mark demanded.

  “I’ll have his report within the hour. I found out about him too late to be able to include much about him,” Philip informed Mark.

  “Great, thanks, Philip. I just needed reassurance she is who she says she is.” Mark paused for effect and was rewarded with a look of shock on Philip’s face when he added, “I’ll be asking her out.”

  Seeing Philip was about to attack him with a mouthful of questions, Mark quickly changed the subject.

  “I’ve gone over the charts Agent Nelson gave us. Have you heard anything else from our friend?”

  “Yes, he’s given us ten full-time undercover agents. I’m using them mostly to protect the building and the employees. All info leads to something going down here.” Philip slammed his fist down hard and swore. “Damn it, Mark! I can’t protect over a thousand people.”

  “Calm down. No one said you had to do it alone. Hire a whole damn army if you have to,” Mark said.

  “This might be a joke to you, but for your information, your life is on the line here.”

  Neither said anything as they both took in the meaning. Philip stood and began to pace. Mark was the first to break the silence.

  “I’m sorry. I’m just so sick of this. What do you need me to do or not to do?”

  Philip stopped his pacing, sat back down on the couch, and appeared to be choosing his words carefully. “I’m not sure. I’m out of my element here. The other week showed me how lax I’d become. I’ve gotten soft, man, and it scares me.” He cleared his throat. “Maybe you should find a new bodyguard.”

  “Are you crazy? I have the best and you’re it! We’ll get through this together.”

  “Do I still have a dart partner?” Philip asked as he rose to his feet.

  “That’s still on the bargaining table. I should be ready to leave in about an hour. Bring the limo around to the front.”

  Mark watched Philip nod and walk out of the office. Once he couldn’t see him anymore, he reopened the file. He studied all the notes about Rane’s ex-husband.

  Rane and her ex-husband, David Moore, had been high school sweethearts. She’d been a cheerleader and Homecoming Queen her senior year of high school. David had been the captain of the football team. They’d dated all through high school and then got married the summer they graduated.

  Where did Philip get this type of information?

  He read on. David had attended the University of Minnesota, majoring in medicine. Rane had attended the Minnesota School of Business for Fashion Merchandising. When she’d graduated, Rane had received a placement at one of the leading fashion companies. A couple of years later, David became a doctor and accepted a position at a hospital in California.

  The next section of the report interestingly showed a handful of police reports indicating marital disturbances, and also contained one picture of Rane with a swollen lip. Soon after, they were divorced. They’d been married for ten years.

  “What a piece of trash,” Mark sputtered.

  He saw she must have had a good lawyer even though it had taken almost two years before the divorce was finalized. The courts had awarded Rane a settlement of a monthly spousal maintenance fee for the next twenty years with guaranteed increases based on Dr. David Moore’s income. She still had fifteen years left before the spousal payments would end.

  Good for her! She’d taken the piece of scum to the cleaners.

  The report went on to say that during the divorce she’d gone back to school. Three years later, she graduated from the University of Minnesota with a Master’s degree in Business.

  There was more about her personal life but nothing about any other men in her life. No live-ins, no other marriages, and Philip had been able to confirm her ex had stayed in California.

  No angry ex to worry about, nice.

  Her bank account showed she was a pretty wealthy woman and didn’t need to be working. This threw up red flags.

  What was she doing working here then?

  Chapter 15

  Val’s “I told you so’s,” echoed in Rane’s head as she drove to work Tuesday morning. She’d waited until the end of their Sunday monthly pedicures before sharing her unpleasant news about the e-mails from David. Val had totally flipped out, which hadn’t been a surprise.

  They’d ended up stopping at Starbucks to get Val a layered Latte and a Café Mocha for herself. One coffee drink led to two while they discussed what the e-mails could mean but hadn’t been able to come up with any good reasons. Before calling it a night, Val had made her promise she wouldn’t talk to David via the phone or send any e-mails or Facebook him. To make it worse, Val had threatened to come over and melt all of her ice cream if she didn’t keep her word.

  The six Facebook updates from David, however, were weighing heavily on Rane’s mind as she strode into her office. She’d been tempted to glance at them out of curiosity. The one question that kept coming up.

  What could he want? He’d never personally contacted her only through the lawyer.

  She ignored the nagging question and took out the files she’d worked on at home from her briefcase. As the last lingering thoughts of the dirt bag faded away, she left her office and headed toward the breakroom.

  Today was the big day, her lunch meeting with Mark. No, Mr. Christmenn, she corrected herself. She needed to keep it professional at the office, no matter what Val said.

  What would he say when it was time to discuss her findings? Would he say “Nice job” when she told him his company was sinking? Or, “Thanks for showing me I don’t know how to run my companies?” Ya, she could see it now. “Thanks, but no thanks, you’re fired.”

  It troubled her that this was the largest company that she’d had to reorganize and she had nothing to compare her work to. So far, she’d found a few areas that needed very little refining or changing. Then other departments were so far gone it was going to take a lot of time and effort to get them back on track.

  Vision.
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br />   That was the key. She needed the employees, along with Mark, uh, Mr. Christmenn, to be able to envision success.

  To accomplish this mega project she needed an early dose of caffeine. It was calling her, as it did every morning. She’d start with two cups of hot chocolate, then after ten o’clock, her Coke.

  Routine. Routine. She liked doing the same thing. It helped set the pace for the day. New plans began spinning through her mind as she pushed open the door to the breakroom.

  She smiled at the other employees getting their own morning need of caffeine. None of them acknowledged her or smiled back. Her stomach sank at their cold response. It made her realize that she wasn’t going to make very many friends. As far as they were concerned, she was the enemy. An empty feeling came over her as she left the crowded room and returned to her office.

  Mark dashed past a smiling Mrs. Weber and into his office. He groaned when he saw a very large note taped to his empty coffee pot. Your office coffee machine is broken. A new one won’t be here until tomorrow afternoon. Let me know when you want your coffee.

  Damn. Today’s special blend was French Vanilla with cinnamon made with Costa Rican beans. It was a blend he’d hoped would do well this coming Christmas and he’d been excited to taste it. He read the note a second time with growing dismay. It was signed with a very large happy face.

  Great! Bad weekend, bad night at home, and now this. And to top it off, he was going to have to cancel his lunch with Rane. He had to meet with Agent Nelson to go over some new details. He couldn’t decide which was worse. Meeting with Nelson or breaking the lunch appointment with Rane.

  Damn. Could the day get more unpleasant?

  Mrs. Weber should’ve had a cup of coffee ready for him, but no. She’d just left a note. Fucking shit!

  Why was she giving him attitude? Had he done something to upset her? Not taking the chance of making her angrier he thought it best to go to the breakroom himself to walk off some steam. As he left his office, Mrs. Weber beamed at him with her angelic face.

  “I can get my own coffee,” he barked as he strode past, knowing he was being rude but, damn it, he was the boss. Coffee was his business. He wanted his damned cup of coffee when he came in.

  He’d almost reached the breakroom doors when Rane’s perfume hit him and made him smile. He breathed in the intoxicating scent and spun around in anticipation. She had to be close, but he couldn’t find her anywhere so he eagerly pushed open the doors.

  His stomach knotted as he scanned the room. There were only a couple of employees sitting at a table but when they saw him, they got up and left. He ignored their actions but found that Rane’s fragrance had lingered behind to taunt him.

  He smoothed down his suit coat and squared his shoulders, not allowing the scent to take over his ability to think clearly any more than it already was doing. It did, however, make him wonder if it was the perfume or the woman he was attracted to. He was beginning to think it was both.

  The barista station was empty. Why? It was Special Blend Day. Now he was going to have to settle for a regular blend. He shoved coins into the coffee machine.

  The sound of the door opening made him jump a little with excitement and he turned slowly to see who had come in. His optimistic attitude didn’t last. It wasn’t her. Instead he greeted Danny, the Manager of the Shipping Department.

  “Good morning, Danny. How is the receiving project coming along with the overseas shipping problems?”

  Mark could see Danny try to recover from the shock of seeing him in the breakroom. It wasn’t a daily occurrence. It wasn’t even a weekly visit. It was a rarity to find him in the breakroom. Mark waited for what seemed an eternity before Danny was able to speak.

  “Great, just great, I still have to clarify some problems and check out some of the responses that I’ve received. I think we have a meeting scheduled for Thursday morning. Did you want me to give you an update today?”

  “No, Danny, Thursday will be fine. Please double-check with Mrs. Weber for my schedule. By the way, we have a new special blend coming out this week. Make sure to try it.”

  He grabbed the coffee, inwardly cursing as the hot cup burned his inside palm, then shot Danny a smile before opening the door. Every so often he’d catch whiffs of Rane’s perfume as he strolled back to his office. If she came this way every morning, he’d have an excuse to see her. The mere thought of starting out each morning seeing Rane made him grin and think, To hell with his coffeemaker.

  He gazed at Mrs. Weber and saw her lips curl in a smile as he walked into his office. It was maddening the way she treated him as if he was a ten-year-old kid. But then again it was nice to know someone did care about him. She was and always had been there for him.

  “Just get me a coffeemaker fast and check to see why the barista station was empty this morning. We were to have started testing the Christmas blend,” he said and realized it had come out a little too rough.

  “Ooo, I’ll find out.” Mrs. Weber smiled and said, “By the way, I have the California plant holding on Line One.”

  “Send the call through,” he said and managed to say it nicely this time. Why was he so touchy?

  Rane sat down at her desk still holding her cup of hot chocolate and opened the top left desk drawer. She gathered a handful of Hershey’s Kisses and unwrapped one of them, placed it into her mouth with the tip forward, and took a sip of the hot liquid.

  Soon, melted chocolate filled her mouth in a rush of absolute chocolate delight. Setting her cup down, she unwrapped a second kiss for a repeat.

  Man, this was better than sex.

  She should know. She hadn’t been with a man in a very long time. One year, two months, twelve days, and eight hours, but who was counting?

  As the second Hershey Kiss melted, she wondered if sex with Mr. Christmenn would be better than this aphrodisiac. Her eyes widened at the thought. Brushing the remaining Kisses aside, she made herself concentrate on work and not on the owner of the company.

  Rane immediately sent out e-mails to each of the department managers to set up meeting times, hoping this diversion would stop her train of thought from wandering again. She jumped a little when the phone rang.

  “Hello, this is Ms. Schoen.”

  “Hello, Rane, this is Richard. Mr. Christmenn asked me to meet with you today to go over the concluding stages of your information. He isn’t going to be able to make your lunch appointment,” Mr. Adam said.

  “Oh, thanks for letting me know. Would you like to come to my office, around two?” Rane asked, struggling to keep her disappointment from her voice. “Yes, that’s fine. I’ll see you at two.”

  Well, she now knew how hens felt having their eggs snatched from them. No lunch date with Mr. Wall. Upset, she stood and peered out the window.

  Who was she trying to kid? She was extremely annoyed. She’d built up this lunch as if it was to be a first date. It was her fault. The more she thought about it, she knew that she’d been childish. Who in their right mind would ask out the owner of the company they worked for and think it would work out?

  Val had been wrong. She couldn’t go through with the plan, no matter how attracted she was to him. He was out of her league and she had to forget about his sexy body, his delicious lips, and, most of all, his package.

  She concentrated even harder on her PowerPoint presentations and her disappointment faded. Time flew and her growling stomach let her know it was time for lunch. She picked up her purse to go to lunch alone.

  She waited with annoyance for the stupid elevator, which always happened to be on the main level, no matter what time of day it was. She glanced at the stairwell thinking it might be a better option at this point. At least it would give her a workout if she used them. With one foot poised, ready to move in its direction, the smell of Drakkar hit her.

 
Rane glanced over to her right, she couldn’t help herself, knowing that it had to be him. She took in every detail, from Mark’s navy blue suit, his white starched shirt, to his red-striped tie.

  Mmm, mmm, good enough to eat.

  She shifted her eyes to his face and centered in on his lips.

  Lips that were firm and had a hint of a smile on them.

  Realizing she’d been staring, no, she corrected, ogling him again, she quickly glanced away.

  “Going to lunch, Ms. Schoen?” Mark inquired.

  “Yes. Yes, I am.”

  Alone, courtesy of your canceling.

  The doors opened, halting any more conversation for the moment.

  Her early determination to forget him went unheeded. It was like being twelve again, all awkward and unsure of yourself. His nearness was overwhelming. She felt a tingle of excitement and glanced at his hands.

  “After you,” Mark said and motioned for her to enter.

  “Ms. Schoen, I’m sorry I had to cancel today’s lunch. I’m sure Richard will enjoy your findings better than I would.”

  “Yes, but I had wanted to touch base with you on a couple of things.”

  Her words came out stiff. She needed to simply ask him out before she lost her nerve. It was the perfect setting. No one was around to hear him turn her down or witness her disgrace.

  Without any more thought, she blurted out, “I would still like to meet with you.”

  There. She’d done it. She’d asked him out.

  “I’m free for lunch tomorrow.”

  “I am too,” she said, feeling the heat rise to her cheeks.

  “I’ll have Mrs. Weber set up the time and place. She’ll e-mail you. I have to go. Have a nice lunch.”

  Rane stared after his retreating figure unsure of what had just happened. He’d actually accepted. She had a date with the owner. Then, as if someone had let the air out of a balloon, she stopped short, flooded with disappointment.