by Sarah Gerdes
Danielle laughed. “My nightlife starts Friday. Unlike you, I’m not the boss in my business.”
Andre gave a sigh of understanding and desire. “I get it. I was just hoping.”
“I thought this was the busy time for you?”
“It is. I just find I can’t get enough of you.”
Danielle got in to the bed, pulling the covers over her. “You will on the weekends.”
Monday morning, Glenda told her four new meetings had been scheduled on her calendar. The subject line was the same for each: New Client Discussion, details to follow.
Danielle squinted at the screen. Sure enough, new meetings were on the calendar. She shook her head, happier than she’d been in months. Not only was work going better than planned, but her time with Andre had revealed no character flaws or irritating traits. Only intelligent conversation, easy teasing and a sense of adventure outdoors and inside the bedroom. As she told Lani, the subjects they discussed were absent of ones leading to a serious relationship: family, religion, future plans or past relationships.
“You know it’s not feasible to keep this up don’t you,” Lani said.
Danielle thought of his touching her leg, a simple act but one that spoke volumes. “Perhaps. But I’ll enjoy it for as long as I can.”
Glenda was at the door. “Team meeting in twenty minutes,” Glenda reminded her. “But Lars has asked if you can get to the conference room a few minutes early.”
She arrived first, taking her usual spot, the third seat down from the end, back to the water. Lars was already at the end of the table.
“You couldn’t make it a straight five?” She looked up at Lars. It took a moment to understand what he was talking about.
“Oh, you mean the prospective clients? I have no idea who these new clients are or where they are coming from,” she said truthfully. “Are you throwing some bones my way?”
“No, and neither is Johanne.”
Danielle ignored the comment. Finders, keepers, came to mind, but that wasn’t exactly the mantra of professionalism. Besides, Johanne had thus far been distant but polite to Danielle. Once she had wanted to compliment him on his straight-leg Versace suits but thought it might come across as solicitous, so she kept her mouth shut.
“Referrals?” he probed. The only person outside the office she’d come in contact with was Andre, and he only knew she worked at a trading firm, not what she traded. They had to be coming from Georgy, but she wasn’t going to guess.
“Maybe the clients are from going out to dinner with my friends who own a restaurant here in town.”
Lars rose to shut the door, then folded his arms as he leaned against it, squinting hard. His face was a deeper shade of bronze and she wondered if he’d taken a day trip to Italy where it was twenty-degrees warmer. She could see him in a luxury automobile with a gorgeous blond in the passenger seat.
Well, maybe not blond.
“You got this business cold?”
Danielle shrugged. “What’s the amount they are coming to the table with?” she asked, trying to strike a balance of confidence and modesty that David would be proud of.
Lars pursed his lips in thought, and she instantly looked up at his eyes. “Two-fifty-five, all in. They don’t meet the minimum investment level, but my hunch tells me that your network will continue to expand. The partners agreed.” His hand hovered on the door. Danielle saw other bodies outside the conference room, but her eyes didn’t stray from Lars.
“I shook your hand Lars the first day I was here,” she reminded him. “My part of the deal is to focus on work and trading. A part of that is bringing in new clients.”
Lars brown eyes held hers so many seconds she experienced a physical sensation dangerously close to attraction.
“Keep going to your restaurant,” was all he said, before turning the knob.
The meeting was short. Once Danielle was at her desk, she double checked her schedule, verifying she didn’t recognize a single name on the new client list. She was tempted to call up Georgy and see if he was the source, but thought better of it. She could thank him in person at the next update meeting.
She worked well into the evening, stopping only to speak with Lani. The demo would take another day, then the build out would begin, taking several weeks depending on the permits and approvals. In a month, a new space with a new name, menu and ambiance would be revealed to the world, and when it did, she would be there.
CHAPTER 16
On Tuesday, Andre called her at work but she didn’t pick up. Personal calls weren’t for the office. After two hours, she received a text: Thinking of you and Friday. She responded with a smiley-face emoticon.
By the time she walked through the door of her first new client meeting, all thoughts of Andre had long vanished. Two couples, an older single divorcee and a young man had come in for introductory meetings. Lars attended the first three, while Ulrich joined her for the last one. The newly-minted technology millionaire asked an hour’s worth of questions, enough to cause Ulrich to stare hard, but he remained polite and diplomatic to the end. Danielle made sure to ask each new client how they had come to learn about her, and each had given the same response—Georgy Mettleren. There was no mystery in the referrals, and her restaurant had nothing to do with it.
The week ended with the numbers being posted, her figures at the top. Again, no one bothered to congratulate her. No bell-banging or flag-raising recognition that dominated the trading atmosphere in the States. She knew it was because success was expected. David’s words were prophetic: it truly was all about the money.
To augment this culture, very little social life seem to exist within the office. No invitations to lunch or suggestions on a new hairstylist from the five female traders. The men were no different. She didn’t see bantering in the hallways or milling in the stocked kitchen. It was too bad, really. All the men in the office fell within the spectrum of nice looking and handsome, but then acknowledging that would only lead to temptation. She seemed to have enough of that already.
After work Friday, Danielle went to Monroe’s and Lani raked her over from head to toe.
“You have the aura of a very satisfied woman,” Lani said gleefully. “You and Andre are a thing,”
“We are friends, is what we are. And business partners.”
“Friends, Swiss-style,” Lani hissed. Stephen locked the front door before joining them. The sign out front announced a new venue in the forthcoming month. The three were meeting to go through the details of the design, menu and finances, including the details of the contract with Andre before he signed. Danielle had suggested a buyout clause for Andre that could be employed at any time, including return of his original investment plus a preferred interest of twenty percent. Or he could remain a silent partner as long as he wanted.
“Either way, if anything goes sideways we are all off the hook,” she added.
“Prudent,” Lani said, keeping the lines of her mouth flat—for a second. She then busted up laughing and didn’t stop until she left to get the food. Danielle didn’t bother to deny the obvious. She enjoyed the man, and even if another equally handsome suitor asked her out, she’d probably say no.
The following day, she was in the middle of copying and pasting data from a research report into an excel spreadsheet when her buzzer rang. She checked herself in the hallway mirror and then opened the door.
“Good afternoon,” Andre greeted, his lips lingering on her cheek.
“Can you wait here for just a sec? I have to finish with this document and then we can go.” She went to her desk, rapidly moved the figures into the correct cells, selected the columns and ran the totals.
“That is so awesome,” she said to herself, saving the file.
“What is?” Andre was in the doorway that faced the living room, his eyes fixed on hers.
She smiled, responding as she logged off. “My research. I’m going to make a killing next week.”
“This is a great view,” he co
mmented, leaning against the wall. His look told her his area of interest wasn’t on figures, at least, not the kind that began with a one or a zero. “But that,” pointing to her desk, “is a command center. I don’t think you’re going to be having any dinner parties soon.”
She shrugged happily as she rose. “A party of any size would require me inviting some people over first. Right now my potential dinner group is limited to four people, including Giles.” She gestured him in to the hallway, eager to get going. When he reached her, he paused. Danielle felt his fingertip touching the inside of her palm, moving up the smooth skin on the inside of her forearm, then crossing her elbow, to the back of her bicep. It caused shivers to run along her back, reaching her shoulder at the same time as his fingers. Danielle unconsciously leaned into him, humming against his cheek.
“You’re so full of life,” he whispered, his lips never touching the surface of her skin. “I want to bottle you up and drink it down.” She savored the image. “I don’t know if I’m going to be able to ride with you leaning on me.”
She pictured her hands on his stomach, her front pressed against him, as he hugged the corners, a happy smile on her face.
“I’ll try not to make you crash,” she promised.
“Speeding causes crashes, not a beautiful woman. But just to be on the safe side, we are going to stop by my shop. You need a real riding outfit.”
Danielle soon learned jeans, boots and leather jacket didn’t meet Andre’s criteria of true riding gear. He took her directly to a rack of mesh pants and jackets, playfully drawing her away from the bright yellow leather suits towards the black.
“The yellow leather is sexier, in an Uma Thurman Kill Bill type of way,” he informed her. “This is better for dust and pavement.”
The afternoon hours passed like one of those accelerated but slow-frame films, where days of activity are condensed into seconds yet certain segments seem extraordinarily long, leaving visuals and emotions lingering, to be savored time and again.
“The other day, you said the house is your father’s. Does that mean your mother doesn’t live with him?” she asked.
“They live very separate lives. Two homes, two agendas.” Probably two very pretty homes, thought Danielle. She diverted the conversation away from his family, choosing hockey. She learned Andre and Max played in the same hockey league, frequently going to Geneva to participate in tournaments, often times competing against Andre’s cousins who lived there.
“Did you know that the lake at St. Moritz has horse riding competitions on the frozen lake? I keep lobbying for a motorcycle race with spiked tires but so far I don’t have any takers.” Danielle laughed at the absurdity, telling him that although she hadn’t yet been to the famed town, she didn’t think it fit with the image.
Andre suggested Thai take out, and they took their boxes to Lindenhofplatz, a quiet park overlooking the Limmat River. He asked more about her family and the grape-growing business, telling her he’d heard of the Willamette Valley.
“I’m not surprised. In the last twenty years it’s stepped up its reputation, with a number of high profile wines made the “best of” lists every year.”
“Why didn’t you go into the business?” Danielle spoke of her mother’s liver disease and death and touched on her father’s health. “Is that why you don’t drink? Worried about liver damage?”
She nodded. “I’m probably pre-disposed to certain medical problems, but really, I wanted to do something different. A career with numbers, and in my line of work, not drinking has a distinct advantage.”
“Sure. Apparently you have to stay up all night.” His slight grumpiness was flattering. “Do you enjoy what you do?”
“Yes, it’s a lot of fun and mentally invigorating, but it’s like being a dentist: it’s worthwhile and respected, but not the preferred topic at cocktail parties.” He put his fingers on her hair, touching a curl. “And my command center? It’s my professional umbilical cord.”
“I had originally thought you were a financial services officer or an attorney. I honestly had no idea what you really did for a living, and to be frank, I didn’t care too much. I just wanted to be with you.” Andre’s hand slid to her shoulders.
Danielle hummed and smiled, thinking of what to say, since she wasn’t prepared to give him the same, contemplative look as he was giving her. She intentionally scoured his face. “You’re absolutely gorgeous, have I ever told you that?”
One of Andre’s modest smiles brightened his face. “No, you really didn’t have to as I already know it.”
Danielle’s mouth opened. “You know, I think that’s the first ego filled thing you have ever said.”
Andre’s crease lines deepened with his humor. “It’s true isn’t it?”
She pushed her fingers up and into his hair, pulling her to him. “Absolutely.”
CHAPTER 17
Danielle’s fourth full week in Zurich was marked by posting record high numbers. Andre signed the contract before the demolition had started and his investment posted the day before the buildout began. She spent Friday night alone as Andre was out on a wedding cruise that ran late. Plans with him for Saturday night were scrapped when a captain called in sick and the fleet was booked. On Sunday, Andre picked her up at eleven and they were outside the city limits twenty minutes later. Once at the Lichtenstein Castle she proceeded to break most of the rules about not taking photos.
“Selfies don’t count,” she murmured, invoking American protocol. Andre covered his mouth with the back of his hand, shaking his head. She guessed he appreciated her slight disrespect for the law, just as she thought his speeding around corners was exhilarating and dangerous. After the formal tour was done, Andre sat down on the rock wall overlooking a flower garden.
“Excuse me for a sec.” Danielle caught a couple walking by, asking the woman to take a photo of the two of them. “You’re going to have to get used to my wild-ways,” she murmured as she sat beside him.
“Yes, you can be rather unpredictable,” he said dryly.
“And I find you rather subdued.”
“Is that bad?” he asked seriously.
“No, I like it. It’s a complete change from what I’m used to in the States. I don’t always know what you are thinking, which keeps me guessing. Thanks for the loaner clothes by the way. You haven’t asked for them back, but I haven’t gotten anything dirty.”
Andre gave her curious look. “Those are yours. I bought them for you.” Danielle had seen the prices and an outfit was two grand, in francs.
“You sure? You don’t want to use them again…with someone else?”
“Danielle, there hasn’t been anyone else since we started going out.” She could see his wash of discomfort, as though he’d assumed too much too quickly. It reflected her emotions exactly. “Here, when you actually ask someone out, not in a group, but individually, and then go out repeatedly…well…”
“What?” Danielle prompted, trying to laugh off the uneasiness between them. “You meet the parents next?”
“Almost. Here, we don’t have casual dates as you call them. We tend to go as a group, or meet up at different locations. I thought…”
Oh, shit. Lani had been right. She had no way out but to make light of the situation. “Andre,” she began, touching his arm. “I haven’t met the parents yet, so we still have that left.”
He took her hand, lightly tickling the inside of her palm. “Danielle, I can’t really match your direct style, but I want you. All the time. Every day. Which for a Swiss man is like saying you’ve just rotated my world a few degrees. The gravitational forces are askew and the axis is unbalanced with people falling off. And you know how you tease me about being so formal in public? I’ve never put my arm around a woman in public. It’s not just a Swiss thing. It’s a me thing.”
“How can you possibly bring yourself to do that?” she quipped, finding the whole notion funny.
“I view it like we are Siamese twins separated at birth
.” He cradled her face in his other hand, kissing her deeply, nudging apart her lips with his tongue until she shivered. “In all seriousness, Danielle. It’s like you were made for me.”
As she returned his kiss, it vaguely occurred to her she’d never heard those words before, from anyone. She refused to process the implications, electing to enjoy the moment of affection and desire. All she had to do was keep to her schedule; there was safety in a routine.
CHAPTER 18
For a month, she kept to her plan. To her relief, Andre issued few complaints, as he was now constantly scheduled for VIP excursions or filling in when someone was out. Some nights they talked after eleven, but often it was a short text message goodnight, their face time relegated to Saturday evening through Sunday afternoon. It usually began with a late dinner, followed by dancing or a visit to a jazz club. Sunday invariably meant brunch and another day trip. During her free time, Danielle was on the water sailboarding or walking under the canopy of trees along the Lake Zurich waterfront. She was even learning German, much to Lani’s surprise and Stephen’s delight.
One Saturday Danielle learned Andre had been missing his Saturday night games. That evening she insisted on seeing him play hockey, bringing Lani and Stephen with her. The three of them met half a dozen cousins from Geneva and she got to be friendly with two of Andre’s other good friends, Christian and Lucas. She’d seen them the first night at Monroe’s, along with Max.
“Only four weeks,” Danielle said to Lani, referring to the final buildout. It had been delayed over two weeks due to a backorder on the bar stools and the lights, but they would still finish the renovations in time for grand opening, scheduled for the fourth of July.
“Assuming the initial tasters are happy,” Lani intoned.
Danielle nudged her thick, warm sheepskin coat against Lani’s shoulder. As soon as Andre changed they were going to one of their favorite jazz clubs.