by Calista Fox
“In their sexy stilettos,” Maxi added, with a smile at her own quip. “Lola and I have always contended that our shoes complete a look for us. That look helps to define who we are. And the more confident we are of our individual personalities, the more driven we are to succeed.”
“Exactly.” Emotion tinged Staci’s voice. “That’s always been my underlying motto—and Lola captured that brilliantly in her campaign. Even the male members of her team identified with the creed, because their wives, sisters, gal-pals are fans of the brand. But, Maxi, that’s just advertising to reel in the customers. If we can’t fill their orders—if we can’t complete their image—then we’ve failed them.”
“Staci.” Maxi felt a jolt of emotion herself. “We’re not going to fail them. I wouldn’t accept it, nor would you. None of our department heads would accept it. Ryan Donovan wouldn’t accept it.”
Staci slipped off the edge of the desk, rounded it, and slid into her chair. She set her cup aside and steepled her hands before her. Then asked, “You’ve known him for two days and have already deduced this?”
Maxi shook her head. “I knew him for two minutes and realized it. He’s a genius, Staci. And it’s clear that he’s thoroughly committed to whatever cause he takes up. Honestly, I’m starting to think he and I should exchange VP-director roles. I’ve already learned so much from him that I could—”
“No.”
Maxi did a double take. “I’m sorry. No?”
“No. Absolutely not. And Ryan would wholeheartedly agree. Trust me.”
“I don’t see how that’s possible.”
“Maxi.” Staci held her gaze. “To Lola’s point about the people who care the most about this company having a huge passion for the shoes…” She inhaled deeply as though to steady herself from all the feelings churning within her. Then she said, “Let’s face it. Ryan can understand our issues and help us come up with solutions, but—”
“Actually, I think he could single-handedly turn things around.”
“I see that you’re in awe of him, but this is a team effort,” Staci reminded her. “And you are proving yourself to be a fantastic leader. Which I suspected all along. From your first day here as an intern—when our operations were set up in a tiny warehouse in a skeazy neighborhood because I was still trying to figure out what the hell I was doing starting up my own business—I saw more potential in you than any other person I’d hired to help me get things up and running.”
A lump lodged in Maxi’s throat, and it took a few seconds to swallow it down. She’d found a purpose with the company. That was one of the reasons Maxi was fighting so hard to pull it all together at Staci Kay Shoes. Save something that meant so much to the both of them.
“Thank you,” she said of the huge compliment. “That means a lot, coming from you. I’ve always looked up to you, Stace, but the confidence you have in me has meant that I could stretch and grow on my own here. I appreciate that more than you’ll ever know.”
“You’re a dream come true, Maxi. Too bad you were a sophomore in college and determined to graduate.” Staci suddenly smirked. Sat back in her chair and crossed her legs. “Otherwise, I would have made you my chief operating officer right off the bat.”
“As if I knew anything about what that would entail,” Maxi scoffed. “Come on. We were sorority sisters and I didn’t have a clue in the world as to what I was going to do with my life and was already on my third major in just a year. Meanwhile, you were breezing through the Fashion Design curriculum like you’d written it yourself.”
“It’s a passion. Just as shoes became your passion. So,” Staci continued after a quick sip of coffee, “I wanted to help you to find direction—and you seemed genuinely fascinated with the entire operational function of the organization.”
“Of course I was fascinated. My parents inherited a restaurant that had been passed down to my grandfather, and somehow, they just all knew how to run it and didn’t have time to explain it to me.” Which, admittedly, had made Maxi feel inferior within her family unit, even though she knew that had never been anyone’s intention. The restaurant was busy, and it took massive man-hours to keep it successful and profitable.
She explained, “I felt compelled to learn the ins and outs of managing a business. Unfortunately, even as I worked for you as an intern, I wasn’t totally sure where I’d end up after graduation.”
Her parents had pushed hard for her to join the team; Maxi had not felt it was her true destiny. Her wavering hadn’t created too much of a strain on relations, but guilt still festered in the back of her mind over having chosen a different path.
But Staci helped to solidify Maxi’s belief that she’d followed the right dream. “Heading up Operations here is definitely the best place for you.”
“Well, I did fall in love with the shoes.” Maxi grinned, despite the lingering sense of duty to her family that she hadn’t fulfilled. To distract herself from those thoughts, she reached for her coffee and sipped.
“Now that Ryan is on board,” Staci added, “I know we can overcome the obstacles. By the way, how are the two of you getting along?” She crooked a brow with mild curiosity.
Maxi nearly choked on her latte at the unexpected question, the remembrance of searing kisses, and all that she didn’t find appropriate to share with Staci, even though they were friends. This was a work situation. Not a romantic tell-all.
“Uh, fine,” Maxi said. “Totally fine. He’s great. Super smart.”
“Scary smart,” Staci added. “But he doesn’t know all of the functional aspects of the company the way you do, Maxi.”
Not wanting to confess that she actually hadn’t been involved in the operational areas to the point that she should have been before assuming her current position, Maxi simply asked, “That’s why you didn’t offer Ryan the VP job?”
Staci leaned forward in her chair and clasped her hands together on the desk once more. She gave Maxi a serious look. “I’ve always wanted you to be an executive leader in my company. I understand you’ve had to figure out where you want to be, what you really want to do. Your family’s restaurant was always a consideration. And school had to take precedence over Staci Kay Shoes. The fact that you started here and have remained here speaks volumes. You chose this company. And I’m eternally grateful.”
Staci’s pointed expression gave way to a coy smile as she said, “I will make you chief operating officer…whenever you’re ready. I’ve never filled the position, and now that you’re VP, I hope you’ll feel more comfortable becoming my second in command.”
Maxi’s stomach flipped. “Staci.” She didn’t know what else to say. It was another fabulous compliment. And, admittedly, it was something Maxi had considered on more than one occasion. Yet she said, “I’m still trying to get my feet underneath me as the VP. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. And you just might change your mind about Ryan and move him into the position. I honestly think he’d be a great fit.” Even if it did alter Maxi’s future at the company, limiting her growth potential.
The thought was a disconcerting one. But she was a realist and had the company’s best interest at heart. If Dr. Ryan Donovan was the one for the job, Maxi would have to accept that.
“Look,” Staci said. “Ryan is fantastic at what he does, and I will not deny for a second that we need him. I think he needs us too, at the moment. He just went through a hellish breakup. So bad and wrong on the part of his fiancée that I’m now looking for a new gyno, because I simply can’t be in the same room with the woman without wanting to slap her soundly across the face. So it’s a mutually beneficial arrangement for us and for Ryan. But by no means will I discount all that you’ve contributed over the course of six years for his assistance right now.”
“Wait.” Maxi shook her head, hoping to latch on to a coherent thought, because she suddenly swam in a sea of confusing ones. Including Ryan’s disastrous breakup. Which she had no right deliberating over. She stood and paced behind her chair. “Staci, he�
�s infinitely more intelligent than I am.” Not exactly a fun thing to confess to one’s boss. “He should be your COO.”
“Sweetie.” Staci smiled again—as her friend. “Ryan is not only a phenomenal source to tap and a hero for coming to our rescue—for which I will personally bow down and kiss his feet. But come on. He’s not going to be a Staci Kay Shoes lifer. When he’s satisfied with his performance, he’s going to realize that all those NASA or whatever offers he passed up because I talked him into this gig are more his forte.”
Staci reached for her shiny silver pen and tapped the end on her leather blotter in a contemplative manner. “Kind of a bummer, I have to say. I really do like him. And I swear, he has the sort of enthusiasm that could launch us into the stratosphere once we get past the issue du jour. But…this isn’t his calling. That’s seriously easy to deduce.”
“Right.” Maxi dragged out the very last of her latte and tossed the cup into the trash next to Staci’s desk. Her heart settled somewhere around her knees at the prospect of Ryan eventually moving on from Staci Kay Shoes. “You are absolutely right,” she said with regret. “Despite him taking an actual position with the company, this can’t possibly be his future. The guy is rocket scientist material.”
“Yes, he is. And the reason he agreed to take a position is because I can’t afford his exorbitant consulting fees—though I can offer him medical, retirement, and other benefits for as long as he’s here. The fact that he agreed to help us at all…” Staci pulled in another big breath, let it out slowly. She wasn’t one to express her deepest emotions, but Maxi could see how they had gotten the best of her because of the current crisis—and likely over how Ryan truly had come to the rescue for her. “Really, I’ve been stressed to max capacity over how everything has threatened to crash down around us. It’s not just my fear of losing my dream. That has to take a backseat to reality. I have customers to think about. And employees—I don’t want them losing their jobs because we have to close our doors.”
“What about the ones who walked off the assembly line?” Maxi asked, resuming her pacing. It helped to keep her mind focused.
“They freaked over the projected spike in manufacturing. If they’re willing to come back and do their part, then of course I’m going to welcome them with open arms.”
Maxi nodded. “Ryan suggested they’re really only achieving forty-two percent production.”
“That’s because they never had to work at optimal performance, as he also explained to me. If workers at other shoe companies are pulling in fifty-eight percent more productivity, then that’s the standard we need to hold our people to in this new paradigm.”
“I don’t disagree.” Maxi halted abruptly and gripped the back of the chair, still feeling a bit on edge over the production woes. “I’m sure, though, it’ll be a tough transition from operating in second gear to punching it up to fourth or fifth for some of these people.”
Staci returned her fancy pen to its holder. “I’m willing to give everyone a chance to prove themselves. And if they can see a light at the end of the tunnel, then we just might come out of this unscathed.”
“Let’s hope.”
“Yeah.” Staci smiled, though this time it didn’t quite reach her tawny eyes. She shouldered a huge burden and her bubble could burst in nine days, according to Ryan’s calculations.
Maxi was not inclined to let that happen. She said, “I’ve got another meeting, Stace. Should we talk again tomorrow?”
“Absolutely. Let’s make a daily eight o’clock standing meeting until we’re in the clear.”
“I’ll let your assistant know. Thanks for the coffee.” Maxi collected her slim black leather folio and left the office. She took the elevator down to her floor.
* * *
Several meetings later, she felt as though a plan were truly coming together. After her lunch meeting with the department heads and Ryan, she spent an hour mapping out strategies for the late-afternoon sessions. Suspecting Ryan was busy with a reforecast of his projections, following all of the intense back-and-forthing with the functional areas, she bypassed requesting Avril’s assistance with copying and collating her latest presentation. She figured Ryan would need Avril, since his own assistant was out this week.
Maxi sent her ten-page document to the color printer in the main copy room and then headed in that direction. She gathered her papers and set up the copy machine to churn everything out, double-sided and three-hole punched so she could place them in the binders she planned to distribute so that everyone could keep track of the progress and updates.
While she waited for the first batch to kick out of the copier, her mind fixated on that disconcerting thought of perhaps having failed her parents.
Despite the restaurant being in good hands with Josh and Troy, Maxi had caught the occasional flashes of disappointment in her mother’s eyes because shoes were Maxi’s obsession, not serving seafood. And even though Maxi was proud of all that her family had accomplished and the awesome reputation of Shaynes’ by the Sea, being surrounded by lobster tails and crab claws all day wasn’t her idea of professional bliss.
Sometimes she thought that made her selfish. Those were the days when she’d drop into the popular dining establishment, order a bowl of the creamiest clam chowder known to mankind, and hold her moans in check while she simply observed the smooth operations.
Sure, on occasion, one would hear the loud crash of water glasses sliding off a tray. Or witness the confusion created by an inexperienced food expeditor not setting up the meals correctly for delivery, so that the server had to ask who’d requested what, rather than being able to dole out the orders without interrupting conversations to make sure each customer received the proper plate.
Sometimes the hostess screwed up reservations and gave away a special table. Now and then a bartender served up the wrong drinks.
All of that was to be expected. What Maxi liked about those little screw-ups was the fact that the staff always dealt efficiently and amicably with the mishaps. No massive drama, arguments, you-fucked-up-not-me tiffs. Just a few shrugs, lighthearted jokes, and the unwavering attitude that they would all work together to do whatever had to be done to fix the goofs.
Maxi had learned a lot about managing operations just by sitting back and watching what went on at a successful, busy, high-end restaurant.
Yes, she often wondered if all of that knowledge she’d gleaned on her own, without disrupting family progress, was meant to be used within the walls of Shaynes’ by the Sea. But then she thought of the spare bedroom in her condo, the closet of which was lined with Staci Kay shoes, and knew that even if she’d put her all into the restaurant, it wouldn’t satisfy her the way working for Staci did.
And, luckily, her brothers were wholly committed to carrying on the Shayne tradition in Columbia, Maryland.
So, as usual, Maxi temporarily pushed aside her never-ending guilt to concentrate on her current task.
She grabbed a box of binders and spread twenty of them on the two six-foot tables in the far corner that were meant for the assembly of materials. She’d sent twenty copies of the full-color binder cover and spine to the printer and quickly eased them into the plastic sheaths on the notebooks.
Then she started collecting the packets from the copier and placing them within the D-rings of the binders. She was halfway through her project when she spun around to get more documents—and ran smack into Ryan.
“Umph!” She let out a small cry as she slammed into him, then sort of bounced off his hard chest and staggered backward.
Ryan quickly gripped her upper arms to steady her. “Sorry about that.”
“What are you doing here?” she demanded, the air rushing from her lungs. Not just from the surprise encounter; mostly it was just him that stole her breath.
“I sent pages to the printer and need to run them off for our four o’clock meeting.”
“I meant, what were you doing standing so close to me?” And why the hell did he ma
ke it so difficult for her to inhale properly?
“Oh, that.” He released her now that she was stable on her feet and hitched his glasses a notch. The very specs she’d removed from his devastatingly handsome face Monday night to reveal—and get the full effect of—his smoldering eyes. “Thought I’d lend a hand.”
“I’m almost done,” she said and moved past him to the large machine cranking out the remainder of her documents.
“Well, that’s convenient, because I’ve got an enormous job and didn’t want to tie up the smaller machines in the other copy room.”
“Why isn’t Avril helping you with this?” she asked.
“Why isn’t Avril helping you?” he countered, with a crooked brow.
“I figured you’d need her.”
He grinned. “She’s your executive assistant, Maxi.”
“Who’s also filling in for your assistant this week, Ryan.”
“Well,” he said as he closed the gap between them and then some—backing her up against the mammoth-sized copier. “Guess we’ve returned to me offering to help, since Avril’s not here.”
“Like I said,” Maxi contended, all breathy, chest rising and falling sharply. “I’ll be done in a few minutes. You can take over the tables if you need the extra space.”
“I do. Thank you.” He stared down at her. Intently. Heatedly.
Christ, why did her body burn with his nearness alone?
He lowered his tone and asked, “Do you realize you’ve been driving me crazy all day with this red suit you’re wearing? It’s definitely your color.” His gaze dropped to the silver zipper of her jacket. “So tempting. I just have to pull on this shiny little piece and slide the zipper down its track. And I’ll find…what?”
Maxi’s pulse beat erratically. Her heart thumped uncontrollably. Damn, Ryan did the most insane things to her.
“Black lace demi-bra,” she said, in the provocative voice reserved only for him.
“To go with the black stilettos,” he mused. “Nice. And your thong matches the bra?”