by Nikki Wild
The phone ringing on her desk suddenly snapped her out of her disconcerting thoughts. Paolo Santiago’s name popped up on the display.
“Hi Paolo. He’s not here already is he? Please tell me he’s not here yet.”
“Afraid so honey. His limo just drove up and he’s getting out. Are you ready?”
“I guess I’m as ready as I’ll ever be. I don’t need to come down there do I?”
“No. You just continue with whatever you’re working on up there and I’ll bring him by your office to supposedly ‘meet you’ when I give him the hotel tour. As far as I’m concerned I don’t know anything about your Honolulu sex fest with him.”
“Paolo! Do you have to call it that?”
“No I guess not. I’m sorry. That was insensitive of me. Funny but insensitive. Now get yourself together girl. You can’t let him get to you.”
Dammit! Paolo was right. I’m not going to let that jerk get to me. I just need to get a grip. Who the hell is HE anyway? Just a plain old ordinary man that’s all. Though she tried hard to kid herself, Dani knew HE was anything but ordinary; He was a drop-dead gorgeous man with whom she had had amazing sex at least a hundred times; the same man whose handsome face had burrowed deeply between her splayed thighs on many occasion and whose superb member had been between her lips just as often. Oh my god! And he was also the same man with whom she was going to have to work with on a daily basis during his stay. The same man who would be her boss.
Dani ran to the ladies’ room and splashed cold water on her face while she contemplated the option of quietly killing herself. She stared at her reflection in the mirror and gave herself a reality reminder: He was also the same shit head who ran off in the night without an explanation.
Upon returning to her desk she sat down in her leather chair and took in a few deep breaths. Then she confidently crossed her legs at the knees, straightened her posture and placed her fingertips on her keyboard to give the appearance of being hard at work. To her horror, hitting the enter key instantly woke up her computer which still displayed Shane Tanner’s larger than life face. Shit! I gotta get that off there! She quickly closed the page, imagining the complete embarrassment she would have felt if he had walked up and seen it. As if on cue Paolo strolled into her office with the real thing right behind him.
“Hey Danielle. Sorry to interrupt your work. I know you’re busy as always but I’d like you to meet Mr. Shane Tanner of Tanner International.”
She took a final deep breath to prepare herself and swiveled around in order to face the two men. However, one look at Shane Tanner sent her heart racing up into her throat. Paolo continued the introduction.
“Shane Tanner……. this is our very talented Marketing Director, Danielle Kane. She’s the woman-to-know on these islands. Everybody who’s anybody listens to Danielle.”
“Please don’t get up Ms. Kane,” he said as he leaned forward to shake her hand. “I’m very pleased to meet you. Mr. Santiago speaks very highly of you. I’m looking forward to working with you in the coming months.”
Their eyes locked and for one brief moment she was transported back to that summer. It was him alright. The man who had given her both the greatest ecstasy and greatest heartache. She searched for a spark of recognition in his face but she found none; not one single thing that said, “You look familiar have we met before?” or “Hey weren’t you the love of my life one summer?” or “Aren’t you that girl who’s heart I trampled on a few years back?” She cleared the emotion from her voice box and offered her hand to him tentatively.
“Nice to meet you as well Mr. Tanner. I trust you’ll let me know if there’s any way that I can assist you during the hotel’s transition.” All she could muster up was a half-hearted smile.
He graciously shook her hand, smiled and nodded, “Thank you Ms. Kane. I definitely will.”
The polite meeting was suddenly interrupted by the cheerful voice of a woman standing in the office doorway.
“Hello? Sorry but I needed to make a little detour to the ladies’ room. I’m Marguarite Grummond, Mr. Tanner’s secretary, but everyone calls me Margie. Pleased to meet you both.”
She strode swiftly toward Dani like a galloping horse with lots of smiling teeth and an outstretched arm for a handshake. The two women shook hands and Dani instantly liked her.
“Hi Margie, I’m Danielle Kane. Pleasure to make your acquaintance.”
Marguarite Grummond squinted her eyes as if trying to bring Dani’s face into focus.
“Danielle Kane? I’ve heard that name somewhere before. And you look familiar dear.….have we ever met?”
Dani turned and purposely glared directly at Shane Tanner while she answered Margie’s question. “I suppose anything’s possible. It’d be pretty crazy if we had a previous Hawaiian encounter……wouldn’t it Mr. Tanner?”
Six
Shane neither hesitated nor flinched. He didn’t miss a single beat. He looked directly back at Danielle and replied without a smile or hint of emotion, “Indeed. That would be something Ms. Kane.”
Their eyes remained steadfast on each other’s as if to see who would blink first. Danielle won the unspoken contest when Shane’s phone suddenly buzzed in his pocket.
“Excuse me. I have to take this. It’s Rome, Italy.” He stepped into the hallway while he spoke and when he returned he apologized to Paolo and Dani for cutting the hotel tour short, claiming he had some unexpected urgent business to tend to.
“Ms. Grummond I’ll need your assistance on this matter.”
Margie accompanied Shane up to his penthouse suite in polite silence but once inside the room that all ended. “What urgent business do we suddenly have in Rome, Italy? I haven’t been informed of any imminent business dealings over there. Is this even on the level?” Margie suddenly became aware of the spectacular suite. “ Wow this is something!”
Shane was taken aback by not only her ability to see through his lie but her fearlessness to call him out on it as well. He decided to come clean with her since he was reasonably sure at this point that he was going to retain her as his secretary.
“Margie you’re absolutely right; there is no urgent business. I just made that up for Christ’s sake. I simply needed an opportunity to come up here and think, that’s all.”
He opened the French doors that led to the wrap-around lanai and stepped outside. The warm gentle trade winds suddenly stirred his memories of Danielle Kane and that incredible summer he spent with her so long ago. He had recognized her the moment she swiveled her chair around and looked up at him, causing a pang of guilt to run the entire length of his body. It had been all he could do just to maintain his composure.
He was also astounded by how amazingly stunning she looked and had to make an almost impossible conscious effort not to stare. The Dani he remembered as a cute sexy college girl had become a confident beautiful business woman. He was glad to see that some things about her hadn’t changed though; she still had her long gorgeous blonde hair. He loved the way it framed her smoldering dark eyes and cascaded down around her luscious breasts. Fuck, she still had a body that could stop a goddamn freight train!
Thinking back on the meeting between them he knew it proved one thing: He was absolutely certain Danielle recognized him. Her entire demeanor had been civil at best and borderline unfriendly. That remark about the past Hawaiian encounter was about as blatant as could be and there was no mistaking the daggers in her eyes as she said it. He was also reasonably sure she hated him which undoubtedly was going to make his job more difficult.
“Margie would you mind coming out here please? I want to talk to you about something.”
She instantly popped out and joined him at the balcony railing.
“You don’t have to ask me twice. Oh wow.…..Isn’t this view spectacular? This whole place is just unbelievable. Everything is just beautiful. I can’t believe I’m actually here. Where’s my room by the way?”
“You’re one floor directly below me. Take a
seat won’t you,” he said as he motioned toward the patio sofa. “Didn’t you ever accompany my father on any of his trips to Hawaii?”
“No never. I’m the only one who knows how to run things properly at the office while he’s away so the young ‘inexperienced’ secretaries always got to go with him. As if I didn’t know what that was about.”
Shane wasn’t the least bit surprised by that revelation. There was never any pretense of fidelity in his parents’ marriage while his mother was alive.
“I’m sorry about my father. He’s very lucky to have someone like you that he can trust to take care of things,” he said as sincerely as possible.
“Thank you Shane. I appreciate you saying that. What is it that you want to talk to me about?”
“Professionally I’m sure I can trust you with what I’m about to say.” Shane deliberated on the best way to inform her of his past relationship with Danielle.
“Of course. My reputation depends on that,” Margie assured him. “What is it?”
“It’s about Danielle Kane….. the marketing director you thought looked so familiar?”
“Yes? You’re driving me crazy Shane. For Pete’s sake tell me what you’re talking about already.”
“I’m talking about a… brief romance I had with Danielle we were in college.” Shane stopped right there awaiting a reaction from Margie. But her response was not exactly what he expected.
“Of course. That’s it. That’s the connection…… I knew I’d seen her before. She’s the girl in the photo; the one you were so in love with back then.”
Only a few short minutes ago Shane was sure his words were totally going to shock her but instead it was he who was completely stunned by what had just come out of her mouth.
“Photo of Danielle? What photo? And what makes you think I was in love with her?”
Margie simply laughed and said, “Your dad told me all about that a long time ago. He even showed me a picture he had taken from your desk. I believe he referred to the whole relationship as ‘your utter distraction’.
Shane could feel his blood pressure slowly rising as Margie’s words reminded him of the anger he harbored for his father. He had literally forbade him from ever seeing Danielle again, claiming the love affair with her would distract him from the only things he should be concentrating on – his education and business goals.
“As soon as I told him about her, he ordered me to leave Hawaii immediately and completely sever all ties with her. I was younger and less headstrong then… I did exactly what I was told.”
“That poor girl. She must have been heartbroken and furious. I’m surprised she didn’t track you down with a vengeance and kill you in your sleep. I know I sure as hell would have.”
“I’m sure she wanted to Margie, but I was staying in Hawaii under a fake name...”
“Shane how could you? And to think I stuck up for you. I thought your dad was dead wrong about interfering in your love life and I told him so.”
Although it still pained his heart, Shane had no problem defending himself or his father. To him it was all completely justifiable in the name of business. It was pretty black and white. You do what you gotta do, simple as that.
“As much as I fought him at the time, I can’t say that he was wrong. He told me if I were to succeed in business I can’t let my heart get involved. Period. He said dispassion was the businessman’s best friend and detachment was necessary. That advice has gotten me this far in life…
“But what about Danielle Kane?” asked Margie. “How do you plan on working side by side with her? From the sounds of it she’s a bit popular with the community. You can’t just fire the girl. You’re going to need to win her over.”
“I’m not the least bit worried about winning over Ms. Kane,” Shane said smugly. “In fact, I am looking forward to the challenge.”
Seven
Danielle had had almost twenty-four hours to think about her brief meeting with Shane Tanner. As she bicycled to work, their exchange of words from the day before looped repetitively around and around through her mind. That smug bastard knows damn well we had a “past encounter”. That’s an understatement! He had to have recognized me dammit…...what a cowardly phony. Her anger was causing her to pedal her bike faster than normal which she knew was a stupid thing to do considering that the oblivious tourists were out in full force on the highway again. And as usual they were causing the same traffic problems. What are they gawking at now? Rainbows? Whales? Pull your head out people! The irony was not lost on Dani and in fact she found it mildly funny that the gawking tourists’ dollars fueled the very industry that employed most of the islanders, including herself.
She was always so glad when she could simply ride in the bike lane and easily cruise past everyone. Dani headed off down a beach access road so she could pedal at a slower more relaxed pace. It was another beautiful Maui morning and she was determined to soak it all in and not let her thoughts of asshole extraordinaire Shane Tanner ruin it. She had ditched her fancy new suit in favor of her comfortable casual hotel uniform; khaki shorts and a Hawaiian shirt.
Biking along Maui’s coastline was like a soothing but energizing meditation for Danielle. Even though she had lived in Hawaii for most of her life, she never took the breathtaking scenery for granted. The island chain had more natural gifts than any other place she knew and as a self-proclaimed tree-hugger she looked for ways to protect it; from easy things like leaving her car in the driveway whenever possible, to more demanding efforts like working on behalf of several environmental organizations.
When she finally arrived at the Kai she coasted into the resort parking lot, hopped off her bike and removed her safety helmet. She didn’t need a mirror to know that helmet hair was not a good look for her. She undid her long braid, flipped her head forward and combed her fingers through her long mane as it hung upside down in front of her face. Then she removed her lunch from the wire basket and secured her ride to the bicycle rack. Before heading inside for the day, she took a couple deep breaths of salty sea air and stared out at the glistening blue horizon. In Hawaii all horizons are the ocean and in her heart Maui no ka oi, meaning Maui was the best.
Once inside the hotel, Dani grabbed a cup of Kona coffee and a poppy seed muffin from the break room and headed for her office. As she scanned her email inbox a new one jumped out at her causing her to freeze on the spot. From Shane Tanner? Shit shit shit! What does he want? I don’t want to read that right now. But she had no choice; she had to open it. Her palms instantly went clammy and she could feel her antiperspirant already failing her underarms when she suddenly noticed it was a group email, addressed to the entire managerial staff.
She breathed a sigh of relief upon finding out that it was an invitation to a Tanner International hosted cocktail party for the hotel employees. It was being held on the hotel’s swanky rooftop lounge Saturday night and everyone was allowed to bring one guest. She chuckled at her initial needless panic.
Dani was painfully aware that she was eventually going to have to have a very uncomfortable and probably confrontational meeting with her new “boss” and she sure wasn’t looking forward to it. At one point she had contemplated initiating it herself just to get it over with, but ultimately she decided she needed him to come to her. He needed to right his wrong not the other way around. She cleared all thoughts of Shane Tanner out of her mind and concentrated on getting some work done.
As the hotel’s marketing director, one of Danielle’s favorite duties was reading the Kaanapali Kai’s customer reviews on not only its own website but also the various travel sites. They were a powerful tool in identifying the Kai’s strengths and weaknesses. Most of them were five-starred and very complimentary, but all complaints no matter how trite or unreasonable were always taken very seriously.
A common complaint that she was starting to see with greater frequency was regarding the hotel’s lack of eco-friendly programs that other island resorts had been implementing for years. Th
e negative comments were starting to rack up from the more contientous visitors. The absence of recycle bind and the dogged determination to be the last hotel still using incandescent lighting instead of LEDs and skylights wasn’t helping with the resort’s image. It made the whole place feel dated. Try as she might she couldn’t get the Artemis Hotel Group to address her concerns. Danielle was hopeful that their new global parent company, Tanner International, would reflect a stronger sense of environmental responsibility.
While Dani was busy scrolling through the many pages of comments she heard a rapping on her office door. It was open as usual so she called out, “Come on in!” without turning around to see who it was. Shane Tanner’s smooth sexy voice sent an immediate rush of adrenaline through her.
“Danielle Kane. Good-morning.” Then she heard the door shut.
Shane Tanner’s large overpowering presence seemed to fill the room behind her. She took a deep breath and a sip of coffee before spinning her chair around to face him.
“Shane Tanner….. Am I allowed to call you by your real name now? Or do I still need to call you Scott Turner?” Dani defiantly folded her arms across her chest and smugly pursed her lips in obvious disapproval of him. Shane strutted toward her and unbuttoned his suit jacket before taking a seat near her desk.
“I’m sensing some sort of past hostility Danielle…..” he said as aloofly as possible. He pondered the name Scott Turner for a second and mentally confirmed it as one he frequently used back in the day.
“Well aren’t you perceptive? Looks like that Ivy League education of yours paid off. What was your first clue Sherlock?” Dani was finding it difficult to keep her sarcasm to a minimum.
Shane was completely aware of the rage that she was no doubt still harboring justifiably toward him. He was also pretty sure he could quell a lot of that anger if he would just level with her about what had actually happened way back then. If he would honestly tell her that his father had demanded the immediate severing of all contact between them, she might actually be able to accept that. But then he would also have to own up to letting his father control him like an obedient, pathetic little boy, and there was no way in hell he would ever admit to being that weak. He decided he’d rather have Dani believe he was an inconsiderate jerk when he was younger rather than think he was afraid of his daddy.