by Unknown
“Then stop fighting it, stop fighting him and just let it happen. Go with the flow Satra and just let go.”
“Ok, Sharon Sinclair. Satra said sarcastically. He hasn’t asked me out on a date, and I doubt he will so there’s no flow to go with.” Satra stated.
“Do you always have to be so literal? He’s giving you signs in many other ways Satra and you know it. Just remember what your mom and I are telling you, okay?”
Alinna stood up and slipped her feet into her flip-flops.
“I better get out of here. I have a long day ahead of me at work.”
Satra walked her friend to the door and gave her a strong hug.
“I love you, and I appreciate your advice even though I’m being stubborn about Shane.”
Satra pulled back to look her friend in the eyes.
“I’m so scared of being hurt again Linna.”
“I know you are sweetie,” Alinna said as she cupped Satra’s face.
“But you’ll never know if you don’t give it a try. I haven’t met Shane. I’ve only been able to judge him based on what you’ve told me, and from what you’ve told me he sounds like he’s on the up and up. He sounds like a really good guy who happens to be drop dead gorgeous and sexy to boot!”
Satra smiled. “That he is.”
“I love you, and everything will work out the way it should.”
“Thanks, sis,” Satra said and hugged her friend one last time.
“Anytime, sweetie.” Alinna smiled.
Alone with her thoughts again, Satra thought long and hard about what she and Alinna talked about and the conversations she had with her mom as well. She thought so much about it that she got a headache. She knew there was a good chance she’d see Shane tomorrow, and she didn’t want to act funny around him. She had to continue to act as though nothing fazed her, even though Shane Evans had single-handedly turned her once quiet world upside down.
It was Monday, and Satra got up early. She had gotten plenty of rest over the weekend and was full of energy. She wore a black Donna Karen pants suit with a silk, royal blue blouse underneath. She wore her hair pulled back in a sleek ponytail with a sideswiped bang that came across her right eye. She put on her favorite pearl stud earrings that her parents got her as a graduation gift and matching necklace and bracelet and her black patent leather heels. She had made herself breakfast: Oatmeal, toast, coffee and three slices of turkey bacon. She got to the office an hour earlier than normal to listen to her voicemail messages and to try to respond to the hundreds of emails that she received about various issues and accounts. Grayson came in at his normal time and saw the light on in Satra’s office. A smile instantly came to his face as he walked down to her office.
“There she is.” He beamed as he walked in.
Satra looked up from her laptop and smiled happily at her boss. She stood up and walked around her desk to greet him. Grayson put his briefcase down and held his arms out for a hug and Satra complied. Grayson gave her a warm fatherly hug.
“Welcome back,” Grayson said as he pulled back.
“Thanks,” Satra said as she gave him a small smile.
Grayson sat down in one of the leather chairs in front of her desk and Satra walked back around the desk to take her seat.
“How is your dad doing?”
“Well, he’s probably in surgery now having the stent put in,” Satra said sadly.
“What? I thought he wasn’t going to have that done for another week or so?” Grayson asked confused.
“Well, he decided to have it done sooner. He wanted to get it over with, and the doctors said his heart was strong enough to have the procedure.”
“You could have stayed home longer if you wanted to,” Grayson said in a serious tone.
“I tried to but my family wouldn’t hear of it. I guess they were afraid you’d fire me if I missed any more time from work,” Satra said rolling her eyes.
“Do you want me to call them because I can call to reassure them…?”
Satra laughed, “No, that won’t be necessary. Then they’ll think I put you up to it. I planned on flying out again this weekend if there aren’t any emergencies that pop up before then.”
“I don’t anticipate any emergencies, but you know how unpredictable things can be in our industry. We still need to work out a few more things with Vandalay. That’s number one on my list at the moment. I met with Shane and Mr. Daniels yesterday, and I asked Shane if we needed to make any immediate cuts. He said that he didn’t see any reason to make any now but thought you could better answer the question since you were going through their financials.”
“Well, he’s right, I don’t see any reason to make any immediate cuts….unless you just wanted to,” Satra said as she raised an eyebrow.
Catching her meaning Grayson said, “That will be dealt with sooner than you think, however if there are other areas of wasted spending that could be done away with I want to address those right away too.”
“In that case I did flag some areas that I found to be questionable and needed some clarification on from Mr. Gordon or from Shane since he met with Mr. Gordon the majority of the time.”
“Why don’t you bring those papers with you? I invited Shane to lunch today to discuss Vandalay, and I’ll need your input on some things too.”
“Oh, okay. I’ll be sure to bring my files with me,” Satra said, trying her best to hide her dread of having to see Shane on her first day back to the office. She knew it was going to happen sooner or later, but she preferred later.
“Good. Well, I’ll let you get back to work, and I’ll come get you around 11:30-ish for lunch. I’ll drive.” He winked at Satra and walked out of her office.
“All righty then.” Satra sighed.
She dug in her briefcase for her Vandalay files to make sure she had everything that she needed and she did. Waiting for the phone call from her mom letting her know how her father’s surgery went was driving her crazy. There’s nothing worse than not knowing during these situations.
To keep a sliver of her sanity, Satra threw herself into her work. She went back to checking and responding to emails and returning phone calls for most of the morning. She was on two client conference calls and got called into two brief meetings, one with Grayson and one with the account managers. Things were pretty busy while she was away, and she was thankful that her staff was able to handle things without calling her. She’s sure Grayson made sure of that, 11:30am came around before she knew it. She was on the phone with yet another client when Grayson came knocking on her door and walked in. Satra put her finger up telling him to give her a minute, and Grayson stepped back to allow her to finish her conversation. When Satra hung up, she grabbed her briefcase, keys, and purse.
“I’m ready,” she said as she met Grayson at the door.
“Is everything okay?” Grayson asked.
“Yeah, that was just Pauline from Schuster wondering how production was going on the new commercial shoot. I told her we’re right on schedule, and things were going well, which they are.”
“Oh, that’s good to hear,” Grayson said as they walked to the elevator.
“So what restaurant are we going to?”
“I thought we’d go to Swig. They have a private dining area with long tables where we could spread out our work and use our laptops. Besides we won’t be distracted by the noise of the lunch crowd either.”
“Sounds good to me,” Satra said. She’s been to Swig many times and knows how noisy it can get over the lunch hour. A private dining area was definitely needed for the confidential things that they would be discussing.
Grayson drove his recent BMW purchase that Satra absolutely adored. Swig was about a ten-minute drive, and Grayson took his time getting there so they could talk more about her dad and how he was doing.
“Are you okay?” Grayson asked concernedly.
He noticed how quiet Satra seemed to get when speaking about her father and he knew she hated not being home with him.
“I’m fine. It’s just my mind is…”
“With your dad.” Grayson finished for her.
“Yeah.” Satra quietly admitted.
“Satra you know you can go anytime you want. You don’t have to stay here. I can have Jennifer and Ben cover for you and just tell your clients that you had a family emergency. They’ll understand, and the ones that don’t I’ll make them understand.”
Satra smiled appreciatively at Grayson.
“I’m not going anywhere, at least not today, but thank you. I’ll be fine. I need a distraction and work is the perfect thing for me right now.”
Grayson parked in front of the restaurant to let the valet park his car, and they walked in. The hostess took them to the back of the restaurant to the private dining area. When they walked in Shane and Mr. Di Amato were already seated talking over coffee. Shane looked up first and saw a sight for sore eyes. It had been more than a week since he last saw Satra, and he didn’t realize how much he missed her until that moment. She looked stunning as usual. He took his time observing her from head to toe from the form fitting suit she wore, the beautiful royal blue blouse that complimented her complexion, and the pearl necklace and matching earrings. He also liked the sleek way she pulled back her hair and had her bangs swept to the side.
Finally his eyes locked with hers, and it was as if his smile came across his face in slow motion. There was no hiding how happy he was to see her. Satra’s stomach began to do flip flops and the room suddenly felt warm. She needed that smile. She missed his smile. She smiled back just as warmly, but Shane could sense something was wrong. Something was bothering her; he could see it in her eyes. Everything in him wanted to walk to her and pull her into his arms and ask her to tell him what was wrong so he could make it better. Then he’d ask her if she missed him as much as he missed her. Instead he stood up, and after Mr. Di Amato realized why Shane did so, he stood up as well. Shane’s eyes never left Satra’s as she and Grayson approached the table.
“Welcome back,” Shane said in his sexy, deep voice.
“Thank you, it’s good to be back,” Satra replied.
Shane held his hand out for Satra to shake it even though he had a strong urge to pull her into his arms and hold her tightly. His hand was so warm and strong, and he gave her hand an extra gentle squeeze. Electricity radiated throughout her body from Shane’s touch. Satra’s eyes were locked with his as she watched him study her face and eyes. She gave him a small smile before she broke free from his gaze and gently slipped her hand out of his to shake Mr. Di Amato’s.
Shane hated it when she looked away from him. He wanted to whisk her away to some place where they could be alone and just talk. He desperately wanted to make whatever was bothering her go away so she’d smile her real smile, not this pacifier smile she was giving him.
Mr. Di Amato surprised her and kissed her hand and said, “I hope your father is doing better. How is he?”
Satra was moved at his kindness and responded, “He’s doing better, thank you for asking. He’s having another procedure performed this morning. He had to have a stent put in to unclog one of his arteries. I’m just waiting on my mother to call me to let me know how everything went.”
The smile that seemed to be glued to Shane’s face since Satra walked into the dining room was replaced with concern.
‘That’s what’s bothering her. She’s worrying about her father.’ Shane said to himself. ‘Why would she come back to New York if she knew her dad was having major surgery?’ Something wasn’t adding up, and he was determined to find out what was going on before their lunch meeting was over with.
“Well, my prayers are with him and your family. I’m sure everything will be just fine.” Mr. Di Amato said reassuringly.
“I agree, please be sure to relay our well wishes,” Shane said looking at Satra.
She gave him a small smile and said, “I will, thank you both. I also would like to thank all of you personally on my father’s behalf for the beautiful flowers and gifts you sent to my dad and my family. It was very kind of all of you and my family, and I truly appreciate your kindness.”
“You know there’s no need to thank us Satra. I had to stop Maggie from flying out to Milwaukee to be with you. She’s such a mother hen when it comes to you.” Grayson said in his fatherly way that made Satra smile.
“I love her for it though,” Satra said smiling.
“Anything you need, please don’t hesitate to let me know. I was very sad to hear about your father. Family is very important to me, and I’m glad you were able to be with yours during this difficult time.” Mr. Di Amato said. He actually seemed sincere.
“Thank you Mr. Di Amato, I appreciate that,” Satra said as she touched his hand.
She felt Shane staring at her, studying and observing her with his penetrating eyes. She forced herself to meet his gaze after Grayson and Di Amato stepped closer to the table to talk amongst themselves.
She was feeling uncomfortable and emotional and for some reason on the verge of tears.
She wished Shane would say something instead of just staring at her, and finally he did.
“I still meant what I said to you the last time we spoke. If you need anything at all Satra, please let me know, no arguments,” he said in a serious tone.
“I know you meant it, and I appreciate it, I really do,” Satra said gratefully.
Once all the formalities were out of the way they all sat down. Shane pulled out Satra’s chair and sat her down before he seated himself across from her. Smelling his cologne made her close her eyes briefly. He smelled so heavenly. For that small moment, she was able to forget everything and just enjoy the smell of him. Shane also used that moment of seating her to inhale her familiar feminine scent as well, and it felt like home. Satra began looking for her files in her briefcase. When she finally got the files out that she needed and got herself situated, she looked up to see Shane closely observing her. Those dark, intense eyes took their time as they studied her face before he captured her eyes with his. Grayson and Mr. Di Amato were still in a deep conversation and not paying them any attention, but Shane’s studying of her was driving her mad.
“How are you?” she asked, attempting to break the awkward silence.
“I’m well, and yourself?”
They kept their voices low enough so only they could hear their conversation.
“I’m rested.” She sighed.
“You look rested,” Shane said in his deep voice.
“Thank you,” Satra said bowing her head shyly at his compliment. She didn’t want him to see her slight blush.
Just then, their waiter came offering coffee to Satra and Grayson, and refills to Shane and Mr. Di Amato.
“Yes please,” Satra said politely. “Thank you,” she said when the waiter was done pouring her coffee.
Shane quietly watched her as she put one cream and lots of sugar in her coffee, making a mental note of how she likes her coffee. When Satra finished stirring and took a sip, she glanced over the rim of her cup to see Shane looking at her with an amused look on his face. She smiled and put her cup down.
“Go ahead and say it.”
“Say what?” Shane asked smiling.
“Say that I put way too much sugar and cream in my coffee.”
Shane put his hands up in surrender and said, “I wasn’t going to say a thing. If that’s how you like your coffee that’s how you like your coffee.”
“You are such a fibber,” Satra said as she squinted her eyes at him before taking another sip of the hot coffee that felt good to her bones. Maybe this would perk her up.
“Fibber?” Shane laughed.
“Yes, fibber.”
“I think the last time I heard someone say that was my grandmother when I was ten years old.” Shane chuckled.
“Growing up we weren’t allowed to say ‘liar’ so we said fibber or story teller.”
Satra smiled at the memory. Shane laughed even more when she said ‘storytell
er.’ Grayson heard Shane’s laughter and their light banter in between his conversation with Mr. Di Amato. Now he really wondered just how well they got to know each other in South Carolina. He liked Shane, and when Shane came to him and asked him for help sending a gift basket to Satra’s father it confirmed for him that Shane liked Satra – a lot. Grayson treated Satra like she was his own daughter, and he was very protective of her, especially after that whole Matt fiasco. He knew Shane was a good man, but like any proud and protective father he didn’t feel any man would be good enough for Satra. He did his research on Shane after he joined Di Amato’s firm. From what he found he wasn’t a playboy as the gossipers claimed, he was a one-woman man, a hard worker and extremely private. It was his very guarded privacy that made Grayson’s investigation of him so hard. But in the end he didn’t find a speck of dirt on Shane Evans.
He came from a very wealthy and respected family, but you’d never know it from Shane. He never spoke of his family or their wealth or their various businesses - he was just that private. Shane was the black sheep of his family, doing everything the complete opposite of his father and creating his own path in life. Shane never wanted to live off of his family’s wealth. He always wanted to make it on his own, and he did. Being the only boy in the family his father was very disappointed in Shane’s decision to not follow him in the family wine and sugar cane business, and it took him a long time to get over it. At the same time, he understood why Shane did what he did. He only he wished he had the courage to do the same with his own father. His father still planned to turn over the family businesses to Shane when he retired whether Shane wanted it or not. He knew Shane was a very smart businessman who would take care of the family empire that he helped build, and he wanted Shane to pass it on to his own children as well.
Grayson cleared his throat and said, “We can order lunch and get this meeting started if you all don’t mind.”
“Not at all,” Mr. Di Amato said.
Satra already knew what she wanted; the turkey melt on rye with a small side salad with Italian dressing. Shane opted for a grilled chicken sandwich with a side salad and a small bowl of fresh fruit. They ate and talked business for the next hour and a half. Satra shared her findings with Vandalay’s financials. All three gentlemen listened to Satra carefully and gave her their undivided attention. Grayson and Mr. Di Amato asked a lot of questions, as Satra expected they would since they have so much invested in this takeover and merger, so it was only natural that their concern would be in cutting costs and saving as much as they could on overhead. Shane listened to Satra in total awe and admiration. She was so poised and confident as she easily answered their questions and took the time to explain her findings to them. Satra tried her best to ignore Shane’s gaze. It always made her feel warm and nervous all over. What better way to ignore him than to dive head first into her work? When she was at work, she was in her element, and she was at her best. She knew her job, and she knew it well. It wasn’t very often that someone could stump her, and if they asked her something she didn’t know she’d quickly find out and get back to them that same day. She took her job very seriously, and Shane could see that.