Lily was busy arranging a bouquet of peonies when Mia arrived, her hair tousled from the wind outside. “Lily!” she exclaimed. “Those peonies can wait. I want to hear all about the wedding! I feel like we’ve barely had a chance to talk since you got engaged!”
“I know, right?” Lily replied. “Patrick and I are incredibly excited. Although with the flower business booming at the moment, I’ve barely had time to plan anything. We decided on a venue last night, but that’s as far as we’ve gotten.”
“That’s still a progress,” said Mia, grinning widely at her thoughtfully. “I’m just so happy Patrick finally proposed. It was a long time coming. You two are so perfect together.”
“Thank you,” Lily said, blushing. “But what about you? Are there any men in your life right now?” she added with a teasing voice.
“Not at the moment,” Mia said. Many women would be embarrassed of admitting that, but not Mia. “I’m pretty satisfied with my career right now. I just got a new case that’s going to keep me occupied for a little bit.”
“But don’t you ever want to settle down?” Lily asked. She always had been a hopeless romantic. “Or get married? I know you love being independent, but there has to be someone out there for you.”
“Maybe eventually,” Mia replied. “But I’m pretty contented right now. I feel like it will happen when it happens, you know?”
“I guess you’re right,” Lily said with a sigh. “I just would be happy to see you fall in love, for a change.”
***
Chapter 2
Mia woke up bright and early the next morning, ready for the challenge of starting her investigation into Alexander Will. She dressed in subdued, professional outfit– grey pencil skirt and navy blouse, and tied her hair back into a neat chignon. Her plan was to go to the Will Golden Corporation headquarters downtown and see if there were any open positions she could apply for.
Mia got off the train about two hours later and looked up at the skyscraper where Will Golden was housed. It was huge, and would have been quite intimidating. Had she been actually serious about a career there? She squared off her shoulders and walked in, heading for the reception desk.
“Hi!,” she said brightly, addressing the young woman at the front desk. “I just wanted to inquire about any open positions you may have.”
“As a matter of fact, we actually did just have a job open up,” the receptionist replied. “Jayden Steele’s secretary just quit a few days ago. We still haven’t found a replacement. Is that something you might be interested in?”
Jayden Steele was the vice president of the company, as Mia had found out last night when she was doing some research to prepare for the case. She had no idea she’d have the opportunity to work for someone with such a high ranking in the company!
“I’d love to apply,” Mia said. “How do I do that?”
“I’ll set up an interview for you right now, and you can fax your resume over to us later. What’s your name?” the receptionist asked.
“Umm… Sarah. Sarah… Shaw,” Mia said.
Jayden Steele’s office, predictably, was huge, located on one of the corners of the twentieth floor, and had full floor to ceiling windows on two sides. It was minimally decorated, and outfitted with a sleek grey computer and ergonomic chairs. Mia was peacefully reclining in one of the chairs when Jayden burst through the door. She sat up immediately and assumed her best, most professional posture. Jayden was tall and blonde, sort of Scandinavian looking, with a friendly, boyish air about him. Mia relaxed as she realized that he wasn’t the slightest bit intimidating.
“Hi, you’re Sarah, correct?” he asked. “I’m Jayden Steele. I just want to get to know a little bit about you before we can hire you officially. Honestly, I’m completely desperate for a secretary right now. Four days of trying to work without one has left me completely swamped. As long as you’re relatively competent and polite, I’m sure we’ll work well together.”
Mia laughed a bit, starting to loosen up. This was going to be the easiest piece of detective work ever. “It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Steele. My name’s Sarah Shaw. I have my bachelor’s degree in business from UCLA, and I moved to New York a few years ago and have been doing secretarial work ever since. I like to think I’m pretty organized and efficient, and can work well with a wide variety of people.”
None of this is even really a lie, Mia thought. There’s no harm in using a different name.
“Well, that sounds great, Sarah! I’m just going to ask you a few more questions, and you’ll be officially hired. In fact, I really need you to come take minutes at our board meeting this afternoon. Are you up for that?” Jayden asked enthusiastically.
“Of course,” Mia replied with a smile. She’d have to remember to start responding to the name Sarah from now on.
The board meeting was to be held in a very large conference room on the top floor of the building. Mia sat in a chair in the corner away from the table with a laptop, ready to record the minutes of the meeting. The room was starting to fill up, and people were slowly finding their places at the table. Mia looked up from her computer to see Jayden walking towards her.
“Just do your best, okay?” he said. “I know we sort of threw you in here, but even if you don’t get everything right on the first try, it’s better than me not having a secretary at all.”
“Okay, thank you, Mr. Steele,” Mia said with a smile.
“Please, call me Jayden,” he replied with a wink.
Then the door opened, and a very tall man with dark brown hair and an arrogant swagger about him entered the room. Mia correctly assumed that this was the infamous Alexander Will.
“Okay, everyone, what have we got going on today? I want to hear all of your ideas about how we can improve this company’s performance,” Alexander said.
He had a deep voice and an extremely confident air about him. Mia got the impression that he could have been talking about something completely insignificant and the entire room still would have listened, completely captivated.
Mia continued to take notes on everything said in the meeting for the next hour, until finally everyone stood up to leave. She was packing up her laptop when she realized that none other than Alexander Will himself was standing right in front of her.
“Are you Jayden’s new secretary? I haven’t seen you here before,” Alexander said.
“Yes, my name is.. Sarah Shaw,” Mia replied, momentarily forgetting her alias. Alexander may have been a womanizer, but he was still one of the most attractive men she’d ever met. “It’s nice to officially meet you, Mr. Will.”
“Call me Xander. I’m sure we’ll have a great time working together,” he replied. Mia held out her hand for a handshake, but instead Xander raised it to his lips and kissed it. He then winked at her and walked out the door.
What a sleazeball, Mia thought. He’s known me for all of sixty seconds and he’s already flirting with me. If she hadn’t felt bad for Lillian before, she most certainly did now.
***
Chapter 3
With a little ingenuity, Mia was able to gather all of the evidence she needed to prove that Xander was, in fact, guilty of cheating on Lillian. She chatted with the other secretaries about him, using the microphone on her cell phone to record everything they said. They told her salacious stories of all the women he was supposedly seeing behind Lillian’s back, about his history of cheating on his girlfriends, and about his love of alcohol and drunken hookups. Armed with this evidence, Mia decided to sneak into Xander’s office when he was on his lunch, and see what information she could get off of his computer.
Mia had done a computer science minor in college, and she had enough knowledge to be able to hack into Xander’s computer as long as he didn’t have an encrypted password. Luckily, Xander didn’t have much in the way of security on his personal laptop, which he was silly enough to leave in an unlocked desk drawer. She quickly found flirty emails and instant messages with girls that clearly weren’t
Lillian, which she forwarded to herself, so she could print them out later. In one of the messages, he had discussed getting drinks at a bar across the town tonight with one of the girls. Mia decided to tail him so she could get some pictures, figuring it would be the final nail in the coffin of Xander and Lillian’s relationship.
The next morning, she summoned Lillian to the Hudson Diner again, so she could show her the evidence she had compiled. She had the photos and emails printed out and organized in a file, and she also had an MP3 of the secretaries gossiping on a flash drive. Mia sat drinking coffee for twenty minutes, the file sitting on the table in front of her, before Lillian showed up. She looked disheveled, like she’d been crying for hours, and she was wearing a big sweater and leggings instead of the chic designer clothing she’d worn for their last meeting.
“Is everything okay?” Mia asked as Lillian sat down. “I don’t mean to pry, but you seem really upset.”
“Xander dumped me last night. Turns out I didn’t even need all this evidence you got for me. He doesn’t even feel guilty. He wants to ‘play the field’, apparently. His words, not mine,” Lillian said with a sob.
“I’m incredibly sorry to hear that,” Mia said. “Let me buy you some breakfast. I’m sure you could use some hot coffee and a big stack of pancakes. You can just cry if you need to.” Mia was used to jilted girlfriends crying to her after she’d discovered less than savory things about their boyfriends or husbands, and she was an expert in making them feel better. “And of course, this file is yours to keep. You never know when you may need this information.”
“Thank you so much, Mia,” said Lillian. “I knew he wasn’t the best boyfriend or anything, but I never thought he would actually dump me. We’ve been together for four years, you know. Our families are friends now, and we share a lot of the same friends… I just don’t know what I’ll do without him. We were always kind of a power couple, you know, because we’re both quite social, and invested in our careers. How am I going to face everything by myself?”
“I know it seems dire now, Lillian, but you’re a very strong woman,” Mia said. “You really don’t need him to be happy, or successful. And anyway, he treated you horribly. He doesn’t deserve you at all.”
“I actually was thinking about that,” Lillian said. “I want him to feel, just once, how much this hurts, how I feel right now. And I have a request for you.”
“What is it?” Mia asked.
“This is going to sound crazy,” Lillian said with an angry glint in her eye. “But what if you seduced him? And then broke his heart? It would be easy enough. You’re already working there, and he has a thing for secretaries. Especially pretty blonde ones. He’d never see it coming. And then maybe after this he would know better than to mess with me, or any of his girlfriends.”
Mia was completely taken aback. How would she seduce Xander? He was one of the wealthiest men in the country, maybe even in the world. Surely, he had higher standards than her? And that was besides the fact that it was completely wrong. Xander may be a horrible person, but she didn’t want to get involved with something this malicious.
“Lillian, I know you’re angry right now, and I’m sure he deserves it, but I just can’t do that,” she said. “You’re going to have to find someone else to seduce him.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Lillian said, full of disappointment all over her face. But still, she’s hopeful. “Please let me know if you change your mind. I just can’t stand to see him get away with this.”
***
Mia was walking back towards her apartment when she passed an elegant hotel with several limousines parked outside. It was raining hard, and she decided to stop under the hotel’s awning and dry off for a minute before resuming her trek home.
Mia started looking at the limousines and the people getting in and out of them. There were elegant older ladies dressed in Chanel, dapper businessmen in suits, and sexy young socialites and models in trendy little dresses and jackets. Most of their drivers stopped and walked them to the door of the hotel, holding an umbrella so they wouldn’t get wet.
Mia wondered what it would be like to be one of these people, living their charmed lives. She’d had to work so hard for everything she had in her life. She’d paid her entire way through college on a part-time retail job and some loans when her parents split up and couldn’t afford it. Every serious relationship she’d ever been in had ended terribly. She’d worked soul crushing entry level jobs for years before finally starting her own private investigation service. She was finally starting to feel like she was getting somewhere in life after years of toughing it out.
She felt so far away from these sparkling, beautiful people, even though they were standing right next to her.
Suddenly, something caught her eye in one of the limos. It looked like a young couple going at it in the backseat. Appalled, Mia walked a little closer, with a sense of morbid curiosity.
“They couldn’t at least wait until they got into the hotel?” she thought.
Then, she realized something – the silhouette of the man in the car looked an awful lot like Xander Will. In fact, she was pretty sure it was Xander Will, messing around with some model who clearly wasn’t Lillian Davis.
Feeling a sense of frustration at the entire male gender in general, Mia pulled out her phone and called Lillian. “I’ll do it,” she said.
“What?” Lillian said. She still sounded like she had been crying.
“I’ll help you with your little revenge plot. You’re right. He can’t get away with this.”
***
Chapter 4
Jayden walked into the office the next morning looking extremely chipper. He tossed an embossed card on ‘Sarah’s’ desk as he passed by.
“I hope you clean up nice, new girl,” he said. “Because you’re coming with me to this party on Friday night.”
Mia looked at the invitation. It informed her that she was now invited to attend a party at a five-star hotel uptown that was celebrating the work of a few high-profile charities. Many of the Will Golden employees would be there, as well as successful employees from other Fortune 500 companies throughout the city.
Xander will probably be there, Mia thought. This will be the perfect opportunity to put Lillian’s plan in motion.
***
Lillian had generously offered to take Mia on shopping before the party to help her find the perfect dress. She also had offered up the services of her hair and makeup team, which she had on retainer to prep her for all of her events as heir to Davis Mining Company.
“After spending so much time with him, I know exactly what he likes,” she told Mia. “There’s no way you won’t catch his eye tonight.”
After a few hours of trying on dresses that weren’t quite right, they finally found the perfect dress: a midnight blue, floor length Marchesa. It had an open back, which Lillian claimed Xander would love, and beautiful floral detailing on the front. The hairstylist then put Mia’s normally straight hair into beautiful, loose curls, and the makeup artist gave Mia the perfect smokey eye.
Mia stood up and looked at herself in the full length mirror, doing a slow twirl. She had never gotten this dressed up for anything in her life, and she liked the way she felt. She felt like a princess, or maybe a model.
“Thank you, Lillian,” she said enthusiastically. “You’ve been so generous. I won’t let you down.”
“Just make sure the bastard gets what has coming to him,” Lillian growled in reply. “You do look amazing, though. There’s no way this won’t work.”
Mia stepped out of the limousine, momentarily starstruck. All around her, there were beautiful, well-known people in black tie suits and floor length dresses. She forgot for a second that she was supposed to be one of them tonight. And she was also late to meet Jayden, who had wanted to talk to her before the party started, as it was technically a work function for her.
She saw him waiting on the steps outside the entrance, answering emails on his
phone. He looked very nice in his suit, Mia thought. She ran up the steps as fast as her dress would permit. “Sorry I’m a little late!” she said. “The hair and makeup took longer than I thought they would.”
“No worries, Sarah,” Jayden said. “You look absolutely radiant. I’m so glad to have you here. I really want you to enjoy yourself tonight. I just need you to come check in with me every once in a while. I may need to add things to my calendar or make a quick note, and as my secretary, you handle all of that stuff. But it should be a mainly social event.”
“Sounds good. I’ll be honest, Jayden, I’ve never been to something like this before. It’s quite intimidating.”
“Don’t worry,” Jayden said. “I’ll help you through it. These people seem intimidating, but really, they are just like everyone else. They have their own insecurities and problems. You’ll see.”
And with that, he offered her his arm, which Mia took as they strode into the party.
Inside was rather dark, with mood lighting everywhere creating a soft glow. There were numbered tables and a small open area with a little podium, where people were currently mingling and where, Mia assumed, there would later be speeches. Everyone was currently mingling, and as they walked in, heads slowly turned to look at them.
“I’m glad I have you on my arm tonight,” Jayden whispered in Mia’s ear. “You may be new at this, but you’re already turning heads.”
They walked around for a while, chatting with various important business people. Jayden introduced Mia to everyone, and she was surprised at how friendly and fun he was. They were seated together at dinner, where they continued to chat. Mia was engaged in the conversation, but she kept looking around, trying to find Xander. Finally, she found him two tables over, and accidentally made eye contact. She looked away immediately, turning her focus to Jayden and smiling. But when she looked back a few minutes later, Xander was still looking at her, an intense expression on his face.
ROMANCE: The French Billionaire (A Dark New Adult Billionaire Romance) (Billionaire Romance,Contemporary Romance,Untamed Billionaire,Short Stories) Page 9