by Eve Langlais
Val fascinated him. She wasn’t conventionally pretty, more like exotic. Maybe that’s what he liked about her. He wondered idly if she had any Asian in her heritage. It would explain the black hair and the shape of her eyes. She was a tiny little thing too, but full of fire. He’d love to get her into bed to see if she was as much of a tiger there as she was in how she dealt with him out of it. Nate hadn’t had this much fun at work in ages.
Sinking into the uncomfortable desk chair, he pulled his laptop toward him. He’d agreed to write talking points, but now he realized they hadn’t talked about how long the TV or radio spots would be. Picking up the phone, he dialed Val’s extension. She answered, sounding breathless, and he smiled.
“Hey. We never talked about length for these spots. I need to have some idea for the talking points.”
“Oh. Yeah, that would help. Hang on.” He heard the clicking of her fingernails over her keyboard and then she came back on the line. “One minute for radio, five minutes for television. That’s what we’ve done in the past and I see no reason to deviate from that.”
“Got it, thanks.”
Hanging up, he went to work crafting the message. This was one of his favorite parts of his job, figuring out exactly what should and shouldn’t be said to bring about the desired result. After a solid couple of hours of work and several consultations with Val, he had a working script for both spots, in several different iterations so they wouldn’t all sound the same. By the time he finished, his stomach was rumbling like a thunderstorm in July. Rising from his chair, he closed his eyes and stretched his arms over his head. He’d removed his suit coat earlier to concentrate on his writing and it felt good to be less constricted. When he opened his eyes again, Val was standing in the doorway to his office, staring at him.
Nate fought to keep a triumphant smile off his face as he asked, “Did you need something from me?”
“N-no. I was just–” She motioned behind her. “Going to the cafeteria to grab some lunch.” She blew out a breath that ruffled her bangs and it was getting more and more difficult to maintain a straight face. “Anyway, did you want me to grab you something?”
I’ve got something for you to grab.
Nate considered voicing that opinion, but decided that wouldn’t help his case.
“I’ll come with.” He glanced up at her after grabbing his suit coat off the back of the chair. “If that’s okay.” He had a freakish need to keep this woman off-balance.
“Of course.”
“I’ll grab the printout of the talking points and we can go over them while we eat.”
Val nodded and he couldn’t stop himself from squeezing her shoulder as he passed her on the way to the department’s printer. More than anything else, he wanted to sweep her into his arms again and show her exactly how much he wanted her. But that would have to wait until later. Not much later, though. He wasn’t going to be around forever. She could hide like a scared kitten now, but he’d coax her out soon. All he needed was the proper bait, and he had a feeling more of those kisses they’d shared might be it.
They walked down to the cafeteria, bought their lunches, and then found a table off to the side. As he sliced into his chicken a la king, he took a moment to let his gaze rove over Val. Today she wore a long, black, suede skirt with black heels. Val wore a lot of black, but it complemented her coloring. On top she wore a red V-neck sweater. He knew from their kiss earlier that the material was soft as a lamb’s wool and his fingers itched to stroke it and, by extension, her again. Shaking his head to clear it, he began to speak.
“I feel like I should expound a little more about my relationship with Doug.”
Val looked down and then back up at him, biting her lip. “You don’t have to. It’s really none of my business.”
“That’s true, but since it seems to have colored your perception of me I want to set the record straight.” He took a breath. “I grew up in the Philadelphia area. My dad founded a business arranging private travel for executives.”
“Wow, so you must’ve done a lot of traveling then, huh?”
“Not really. He and my mom traveled. They left me home—said schoolwork was more important.”
“Well, I can’t really argue with them there.”
“No, neither can I, except they were gone for weeks at a time and left me with a nanny.”
“That must’ve been tough.”
“It was, especially when I was little and wondered why they never wanted to be with me. Turns out they’d never wanted children, but Mom got pregnant and they decided not to abort me. My old nanny finally told me that when I entered high school. In my teens it didn’t matter as much, but after my first semester of college, I came home for Christmas and found not only were they not planning to be in Philly for a major holiday, and the first time they could see their son in months, but they’d actually converted my bedroom into an exercise room. When I raised a stink about it I was told politely by my mother that perhaps I should go back to school. I left, heartbroken.”
Nate took a deep breath. “I met Doug the next semester, and when it came time for summer break he knew I had nowhere to go. Without a question his parents took me in. From then on, they became much more like my real parents than my biological set. When I graduated, they were the ones who attended and took me out afterward. My parents sent a card with money in it. They didn’t even bother to sign it.”
“My God, Nate, I’m so sorry.”
He rubbed the back of his neck. “It’s over and done with. But if Doug’s parents hadn’t taken me in, if Doug hadn’t advocated for this kid they’d never even met, I don’t know what I would’ve done. I didn’t have my own money. My parents had some, but they hadn’t offered any to me despite basically eliminating me from their lives. And really, would you have called to beg for money from people who clearly didn’t want to have anything to do with you?” Clearing his throat, Nate continued. “So anyway, that’s why I hold Doug in such high esteem and why I’d do anything for him.”
“I had no idea. I am so, so sorry.”
Nate saw pity in her eyes and hated it. He didn’t want people to pity him. “Anyway, I have three different versions of the TV spot and four of the radio one.” Val nodded mutely, her mouth now full of the lasagna she’d purchased. “I put some stuff about the hospital being a trusted source of treatment for cancer for a hundred and forty years first, then the information about the incident and the reassurance that the hospital is doing everything it can, then finished up with the research studies.”
“Always put your weakest point in the middle,” Val said. “Sounds fine. If you could email those to me, I’ll take care of keeping them straight and only hand them off as they’re needed to tape.”
Nate grinned, happy he’d told Val about his past, but equally happy she hadn’t dwelled on it. “Is there anything else I can do for you?”
“Not at the moment, unless you can track down a wayward, philandering doctor.”
“I wish I could.”
Val snorted. “I think we’d all like to have a few words with that guy right about now.”
“Well if you’re set for now, and you don’t mind, I’d like to take care of some things this afternoon for my business. If you need me you can reach me on my cell.”
“I doubt I will, but thank you.”
Figuring a strategic retreat was in order, Nate stood and then closed his to-go container. “I’ll leave you to your lunch.”
She didn’t even look up, and he fought a triumphant grin. He was getting to her. It was obvious. But how to convince her to have a little harmless fun?
After stopping back at his office to pick up his laptop, he went back to the hotel and tried to buckle down and get through the mountains of email and voicemail piling up in his absence, but his thoughts kept returning to that blazing hot kiss he and Val had shared in her office earlier. Finally he chucked working entirely and went to the hotel’s fitness center to run off some aggression on the treadmill.
By the time he got back, showered, and ate the dinner he’d ordered from room service it was after seven. Sighing, he sat at the desk in his room and forced himself to hunker down until he could at least put things into neat and manageable piles. His assistant Lesli was doing the best she could, but she’d only been with him for about six months and didn’t know all the ins and outs of the business yet.
At nearly midnight he shut his laptop down. Flopping onto the bed, he watched a little late-night television and hoped he’d be able to sleep without dreaming about an exotic goddess with black hair and green eyes. Val called to every male cell in his body and put them on full charge in her direction.
Chapter Six
Val was able to put a couple of hours in at the office the next day before she had to drive out to the suburbs to oversee the recording of the radio spots. After grabbing an early lunch, she fetched Doug from his office. On the car ride over, they went through his various scripts to be sure he was comfortable with everything. When they arrived, she introduced him to the station manager, who personally escorted them to a production room. Then he only left the room briefly to get the doctors who would be part of the spots, and even ran the board once they were recording.
After finishing, she drove them both back to the hospital and, after Doug made a few phone calls, they were able to get him down to the auditorium to record the infomercials. They’d be adding the scientists in, one by one, as they made time that day. Having their own television production equipment was a boon, and not only made this sort of work easier but kept it more within their control. As Doug wrapped up his piece of the first spot, Nate walked in and stood next to Val. He leaned over and whispered in her ear. “When he’s done we need to talk. Doug’s secretary said she tried his cell and yours, so she called me with some news. You’re not gonna like it.”
Val glanced at him but didn’t say anything. Turning her attention back to Doug, she tried not to speculate on what Nate’s news might be. When Doug finished, Nate gathered the three of them together. “Word is that Morris Refrigeration is putting their money into another non-profit project.” Doug swore under his breath. CCC had been courting Morris for over a year to put together an endowment fund for research into the potential societal effects of smoking electronic cigarettes. They’d known a different charity in the area had been working with Morris as well, but CCC had been the frontrunner and they’d been counting on this money. “Apparently they got cold feet when they found out about Godlowski.”
Nate glanced at Val and she bit her lip. This was probably only the beginning. Others were no doubt considering pulling their support from the hospital’s programs too. Nausea welled up inside her gut. How much worse would it get? And what could she do to help the situation? Helpless. That’s how she felt. In her heart of hearts she knew she wasn’t, but every time she turned around more things blew up around them.
Doug reached up to rub his temples, sighing. “I’m going to finish taping these and then go talk to the board. They’re meeting in a bit. We’ve got to do something more than what we’re doing now. This is even worse than I thought it would be.”
“Would you like us to go with you?” Val asked.
Doug nodded. “I’d appreciate that. You might be able to make them understand our options better than I can.”
“Not a problem.” She paused, considering, and then said, “Nate, can you watch the next segment?” Val needed to find out a little more about the latest events before she felt comfortable going in front of the board.
“Of course.” Doug went back to the stool set up on stage, and Nate turned and said in a low voice, intended for her ears only, “What am I looking for?”
Val shrugged. “Just make sure he doesn’t flub or look too nervous, fidget a lot…” Nate nodded and Val continued. “I’ll be back in a bit. This shouldn’t take long.” Slipping out of the auditorium, she went to a house phone and dialed Doug’s secretary. After a brief conference with the woman who seemed to know everything that went on within the hospital’s campus, she returned to the auditorium to watch Doug finish taping his spots.
When Doug concluded, he joined Nate and Val. “How do you think that went?”
“You did well,” Val assured him. Maybe it was time to look into some professional coaching on how to deal with the media, though. Doug was clearly beginning to crack under the pressure and the last thing they needed was for the CEO to show weakness.
“All right. I’m going to head back to my office to get some work done. You both will attend the meeting, correct?”
“Of course,” Val answered and Nate echoed her agreement. They parted ways with Doug and headed back to their own building. “So how did Doug do during the piece I missed?”
“Pretty good. I had to stop them once to get Doug to stop waving his arms, but other than that he was fine.”
“Yeah, he’s got a tendency to talk with his hands,” Val agreed. “I’ve advised him to hang on to the podium when he’s got one available, but there’s nothing much we can do with a setup like today’s.”
“And that much gesturing can be distracting, which is good in some situations, but not this one. It makes him look guilty.”
Val looked at him. “Can I ask you a question that’s been bothering me? I feel like you’re going to think I’m psychoanalyzing you.”
He raised an eyebrow. “This should be good. Shoot.”
Her sentence came out almost as one long word. “Do you think you hate flying because your parents traveled so much?”
“Huh. You are psychoanalyzing me. But yeah, that’s what my therapist’s told me. They call it a displaced reaction or something.”
“I didn’t mean to pry, I just couldn’t forget about it and it was driving me nuts.” And why can’t you forget about it? A small voice answered. Because this guy is about a hundred times more interesting and complicated than anyone you’ve been with in God knows how long. She told that voice to shut the hell up.
“No problem. I’m glad you asked.”
A few moments later they had just crossed through a small courtyard when they were stopped by the head of the thoracic department. His face was mottled with anger, and he said, “I heard Morris is pulling out of their deal.” Val nodded, not wanting to lie, even though the news wasn’t official. The doctor swore viciously. “Pardon my reaction, but we needed that money.”
“I know.”
“What was that idiot thinking, taking off like this? Doesn’t he realize he’s totally screwed the rest of us?”
“Hopefully we’ll find him.”
“We damn well better. And now with the whole NIH thing…” The doctor jammed his hands into the pockets of his white lab coat. “What are you doing to stem the flow of bleeding? I haven’t seen much action since this happened.”
Val tamped down the sudden flare of temper. “We just recorded spots for both radio and TV. The radio spots will begin running tomorrow morning and the TV spots will start airing tomorrow evening. We’re also working with the print media to control the message–”
The doctor slashed his hand through the air and Val took an involuntary step back. “That’s not enough–”
This time Nate cut him off. “We’ve got plans for a lot more and we’re working as quickly as we can.”
“And who are you?”
Val glanced at Nate and saw the set of his jaw. Before he could answer the man, she pivoted to walk away. “We’re actually headed to a meeting right now.” She jerked her head, and even though Nate glared at her, he followed silently. When they were out of earshot, she said, “That guy is a jerk. It’s not worth getting into it with him.”
“But you shouldn’t let him talk to you like that.”
“I wasn’t going to. But before I could even defend myself, you’d stepped in. And while I appreciate you playing the role of the white knight, it really wasn’t necessary.”
“You aren’t going to give me even an inch, are you? Why do I threaten you so much? I’ve already tol
d you I don’t want your job. Is it a crime to care about you getting treated like shit by some blowhard doctor?”
Val looked sideways at Nate. He was so hard to read. It was incredibly frustrating. “I’m just saying I can take care of myself.”
“Whatever,” Nate muttered. He stopped at her office door. “So I’ll wait to hear from you about when we should go to the board meeting.”
“Sounds good.” Val escaped into the sanctuary of her office and closed the door. Her stomach grumbled and she set a hand on her belly. Reaching into her top desk drawer, she took out the packet of M&M’s she’d purchased the day before from a vending machine and popped a few into her mouth. Hopefully she’d have the time and energy for a better dinner later, but she didn’t want to walk all the way to the cafeteria to get something, only to have to shovel it in if Doug’s secretary summoned her. Besides, she had a ton of work to do. All her other projects were moving at a snail’s pace because of this mess. She considered asking Nate to help her draft a couple of press releases for her, but dismissed the idea. He probably still needed time to work on his own clients’ messes and she didn’t want to rely on him too much anyway.
Sighing, she eyed the inbox sitting on the corner of her desk. She hadn’t even opened her postal mail in what seemed like forever. Picking up the stack, she shoved it into her bag to go through at home and then turned to the pile of grant awards she needed to write up releases for. Hopefully that stack would continue to be as large in the coming months as it was now, but it was highly unlikely if NIH was holding up funding. Biting her lip, she pulled the top one off the heap and grabbed her highlighter. These awards were chock-full of medical terms and the only way to decipher them into a press release for the layman was to grab a few choice words and phrases.
Val jumped when her phone rang. She’d been so immersed in crafting the release she hadn’t noticed nearly forty minutes had gone by. Her hand crept over her heart to will it to slow as she picked up the phone. Doug’s secretary relayed the details of the board meeting and then Val rose to give Nate the update. She found him pacing in his office, gesticulating and shaking his head at whatever the person on the other end of his cell phone was saying.