“My building’s fine,” I said. The drop off would be quick enough and Vincent had tinted windows. It wouldn’t be an issue to hide him taking me to work from my firm.

He shrugged. “Great. Remember, we need to hit the store after work, so no staying late.”

I nodded. This swerve between business and affection was going to take some getting used to, but I could probably manage.

***

After getting dropped off in the high style of Vincent’s old Camry, I walked into the office for my first day as a Client Acquisition Manager. Moving my things from my cubicle to my new office took up the first half of the morning. The office was going to be pretty sparse for a while, but it was mine. I was excited.

I planned on starting on some work on Vincent’s account before lunch. I looked for the manila folder containing Vincent’s signed contract along with other information about his assets but couldn’t find it. I realized I must have left it with Richard. I’d have to get it from him.

My office was toward the end of the hall, which meant I had to walk almost the length of the floor to get to Richard’s office. When I got there, I knocked and saw he was on the phone. He glanced at me briefly before gluing his eyes back to the screen.

I waited.

He was on the phone for almost ten minutes before he ended his conversation and got off. Still not glancing at me, he finally spoke. “Yes?”

I took a deep breath. “I think I left the Sorenson files with you. Can I have them?”

He continued typing. “You know those are with records by now.”

“Okay, but I also know you made copies. Can I have those?”

He looked around before finally gracing me with a glance. “Listen, I’m very busy. Go down to records and have copies made there.”

So this was how it was going to be. I understood his annoyance, but he was being a jerk about this. I knew he had to have copies of the file in his office somewhere. He would’ve had them made immediately, and he was so organized it would take him seconds to locate them.

“Richard—”

“I’m busy. Go down to records to get your files.”

“I know you have them here somewhere. I’m happy to—”

“Is there anything else? For the hundredth time, I am very, very busy today.”

I took a deep breath to calm myself. “No, that’s all.”

The right thing to do was let him be angry and not feed into it. Still, it hurt that he was being so rude to me. Maybe he was trying to keep me down even though we had the same title. Regardless, I’d have to put up with it for as long as I could.

I went down to records and wrestled with them to get the documents I needed. When I got back to my desk I found I’d received an email from my new boss, Carl Stansworth, asking me to drop by when I had a moment. “When I had a moment” really meant I needed to get there ASAP because he had a small opening in his schedule and wanted to see me during that time. I checked the timestamp and saw it had been sent eighteen minutes ago. That meant I didn’t have long; guys like Carl booked themselves pretty full. I gathered up my stuff and rushed out of my office.

On the way to Carl’s office—which occupied a corner on the opposite side of the floor from mine—I checked my phone and saw I had a text message from Vincent.

Hope your morning has been going well. Mine’s been going steadily downhill.

Thoughts raced through my mind. What could have happened? I texted back asking what was wrong.

My phone buzzed again.

I’m not in bed with you right now, mostly.

Blushing furiously, I tapped out a quick reply.

This is a work phone! We have to be more discreet than that!

I shoved the device in my jacket pocket as I came to Carl’s office. The door was closed. My phone buzzed as I looked around for his secretary. Spotting her, I walked over. “Carl asked me to drop by a minute ago. Do you know when he’ll be free?”

As I waited for her to finish typing, I glanced down at my phone to read Vincent’s message.

Fine. Your performance managing my assets this morning was exemplary. I have ideas for some new positions we could take that I want to share at our next meeting.

“—was your name, honey?” I snapped to attention, feeling the heat in my cheeks again as I worked to push Vincent’s message from my mind. She must have been asking who I was so she could buzz Carl. I needed to focus at work or else my performance would suffer at the worst possible moment.

Before I could respond, I heard Carl’s voice from behind me.

“Kristen, come on in.” I turned to face him and he nodded at my phone. “Impossible to get away these days, right? I admire you young people for being so good at managing all these devices. I want to throw mine through the window once or twice a day.” His green eyes twinkled behind gold framed glasses. The way his face wrinkled when he smiled combined with the white hair on the sides of his head—he was bald on top—showed his age, but he owned it and generally exuded an air of happiness.

I shoved it into my pocket and laughed politely. “That would be a pretty serious liability if it hit someone.”

Carl chuckled as he led me into his office. “You could have been a lawyer if you weren’t doing this. Maybe you should talk to them; they’re the ones making me mad enough to throw the thing half the time.”

I did my best fake smile. He sat down and motioned for me to take the seat across from him.

“So,” he said, clasping his hands on the desk, “Vincent Sorenson. First of all, congratulations on landing that one. Tough prospect. Second, what’s your plan to keep him?” He smiled and looked at me expectantly.

I wished I had been given more time to research what to do with Vincent’s account before talking to Carl about it. Since I hadn’t had enough time, I decided to stay vague. “Well, the bond market has some pretty promising sectors, so I’m thinking we can start there.”

He nodded. “Sure. The thing is, a guy like that is going to want big returns. He’s used to taking risks and reaping the rewards.”

I bit my lip. He had a point. “True, which is why I also wanted to suggest a plan targeting BRIC assets. There’s more risk there but those economies have been performing very well for a while and I think he’ll be interested in the international flavor.”

His eyes widened and he held out his fingers. “I think Brazil is the only one with surfing out of those, right? Russia definitely not, and I’m not sure about India but I know I’d only go surfing off the coast of China if I wanted to commit suicide by pollution.” He laughed. All anyone at the firm seemed to know about Vincent was he was rich and enjoyed surfing.

“Do you surf?” I blurted.

He laughed even harder. “It was a hypothetical. Can you imagine me surfing?”

I shrugged and wracked my brain for a useful nugget from the research I had done on Vincent’s company before the pitch. “Actually, India has lots of great surfing, and his company has been targeting China as a new growth market. Apparently there are people going out on the water there, though I imagine they’re avoiding the river mouths.”

Still chuckling, Carl nodded. “Shows what I know about that stuff. I like this BRIC plan. Focus on that, and present the safer bond strategy as a backup if you need it. We’re going to get some analysts working under you, but that will take a while because people are wrapping up other jobs, so for now you’re going to be on your own. Knowing your work ethic, I’m sure you won’t mind the longer hours in the interim.”

I nodded, eager to get back to my desk and see if this plan was even remotely viable. This is what happened when you weren’t prepared: you had to make stuff up and it might not work out.

“Anything else for me?” he asked.

I shook my head. “No. I do think Vincent will like this BRIC plan. He’s actually flying to Rio tonight for a product launch.”

He furrowed his brow. “How do you know that?”

Great question—how did I know that? Beyond the truth, of course. This whole seeing a client thing was going to keep me on my toes.

“I saw a news story about it,” I said, scrambling. “I have Google Alerts set up for his name and his company. Just saw the story before I walked over here actually.” It didn’t explain why I knew he was flying over tonight, but hopefully it would be enough of an answer for him not to push me on it.

It was. He shook his head. “It’s been so long since I was an analyst, I feel out of the loop. Great to see young blood getting their feet wet. I’m predicting great things from this account, Kristen.” He stood up and I did the same before he motioned me to the door. “I have a lunch meeting now, but keep me posted on how things are going and let me know if you need anything.”

With another nod, I left.

I was taking deep breaths to stop myself from hyperventilating all the way back to my office. When I got there, I closed the door behind me and sat in the dark. Meeting with Carl would have been stressful in itself, but adding in the situation with Vincent made it even more so. Thankfully, it seemed to have gone well. Carl liked me, which was more important than Richard liking me, since Carl was my new boss.

I knew better than to go to Carl about anything Richard was doing unless it was absolutely necessary. Bosses were a lot like clients: they wanted you to make their lives easier and make them money. Giving Carl a situation to deal with was the best way to make sure he liked me less.

Other than losing him money. That would be worse.

I got up and flicked the light on in my office before checking my phone. No new messages. I tapped out a belated reply to Vincent’s earlier message about taking up new positions at our next meeting.

Probably not our next meeting, right? I don’t think they will let us fool around at the store.

Seconds later, I got a reply.

Oh right, I meant in my daydreams about you. Make sure you get out of work as close to 5 as possible. It might be a little tight to catch my charter down there.