Chapter 5
Donovan’s thumb hovered over the telephone number on his screen for several seconds before he pressed the home button and tossed the phone on his desk. It had been three days since he had seen or spoken to Simona and exactly one week since they met. He hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her or the kiss. He’d known instinctively he would enjoy kissing her but never expected the onslaught of emotions that accompanied the act. They were the same feelings he’d had at the hospital last week. And, for the first time in over two years, he felt the stirrings of something more than a passing fling. She made him laugh and he chuckled, recalling some of the stories she’d told him.
Simona still hadn’t called to let him know if she would accompany him to Sheila’s concert. He was anxious to call her, but didn’t want to come on too strong. From the questions she asked about his job, he sensed some hesitancy on her part and wondered why. Donovan glanced over at the wall clock—four thirty. He still had work to do, and he wanted to leave at a reasonable time so he could stop by Terrence and Janae’s to see his little goddaughter. He reined in his thoughts and refocused on the papers in front of him. By the time he looked up again, over an hour had passed. He stood, stretched and went to the outer office where his secretary sat clicking away on the computer.
“You about ready to wrap it up, Monique?”
She paused. “Yes. I just want to print this last contract for Brad. He said he’d be by to pick it up in a few minutes.”
On the heels of her statement, Brad, who headed up the label’s legal department, entered with his wife, Audrey, director of Human Resources. Both were friends from college.
“Your ears must have been burning,” Donovan said.
“What? You’re talking about me again?” Brad asked with a laugh. He turned to his wife. “See, babe, I told you I’m the man.”
Audrey rolled her eyes. “Whatever. Just get what you came for so we can go. You have two hours to finish that stuff. We are not taking any work this weekend.”
Donovan laughed. “Finally getting that trip to San Francisco in, huh? Brad, make sure you take her on the sunset cruise,” he added with a wink.
“We’re doing that and more,” she said with a sly smile.
Brad leaned down and gave her a quick kiss.
Donovan held up his hands. “TMI, T-M-I! Monique, hurry up and give Brad those papers before they burn my office down.” He was glad to see that they were still so much in love after being together for more than a decade. He felt a pang of jealousy.
“Are you going to be here much longer, Donovan?” Brad asked as he collected the papers from Monique.
“No. I’m going to see my beautiful goddaughter.”
“We went by for a few minutes last night,” Audrey said excitedly. “And you’re right, she’s a cutie. But we’d better get going.”
“Have fun.”
“We will.” Brad and Audrey said their goodbyes, with Monique close behind.
Donovan left a few minutes later, and it took him almost an hour to get to Terrence’s with rush-hour traffic.
“What’s up, D? Come on in,” Terrence said, bringing Donovan in for their customary hug.
“Hey.” He followed Terrence to the family room and stretched out on the sofa.
“You look exhausted. Is everything going okay?”
“Yeah, fine. I was thinking we might need to hire someone else to help out, especially since I figure you’ll be spending less time at the office. And you’ll be touring again soon.”
Terrence sighed. “I’ve been thinking about that, too. But I don’t want to bring in someone at the executive level who starts trying to tell me my business.”
“I know. I have an idea I want to run by you.” He sat up. “Monique has been doing a great job fielding calls, making sure things run smoothly with the clients and generally helping me out with the departments. She just graduated in May with her degree in business, and I think she’d make a helluva manager.”
“I like it, but what about the secretarial stuff? That leaves only one person to handle that.”
“We can either move someone from another department or hire from outside. I can talk to Audrey about it next week if you’re cool with it.”
Terrence sat quietly, mulling over the proposition, then slowly nodded. “Okay.”