The Clandestine Assistant

6. I won't call

Erica rolled over and laid her head on my chest. "Wow, that was amazing."

I smiled, and then rolled out of the bed. I walked over to the dresser, took out a pair of pajama pants, then slipped them on. "Are you hungry?"

She smiled. "I could eat."

"Get dressed and then come out."

I typed a message into my phone, as I walked to the kitchen. I pulled cheese and butter out of the fridge, then grabbed bread from the cabinet. I pulled out a pan, turned on the stove and dropped some butter inside. Then two pieces of bread, a slice of cheese, topping with another slice.

Erica walked out, and sat at one of the stools. "You're handsome, and you cook?"

I smirked. "I don’t know if you can count grilled cheese as cooking."

"This is a really nice building what do you do for a living?"

"I work at a consulting company." I browned the first side, dropped more butter, then flipped and browned the other side. I put them on plates. I took a seat next to Erica, handing her one. She smiled as she dug in. "Ok this taste amazing, but it has to be a lot of calories." She reached over and ran her hand down my chest. "How do you stay looking like that, and eating like this?"

I shrugged. "Good genetics, and gym time." We finished our sandwiches. I picked up my phone when it dinged. "There is a driver waiting for you downstairs to take you home." I held my hand out to her. She looked up at me shocked, and then took it. I lead her to the elevator, grabbing her purse on the floor. I handed it to her and guided her in. "Have a good rest of your evening."

"Wait!" She called. "Do you want my number?"

"No need." I smirked, as the elevator door closed. "I wont call you anyways."

I cleaned up the kitchen, then crawled in to bed. Evelyn popped into my head. I hadn’t thought about her in a couple weeks. Why did dad have to bring her up? I sighed, rolled onto my back staring up at the ceiling. I grabbed my phone and texted Sterling. 'You up?' Three dots popped up letting me know he was replying, then my phone rang. "Hello."

"What's up? Can’t sleep?"

I sighed. "Dad brought up Evelyn at dinner."

"I thought you were over that?"

"Yeah. I don’t know."

"Go to sleep. Let's run in the morning, meet you at 7?"

"Ok, see you then." I hung up and rolled over, trying to shut my mind off and go to sleep, but it wasn't working. She had made her way back into my head again.

I tossed and turned all night until my alarm went off at 6am. I turned it off and rolled out of bed, stretching. I made my way to the bathroom and showered. Came out and put on some running shorts and a t-shirt. She popped into my head again and I sighed. What was wrong with me, it had been months now? How could the mere mention of her name ruin me? I shook my head, then took the elevator down. Maybe this run would help clear my mind.

"Good morning Mr. Dalton." Greg was standing at the door.

"Good morning Greg, how are you?"

He smiled, and opened the door. "I am good Sir, thank you."

"How are the kids?" I asked as I walked out.

"Growing fast, looking forward to Summer break."

I laughed. "I bet they are. I'll see you later." I popped in my ear buds and looked at my watch, 6:45. I turned on music and started running towards the park. After six blocks, I saw Sterling waiting on me. I ran up and took out my ears buds.

"How did things go with Erica last night?" He asked, as we started running next to eachother.

"Fine I guess. We went back to my place, and ya know. Then she went home."

Sterling laughed.

"What?" I asked.

"Let me guess, you slept with her, made her grilled cheese, and then had a driver take her home?"

I shrugged. "Yeah."

Sterling shook his head. "Predictable. Maybe you should, oh I don’t know, give a girl a chance?"

"Why? They all want the same thing. They see me, my car, my wardrobe, and want me for my money."

"Not all girls are like that. Just because Evelyn was using….."

I held my hand up. "I don’t want to talk about that B."

Sterling sighed. "Ok. Well, are you doing interviews today?"

"No, mom is doing them tomorrow. She will probably hire some super nerdy girl." I rolled my eyes.

Sterling chuckled. "Well whoever she hires, I am sure will be a good assistant. She will hire them based on skills, not looks."

I smirked. "Maybe I'll get lucky, and the new assistant will be hot, and smart."

"Hopefully not, because if she is, you know you'll flirt with her, then sleep with her, and then you'll be right back here in a couple months."

"Don’t hate the player hate the game."

Sterling shook his head. "I gotta go to mom and dads tonight, mom wants help with the Fall Ball." He rolled his eyes. "They should have had another child, so she had a girl to help with stuff like this. Want to go with me? Take a one night break from the player life?"

"No thank you! You ditched me last night"

"Come on. Maybe if you're there I can get out of their quicker. Then we can find a race!"

I smiled. "Fine, I guess I can come. Haven’t see your parents in awhile. And they like me way more then mine." I laughed.

We finished our run and I headed back home. Took a quick shower and then headed into work. My fill in assistant was sitting at the desk as I walked off the elevator. She stood up. "Good morning Mr. Dalton." She handed me a paper. "Here are your morning messages."

I took the paper from her and nodded. "I've got a new client coming in at two. Get some pastries from The Confectionary sent over."

"Yes Mr. Dalton. Right away."

I nodded and walked into my office. I looked over messages and returned calls. Checked in with the consultants on current projects. Then prepared for my meeting, going over their portfolio and making sure I was ready. I looked at the clock, it was 1:50. I had worked through lunch without realizing it. I cleared off my desk and stood up. I walked to the door. "Did you get the pastries?"

She turned around. "Yes sir. They are in the conference room."

I nodded and grabbed the folder off my desk. "When they arrive, please bring them in."

She nodded. "Yes sir."

I made my way to the conference room and prepared. A few minutes later, she brought the new clients in. I stood up and smiled, reaching out my hand. "Hello Mr. Branson."

"Mr. Dalton." He nodded. "Thank you for meeting us on such short notice."

I nodded. "My pleasure."

"This is my son, Edward." He motioned to the young man behind him.

I shook his hand. "Edward." He shook back and nodded. "Please have a seat. Would you like anything to drink?"

"No thank you." Mr. Branson replied. "I'd rather just get right to it."

"Straight to the point I like it. So tell me." I took a seat at the head of the conference table. "What exactly can we do for you?"

"We are looking to expand and move, add another office here to New York. As I am sure you know, we currently have one hotel here, but are looking to build more. As well as in Chicago, Jacksonville, and Houston. I need to know if this will be a good move for us, or if we should re think our decision. Our hotels aren’t making much profit right now, I need you to help us figure out what we are missing, and how to make these new builds profitable. My son Edward will be running the New York office if all goes as planned."

I nodded my head and opened the folder in front of me.  "I have been looking over your stats, and my gut reaction is it would be a good move for you. I will send out one of our consultants to work in the field with you. In say two weeks and we will have a proposal for you."

Mr. Dalton nodded. "Two weeks sounds good."

I nodded. "Let's go over a few things I noticed already, and you can give me some insight."

For the next  couple of hours, we went over their portfolio and came up with a game plan. I walked them to the elevator and sent them off, heading back to my office. I sat down and got the proposal worked up and decided who I was going to send out on the field. I got a text from Sterling saying he was five minutes out. I texted him back saying I’d meet him at the front. I put my suit jacket on and walked out. "I am leaving early today. Please hold my messages until the morning."

"Yes Mr. Dalton."

I walked to the elevator and headed down to meet Sterling. He revved up his engine as I walked out. I shook my head, and laughed, as I climbed into the passenger seat. "I'm starving, I worked through lunch."

"There will be food."

I nodded. We drove across the city to his parents and made our way inside.

"Eli. I didn’t know you were coming." She pulled me into a hug. "I've missed you. This is great you can help too."

"Hi Mo. I've missed you too." I replied.

"Wow mom. You hug him first. Good to know where I rank."

She shook her head and smacked his shoulder. "Oh stop it. I havent seen him in awhile." She pulled him into a hug. She looked at him and then me. "You both look too skinny, come. We can plan while you eat." We walked into the kitchen where she pulled a pan of Lasagna out of the oven. She made us both a plate, along with Garlic bread. "You boys eat up."

We dug in and she started pulling some papers out of a bag. "Sally should be coming too. Her and I are in charge this year." The doorbell rang. "Oh speak of the Devil, I'll be right back." She left and came back with another woman. "Sally you know Sterling."

"Hi Mrs. Davis." Sterling replied.

"And this is his best friend Eli."

I stood up and shook her hand. "Hi Mrs. Davis. Nice to meet you."

"Hi boys." Sally smiled.

"Would you like something to eat?" Mo asked. Sally shook her head. "So. What do you think would be a good way to raise money this year?"

"An auction always does well. The silent auction last year brought in good money." Sally offered.

"That is true. What do you boys think?" Mo asked.

"Honey you know these boys don't care about anything to do with the ball but the pretty girls." Sterling's father Drake said, as he walked in. He walked up and kissed his wife on the cheek. "I smell lasagna." He raised his eyebrows, then made himself a plate and sat at the table. "You know I married Jane because of her Lasagna."

Jane laughed, then kissed Drake's cheek. "And I married you for your money."

"Ha!" Drake laughed. "I was a poor young man with no future when we met. You married me for this handsome face."

Jane giggled. "True! And they can still be helpful. What do you boys think about as a theme?"

I smiled. "Anything you pick I am sure will be beautiful Mo. Drake isn’t wrong though, we do like the pretty ladies all dressed up."

Jane shook her head. "Well that is not very helpful."

Drake laughed. "The young bachelors always come to the ball looking for a date!"

"Wait!" Sally chimed in. "That’s it!"

"What?" Jane asked.

"A bachelor and bachelorette auction!"

"Oh." Jane smiled and looked at us both. "That is a good idea, and I just so happen to have our first two eligible Bachelors right here."

"Woah what?" Sterling replied and looked at me.

"Yeah Mo. I don’t know about that." I laughed.

"Non sense." She smirked. "You're doing it. Oh and the theme could be Masquerade Ball!"

"Mom." Sterling interupted. "I don’t want to be paraded on stage for women to bid on me."

"Yeah I'm with Sterling on that one. It’s just weird."

"Boy's she is not going to give this up, so you best just give in." Drake stated.

Sterling looked at me and shrugged. "I guess we're in."

"Fine." I replied.

Mo walked over and hugged us both. "Two handsome guys like you will bring in a nice bid. I am sure of it."

I laughed. "I should have skipped out on dinner tonight. I have a feeling I may come to regret this."