Someone Unexpected(8)

I reluctantly followed her and I could feel my heart banging against my  chest with each step, my hands slightly trembling. I balled them in  tight fists at my sides so that the trembling would not be noticed. We  continued down a hallway for what seemed like forever and then we  finally made it to a dark, ornate door and she lightly tapped on it  announcing our arrival. When she opened the door I was blown away by how  beautiful Mrs. Hargrove's office was. There were beautiful crystal  vases filled with fresh flowers everywhere and a gorgeous chandelier  sparkled like a bowl of diamonds. The girl left quickly and I was face  to face with Mrs. Hargrove. Please let this be quick and painless. I  don't think begging this woman for my job is going to do anything. I  thought maybe if a man was firing me I might be able to flirt my way out  of it the way I had flirted my way out of so many things in the past.  But flirting with this woman? Not so much.



"Ms. Sumner, please have a seat." She was all business.



I sat across from her massive desk and folded my hands, my pits sweating like crazy, waiting for the hammer to drop.



"Let me get right to the point."



Please, I can't stand this torture much longer.



"You are being promoted to Vice President of Marketing for the hotel."



Say what?



I sat there dumbfounded, positive that my hearing had just failed me. I  knew I was staring at Mrs. Hargrove but words and my brain decided they  wanted to stop working together.



"Ms. Sumner, did you hear me? Are you alright?"



Elena, snap out if it! Say yes!



"Yes! Yes I heard you, but I think that you must have me confused with someone else."



That seemed to tickle her funny bone because she could not stop  laughing. "Oh goodness, I haven't had a hearty laugh like that in a long  time." Her laughing calmed down and her eyes were pensive as they  searched mine. "You weren't joking, were you?"



"No ma'am."



"Ms. Sumner, you are the new VP of marketing."



The words floated in the air and I said the first thing that came to my mind.



"You mean I'm not fired?" I wanted to curl up and hide as soon as the  words slipped from my mouth. Way to fuck things up before they even get  started.



Mrs. Hargrove gave me a most peculiar stare.



"Fired? Whatever would give you that idea? Ms. Sumner, surely you must  be aware that you are a rising star at Blu Sierra Miami. You became a  manager faster than anyone in the history of the entire company. Your  performance at the gala was the final test to see how you fare under  pressure. Your supervisor was extremely pleased with how you handled Mr.  Blu's section that night."



Wait, this is all moving a little too fast, let's just take a deep  breath for a second and let her words sink in. So Sebastian must not  have mentioned to anyone that I didn't fall at his feet like he  expected. I was really proud of myself for doing the right thing that  night. I looked at Mrs. Hargrove and then looked around the room as the  reality of the situation finally hit me. I was being promoted to Vice  frickin' President of Marketing! My eyes settled back on Mrs. Hargrove  and I gave her my biggest smile.



"This is all so overwhelming to me Mrs. Hargrove so please excuse my  hesitation, I am absolutely thrilled to have this wonderful  opportunity."



"Well, we are pleased to have you. Now, let's cover the administrative  information. Your office is all set up for you and your executive  assistant will walk you through your schedule and will be there for  anything you might need. Do not hesitate to call on her, because she is  meant to be your support. You have a meeting with the heads of each  department at 2:00 and they meet once a month. If you need anything, let  your assistant know and she will see to it that it is taken care of. Do  you have any questions?"



"No, not right now."



She buzzed someone on her phone as she stood, and I followed suit. She  slowly walked to her door and I knew that was my cue to exit.         

     



 



"Melissa will show you to your office. Congratulations, Ms. Sumner." I  shook her hand and realized that Mrs. Hargrove was short and to the  point. I didn't exactly get the warm fuzzies from her but she also was  not a nasty person. She was relatively cold but I attributed that to her  wearing her professional hat while at work. From the way she cracked up  at me earlier, I knew there was a fun side in there somewhere.



Melissa was another gorgeous, leggy blonde and I was starting to notice a  theme with the women in the office. When I walked into my office I  could not believe my eyes. It was absolutely gorgeous and I should not  have been surprised because I was, after all, working at a six star  hotel. I had a beautiful mahogany desk with a plush full back chair,  incredible artwork on the walls and crystal vases filled with fresh  flowers. It was all a bit overwhelming for me because the change was  happening so fast. I turned to thank Melissa and a stout older woman in  what appeared to be her 60's, was standing in the doorway and she had  the most friendly smile.



"Hello Ms. Sumner, my name is Beverly but everyone calls me Bev and I am  your new executive assistant. Anything you need, just come to me and I  will take care of it." She winked at me as she came into my office with  an iPad in her hands. "We need to go over your schedule, so if you don't  mind please have a seat and hit the enter key on your computer."



I was a little bit taken aback with how quickly everything had happened  that morning so I had to stop Bev in her tracks and kind of gather my  thoughts. "Excuse me, Bev? What is going to happen with the front desk  today? Since I am up here now, there is no one in charge down there and I  really think I need to tell someone the schedule for the week."



"Oh, don't worry about that Ms. Sumner, everything downstairs has already been taken care of."



What? How was that possible? I had been up there for a little bit over  an hour so how could everything already be taken care of? I didn't want  to cause any issues so I just let it go. If she said things were taken  care of then I would just have to believe her. I sat at my desk and  pulled up my schedule to see that my day was filled with meetings. I sat  with Bev for about 30 minutes and then I was off to my first meeting.  Instead of being nervous I was super excited to start my new job.



I received a warm reception from everyone in all of my meetings that day  which kind of just solidified my excitement for the job. I didn't feel  one ounce of resentment from anyone and I have to admit that I was a  little bit worried about that because I had been promoted to a senior  role so quickly. It was almost 6:00 and I was putting away papers in my  file drawer when I heard a light knock at my door. I looked up to see  Sebastian standing in the doorway, looking like a Greek god, dressed in a  gorgeous dark grey suit with his dark eyes fixated on me. Dammit that  man is beautiful. I don't know that I had seen a more attractive man in  my life, ever.



I quickly stood up, not knowing what to say because the last time I saw  him, I turned him down. Was he here to tell me this was all a joke and I  was really fired? My heart began to bang against my chest as fear  enveloped me.



"I see that you are all settled in Elena. How was your first day?" His  eyes seemed to be sincere as he asked me the question and the banging in  my chest was reduced to a softer thump.



"It went really well, thank you."



"May I come in?"



"Oh, yes of course, please."



He closed my door, strode into my office, took a seat in the chair  across from my desk and motioned for me to sit at my desk. I sat across  from him with nerves that were tied in a knot. Is this where he  reprimands me? He was silent as his eyes searched mine and I could see  that he was trying to figure me out. I bet I was the only woman who had  ever rejected him. Yes, he was gorgeous and rich but I had a plan for  myself and I was going to stick to it. It would have been really easy to  go back to his place after the gala, but where would that have gotten  me? I'm sure that I would be unemployed right about then instead of  promoted to a Vice President. My thoughts ran away from me and Sebastian  was saying something to me.         

     



 



"I have never met anyone like you in my life Elena Sumner, I am captivated." His eyes smoldered as he waited for my reaction.



"Thank you." I didn't know what else to say.



"You were promoted to manager in less than one year and nothing but  glowing reviews for you from everyone who has worked with you in any  capacity. You're from Pensacola, Florida, your mom is an admin for the  local Home Improvement store and your father is a high school math  teacher. You had a 4.0 gpa in college and graduated at the top of your  class. You have a current driver's license and passport and you have  never received so much as a parking ticket. You did an incredible job at  the gala and conducted yourself with the utmost professionalism. I know  talent when I see it, that is why I arranged for your promotion."