Despite being shorter than her friends are, she had the larger bust and most of their tops were too snug on her. Settling for a lace camisole, Sarah’s cleavage peeked out the top. She added a short chunky necklace to draw the eye away from her cleavage and to her face. Her suit jacket was fitted, accentuating her curves. Since it was still too warm for nylons or tights, Sarah finished off her outfit with a pair of open-toed pumps showing off her sparkling pink toenail polish.
As she rode the elevator up, she discretely checked out the other women. Since she had spent all her time in the HR training room, she didn’t have a chance to see how the other women dressed. Most were somewhat modestly dressed preferring to wear pants to skirts, but Sarah did not feel out of place. Taking a deep breath, she exited at the tenth floor and walked up to a smiling Laurel who showed her to her office.
Over the next thirty minutes, Laurel gave her a quick tour of the tenth floor, which was used only by Vitaly and his immediate staff, visiting management from other locations, as well as for meetings. She gave Sarah a quick overview of Vitaly’s general protocols, how to access Vitaly’s calendar, and the list of current projects. Sarah was so engrossed that she did not hear Vitaly walk into her office until he set a cup of coffee down in front of her.
As both women looked up, he smiled. “I will give you some time to get acclimated and to read over the first three projects. I will see you in my office at ten to discuss.” Without waiting for a response, Vitaly left.
“Is he always so-”
“Abrupt?” At Sarah’s nod, “Sometimes,” Laurel answered with a chuckle. There are times that I think he forgets to speak aloud and simply assumes that we can read his mind.”
“How long have you worked for him?”
“Since they moved to this building, two years ago, and it was rough in the beginning. There were a number of nights when I went home in tears swearing that I wouldn’t come back. He can have quite the temper and you don’t want to be on the receiving end, but as fast as he blows up, he’s over it. And well, the pay and benefits are fantastic. Okay, I’ll let you get to it. If you need anything, let me know.”
As Laurel left, Sarah began reading through the files. While logistics was VIC Enterprises primary business, Sarah was surprised to find out that Vitaly owned several nightclubs, including the Casbah, restaurants and several small software firms all along the Tech Corridor. He was in the process of expanding his logistics firm to the east coast. He had already set up an office in New York and was in negotiations with the port authority in both New York and New Jersey. Smiling to herself, Sarah gathered up the files and headed to Vitaly’s office.
The door was open, but he was on the phone. Knocking quietly, she waited until he acknowledged her before coming in and sitting down. His conversation appeared animated, but since Sarah didn’t speak Russian, she didn’t know what it was about. As he got off the phone, Sarah discretely watched him, as he seemed to shake himself off before joining her.
“Have you reviewed the files?” he asked without preamble. At Sarah’s nod, “Good. And what did you learn?”
Sarah wasn’t sure what to think. She was embarrassed about what happened on Friday, but today Vitaly was all business and from the looks of things, the entire event had been forgotten. Giving herself a mental shrug, she determined that she would do the same.
“Well, I didn’t realize that there was more to your revenue stream than logistics and when I looked at the other businesses, they didn’t make sense.”
“But?” he prodded.
“But they do. The entertainment businesses are ideal locations for client and vendor locations. And the software companies are all working on applications to strengthen your position in the industry. On paper, they look varied, but in reality, it’s all very calculated and…controlled.” Sarah’s voice trailed off unsure where to go from there.
He hadn’t expected her to show up on Friday as he had already excused his staff for the remainder of the day. It was the anniversary of his sister, Anna’s, death and he tended to drink himself to oblivion. His mother had blamed him for her death. It had been a particularly cold winter. As the oldest and thirteen, it was his responsibility to watch his little sister when his parents were at work. Tired of being cooped up in the house, he suggested that they go out to play. Anna had just been getting over a cold and they played outside for hours until their mother came home and screamed at them to get inside. That night, Anna had a fever and by morning, she was coughing. Three days later, her fever had yet to break and the doctor said that she had pneumonia.