What made it worse, despite her resolve to hate her job and do everything in her power to get fired she’d actually enjoyed the meeting with the ad agency. She’d learned so much in the space of just a couple of hours and, she had to admit, she was looking forward to learning even more. She groaned. That was going totally against her plan. What was she going to do now?
She looked at the clock. One thirty-five, which meant it would only be six thirty-five in the morning in Paris. She was sure that neither Jan nor Tammy would be up at this hour but she didn’t care. Right now she needed someone to talk to. She picked up the phone and dialed Jan’s cell number, praying that the roaming feature would work. It did. Jan answered the phone on the fifth ring.
“Hello.” Her voice sounded groggy and far away.
“Wake up, sleepy head,” Serena said, trying to sound cheerful. “What are you doing in bed at this hour? Do you know what time it is?”
There was a pause then Jan said dryly, “Of course I know what time it is. It’s an ungodly hour of the morning . You know I never get up this early. I’m on vacation, for heaven’s sake.” There was a hint of annoyance in her voice.
Serena sighed. “I know I shouldn’t have called you so early but I just need to talk. I’m all alone over here and I’m going crazy.”
“What’s going on, Serena? Are you alright?” Jan sounded fully awake now. Her voice was sharp with concern.
“I’m fine,” Serena said with another heavy sigh. “It’s just that you guys are over there having all the fun and I’m here working so hard. And to make things worse I have a devil of a boss who’s driving me mad.”
“What on earth do you mean? Didn’t we discuss the plan for your boss? You were going to go in there and show him that you’re a Van Buren. So what happened?”
Serena could not help smiling to herself. They had been so naïve. “Let’s just say, he’s not exactly the boss I expected.”
“Is he nice?”
“I wouldn’t describe him as…nice.” Serena bit her lip and wondered how much she should tell her friend. Then she continued, “He’s probably the most gorgeous man I’ve met in my entire life.”
“What? You never told me this.”
“How could I? You’re halfway across the world. You and Tammy abandoned me when I needed you most.”
“Come off it, Serena,” Jan said, sounding exasperated. “I’m not going to feel guilty about that. We had a plan and you backed out. Mind you, I know it wasn’t your fault but you certainly didn’t expect your father’s rules to apply to Tammy and me. Now let’s get back to the real issue here. Tell me about this hunk.”
“What’s going on?” Serena heard Tammy faintly in the background.
“Serena’s found a man and he’s handsome,” she heard Jan say.
“No, I haven’t,” she retorted. “The man is my boss, for goodness sake.”
“Really? She’s finally fallen for a guy?” It was Tammy’s voice again, closer this time.
“Yeah, and she’s going to tell me all about it,” Jan said excitedly.
“Will you guys stop that?” Serena yelled into the phone. They hadn’t even waited to hear her story but had jumped to all kinds of conclusions. Trust her crazy friends to be so…crazy.
“Okay, okay.” Jan laughed into the phone. “I’m listening.”
“Thank you,” Serena said in a huff then she drew in a deep breath and began. “As I was saying, my boss is nothing like I expected. He’s over six feet tall and he has jet black hair and such startling dark eyes. And his skin is dark, like…I think he’s part Italian or something.”
“Sounds like a movie star,” Jan said, dreamily.
“Hey, I’m not hearing any of this,” Tammy whined in the background.
“Shh, I’ll tell you all about it when we’re done,” Jan hissed, quieting her. Then she said to Serena, “So have you gone out with him yet?”
“What do you think I am? I just met the man last week. Anyway, his name is Roman Steele and he’s the CEO of Steele Industries-”
“Roman Steele? I know him. I mean, I’ve seen him in the papers before. You’re right, he’s a real hunk. You’re so lucky…”
“No, I’m not. He acts like he doesn’t even notice me.” There was a sudden hitch in her voice and Serena sat up and cleared her throat.
“It sounds like there’s something going on, something you’re not telling me.”