Campaign for Love (19 page)

 

That being settled, they all started putting on coats. Barry asked
Sharon, "Can Elsa and I drop you some place?"

 

 

"No, thank you," she answered. "I'll take a cab, if you'll call one
for
me, Suzy. I live downtown."

 

 

With that, Jerry spoke up. "I'll be glad to see you home. I'm going
in
that direction."

 

 

Sharon beamed at him. "Oh, that will be wonderful."

 

 

Suzanna and Quentin gave each other a knowing smile, and as soon as
they were alone again, they sank onto the sofa and into each other's
arms with a sigh.

 

 

"That was great! Really, it was a fantastic party," he said, giving
her
a warm but light kiss on the lips.

 

 

"I'm just glad it's all over."

 

 

"No you aren't. You'd have played all night if it hadn't been for
our
busy day tomorrow."

 

 

"I have to confess, it was fun. But we did have a few sticky moments
there with Jerry and then Sharon. It was worth it, though. I think
my
matchmaking paid off, don't you?"

 

 

"Definitely." He kissed her again, and then sighed.

 

 

"Well, we can have a post mortem on the party on the flight down
tomorrow. In the meantime we had better get his place ship-shape
before
you go away. You get your packing and everything sorted, while I do
kitchen duty."

 

 

"No, we can do it together."

 

 

He nodded and smiled. "Right, let's get started then. Bring the rest
of
the Bloody Marys with you."

 

 

By ten o'clock the place was shining. Everything perishable was put
in
the freezer since Suzanna would be gone for a few days. When all was
in
order, Quentin phoned car service.

 

 

As he stood by the door saying his goodnights before he left, he
took
Suzanna's hand in his and rubbed the fingers with his other one.

 

 

"Such pretty, soft hands, and so capable. Have I behaved myself to
your
satisfaction today?"

 

 

"Why, yes." Suzy answered. "It's been great. Well, I thought it was,
anyway! Thank you for helping me, for being so considerate."

 

 

"Do I rate a goodnight kiss?" he asked humbly.

 

 

Suzy stepped into his arms and raised her lips for his almost
innocent
kiss. She tried to hide her disappointment, but she had promised to
take things slowly. In any case, she had little choice, for he
stepped
away quickly, and opened the door.

 

 

"Goodnight, darling, " he whispered, and left.

 

 

Suzanna hugged that 'darling' to her as she crossed her arms across
her
chest. No matter what she had told Quentin, it was only what he had
wanted to hear.

 

 

Deep down inside she knew that she really did love this man who had
been the first ever to arouse her, but if his conscience wanted to
call
it something else, she'd play along.

 

 

We made progress today, she thought to herself as she headed for the
bedroom to get ready for the Bahamas trip. She reasoned that if he
had
never been in love, he couldn't know for sure that he wasn't now.

 

 

As she started to pack for her island sojourn, she hummed along to
the
radio, and soon she decided on a cafe au lait pinstripe suit for
travelling. Although tailored, it was feminine. With it she would
wear
an off-white blouse and brown pumps with stacked heels, and of
course
her fake beaver coat and hood until she was on the plane.

 

 

For the tropics, she packed a black maillot swim suit with French
cut
thighs, which had a neckline to the waist in front and was backless
to
the hips. She also packed an emerald-green string bikini. She knew
her
wardrobe, for the most part, would be handpicked and custom made for
the advertising campaign shots, but for her free time she selected
sun
dresses in white, and pale blue, as well as one slinky black evening
gown, strapless, with a front slit and matching embroidered stole.

 

 

In a separate bag went an assortment of shoes to wear in the
commercials. A diaphanous nightgown in misty mauve with a matching
peignoir was the last thing she packed, since it was the first thing
she'd need on arrival late the following night.

 

 

When all was ready for the morning, she showered, shampooed, waxed,
manicured and pedicured herself. She finished blow-drying her hair,
and
then she applied Femme Fatale nail enamel in a pale coral to her
finger- and toenails.

 

 

Then she tumbled into bed exhausted to dream of turquoise seas, and
the
even more divine Quentin Pierce.

 

 

 

CHAPTER TWENTY

 

 

Suzanna sprang out of bed eagerly to the sound of the alarm in the
following morning. She washed and dressed in her pearl gray suit,
and
applied a bit of makeup from the color-coded kit Femme Fatale
Cosmetics
had provided. Then she put on the fake glasses.

 

 

She put up her hair in her sensible Suzanna fashion, decided against
messing up the kitchen with a cooked breakfast, and took a package
of
Danish pastries out of the freezer. She'd make coffee at the office,
and that and the pastries would hold her until lunch.

 

 

She called a cab, rolled her bag to the elevator and stood in front
of
her building. A few minutes later, her taxi arrived.

 

 

She was earlier than usual, but Sharon was already at her desk.
Knowing
that Quentin wouldn't arrive for some time, Suzy invited Sharon in
to
share her coffee and Danish.

 

 

Sharon was delighted, since she wanted to talk about the dinner
party,
but more specifically, about Jerry.

 

 

As a preamble, she asked Suzanna, "Why are you still playing down
your
looks? After all, Mr. Pierce knows now what you really look like
now."

 

 

"True, but I feel that if I keep my hair up, the other changes won't
be
that obvious, and I'll have fewer distractions. Men won't notice me,
and women will be more inclined to trust me."

 

 

"I suppose you're right," Sharon said, though she looked doubtful.
"You'd probably have every man in the room hovering around. But is
that
bad?"

 

 

She shook her head. "No, but I'm not interested. I have my own life
and
my own friends, quite apart from Elder and Rubin. I'd like to keep
it
that way. Office intrigue, sneaking around, is always a mistake."

 

 

"I could have sworn that you had a 'thing' going with Quentin Pierce
when you came back from Femme Fatale last week, and when I saw you
together yesterday, I was sure of it."

 

 

"I have got a 'thing' going, as a matter of fact. I have a terrific
business relationship with the best boss I've ever had, and that's
all.
But off the record, I almost wish it were the way you thought."

 

 

Sharon smiled. "Well, at least now I know you're human. What
red-blooded girl wouldn't have the same wish? For years I've been
hoping he'd notice me, but yesterday changed all that. Tell me about
Jerry White."

 

 

Suzy told her what she knew, and the fact that they had only ever
been
friends. "Do you think it could grow into something serious?" she
asked
at the end of her brief tale.

 

 

"I think so. He did take my phone number, and he asked if he might
call."

 

 

"That's a good sign. I'll tell you the truth. My main reason for the
party was to have Jerry meet you. I wanted to find him someone nice,
to
cut the strings, so to speak. And since Quentin was there when he
arrived, and I was dressing, I think he believed what you did, that
there was something going on. So Jerry is all yours now, I'm sure.
Now
that he's not working so many hours the way he did when I first knew
him, I think he will have time to really commit to someone."

 

 

"I can't thank you enough for thinking of me. Even if it doesn't
work
out, you've been a great friend. Right from the start, you've never
been patronizing. I could die when I think of how I tried to tell
you
to do yourself up a bit." She rolled her eyes and blushed.

 

 

"No problem. I didn't get my ego dented at all. It showed you cared,
weren't jealous. And for what it's worth, you've made me feel right
at
home ever since I got here. So it works both ways."

 

 

"It's been easy. Your predecessor wasn't anything like you. Not only
wasn't she as good at her job as you are, but she was a snob, though
what reason she had, I'll never know. She never even ate in the
employees' cafeteria, let alone with me."

 

 

"That was her loss," said Suzanna, and she meant it. "But tell me a
bit
more about her. It seems strange that Quentin never mentions her."

 

 

"For one thing, Mr. Pierce's last assistant never went on any
business
trips with him. She didn't have lunches with clients, either. She
was
quite attractive in a flashy way."

 

 

"Oh?"

 

 

"Brassy-bleached hair, blood-red talons, and false eyelashes. A bit
too
done up for work, if you see what I mean."

 

 

"If she looked that unbusinesslike, it's no wonder he didn't want
her
to meet the clients."

 

 

"That wasn't the worst of it, though. She was called Sondra, and she
had friends in high places, if you take my meaning. There was a top
exec here once who worked under Mr. Rubin as his
protégé.
Mr. Pierce didn't hire Sondra, you see.

 

 

"I think I'm starting to.

 

 

"One day out of the blue, a work crew showed up and started
remodeling
this office, and put in the lavatory, sofa bed, and shower. The last
assistant had quit when she got married, and they had agreed not to
replace her for a while.

 

 

"But Sondra came barging in here one day while the work was going on
and announced that she was now going to be working here. The big
shot
upstairs confirmed it, though there hadn't been a word up until that
point. The boss was shocked, I can tell you."

 

 

"She sounds like she terrorized Mr. Pierce."

 

 

"Not really. They just stayed out of each other's way. I think he
put
her in her place pretty quickly. She did a lot of after-hours, er,
entertaining in here. She made lots of men friends, and others used
to
come to see her here after closing time."

 

 

"She sounds like some piece of work! So what happened to her in the
end?"

 

 

Sharon whispered, "After about eight months, according to a story
spread by the cleaning crew on the job when it happened, her
sponsor,
who had not only hired her but set her up in a Park Avenue
apartment,
got fed up with all the 'overtime' she was putting in.

 

 

"Upon checking with Mr. Pierce, asking him why he was working her so
hard, he found out that there had never been any overtime. And that
she
was terrible at her job, and Quentin wanted her out, the sooner the
better.

 

 

"That night her sugar daddy arrived at about seven when she was
supposed to be working overtime, and caught her red-handed and
bare-bottomed with a guy from the art department.

 

 

"That was the end of the job, the apartment, and the career. She was
out so fast, her head spun and I hear tell no one on the Eastern
seaboard will employ her now. So that's how Mr. Pierce got to hire
his
own assistant this time, you."

 

 

"That explains a lot," said Suzy. "I wondered why he never talks
about
her, and keeps his distance from me."

 

 

She shrugged one shoulder, and gathered up her cup and plate.
"Nothing
to talk about, well, nothing nice, anyway. He couldn't stand her.
Well,
I'd better get back to my desk. Mr. Pierce should be here soon. And
thanks again for yesterday. And the Danish and coffee now. I'll let
you
know if I hear from Jerry."

 

 

"You do that. And best of luck with it, really."

 

 

Sharon left and Suzanna got back to work. She heard Quentin come in
about ten minutes later and called to him through the open door, "I
have coffee and Danish here. Would you like some before you start
work?"

 

 

"I'd love it. Be with you in a minute."

 

 

When they were seated with their coffee and food, he said, "I had a
real hassle getting a cab this morning. That's why I'm so late."

 

 

"I was beginning to wonder. I thought maybe you took off for parts
unknown, rather than go on that location trip with me tonight."

 

 

He flashed her a smile. "You know better than that. I've been
looking
forward to it. We can continue the 'getting acquainted' process on
the
flight down too. I think yesterday took us quite a good long way
towards the answers we've both been looking for."

 

 

Quentin took a last bite of pastry, followed by a mouthful of coffee
and said, "That hit the spot. I didn't have time for breakfast this
morning."

 

 

"Neither did I, that's why I brought the pastry from home. Sharon
had
breakfast with me before you got here. This was my second coffee."

 

 

"Sharon is really good company."

 

 

"Yes she is."

 

 

"I'm glad that I got to meet her on a social basis. She seems a fine
person. I'm glad you're getting along. I used to feel somewhat sorry
for her. She doesn't seem to have any close friends here."