Road to Casablanca (5 page)

Cindy’s jaw dropped and
Victoria
hopped up and down in her seat.

“She’ll do it!
 
She’ll do it!”

The Amazon ignored the giddy blonde and stared at Cindy, who looked down at the picture on the table and hoped no one saw her legs shaking.

“Cindy?
 
Are you available this weekend?”

“She’s free!
 
She’s free!”

“Cindy?
 
You will be home on the following Sunday so you will only have to take five days off of work.
 
Will that be a problem?”

Cindy was speechless, although her head was filled with a thousand questions.
 
How will I do this? What will my family think?
 
What if I can’t fly?
 
What if he hates me?

Although she was momentarily gripped by fear, Cindy recalled the feeling of loneliness she had only yesterday as she envied all the happily involved people in her office and wished she was one of them.
 
How can I
not
do this?
 
What if this is my only chance at finding true love?

“Okay.”

“What?
 
What did you say?”

“She said ‘okay.’”

Diana Lovemore shot
Victoria
a silencing glance, then turned back to Cindy, who raised her whisper to a more audible level.

“Okay.
 
I’ll do it.”

“Wonderful! Do you have a passport?”

Cindy shook her head.
Maybe now, I won’t have to go...

“That’s fine. Just fill out this form and if I can use the photo you sent in, we’ll have it back to you by Thursday. I’ll also need you to fill out these…”

Cindy, soon surrounded by a stack of paperwork, felt a rush of excitement come over her that increased with every blank she filled in.
 

Finally, Lovemore gave
Victoria
what she had wanted all morning: attention.

“Can you take her to the airport?”

“Yes, and I can also….”

“Fine.”

Lovemore gathered up the paperwork and wasted no time in saying goodbye.

“Cindy, you’ve made an incredibly wise decision for your future and I hope you know how pleased I am to serve you.”

Cindy shook Diana Lovemore’s icy fingers and smiled, watching her walk toward the escalator, where she was supposedly rushing to catch the next flight back to
Los Angeles
.

“You sure are important today, Miss Cindy.
 
How does it feel to be the center of attention for once?”

“Not bad, actually.
 
Not bad at all.”

Back at the office, Cindy was shocked to see her boss standing outside her cracked office door, a piece of printed computer paper in his hand and a rather stern look on his face.

“Cindy?”

“Yes?”

“I was looking for you and the file you prepared for tomorrow’s hearing when I found this.”

Cindy tried to hide her shock as she looked at the copy of the letter she printed out for
Victoria
.
 
I thought she said nobody would ever see this.
 
I’m going to kill her!

“Uh…yes.
 
I’m glad you brought that up, actually. It looks like I’m going to need next week off.”

Chapter Four

Erick stared out his office window watching the sunset over the stunning
San Fernando Valley
.

 
Gritting his teeth and clenching his fist around the telephone receiver still in its cradle, Erick snapped it up the split second it rang.
 

“Redmund.”

“Mr. Redmund, we need to leave in just a few minutes if you’re going to make it to the airport on time.”

Erick’s stomach sank as he heard the comfortingly familiar voice of his long-time assistant.
 
Why hadn’t Lovemore called yet?

“Yes, Gloria, I realize that.”

“I just wanted to remind you…”

“You were able to get my plane booked, correct?”

“Yes, sir, of course.”

“Excellent.”

 
“Do you want me to send for the car?”

“Give it another fifteen minutes, okay?”

“Yes sir.”

“And Gloria?”
           
“Yes?”

“As soon as that call comes through….”

“I understand and I will buzz you right away.”

“Thanks.
 
Did you get the proposals ready?”

“Yesterday.”

“Good, and they’re packed?”

“All packed.”

“Very good. Thanks.”

“My pleasure, sir. Anything else?”

“No, just keep me posted.”

“Will do.”

He began to pace in front of the view, finally parking himself in front of his wet bar, where he helped himself to a much-needed scotch on the rocks.
 
If this doesn’t come though, it could ruin the whole deal.

Scotch in hand, he took a long, slow sip, allowing the burning sensation to wash completely through his gullet and settle in the pit of his stomach where it finally began to ease his tension.
 
At this point, and on such short notice, Diana Lovemore was the only person he knew of who could help alleviate his anxiety.
 

But where was she?

The phone rang again and Erick ran to grab it.

“Yes?”

“Gloria here.”

“Is she on the line?”

“No, sir, I wanted to come in and go over your itinerary one last time before I call the driver, if that’s okay.”

“Of course, but get Lovemore Agency on the line first, will you?”
           
“I already called not even a minute ago.
 
They said she still hasn’t come in yet.
 
I’ll be sure to tell you when….”

“Okay. Come on in and let’s go ahead and get those details finalized.”

Erick pulled a check from his top desk drawer and handed it to Gloria as soon as she walked in to the office.
 

“Oh, my!
 
What is this for?”

“You’ll be handling many things while I’m away, and I wanted you to have a little something extra.
 
A sort of thank you in advance.”

“Mr. Redmund, I couldn’t…”

“Yes, you could.”

Erick watched her blush slightly and tuck the check neatly in the pocket of her suit jacket, which pleased him.
 
The affairs he was about to engage in required the utmost secrecy and discretion and he wanted to guarantee that from his long-time assistant. Although she had never given him any reason to doubt her or her integrity, a little something extra surely wouldn’t hurt.

“Here is a copy of your itinerary.
 
Just let me know if it changes.
 
Here is your passport, and a list of meetings you have scheduled for next week.”

“I won’t be back until the middle of next week.”

“Yes, sir, I scheduled everything for Thursday and Friday.”

“Thank you.
 
Then I guess that’s all for now, other than my phone call.”

Gloria turned to go, a concerned look on her face.

“I know you wanted to wait, but I need to call the driver now if he’s going to make it on time.”

Erick nodded and felt his jaw tighten again.
 

“Go ahead, and close the door behind you.”

Erick tipped back his scotch and was on his way to grab a second when the office door suddenly burst open.

“Dad? What are you doing here?”

“I’m here to talk about this.” Forrest Redmund slapped the latest issue of the
National Enquirer
down on Erick’s desk.
 

“The
National Enquirer
?
 
What does that have to do with me?”

“Take a closer look, son.”

Erick picked it up, amazed to see he made the front cover and even more stunned by the headline:
 

Millionaire Playboy Beds Porn Star at Local Love Nest

Erick laughed heartily and handed the paper back to his father, who looked at him through squinted eyes, his mouth turned down in a frown Erick recalled from childhood and which had lost its menacing effect long ago.

“Dad, you don’t believe everything you read in these rags, do you?”

Erick poured himself a drink and offered another to his father, who pushed it away.

“I don’t want that, Erick.
 
What I want is for you to clean up your act.”

“Dad, Candy is not a porn star.
 
She’s a model.
 
Big difference.
 
Besides, we’re just friends.”

“I don’t care what you are or who the little bimbo is, Erick! What I do care about is the future of the company I built with my bare hands and the dozens of calls I’ve received since board members saw the brazen byproducts of your latest exploits while waiting in line at their local grocery stores!”

“Dad….”
           
“Erick!
 
I want you to get rid of these bimbos and find yourself a decent woman, do you understand?”

“You can’t make me…”

“I can disinherit you.”

Erick looked at the man who raised him with disgust and wondered how they could possibly be related.

“You’ve got to be kidding.
 
What has gotten into you, Dad?”

The phone rang and Erick raced to pick it up before his father could reply.

“Redmund.”

“I have Ms. Diana Lovemore on the line, sir.”

“Thanks, Gloria, put her through.”

Erick motioned for his father to take a seat, happy to see the old man obey.