Romance: The Billionaire's Choice - Contemporary Romance (Romance, Contemporary Romance Book 1) (4 page)

Isabel ran down the stairs and into her studio. She tossed her bag down beside her desk and sat down. She opened up a massive portfolio labeled
designs
.

“Hey, Isabel,” Cara said. “What are you doing here?”

“Well, I’m working,” she replied.

Cara sighed. “Come on. You really don’t need to be here today,” she said. “Why don’t you go home?”

Isabel stared over at her blankly. “Why would I go home?” she asked.

Cara could feel the tension in the air. “You mentioned that you might spend a day at home,” she replied.

“Well, I don’t need to,” she said. “There’s no reason to be at home.”

“There really isn’t a reason to be here. Everything is ready to go. You have already looked over the clothes and seen the models. Now it’s just about last minute adjustments which the alteration team will be working on. We really are free for the next day or two,” she said.

“That doesn’t mean that it’s not worth being here,” Isabel replied. “There is always more to do.”

Cara walked over and put her hand on Isabel’s shoulder. “I just want you to take it easy,” she said quietly. “I know that you had a rough weekend.”

Isabel shrugged. “Yeah, so I don’t want to just sit at home and extend my weekend. I want to be here and get away from all of that.”

“I know,” she said. “But we could get out of here for the day. We’ll play hooky. It could be fun.”

“Yeah, I don’t know,” Isabel replied.

Cara smiled. “We could get out of here and go shopping. We’ll head down to the village and walk around. There are a few new boutiques that just opened up. Let’s go check them out. We’ll have a great day,” she said.

Isabel looked down at her desk. “That sounds fun,” she said.

“It does,” Cara replied as she began to walk away. “So, let’s get out of here. Let me grab my stuff.”

“Look, I really appreciate it. I know you just want to help me keep my mind off of the Andrew situation but that’s not what I need right now. I really just want to focus on work,” she said.

“I understand what you are saying but, really, that is all that we have been doing lately. Let’s get out. Let’s enjoy ourselves for once. We’ll get out today. And tonight! Let’s go out tonight and find a guy for you,” Cara said.

Isabel laughed. “You’re crazy,” she said.

“No, seriously. That is exactly what you need right now. So, we’ll go. You’ll find a new man who will take your mind off of all of this. Then you’ll fall in love and totally forget that last guy’s name,” she said.

“Those are some ambitious ideas,” Isabel said. “How about if we just focus on getting things done around here?”

Cara sighed.

“I stayed up late last night and made a new to-do list. I really have a lot on my mind and there are a million things that I want to get done around here,” she said.

“Alright. Let’s see this to-do list. What do you have in mind?” she asked.

“I think we need to get some more publicity. I know that we aren’t headlining the show but I want to get some more attention. We have worked so hard on this collection and I really think that this is the collection that is going to change everything,” she said.

“Indeed,” Cara replied. “I think that everything looks amazing.”

“So I want to go talk to some people. I think that we should chat with some bloggers and really get the word out,” she said.

Cara nodded. “Alright,” she said. “That sounds like a good idea.”

“Great, I am glad that you think so,” Isabel replied. “I actually already sent you over a list of fashion bloggers that I think that we should talk to.”

“Fantastic,” she said flatly.

“Well, let’s get to work then,” she said.

“Okay,” Cara said as she began to walk away.

Isabel turned away and opened up her laptop. Cara suddenly stopped and turned around.

“Actually, that reminds me,” she said. “I just met a media manager a couple of weeks back. He works with a lot of major publications and is in touch with some of the best fashion bloggers. You should talk to him.”

“Oh my God,” Isabel said. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

“We have been so busy! I have barely been able to get a shower in, say nothing of planning more publicity. I told him about the line and said that we’d get in touch,” she replied.

“Well, that really is great news. Do you think that he would meet with us?” she asked.

“Definitely. I asked him to send some people to the fashion show but, you know, maybe it would help if you actually stopped by his office and dropped off some VIP passes. He seemed interested at the time but I know that he is a really busy guy. It definitely wouldn’t hurt to get down there and remind him about the fashion now that it is so close to the time,” she said.

“You are brilliant. That’s a great idea,” Isabel replied.

“Thanks,” she said. “Why don’t you stop down at his office this afternoon? It’s only about 20 minutes away and maybe you can work off some of this nervous energy.”

She laughed. “You’re probably right. Why don’t you come along?” she asked.

“I have a few things that I want to get done here. You’re always the better representative anyway. Go down there and wow him,” Cara said. “It really not far away so you’ll be back in no time.”

“Alright,” she said. “It’s a plan.”

“Great,” Cara said as she pulled her phone from her pocket. “I’ll forward you the address right now. You’ve still got some VIP passes in your drawer.”

“Perfect,” she said as she reached for her bag. “I’m out of here then. Thanks!”

Cara smiled as she walked out the door. Isabel quickly made her way outside and into a cab. She rehearsed what she would say as she made her way through Manhattan. She looked down at her phone as she approached the office.

“Mr. Jenaeu,” she whispered nervously as she walked into the office.

She smiled to herself as she took in the ultra modern decor. She looked over at the reception desk and took a deep breath.

“Hi, I am here to see Mr. Jenaeu. My name is Isabel and I’m from Scarlet Design House,” she said.

“Do you have an appointment?” she asked.

“I don’t but I am just here to drop off some VIP passes that he wanted. It’ll only take a minute,” she replied.

The receptionist sighed as she reached down to pick up the phone. “I’ll see if he has time,” she said.

Isabel felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. She pulled it out as she waited for the receptionist. She saw a message from Cara and opened it.

“Did I mention that Mr. Jenaeu is single, gorgeous, and looking forward to meeting you? I told him you’d stop by after the fashion show chaos died down. Sorry! He really is a media manager though! Give him the VIP passes but don’t be surprised if we wants to give you some VIP treatment too ;)”.

“Ladies and gentlemen, we apologize for the delay. Welcome to New York City’s JFK Airport. Thank you for choosing to fly with us. We will be deboarding in about ten minutes. Please stay seated. You may now turn on your mobile phones,” the flight attendant said over the loudspeaker.

Andrew reached into his briefcase and pulled out his cell phone. He tapped his foot anxiously as he waited for it to turn back on. As soon as his phone was back on, he quickly typed a message.

“Back in NYC! San Francisco was amazing. It couldn’t have gone any better. Looking forward to seeing you. I should be back in town in about an hour so let’s meet up ASAP,” he wrote.

Andrew smiled as he waited in his seat. He was still clutching his phone when he heard it beep.

“That’s great news! So, San Francisco wants in?” the message read.

Andrew quickly started typing. “They do. They want to open an office even. The whole nine yards. They asked me to spend three months out there as they get everything setup. Looks like it’s finally time for me to learn how to surf!” he wrote.

He went online as soon as he sent the message. He searched “luxury apartment in San Francisco” and eagerly clicked on the first link that he saw. He was interrupted when a message popped up on his screen.

“Good work, Andy! This is a big deal. You are going to be the director and founder of the West Coast branch. Not only is that going to a massive boost for the charity but it’s also a serious career leap for you. We have to go celebrate! I’m a little starstruck actually. I was just reading about you in the news this morning,” the message said.

Andrew laughed. “What can I say? I am a big name philanthropist now. I’m so charitable that I’ll even spring for some tapas and beer for you if you can get out of the office in the next hour,” he wrote.

He stared at the phone as he waited for a reply.

“You better. I also read in the news that you just got a massive payday courtesy of your boys on Wall Street. I doubt we’d even make a dent in that wallet of yours if you bought an actual tapa bar. It’s been a seriously good month for you,” the message said.

“Oh stop, you are making me blush. Just get your ass downtown and we’ll see if I can spring for dessert. The rest of that is for the kids, remember?” he wrote.

Andrew heard the loud speaker click back on. “Thank you for your patience, ladies and gentlemen. We will now be deboarding. Could all of the passengers in first class please leave their towels with the flight attendant? Thank you for traveling with us today. We are pleased to welcome you to New York City and hope that you enjoy your stay,” the flight attendant said over the loudspeaker.

Andrew handed his towel to the flight attendant walking past his seat.

“Thank you, sir. Enjoy your time in New York City,” she said.

He smiled. “I most definitely will,” he said.

He reached into the overhead compartment above him and pulled down his bag. He quickly made his way to the exit and raced toward the gate. He slowed down when he heard his phone beep again.

‘Alright, same as always. Tapa bar on 8th Ave. See you in an hour,” the message said.

Andrew was just about to put his phone away when he heard it beep again. He looked down.

“Are you home? Call me!” the message read.

He stopped walking and looked pensively at the screen. He slowly dialed a number then lifted the phone to his ear.

“Hey babe,” a woman answered.

“Hi,” Andrew replied. “I just got in. Sorry, the flight was running a little bit behind schedule so I’m later than I expected to be.”

“Oh, don’t worry about it,” she said. “I am just glad that you are home.”

“Me too,” he said. “How is your day going? Busy at work?”

“Everything is fine here,” she said. “But, come on, don’t leave me in suspense. What happened in California?”

“It was great. The whole trip was just a massive success. I’ve been walking on cloud nine all day. They just emailed me right before my plane was about to take off so I hadn’t even gotten a chance to talk to anyone about it until now. I’m just on my way now to meet with Seth, in fact. We are going to grab a late lunch and go over all of the details of the plan,” he said.

“That is fantastic. I am so proud of you. See? What did I tell you? You totally blew them away. There was nothing to be nervous about,” she said.

“Indeed. You were right,” he said. “Thanks for letting me run my pitch past you a thousand and one times before I left.”

She laughed. “Not a problem,” she said. “Anytime.”

Andrew laughed. “Hopefully not again anytime soon,” he said. 

“Well, so does this mean what I think that it mean?” she asked. “What is the next step?”

He paused. “Yeah, that conversation wasn’t a big surprise. They do want me to come back out there,” he said. “And soon.”

“For how long?” she asked.

“Well, they want me to commit to a minimum of three months,” he said.

“A minimum?” she repeated.

“Yeah,” he said. “Basically that is the minimum time but I need to follow through on whatever we organize so if three months isn’t enough time, I will need to stay longer.”

“I see,” she said.

Andrew sighed. “It’s just really hard to say at this point. You know, everything is so new. We have all agreed upon what we want to do but it’s impossible to say exactly how long that will take until we all get together over there and start going through the logistics of it step by step,” he said.

She didn’t respond.

“Look, I know that we have a lot to talk about so maybe we should just wait until tonight,” he said. “I’ve really missed you. I made reservations for us tonight at that new sushi place that you’ve been wanting to check out.”

“Oh, that sounds great,” she said. “I can’t wait to see you.”

“Me too,” he replied. “Well, I should be getting on my way. I need to call my driver and let him know that I’m here.”

“Okay,” she said “But, wait, just one more thing. I have some good news too.”

“Nice. What’s that?” he asked.

“I was talking things over with a few of my colleagues and it looks like I could arrange to work remotely. So, if I decided to spend some more time over there with you, I could. Indefinitely,” she said.

“Wow,” he replied.

“Yeah, I know,” she said. “It’s a lot to process but I just wanted to let you know so you have some time to digest everything. We can talk about it all tonight. I know that it’s a big decision and I haven’t decided on anything without but I just thought I would look into it so that we know all of our options.”

“Definitely, that’s great. Good idea,” he said.

“Okay, so I’ll see you tonight and we will talk everything over then,” she said.

“Until tonight,” he replied. “See you soon.”