Finding Lily

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‘Excellent. You’ll be needing some extra rest.’ He winked. ‘I’m looking forward to lunch. Hungry already.’

‘Got it.’ I winked back. ‘See you soon.’

‘See you soon …’ He cupped his ear.

‘See you soon, Mr Holder, sir.’

‘Yes, you will, Lily Dewitt. Be on time.’

With that, he left me, and – always the obedient girl – I closed my eyes and drifted off.

CHAPTER 9 (#ulink_973120ee-c5b7-5a1d-b710-e726d86a5f0b)

Meeting of the Minds (#ulink_973120ee-c5b7-5a1d-b710-e726d86a5f0b)

So I was surprised to find Joey Danforth, the too-cute-for-his-own-good ratfink, sitting at Beatrice Collins’s old desk. Was he the new assistant to Mr Holder?

‘Ms Dewitt,’ he said, not looking up from his computer. ‘Have a seat.’

Would that I could.

‘I’d rather stand,’ I replied.

Fact is, I was totally beat, even with a bit of extra shut-eye. My dance lesson with Dr Marly Gheiszler stole the rest of my energy – we only did barre exercises, but I was still so bushed from the Dorian Sex-A-Thon that she just about broke me. All I wanted to do was flop down on the waiting-room couch, leaf through a magazine and conk out for another couple hours. Had it only been a few days ago when I was in this same room, waiting for my first one-on-one with Mr Holder?

It felt like a lifetime ago. Dorian Holder fucked away my entire sense of time and reality.

Dude was intense, I’ll give him that.

Though I was dying for even a whiff of gossip, and knew from experience that Joey Danforth held all the cards, I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of asking what I’d missed since Monday. Instead, I said, ‘So why don’t you page me in, Joey?’

This time he deigned to look up at me, and his eyes widened.

‘Sorry, is something wrong?’ I asked, though from the way he took in my entire appearance, head to toe and back, I knew damn well what was wrong. My killer new makeover, that’s what was wrong. I had bothered to do my whole hair blow-out, smoky eyes, sexy yet professional grey Chanel suit and my So Kate silver Louboutin pumps. ‘I believe Mr Holder and I have a noontime conference scheduled. Check your notes.’

Ooh. I was loving this new side of me, an act I’d more or less stolen from Beatrice Collins. That’s what happens when you get my best friend fired, douchebag, I thought. Meet Lily Dewitt, Bitch Princess of Agassiz Street and Switched Mistress of Sir Dorian Holder.

Yes, I still was mad at Joey Danforth for throwing Gwen under the proverbial bus. Though she had given me the gal-pal break-up speech on Tuesday and continued avoiding my calls and emails, I hadn’t given up on her as my bosom friend. Not yet.

Besides, how reasonable was it for Gwen to be pissed at me for losing her job? In all fairness to Dorian, she did show up to the office drunk after her last warning, but it was Joey who fucked her over in every sense of the word. Dorian and I would never see eye to eye on his favourite mole, and we had an unspoken agreement not to refer to him.

Joey picked up the phone, mumbled a few words, hung up and looked at me. ‘Mr Holder will see you now.’

‘Excellent,’ I said, and strutted into my boss’s office.

* * *

‘Ah, Ms Dewitt,’ said Dorian, as I closed the door behind me. Like Joey Danforth, he did not look up from the papers on his desk. ‘Have a seat.’

Oh, is this how it’s going to be? Fine and dandy. Two can play that game, and the results would be sexually spectacular, sure.

‘Hello, Mr Holder,’ I replied. I perched on the leather couch and crossed my legs primly. Ouch. ‘Have you had time to look over my notes?’

‘Indeed,’ he said, rose to his feet, and towered over his ostentatious mahogany desk. ‘Can I fix you a drink? It’s five o’clock somewhere.’

‘No, thank you. But don’t let me stop you from imbibing, Mr Holder.’

‘Don’t be cheeky, Ms Dewitt. Believe me, you couldn’t stop me doing anything, no matter how hard you tried.’ He crossed the room in four easy strides and poured himself a scotch, neat.

‘You may call me Lily.’ It was then that I noticed the once empty vase on the glass coffee table was full of brilliant orange tiger lilies.

‘Excellent.’ He sat down on the leather chair diagonally from me, and took a sip. ‘Lily, I’m most impressed with the brainstorming you’ve done today with the writers. Even if your little fingers have been poking into other departments’ pies.’

He waited for this to sink in. Though I knew we were role-playing, a ripple of anxiety – and arousal – made me shiver. ‘How do you mean?’

‘You know very well what I mean.’ He waved his hand in the air. ‘Yes, Apollyon will be more humanitarian, greener and more progressive. This flop of a fitness company is stuck so far back in the early noughties that it’s a miracle you haven’t folded yet. As I mentioned in the conference room this morning, Holder Enterprises, your parent company, has no tolerance for losers. We like to win. Scratch that, we always win. Your thoughts?’

‘Always a fine approach to both life and business,’ I said, nodding, and was startled by the smooth confidence in my voice. ‘Continue, please, Mr Holder.’

‘Very good. Apollyon will be merging with Pahaad Incorporated, who, as you surely know, drove Gaim into the ground. As an aside, they were the ones who leaked the Rodney Yee scandal to the press. Alex Palincort knows how to play dirty and still come up smelling like incense and aromatherapeutic candles. Holder Enterprises bought them a month ago. Alex will be replacing Mr Colossimo after I’m through cleaning house here.’ He gestured grandly toward the floor-to-ceiling windows, as though he were speaking of repopulating the city itself. ‘Since Pahaad is a Canadian company, the merger will save Holder Enterprises over seven billion per year in taxes. Shady, yet cost-effective.’

‘Shady, indeed.’

‘If you would keep this discussion private, I’d be most appreciative.’

‘Vaulted,’ I said. ‘Mr Holder.’

‘You may call me Dorian.’

‘Dorian.’

‘Since your primary confidantes Ms Schneider and Mr Tanaka are no longer part of this company, I expect there’s no one else with whom you’d be sharing this information at the water cooler, anyway. Correct?’

‘Well—’

‘Any questions thus far, Ms Dewitt?’

‘Yes,’ I said, managing to keep my voice low. ‘You mean you fired Jay-Jay, too? He’s one of the best copy writers we’ve got.’

‘Mr Tanaka has chosen to leave Apollyon. His decision. And a wise one, I might add. Any other questions?’

‘Lots.’

‘Fire away.’

‘How did you know who I was at that initial meeting Monday? You addressed me before anyone else, by name.’

‘The night before I arrived at the office, I looked through all employee profiles. Yours caught my attention. Not just your naughty librarian photo, but when I looked over all you had – and hadn’t – done it became clear that you were not being utilised to your full potential.’

‘I thought you were busy having sex with some surfer chick in a VW bus that night.’

‘Not appropriate, Lily.’

‘I apologise, sir.’

‘Then, who should I see on the train but someone who looked a lot like the girl in the photo, staring at me in a rather bold manner for such a mousy-looking thing. Upon reaching the office, I scrolled through the photos and saw that you were indeed Lily Dewitt, who had not only inherited the copywriting department but was coming up with marketing techniques that went far beyond her role at the company.’ Dorian took a thoughtful sip of scotch, then set it down on the table. He steepled his fingers and added, ‘Furthermore, your colleagues were taking credit for your ideas, and you rolled over and allowed them to do so. I had to push you.’

‘You had to, or you wanted to?’ Not sure at what point I had started to tingle with arousal, but the buzz below my navel was increasing in energy and excitement.

‘In my world, there is no difference.’ His eyes narrowed. ‘Any further questions?’

‘What’s up with the model train?’ I pointed to the antique train set, which had its own shelf running the periphery of his office. ‘And can I push the button this time, so I can watch it go?’

‘When I was a kid, I always wanted a Lionel train for Christmas. Never got one.’

‘Aw. Poor thing.’

‘Lily.’ Dorian’s eyes tightened. ‘You know nothing of my past, and shouldn’t make a mockery. No, you may not run my train set. Next question?’

‘So the new company is going to be Apollyon-Pahaad?’

‘No. That’s clumsy. We’re going to be Yoni. New image for both companies means new name.’ He paused. ‘Why are you looking at me like that?’

‘Uhm … did you guys consider Apoll-yoni instead?’

‘That sounds like Macaroni. We’re going to just be Yoni. I like it. Al likes it.’

‘If you want to keep our male consumers, maybe something less vaginal-sounding would be a better idea. Like … Koyal.’

‘Koyal. No idea what that means, but I like the ring of it. Sounds like a play on “customer loyalty”. He scribbled a quick note. ‘Next question.’

‘Koyal means “nightingale.”’ Don’t ask me how I know this. ‘Whereas Yoni is a vagina.’

‘I know from yoni, Ms Dewitt.’

‘You surrrrre do.’

‘Inappropriate.’

‘On my list of notes, you saw that I suggested we carry our own brand of herbal supplements. Is that something you’re considering?’ Without waiting for a reply, I added, ‘Because I was thinking later that some kind of healthy protein bars might be another side product to work in.’