BOMBSHELL (5 page)

“You sound like him. Did he tell you to say that?”

“No, I know his work. Remember, I get paid to keep up on any and everything. Especially billionaires like J. Kelly.”

“Elliot, look. Today, he and I met up for lunch. He told me about his business proposal and I told him I’d think about it. Then he showed me his offices, where the marketing department was located, his personal office and then his penthouse on the 40
th
floor. One thing led to another, and I was dry humping him, while sitting on his kitchen island and he was already at second base. I pushed him off of me and basically ran to his ‘personal’ elevator. So, I said all of that to say, this isn’t going to work.”

“HOT DAMN!” he exclaimed.

“Yeah, exactly!”

“Woman, are you crazy?”

“Apparently, I am.”

I started pacing around the floor. I couldn’t believe he would call Elliot and tell him about the deal. What an arrogant, asshole. Trying to pressure me from the people closest to me to get his way.

“Sam,” Elliot sounded exasperated. “What the fuck is wrong with you? Joshua Kelly is single and he’s interested in you. You saw the penthouse? He doesn’t take women to the penthouse, he uses his hotel. He wants to give you this deal and I guess he thought you weren’t thinking clearly, so he called me, your business conscience and seriously, babe, he’s right.”

I sighed.

“You may not want to explore the sexual side of things with him, but you damn sure better explore the business side,” he continued.

“But Elliot, you know my situation. Imagine if I had to disclose that sort of information to him? I couldn’t handle that. Let alone work for him. It’s just too risky.”

“Then don’t explore the sexual side. Keep it strictly business.”

“I tried. That was supposed to be today and man, I’m telling you, he doesn’t take no for an answer. He’s very persuasive and a damn alpha if I’ve ever seen one. S-e-x-y as hell!” I sighed, “And he was so big and …”

“Uh,” he interrupted me, “this is where I’m going to have to stop you. The Samantha Wilde I know, knows how to handle difficult men. Has this man gotten past your defenses?”

Shit. I hadn’t thought about it like that. I’d like to say no, but the way I damn near jumped him in the elevator, I’d have to say he definitely breached security and was on the premises. Shit, Elliot’s right. I’ve never let my desires get in the way of business. Never.

“No, you are right. We will take this on, but you broker the deal. We’ll figure out compensation for you, but I don’t want to deal with him personally.”

“What, you are running from a challenge? I don’t believe it.”

“I’m not running, I’m using my resources to create the best possible outcome.”

“Alright, but I’m not sure he’ll go for that. If he doesn’t, is the deal off? If you dare say yes, I’ll send him to ‘the dunce.’”

I gasped, “You wouldn’t!”

“Say the deal is off and I damn sure will.”

“You’re a traitor to the cause.”

“I’m your business conscience. Babe, deal of a lifetime. Take it.”

“Fine, but tell him first that you will broker it and then if he says no, revise.”

“Do you want me to pass any more notes to your soon-to-be-lover?” He laughed.

“Haha, fuck you.” I hung up on him.

That crazy ass man will call bullshit to Elliot brokering the deal.

Son of a bitch!

SAMANTHA:

How I went to sleep last night is beyond me. Maybe from all the laundry, cleaning and worrying about how I would deal with Mr. Kelly. I couldn’t have one of my employees be our go-between, because that’s disrespectful for the CEO and Founder of such a huge corporation to deal with my Vice-President. I’m not into titles and all that, but I’d also not like to put my Vice-President in the same room with that man, because he’d eat her alive. She was already mousy and he would pick up on her fear, just like he picked up on mine. Ugh.

Sunday was a new day, in which I planned to finish my eBook. I made breakfast for myself that consisted of eggs, waffles, and bacon. As I took a bite of the crispy bacon, my phone buzzed with a text from Elliot:

J. Kelly has agreed,
but will only deal with you.
He actually told me to tell
you, he calls bullshit to my
being the broker.

Samantha:

Thanks, I figured as much.

Elliot:

Deal of a lifetime, put
on your big-girl panties
and ante up.

Samantha:

Yes, I’m spending the
day to find them and
put them on.

Elliot:

Need some help?

Samantha:

Naw, just need ‘me time’

Elliot:

Gotcha, let me know
if you need company.
Always here 4 you

Samantha:

I know, thanks!

Shit
.

Well, I better spend some of my day gathering my game plan on how to deal with this man. I’m sure he would contact me soon, now that the deal is going through. We’ll have to negotiate. I’ll bring my Vice-President and Consultant along when we meet. I’m sure he’ll have others as well. Okay, that is the plan, always have somebody with me when I speak with him. Never go to his personal office or Penthouse again. Oh, and never get in the elevator with him alone again. Well, that settles that. Now the implementation of this will be the hardest. I’m going to have to be a force to be reckoned with, if I planned to survive the next few months.

I checked my email on my phone and there wasn’t anything glaring or issues that I needed to attend to immediately, so I finished eating my breakfast and curled up in my bed to read my eBook. Xena had fled the country and Xavier was about to go crazy without her. I could so understand her plight. Xavier was an alpha, but leaving the country was a bit dramatic. In her defense, it was planned, but still. This book was good!

An hour later, someone knocked on my door. I figured it was Jehovah Witnesses again, so I didn’t bother to move or acknowledge that I was home. They continued to knock for five minutes, so I went to look out the peephole, but I didn’t see anybody. I opened the door and there was a young man, holding a brown outer-office envelope. He had a courier’s bag, but who delivers business documents on a Sunday?

“Are you Samantha Wilde?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“I need your signature here.”

“What is this for?” I made no attempt to go for the envelope. They could be summoning me to court or something.

“I’m not sure ma’am, it’s from Kelly International,” he replied.

I sighed, took the package and signed the pad he extended to me. Why in the world would he have someone deliver something to me on Sunday, which could wait until I got to work on Monday? Working for this man was going to be a nightmare.

The package contained the contract, the terms and agreements, a non-disclosure and a hand-written note. It read,

Roadrunner,

I hope you are enjoying your Sunday. I’m glad that you decided to take the leap, I have no doubts your company will do more than excel. Please see the attached contracts and agreements. Go through them, sign and call the number below, so the courier can pick them back up. I look forward to seeing you on Monday.

JKelly

Monday, what is this man talking about? I started to read through the contract. He wanted S&W to work on this project full-time for 40 business days. There was no way that could happen, because we have other clients, engagements, deadlines. He’s such an asshole! I will not be bullied and I damn sure won’t ‘hike my skirt up and put on lipstick to kiss nobody’s shoes.’  I started drafting him an email, because I was not going to call him and I’d cc Elliot, so he didn’t have to go behind my back and talk with him.

To
: [email protected]
CC:
[email protected]
From
: [email protected]
Date
: December 10, 2014 2:34PM
Subject
: Contract/Opportunity

Dear Mr. Kelly,

Thank you again for this opportunity, I really appreciate you looking into S&W. We strive to make a good impression on potential customers, so I’m glad that our reputation speaks for us.

Unfortunately, we will not be able to partner with you on this particular project. I have signed the non-disclosure agreement, so there will be no sharing of information, however after reading over the contract, we cannot meet the terms. Specifically, working for 40 days on a full-time basis. We are still a small company, and we have prior engagements and other clients, and as I mentioned before, our reputation is our biggest asset. 

I have taken the liberty to suggest several other companies that would work well for this project.

• Lee & Company
  
• Multimedia Specialist, Inc.
  
• Jackson’s Media, Inc.
  

They are all good and will provide you and your team with everything you need.

Thanks again and good luck in your endeavor.

Samantha K. Wilde

That should do it. Straight to the point and with professional tact. Two minutes later, my phone buzzed with a message from Elliot:

What the fuck?

I didn’t even respond, because really I didn’t have the energy to get into it with him. I put my phone on ‘do not disturb’ mode, so I wouldn’t get harassed about that email. I kept on reading my book until I drifted off to sleep. I woke up with a jerk and focused to see the clock. 11:00 PM. Wow, I slept a long time.

I put my phone on the normal setting and was bombarded by all the messages, emails and texts that started to come in at the same time. Three voicemails, five texts, and twenty emails. The only email I wanted to see was from Mr. Kelly. It read:

To
: [email protected]
CC:
[email protected]
From
: [email protected]
Date
: December 10, 2014 @ 2:53PM
Subject
: Re: Contract/Opportunity

See you on Monday, Ms. Wilde.

JKelly

----

To
: [email protected]
CC:
From
: [email protected]
Date
: December 10, 2014 @ 2:59PM
Subject
: Re: Contract/Opportunity

You’re in trouble now. LMAO

EL

What!

I was not going to respond, because if he was delusional to think that I was going to his office on Monday, he’s more cracked than I thought. On that note, I laid back down and went to sleep. Monday was a new day.

******

I was meeting with the Vice-President, our assistant and media specialist about our next steps as a company and how we needed to map them out over the next few months. Halfway through our meeting, someone barged in the door before knocking and then our intern came running in after the intruder. I looked up to see it’s none other than Mr. J. Kelly in the flesh. Our intern looked scared, I don’t know if it’s because he’s more afraid of my reaction that we were interrupted or more afraid of the man who completely disregarded his presence and just walked in my office.

“Mr. Kelly, we are in a meeting,” I said calmly.

“Yes, I see that. My apologies ladies and gentlemen, I just need to speak with Ms. Wilde a moment.” He smiled at everyone and the women gushed, while the men sized him up. The men being the media specialist and intern.

“Sorry, you’ll need to set an appointment, we are in a meeting.” I replied politely again.

“This won’t take long,” he calmly smiled back, not taking no for an answer.

“Mr. Kelly, I wouldn’t dare barge into a meeting of yours and highjack it, so I don’t appreciate you coming to my place of work and attempting to do it here. It’s unprofessional and for you to be a businessman yourself, and a shrewd one at that, I’d expect you to have some more courtesy.”

Vicki, my vice-president, loudly choked. Everyone else looked back and forth between us, like they were getting ready to see a fight. Which they were.

“Ms. Wilde, as one business person to another, I’d think that you would be savvier about how business is done on this level,” he points to himself. “Oh, but wait, you refused to come to this level.”

NO HE DID NOT.

At that, Vicki started ushering people out. She knew I was about to blow.

“How dare you come to my office and speak to me like that in front of my employees?” I screamed and before I realized it, I was walking towards him.

“Would you prefer that I speak to you like that in private, road runner?” He had a damn smirk on his face.

I was starting to see red. Vicki had everyone out the door, but it wouldn’t have mattered, because that was it.

“Fuck you, Mr. Kelly,” I yelled in his face. “Of all the arrogant things you could do or even say.”

He smirked again.

“Get out,” I screamed.

“Make me.” He licked his fucking lips.

Dammit, I was going to try. I put both hands on his chest and pushed him as hard as I could. He was prepared for my move, because he didn’t even budge. He grabbed me by my arms and pulled me to him. I gasped and he went in for the kill.