Delusional Love (2nd Edition) (4 page)

“No,
that’s okay, if she doesn’t work here anymore I don’t want to contact her.”

“Oh
sweetie, it’s okay, she and Mr. Quinn were very close and I have called her on
several occasions when Mr. Quinn was being, huh, let’s just say, difficult. She
worked for him for several years and knows how to deal with him better than
anyone I’ve ever seen.”

Those
were Betty’s parting words as she went to lunch.
 
Stephanie sat at her desk and thought
about it. “What the hell, I guess it can’t hurt.” She picked up the phone and
after a long conversation with Bridget, Stephanie was feeling better about
completing her assignments.
 
She got
to work and after completing all the assignments, she pulled out the sandwich
she bought for lunch.

Bridget
told her where to locate a file that would give her all the background
information on the company, giving her a better understanding of who she was
working for. She got up to return the file to the filing cabinet when the file
slipped out of her hand and papers scattered all on the floor.
 
As she bent over to retrieve the papers,
Mr. Ivan Quinn walked in.

----------

As
Ivan rounded Betty’s empty desk, he retrieved his messages from his message
bin. He entered the inner office, looked over to see if the new assistant was
there and saw a very curvaceous bottom half of a woman bent over, picking up
scattered papers. He cleared his throat, which caused Stephanie to quickly spin
around still bent over. Ivan’s first look into the face of this woman caused
his breath to hitch. She was breathtakingly beautiful with the most striking
hazel eyes. Her skin was the color of caramel, smooth and flawless. Stephanie
stood upright and he was able to take in the entire package.
 
She wasn’t a skinny woman, but had one
of the most curvaceous bodies he had ever seen attached to an amazing set of legs.

“Hi.
May I help you?”
 
Stephanie asked.
She was a little taken back by the gorgeous man that stood in front of her,
even through the suit, she could see he had a muscular frame. He had a squared
off chin and piercing green eyes that seem to glow. She felt her body tingle as
she looked into his amazing eyes.

“Yes,
you can help me by showing me where you are with the assignment I left for you
to complete.” He turned away without another word and headed into his office
closing the door behind him.
‘Okay,
fantasy is over. That went well. The first time I see my new boss, he gets a
clear view of my ass.’

Ivan
stared out the window as he tried to get his breathing under control. Never in
his entire life had the sight of a woman affected him that way and he had been
around some of the most beautiful women in the world. Hell, he bedded some of
the most beautiful women in the world. So why was this woman affecting him like
he was some goddamn teenager with his first crush. He sat at his desk and took
a deep breath and waited for his new assistant to enter.

Stephanie
gathered her assignments as she thought about her first interaction with her
new boss.
‘This is going to be
interesting. He did not even introduce himself.
 
I didn’t expect him to be warm and
fuzzy, but he could have at least introduced himself “Hi I’m Ivan Quinn and I
will be your tormentor for the next several months”. Would that have been so
difficult?’
She thought as she knocked on his door.

“Come!”
Was the only response she
received.
She entered the
office
,
 
it
 
was similar in style to the partners at
her previous job. It had a beautiful view of the city’s skyline.

“Have
a seat.
 
You are?” Ivan said.

‘That’s it, he has one more time to treat me
rudely and we are going to have a heart to heart,’
Stephanie thought. “My name
is Stephanie Young and I was assigned to your firm by Robinson Associates.” She
handed him her completed assignments and watched as he reviewed her reports.
‘Bri is going to owe me big.’
 
Ivan reviewed the reports fully
expecting to have major corrections, because to date, he had not had a good
track record with that agency. His plan was to have human resources look into
hiring a new temp agency. He was pleasantly surprised to find that she had done
the reports exactly the way he wanted them.

He
had to admit that the formatting and style was impressive. He looked up from
the reports,

“Okay,
you’re done for today. There will be assignments placed on your desk in the
morning with timelines and expectations.” He immediately picked up a folder
from his desk and turned his chair towards the window.

‘Did he just dismiss me?’
Stephanie
thought as she tried to control her temper.

“Thank
you, uh…Mr. Quinn. And I assume that's who you are considering we were never
officially introduced. I just wanted to thank you for this opportunity and ask
that since this is my first day
‘and
hopefully not my last.’
I was hoping I could get some type of feedback,
verbal or written so that I know that I am completing the work to your
satisfaction, instead of getting a call from the agency telling me not to show
up again.” She gave him a smile that did not reach her eyes, turned on her
heels and walked towards the door “Have a good evening, Mr. Uh, Quinn,” Again
emphasizing the point that he neglected to introduce himself. A faint smile
formed on his face as she shut the door.

“That
went well,” she said softly and gathered her belongs.

Stephanie
walked into her condo, shuffled through her mail and hit the button on the
answering machine to retrieve her messages. There were a few from telemarketers
and one from Brianna asking her to call when she got home.
 
She was interested in how the day went.

“Oh
Bri, I may have blown this for you,” she said while tossing her mail in her
mail bin. She went to her kitchen poured
herself
a glass
of wine and prepared to take a long soak in tub.

----------

Ivan
sat at his desk rereading the same paragraph of the report. He could not get
his new assistant out of his mind.
‘She’s
so strictly beautiful. And those eyes! She has the most amazing hazel eyes.’
He could still faintly smell her intoxicatingly soft flowery scent.
 
Still in deep thought, he felt his phone
vibrate in his pocket.

“Yes.”

“Hey
baby, are we meeting for dinner?” Ashley asked. Ivan really did not feel like
dealing with her tonight. “No, I have to work late. I will call you tomorrow.”
“Please Ivan, I really need to discuss something with you,” she pleaded.
 
He let out a frustrated sigh.
‘I really need to end this.’

“Okay,
I will meet you at
Salandros
.” He said with
irritation in his voice.

“Good,
I will meet you there at eight o’clock.” She squealed.
 
Ashley hung up the phone; her plan was
already in motion to get Ivan to marry her. If everything went as planned, she
would have a ring really soon. Ashley turned around to face her best friend
Samantha Marino.

“I
don’t know Ash, all this plotting to get a man to marry you will backfire.
 
I think you should be straight with him
and tell him directly that you want to move your relationship to the next level
with a commitment, but be ready to walk away if he is not willing to commit.
You are a beautiful person inside and out and deserve someone who will love you
completely and not subject you to some screwed up arrangement that has you at
his beck and call.”

“I don’t
want anyone else, I want and will get Ivan.” Ashley said slightly irritated
with her friend. “I know he loves me and just needs a little push to make him
admit it to himself.”

“I
don’t know Ashley. I don’t want to see you get hurt like your last relationship
and how badly it ended, you were an emotional wreck for months.”

“This
is different Sam, why can’t you just be happy for me
;;
I don’t need another one of your lectures.”

Ashley
loved her best friend but sometimes she could be so judgmental and irritating.

“Well,
I have to go home and get ready for my date. I will call you later. Wish me
luck.” Ashley said as she sashayed out of Samantha’s apartment.

“I
hope you know what you are doing and good luck”. Samantha was really worried
about her friend. ‘I hope she knows what she’s doing.
 
Her last relationship ended so badly
that I didn’t think she would recover emotionally, but she came through really
strong. I really don’t want to see her heading down that road again.’

---------

Ashley
walked into the restaurant fifteen minutes late. She wanted to make sure Ivan
was there so she could make a grand entrance like she always did, but tonight
was different so she really needed to blow Ivan away with her appearance. As
usual Ashley turned almost every head as she walked through the restaurant. She
wore a beautiful red sheath dress with an illusion back and short sleeves
lending allure to a square-neck fashioned with horizontal pleats throughout the
body for a modern, tiered effect. As she approached the table she noticed
Ivan’s eyes widen. He stood, held out the seat for her, and kissed her on the
cheek.

“You
look beautiful as usual.” They both sat and the waitress came over to the
table.

“Can
I get you something to drink?” The waitress looked at Ashley.

“Yes,
I will have a glass of white wine.” She said without looking at the waitress
almost dismissively.

“How
about you sir, would you like another gin and tonic?”

“Yes,
thank you.” He said giving the waitress eye contact with a faint smile. The waitress
returned with their drinks and took their order. They settled into small
talk
 
until
their
food arrived. Ashley could tell that Ivan was slightly distracted and she
wanted all of his attention.

“I’ve
been thinking Ivan, the Forrester’s annual formal event is coming up and I
thought, uh, it would be nice if we could do something special after the event
to celebrate the fact that our arrangement has lasted over a year, maybe go
away for the weekend.”
‘Please, this has
to work’
she thought. Nervously she continued: “We have both been burning
the midnight oil at work and I think we could use a break. No strings attached,
of course, just relaxation and fun, you won’t regret it and I will totally make
it worth your while.”

He looked
at her with a raised eyebrow, but did not answer.

”Don’t
answer me now, just think about it and let me know.”

“Look
Ashley, I don’t want you to think this arrangement is going somewhere, because
it’s not. I have been upfront with you from the beginning. You know I am not
looking for a relationship. I have too many things going.”

Ashley
was extremely disappointed but not surprised.

She
had done her homework on Mr. Ivan Quinn and she knew that he had not been
attached to any woman longer than six months; so she thought she gained the
upper hand because they had been seeing each other for almost a year.

“Ashley,
I think that it’s time we end this. I really need to concentrate on my business
with no distractions. You are a great woman but I think this has run its
course.” Ashley was fuming inside
‘Distraction?
He thinks I'm a distraction. Well you are not getting off that easy Ivan,
’
She thought.
‘I hope my plan B is
working.’
She thought as she tried to get her anger under control.

“Fine
Ivan, we both knew this would end. I was just hoping we’d have more time
together. At least go on a commitment-free weekend getaway.” She said trying to
keep her voice from trembling.

“That’s
not going to happen, Ashley.” Ivan responded in a monotone voice.
 
Ashley wanted to scream; she had to get
her anger in check.

“Fine
Ivan, at least we can remain friends. Possibly friends with occasional
benefits.” She said with a smile that did not reach her eyes. Ivan looked at
her, thinking how great the sex had been between the two of them and an
occasional hook up couldn’t hurt.

 
“Speaking of benefits, will you at least
give me tonight to have my way with you?” She said with a slight laugh. “You
are definitely a piece of work.” He responded with a slight smile.

After
dinner they headed to Ivan’s condo. As soon as they reached the foyer Ashley
immediately pulled Ivan into a passionate kiss. She parted her lips inviting
his tongue and he obliged. She kissed him with urgency as she ran her fingers
through his hair, pulling him in tighter to the kiss. After a few seconds she
released him.

“Why
don’t you lock up and I will meet you in the bedroom,” Ashley said seductively.