ROMANCE: Romantic Comedy: Love in 30 Days - The Best Plans Don't Always Work! (Plus 19 FREE Books Book 13) (28 page)

“Take a seat Eva. I’ll be with you in a minute.” Said Emma waving to the seat in front of her, engrossed in the conversation that she was having with someone on the other end of phone she was speaking into.

“Well, that was Alex Riley, the Mayor of San Francisco. You must have heard the name?” asked Emma jokingly.

“Of course, I have. Has that got something to do with me?” asked Eva, curious how Alex fit into all this.

“That’s your first assignment! Alex was having trouble with the guy who was doing PR in his team earlier. He wanted a change of personnel and I cannot think of anyone else who can fit the profile.” said Emma.

“OK then! When do I start?” Eva said excited at the prospect of working on her first project.

“You will need to head over to Alex’s office right away.” Emma said.

“Alright.” said Eva nodding her head.

Eva drove down to Alex’s office and found the place buzzing with activity. She was taken aback by the change in environments in the two offices that she had been in today. While Bywater was a more formal office, Alex’s office was more informal.

“So this is what a political office looks like.” She told herself.

She was wondering who she should speak to here to meet Alex when a guy walked up to her.

“Excuse me Ma’am. How can I help you today?”

“Hi! My name is Eva Brown and I work for Bywater and Company. I am here to meet Mr. Alex Riley. He’s expecting me.” Eva replied.

“Hi Eva! My name is Mike and I am an intern here. Mr. Riley is not in the best of moods today. Please wait here for a minute while I go speak to him.” said Mike trying his best not get distracted by Eva’s beauty.

Mike came back after a few minutes as promised and asked Eva to follow him to Alex’s office. Mike knocked on the door before a “Come in!” from the inside gave them the signal to push the door open.

Alex was seated on his chair in front of his desk, talking to his secretary.

“Hello there! Eva, that’s your name, isn’t it?” asked.

“Yes, I am. Pleased to make your acquaintance Mr. Riley.” replied Eva.

“Please call me Alex.” said Alex with a smile on his face.

“Alright Mr. Riley. I mean Alex, sorry!” said a slightly embarrassed Eva.

Alex had never met a girl as beautiful as Eva. He kept staring at her since she had come in and he wasn’t even sure what he was talking about.  It was as if he had gone into an auto-mode. He was unsure of how he should stand up in front of her. He first tried to stand with his arms crossed over his chest, but that felt too defensive. So he tried to act cool by placing his right hand on his hip and the left on the table and cross the right leg over the left, slightly leaning in towards the table. He had never felt so uncomfortable with his body before.

“Maybe I should lose some weight” Alex thought to himself.

Eva could feel Alex stare at her. She tried to look away, but as soon as she looked back at him, she again found him staring. It was as if Alex had an X-Ray machine fitted inside his eyes which look inside Eva’s clothes. Eva checked the top of her shirt to see if it was buttoned properly. She blushed, as she checked herself to see if she was proper. It wasn’t unnatural for Eva to find a man ogling her. But to see the Mayor of San Francisco doing so was a first time for her. She did find him to be much younger than she had initially suspected. She had read that he was one of the youngest Mayors of San Francisco, but she could not comprehend he would be this young. He would barely be 30-32 years old.

After a few minutes, Alex regained his senses.

“Eva you are here at the right time. We were just discussing about the issue that is bugging us the most right now.” Alex said trying to calm himself and take his eyes off Eva. “Mike will explain everything that you need to know about the project.”

“Emma explained it to me a little bit. I will discuss with Mike about the steps that you may have taken towards ensuring that the project gets going and take it from there.” Eva said.

“Sounds good to me! Let’s discuss your point of view in some time then. I will finish up with Jess here and we can sit and discuss what your plan of action would be.”  Alex said, trying very hard not to stare at her amazing body.

Eva left the room to Alex and Jess – his secretary, and went out to learn more about the project from Mike.

“Have you seen the site where we are proposing that the Park come up?” Mike asked Eva.

“No I haven’t. It is near the mall, isn’t it?” Eva replied.

“That is correct. Since the mall was built, that whole area is in a bad shape. We have had numerous cases of purse snatching and other petty criminal activities happening there very frequently. The main reason for this is that there is a huge vacant area besides the mall which is unutilized. The area remains poorly lit and breeds crimes and criminals. And more often than not these crimes are committed by kids from the nearby neighbourhood – which is not the most affluent part of San Francisco, as you might already be aware. Placing a park there will help us in two ways. One is that it will keep the children off the streets. We are planning to put up a basketball court there as well. And second, a park will mean more lighted streets.”

Eva nodded in agreement quite impressed by the novelty of the idea and said “That is a brilliant use of a vacant space.”

She spent a few more hours going through the plans for the park architecture and other documents. Having got a clear idea about the plan for the Park, she headed over to Alex’s office and knocked on his door. Alex arranged his desk and moved the calendar a little to the side before yelling out “Come in!” as if to show that he was busy with work.

Without even looking at her he asked her “What are your plans for tonight?”

Eva was quite surprised by the question. “Excuse me?” she said.

“Well, you do eat, right?” asked Alex again.

“Of course I do.” Eva responded.

“Well, it is 8 now. And I’m hungry. Want to have dinner together?” asked Alex wryly.

“Is that how you ask girls out around here Mr. Riley?” Eva asked Alex sarcastically.

“Don’t flatter yourself Ms. Brown. I was just wondering if you would like to eat together.” said Alex as he tried to mask his affection towards Eva.

“This is not a date then?” asked Eva.

“It certainly is not.” said Alex.

Chapter 3

The office was empty by the time they decided to leave.

“So, where are we going Alex?” asked Eva.

Alex was trying really hard to think of a good place to take Eva.

“You must have the steak from this joint that I frequent. It’s the best in the world. And for me, they make a special sauce!” said Alex excitedly.

“Lead the way Mayor!” said Eva with enthusiasm.

“We’re going to Bill’s, Ravi.” Alex said to his driver while getting into his car.

Eva loved going to places she had never been to before. She was always open to experimenting with food and it had been a while since she had a good steak. And now that Alex had mentioned it, she craved it even more. Eva admired Alex in the little time that they had spent together. When you meet someone new, the first impressions and the vibe that you get from the person turns out to be correct almost every time. And Eva got positive vibes from Alex. The way he talked, she knew that Alex probably was not the most innocent person in the world. But there was an innocence about him that caught her fancy.

“But in today’s world, isn’t innocence a negative quality? Especially for someone who has a political career.” she asked herself.

To make it successful as a politician one needs to have sharp instincts and a very cunning mind and the one thing that gets Eva to even remotely think about a guy was his intelligence. After what seemed like half an hour, they arrived at a dainty little locale with small houses. Nestled among these houses was one particular house which had a pretty big garage. There were very few people around this place. She peered out of the window to see a couple of guys lazing around a kitchen wearing aprons. “These guys must be the Chef’s” she thought. She got out of the car and followed Alex into the garage. There were just two tables in the joint and not even one customer around.

“Do people even come here?” Eva asked.

“Only the one’s that I like” said this burly black man as he came out of the kitchen. “How are you doing Mayor?” he asked Alex as he shook his hands.

“As well as we can be, Bill. It’s been a while.” Alex said. “Bill, meet Eva. She will working as a PR in my team from now on. You can trust her.” he added waving a hand towards her.

This was not the most romantic place on earth. But there was something about the whole rustic feel of the setting that made Eva swoon with joy. She had never come to a place like this before in her life. And she was pretty sure, had it not been for Alex, she would never have known about this place either. She could feel that she was developing some sort of a liking towards Alex.

“Am I smitten by Alex already?” Eva asked herself. “How can I develop any sort of affinity towards a guy on the first day that I meet him?” Eva felt perplexed.

Alex ventured out into the Kitchen as Eva took a seat at one of the only two tables at the joint. Alex came back from the Kitchen and took a seat opposite her.

“Do you like the place? Not too bad, huh?” Alex was gloating with pride.

“I must admit I have never come to a place like this. Is this where you bring all the other girls? Do I need to feel scared about what I going to come next? Are you some sort of a psychotic serial killer?” Eva was teasing Alex.

“Hey! Hold on lady!” Alex was dumbfounded.

“Forget it! I was just having fun with you.” said Eva as she winked at him.

Alex’s heart skipped a beat. His heart fluttered when she smiled like that.

“Well, you got me there!” said Alex sniggering.

“So let’s talk about the park. Is everyone on board your plan?” Eva asked Alex.

“Sadly, no.” said Mike looking down dejected. “There is uproar from the opposition saying that this is as a needless investment at a time when we are still feeling the effects of the economic downturn from a few years ago.”

“But opening a work will only increase employment wouldn’t it?” asked Eva.

“Yes, but that’s in the future isn’t it? The minds of the people are still stuck in the past. They need to see that what we need to do now is build towards the future. Not look at the past or our current affairs, but plan and do things for the future; for the next generation. I have tried very hard to convince that this is what we need right now – a sign of hope. But somehow I have not been able to get through to them.” said Alex trying to catch his breath.

“Wow! I really did not think you are so passionate about your work.” said Eva as she felt her fondness towards Alex grow.

“Yeah! I get a bit carried away sometime!” Alex exclaimed.

By then the steaks were ready. They were served a portion each and without wasting much time, they dug in. The food was so good, there was not a single word any of them said till they were finished.

Alex let out a burp before saying “Sorry about that!”

“Eww. That’s gross!” Eva said as she shut her eyes and contorted her nose.

“We have to wait a couple of minutes, before I am ready to leave. I am so full!” said Alex.

“So how many girlfriends have you had?” Eva was surprised she said that out loud.

“Well, aren’t you a nosey one. But, to answer a question, I have never had one quite smart and beautiful like you.” said Alex.

Eva suppressed a blush and excused herself to the washroom. She came and saw that Alex was already paying for the food. But Bill was having none of that.

“I am not going to take any money from you Mayor. I have a business to run here. And I intend on keeping this joint running!” joked Bill.

“Alright. Thanks for the food then, Bill!” Alex said and followed Eva out into the car.

“Well that was an adventure! Are you dropping me off?” asked Eva.

“Of course I’m dropping you off. Do you really think I am going to let go of a chance to see where you stay?” said Alex sarcastically.

They reached Eva’s house and Alex came out of the car to bid her goodbye.

“Goodnight Alex. See you tomorrow morning.” Eva said as she walked towards the gate to her apartment.

Alex pulled her close and tried to kiss her.

“We really shouldn’t Alex. I have barely even met you. And I do not want to give you the wrong impression. I really like you!” Eva said stopping Alex.

“I am so sorry about that. I do not know what came over me. See you tomorrow then.” Alex got back into the car hurriedly as he said that and drove off; obviously embarrassed about the whole situation.

Chapter 4

Eva reached office the next day and walked straight into Alex’s office.

“We cannot let the events of last night stop us for working together. This job is way too important for me to do that.” Eva was furious.

“Alright Jess. You can leave now. Mail me the schedule for today, will you?” Alex smiled towards Jess who was standing just behind Eva as he said that.