Chapter 12
Chapter Twelve
Lorelei
Instead of going to Central Park for lunch, I met Stella at a coffee shop down the street. As she was talking about how shitty her day was going, I blurted out, “Can you believe he hates kids?”
“Huh?” She gave me a blank stare as she bit into her croissant sandwich.
“Jack. He told me today that he hates kids.”
“Why does he hate kids?”
“I don’t know. He wouldn’t say. He just said he doesn’t like them.”
“You never told him about Hope, did you?”
Taking a sip of my coffee, I sighed. “No. Why would I?”
“Why wouldn’t you? He’s your boss, and I think he should know you have a kid. But then again, since he hates kids, he may fire you just because you have one.” She smirked. “Just keep Hope to yourself.”
“You don’t have to worry about that. I have no intentions of telling him anything about my personal life.”
“Good girl.” She grabbed her purse and threw it over her shoulder. “I have to run. I have a meeting in ten minutes.” She gave me a light kiss on the cheek. “Try not to kill him.”
“I won’t because if I did, then I wouldn’t have a job.” I smiled.
Before heading back to the office, I stopped at Starbucks and got Jack his usual lunchtime coffee. When I walked into his office, he was on the phone, so I set it on his desk.
“Hold on, James,” I heard him say. “Lorelei?”
“Yes.” I stopped and turned around.
“Did I ask you to get me this?”
“No, but you always want one at this time.”
“Today, I don’t, so please take it away.”
My God, the man was an idiot. I took the cup from his desk and took it back to mine. If he didn’t want it, then I did. Ever since I told him I couldn’t go to Paris, he had the worst attitude toward me. It was like he was holding a grudge against me for not being able to go. He walked out of his office and didn’t say a word about where he was going. Good riddance was what I thought. The less he was around, the better off I was. I couldn’t wait for his dumb ass to leave for Paris.
Garrett smiled at me as he walked towards Jack’s office.
“He’s not in there,” I spoke.
“Where is he?”
“I don’t know. He isn’t talking to me at the moment.”
Garrett let out a laugh. “Why? Did you spill coffee on him again?”
“No. He wanted me to go to Paris with him, and I told him I couldn’t. So now he’s all pissed off.”
“Did you tell him why you couldn’t go?”
“I lied and told him my mother wasn’t feeling well, and I couldn’t leave the country.”
“You really can’t go because of your daughter, right?”
“Yes. You never told Jack about Hope. Why?” I asked.
“There are some things Jack doesn’t need to know, and I felt if I told him about your daughter, he would have told me to fire you. He’s not exactly fond of children, and he would have felt that you having a kid would get in the way of business.”
“I know. We already had that discussion about him not liking kids.”
“Listen, Lorelei. Don’t let Jack get to you. Just come in, do your job, and all will be good. Jack will talk to you again when he comes back from Paris.”
“Really? Because I like it when he doesn’t talk to me.”
He laughed. “You’re the best PA yet. I have to run. I have a meeting. If you see Jack, tell him I stopped by.”
“That means I’ll have to talk to him.” I smirked.
Garrett pointed his finger at me and winked before walking away.
Jack
As I checked in at the airport, I noticed my boarding pass said, “Economy seating.” What the fuck? I pulled out my phone and called Lorelei.
“Mr. Sutton’s office.”
“It’s me. Why the fuck am I sitting in economy?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t make your reservations.”
Shit. That’s right. Amber did. That bitch.
“I can get it changed for my flight going there. Call the airline and get it switched for the return flight. I don’t have time to deal with this.”
“I’m sorry about that, Jack. Maybe your last PA did it because she was planning on quitting, and you pissed her off,” Lorelei spoke.
“Excuse me?”
“Just an observation. I’ll get the return flight changed over.”
“You better!”
I had been on edge all week because Lorelei wasn’t joining us in Paris. This would have been a fantastic experience for her, and everything would have been paid. Since she loved fashion and the industry, she could have learned a few things on this trip, plus I would have been with her and been able to spend a lot of time with her. Maybe get to know her better.
As I was talking to the girl at the ticket counter, she informed me that all first-class seats were booked. Now I was really pissed, and I needed to figure out how to get a first-class seat. Damn that bitch, Amber. Lorelei was right. I bet she did this on purpose, and she was probably sitting at home right now laughing her ass off, knowing that I’d be stuck in economy.
I sat at my gate between my mother and an older gentleman. I glanced over at his boarding pass that was in his hand and saw he was in first class.
“Excuse me, sir.”
“Yes.” He looked over at me.
“I see you’re sitting in first class. I will reimburse you for your ticket, plus I’ll give you an extra five thousand dollars if you switch seats with me.”
He arched his brow as he stared at me. “Seriously?”
“Yes. I will call my assistant right now and have her wire you the money.”
“You just bought a very expensive seat in first class, son.” He smiled.
I smiled back and pulled out my phone, dialing Lorelei.
“Mr. Sutton’s office.”
“It’s me again. I need you to wire sixty-five hundred dollars to Mr. Thomas Burkhart. I’ll put him on the phone, so he can give you his account number.”
“Umm. Okay.”
Once he finished giving Lorelei his account number, he handed my phone back to me.
“Make sure it’s done ASAP. Like right now, Lorelei.”
“I am doing it now. So let me guess. You just bought the man’s seat in first class, right?”
“Yes.”
“Have a nice flight, Jack.”
“I will now.”