Chapter Six
Sophie took a deep breath to calm her nerves as the elevator dinged, announcing she had made it to the thirty-fifth floor. She wasn’t nervous about returning to work after being on vacation for over a month. She was nervous about keeping her emotions in check upon seeing her boss for the first time after being away for so long. Being a personal assistant to a billionaire with a media empire was no walk in the park, but she loved this job and was glad to be back.
“So-phie!” Shelley squealed as she stepped off the elevator and approached her assistant’s reception desk. Shelley was the gatekeeper for the executive floor. No one made it past her without Sophie’s or one of the other personal assistants’ approval. She saw it all and was privy to every person coming and going. Having this woman as a best friend had come in very handy over the years.
“Shelley, thank you so much for holding down the fort while I was away. Are there any appointments this morning, or do we have time for a debrief before I jump back in?” Sophie asked, giving the other woman an affectionate hug .
“I made sure to give you an hour before the wheel started turning. Figured you would need to get your running shoes back on after so many weeks in sandals. Your tan is amazing, I might add. What I wouldn’t give for a little of your Spanish roots. If I had spent a day at the beach, let alone a month, I would have freckles like a ladybug, not the glorious golden tan that is making you glow like an air-brushed model. So jealous!” Shelley pouted, but it was clear she was happy for her friend.
Holding up a small gift bag, Sophie replied, “Well, I can’t help with the fair skin God gave you, but I did bring you a gift as requested.”
Excited, Shelly retrieved the bag and quickly removed the paper hiding her new treasure. Reaching in, she withdrew a Day of the Dead mariachi band guitar player bobblehead toy. A look of confusion covered her face.
“You said to bring you back a hot man. This one was so hot his skin melted off. He will never disagree with you,” Sophie gently flicked his head, making it bob. “See, he only says yes. And I know you have a thing for musicians, so this little guy ticked all the boxes.”
Laughter rang out in the empty room, “I love it! Thank you for thinking of me,” Shelley declared as she hugged Sophie tightly once more.
“Okay, give me ten minutes to look over the schedule, and then come update me on everything I missed and urgent matters for the week.” Halfway up the hall to her private office, Sophie turned, “Shelley, did you gather the information I requested on the book rankings for last year?”
“Sure did. I had the stats department run the numbers you asked for, too. Want me to bring them to your office when I come? ”
“Yes, please. Mr. Santos wants to get a plan in place for this year, and January is already over. Not to mention, the new book will be ready to release very soon.”
An hour later, she was up to speed on everything she had missed while on vacation and had rescheduled several meetings that she knew Fernando would want more time to prepare for. When she felt she had a solid handle on everything once more, she collected the large folder of data Shelley had provided with the book stats and draped several dry-cleaning bags over her arm before knocking on her boss’s door. When there was no response, she quietly opened it and said softly, “Andy, I’m back.”
Yet again, she was met with silence, so she pushed the heavy wooden door open and entered the enormous office. Bright morning sunlight shone through the floor-to-ceiling windows that made up two walls of the corner office. She scanned the room quickly; everything seemed to be in its proper place. The seating area in the back corner showed signs of ongoing work, with papers strewn across the surface of the plush light gray couch and dark wooden coffee table. Piles of papers were stacked in the two armchairs across from the couch. Whatever Fernando was working on, he had abandoned it in the middle and would not want the area disturbed until he finished.
Sophie crossed the room on silent feet, hanging the dry-cleaning in the closet of the private ensuite bathroom before returning to the main office. A gentle smile lifted her lips. From this position, she could see Fernando sound asleep behind his desk, head resting peacefully on his folded arms. As she made her way to him, she wondered how much sleep he had gotten but knew she needed to wake him regardless.
Circling the desk to stand by his side, she ran a tender hand over his face, sweeping his too-long hair away from his eyes. As his eyelids flickered and then slowly opened, she whispered, “You need a haircut, Andy. You’re starting to look less like a haggard author and more like a homeless person.”
Sitting up, he ran a hand through his hair and looked at her accusingly. “If my personal assistant would remember to schedule regular hair appointments, maybe I would look more like the billionaire media tycoon I’m supposed to be.”
“If my boss would stop canceling all of his hair appointments, he wouldn’t make me look like such a bad PA,” Sophie argued good-naturedly, leaning her right hip against his desk and crossing her arms over her chest.
“I missed you, Sophie. How was your vacation? You look amazing,” Fernando stated plainly, sitting back in his dark leather executive chair, eyeing her appraisingly.
“It was wonderful. Thank you for your generosity. My family and I had a great time. It’s time to get back to work, though.” Placing the thick folder of book stats in front of him, she circled the desk and took a seat in one of the armchairs across from him.
“That is the book ranking data you requested. The statistics department ran the numbers and made some notes on trends they found. I pushed the meeting with the PR team until early next week so you had time to review everything and gather your thoughts. How close are you to finishing this book? You look exhausted. You need a solid two days of sleep, by the look of things.”
“Welcome back. I don’t know how I managed without you. I finished the book last night, and the editors are working on it now. The PR team is getting everything ready for the February release of the last book. This one will be ready by summer. Filming for the Christmas movie wrapped and is in post-production for an October release. The first three episodes of my mini-series are finished; filming of the last three episodes is done. It just needs post-production work now, and that will be out for streaming in June. Final contracts have been signed for six more mini-series from popular authors this year, and casting is already in the works for two. It has been a busy month. I can sleep in February once everything is lined up and filming begins. I will look this over this afternoon. I have lunch with a new PR guy I’m considering hiring for my team. I need to get ahead of Marie Lautner this year, and I’m hoping he has some insight.”
“On that note, I brought in your dry cleaning and hung it in your bathroom. You need to get a move on if you want to look presentable for this lunch. If you get going now, you will be on time.” Walking towards the door to her adjoining office, she said over her shoulder, “Don’t forget to shave. You’re starting to look like a caveman. A handsome caveman but a caveman nonetheless. If you decide to go with the bearded look, we definitely need to get you into a barber.”