Chapter 6
SIX
GOING INTO THE office was required. Unfortunately. Some clients were happy for their staff to work from the office full-time. Some jetted across the world and back twenty-four, seven.
Brooker had offices all over the globe. That’s what success granted an agency like theirs: ubiquity.
The breadth of their service meant they had their own building, filled with anything and everything their clients might need from advertising all the way through to zoning support.
Her goal was Allan’s office. He’d texted her to come in, which she couldn’t imagine was good. She stopped in her booth to grab her internal messages.
Why were there so many?
Client request after client request. Invitations to meetings and events.
She only logged on to her Brooker email when she was in the building.
Given clients hadn’t wanted her services, there usually weren’t many requests for her attention.
And before having a steady client, she hadn’t needed anything from anyone either. Now her inbox was bursting.
Maybe she should be checking out Brooker’s client list to see if anyone might be useful to Camden. He hadn’t asked for Brooker favors and couldn’t care that much about what they might do for him or he wouldn’t keep sending the assistants back.
“Elle!” Whipping around, shit, Terra hurried over. “Hi! I’m so happy I caught you!”
Happy she…? Yeah, that wasn’t mutual.
“I came in to see Allan.”
“I know! I know,” Terra said, grabbing her hands. They were hand holders now? “When is Cam’s next party?”
“When is…? I don’t know.”
“He hasn’t had one forever! For forever.” The blonde giggled. “I heard they used to happen like every holiday. In the summer too… It’s spring! Rebirth, right? This would be a great time to start them up again. What’s the holdup? Please tell me he’s not giving them up.”
He did like to give things up. Certain things.
“He hasn’t told me.”
In his defense, she’d never asked. Noble had mentioned parties that first night, maybe they were a big deal. Had she missed a trick?
“I know he does his guy-guy thing, that’s like super exclusive. But he lets some people in for the other parties, right? Friends of friends? We’re friends. Good friends. We used to be… Would you say we’re friends?”
“To who?” Elle asked, working her hands free despite Terra’s squeezing. “Isn’t tomorrow April first? You getting in early? More fool me, huh?”
“Elle!”
“We shared a guy.” Which she hadn’t known at the time. “I don’t think that’s the best foundation for a friendship.”
Terra huffed. “We can’t let that come between us. You liked me before. We’re friends!”
“You’re still seeing Mason, right?” Elle asked. “I’m sorry, I don’t see how that would work. Do you expect us to hang out? To double date?” Her cellphone rang. Thank God. “Excuse me.” She didn’t wait for a response and answered as she walked away. “Celibate doesn’t mean no oral, does it?”
“Missed you too, Candy. Where you at?”
“At work.”
“Are we playing hide and seek? ‘Cause I’m at your work and you’re not here.”
“You’re at my desk?” Glancing back, she noticed Terra was still loitering there. “You better not be.”
“I’m in my kitchen.”
“Make your own coffee, I have to go get reamed out.”
“By who?”
“My boss.”
“I only yell at you for fun, not on a schedule. Did we have an appointment you forgot to put in my calendar?”
“Hilarious,” she said, rounding the end of the final screen in the open plan office. “I meant the boss who can actually fire me.”
“I could fire you.”
“You’d be lost without me,” she said, pushing through the glass door to enter Allan’s waiting area. “Hey, should I be making connections for you?”
There was a pause. “Connections?” he asked. “For me?”
“Yeah, I have a stack of requests for your attention. Everyone wants a piece of you.”
“You’ve seen my work, right? I’m damn good. Everyone wants me.”
“Yeah, yeah,” she said and lowered her voice. “Some of the female clients are hot and some are needy, you could hook up Noble and Ozzie both in the same night. Though I guess Noble’s wouldn’t stick.”
“No. No. No,” he said quickly. “We never hook Noble up. You turn on the faucet and he’ll never stop drinking.”
“You’re such a killjoy. Just because you don’t want to drink doesn’t mean the rest of the world should go thirsty.” Allan’s office door opened. “Got to go, I’ll call you later.” Hanging up, she dropped her phone into her purse and smiled at her boss as his assistant shuffled away. “Allan.”
“Get in here,” he said.
Okay, that was gruff… ish. If Cam had reported her for something she’d put chili seeds in his coffee.
She went into the corner office that wasn’t on the top floor and sat opposite him at his huge desk.
Without prelude, he said, “There’s an opportunity in LA.”
“An opportunity?”
“One of the studios is looking for people. Mostly behind the scenes stuff. Should be perfect.”
“You want me to go to LA?”
“Not right now, obviously,” he said, lounging in his chair. The slick suit was very casual GQ. “Collier won’t get sick of you for another week or so. Just don’t piss him off too much, you need this LA thing as your backup.”
If she did piss Cam off, that meant… what? Allan would be forced to fire her?
“Okay, and what if it works out with Collier?”
“Yeah,” he snickered. “There’s a pool going on which of you will quit the other first.” Nice. Always happy to be the entertainment. “When’s he having a party?”
“I don’t know,” she said. “Why do people keep asking me that?”
“They’re private, usually, invite only. Clients are begging for access. A party could be the chance.”
“I’ll talk to him.”
Immediately, he frowned.
After an agog second, he gripped the arm of his chair to straighten. “How will you do that?”
“Do what?”
“How will you…? Do you actually see him?”
Why was Allan being so odd?
“Yes, I see him,” she said. “What do you think I do all week? Lay around at a spa?”
He exhaled in disbelief and rubbed a hand across his mouth as he rocked forward. “Jesus Christ.”
That was definitely shocked, but joyous too.
“What is going on?”
“Every other person we’ve sent. Male, female, young, experienced… they never get face time with him. Sometimes he lets them do admin work here, but he never lets them near him. I’ve had staff on the doorstep, knocking for hours with no response.”
“He’s usually downstairs, working out or, you know, just working.”
“He doesn’t typically let people downstairs either,” he said, his brow furrowing. “Has he been inappropriate with you?”
“No! We… get along.”
He lunged across the desk slapping his hand on her side, startling her. “Cultivate it. I don’t care what you have to do, capitalize as much as you can. A Collier is money in the bank. Gold bullion in the bank.”
“I won’t take advantage of him. It’s professional.” In the most unprofessional sense. Her boss did not need to know it was possible she had the tiniest crush. “I’ll ask if he wants me to plan anything.”
“Good because we can supply music, caterers, dancers, whatever he needs. Grab the company rolodex, honey, and get as many gigs as you can.”
Still sounded like he wanted her to take advantage of a man she actually respected. Allan could think that and issue all the orders he liked. As for Cam, she’d ask the question but wouldn’t pressure him. Acceptance was what they gave each other and that wasn’t about to change.