4. Ian
Chapter 4
Ian
I watch Mia attempt to open my office door a few times before realizing she needed to pull it open and not push. It’s adorable. She’s beautiful. She’s short, tiny actually, with long blonde hair and the most beautiful blue eyes I’ve ever seen. When I shook her hand, I felt fire race up my arm and I didn’t want to let it go.
“Yeah, man. Hooplas tomorrow night sounds good. Any special occasion?” Garrett says over the phone.
“Just want your take on a deal I’m putting together. And any reason to get a beer is a good reason.” I joke.
“You’re not wrong. Does six o’clock work for you?”
“Yeah, that works.”
“Hey, did you hear Hudson has a real live date this Thursday?” Garrett asks.
I’m fishing through my emails and stop. “Really? It’s not with that psycho Renee, is it?”
“Oh, god no. Kane said it’s with some girl he just met.”
“Good for him. Hope it ends better than the last one.”
Garrett laughs. “You said it; not me. See ya tomorrow night.”
We hang up as Mrs. Wilcox comes into my office. “Can you please book my calendar for tomorrow night at Hooplas with Garrett at six?”
“Of course. Here’s the rest of the files on the Bahamas deal and I just want to confirm that you still need me to travel with you to the Sutherland deal in New York on July fifth, right?” She asks.
I look up at her, “If that won’t be a problem. I’ll need your expertise and organizational skills to keep that week on track if this deal is going to go through.” Mrs. Wilcox rarely travels with me unless it’s a major deal. And this is a major deal. Over a hundred-million-dollar deal, to be exact.
“Of course, it’s fine. I just wanted to make sure before I booked the arrangements.”
“Great. I’ll be flying up on Sunday, the second, from D.C., but won’t need you until the fifth, so you can enjoy the Fourth of July. Got any plans?”
“We’ll be going to my daughter’s house for a summer picnic and fireworks. I’m looking forward to it. She’s pregnant, you know.” The pride in her voice is clear.
“Is she? Congratulations. This will be the third grandchild, right?”
“You remembered. Yes, third grandchild, but first granddaughter. She’s due next month, so her husband is doing all the cooking and preparations for the picnic.” Mrs. Wilcox takes my empty cup of coffee. “More coffee?”
I shake my head. “No, I’m good. And your son-in-law should be doing all the cooking. Your daughter should be treated like a goddess.”
“You’re right, and he does treat her like a goddess. We couldn’t have picked a better man for her.” Her eyes sparkle with pride and I’m a little jealous of hearing all the normalcy of her daughter’s life.
There was a time I thought I’d get married, have kids, and maybe even a dog one day, but it’s just not in the cards for me. Between being the CEO of a multi-billion-dollar company and my inability to choose a woman that isn’t a gold-digger and only after my money and status – like Mackenzie - my life just runs smoother with me being a bachelor. So, I’ve accepted my fate. The bachelor life is for me.
As usual, I’m leaving late from the office. I turn off my office light and make my way through the darkened offices towards the front lobby. I push open the lobby doors and see Mia still sitting at her desk, working on her computer. Her eyebrows are all scrunched up as she’s staring at her computer monitor.
“What are you still doing here? It’s after eight.” I say to her, assuming she saw or heard me walk into the room. I was wrong to assume.
Mia jumps in her seat and grabs her chest. “FUCK! You scared the shit out of me! Don’t sneak up on me! Don’t you know you can’t do that to a girl?”
Holding up my hands to show I’m friendly, I smile. “I’m sorry. I thought you saw me walking out of the office doors. What are you still doing here?”
“I’m trying to get this stupid newsletter fixed so I can send it out to the printers tomorrow morning, but I can’t get the spacing right.” Mia says through her teeth with forced restraint as she stares at the screen of her computer.
“Well, come on. I can’t leave you here by yourself. It’ll wait until morning.”
She sighs, “Fine. I suppose walking away from it tonight will do me some good.” She turns off her computer and collects her things.
We both walk to the front door and Mia tries to push the door open, but it doesn’t move. “You have to pull.” I say, trying to hide my smile, but I’m unsuccessful.
“I know that.” She snaps back at me and pulls the door open harder than necessary.
I lock the door and turn around to tell her goodnight, but she’s already halfway across the parking lot to the only other car in the lot. It looks older than I am. “Goodnight.” I call after her.
She turns around to me and waves, “Night.”
I see it happening in slow motion, but I can’t stop it from way over here. Mia is walking backwards, looking and waving at me. She trips over a parking stump and falls back; all her belongings go flying around the parking lot.
I run over to her, “Are you okay? Did you hit your head?” Kneeling down, I find her on her back, staring up at the starry sky.
Mia doesn’t speak for a few seconds and I’m about to call for an ambulance. “Well, if you mean if I’m alright physically. Yes, I’m fine. If you mean am I embarrassed that my new boss just watched me go ass over teakettle, no. I’m not.”
Smirking at her, I take her hand to help pull her up and that fire I was feeling earlier today when I shook her hand is there again. What is that? Is it her or is it me? “Up you go. Take it slow.”
Mia reaches behind her head with her other hand, and it has a bit of blood on it. “Looks like I hit my head. That’s going to hurt in the morning.”
“Let me call an ambulance. You should have that looked at.” I pull out my phone, but she pushes my phone back down.
“No, I’m fine. Really. It’s just a tiny amount. I think I hit my lunch box, not the pavement.” I watch her stand up and I’m right there waiting for her to fall again, but she doesn’t.
“Okay, now that I’m sufficiently embarrassed, I’m going to go home and nurse my ego.” She gives me a small, fake smile and picks up her keys to her car.
“Are you sure I can’t take you to the ER? What about an urgent center? There’s one right up the road.” I point in the direction of the center.
She shakes her head slightly. “Nope. I’m good. Thank you, though.”
For some reason, I don’t want her to go, but I have no other reason to keep her here. What the hell is wrong with me? Time for me to go home, too. “Okay, then. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Mia climbs into her rust bucket of a car and nods. “Yep.”
Retreating to my car, I hear her start her car and it sounds dreadful. There’s a bunch of clanging and sputtering, but it finally starts. I don’t like that she’s driving that hunk of junk, but why do I care? I don’t know. It’s none of my business.
I get into my BMW M8 convertible, and it purrs like a kitten. Putting it in gear, I pull out of my front row covered parking space and up alongside her car where she’s still sitting. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah. I just need to let my car warm up for a few minutes before I put it in gear. If not, it likes to stall out on me. I’m good. See you tomorrow, Mr. Gallo.” She dismisses me as she rolls up her window with a hand crank, and I take the hint. Time to go.
“Okay. See you tomorrow, Mia. Have a good night.” I pull away and out of the parking lot onto Hibiscus Island Road and then into the plaza next door and park facing the office parking lot. I watch as Mia sits in her car for a few more minutes. “What is she doing?” I say to no one but myself. I’m not comfortable just leaving her there until I see that she’s headed out. It’s the gentlemanly thing to do, right?
Finally, Mia’s car starts to move forward, but jerks and I can see the headlights dim and then go out. She’s stalled. I can tell she’s trying to get it started again, but then I watch her get out of her car and pop open the hood.
This is ridiculous. I drive back to the parking lot and up alongside her again. “Need some help?”
Mia is looking at her engine, but not really doing anything under the hood. “I thought that if I gave it a good stern talking to, it would decide to spontaneously start, but that doesn’t seem to be working.” She looks at me. “I don’t think it fears me. Maybe if you yell at it?” She gives a quick smirk.
“Lock it up and get in.”
“No, I’m fine. I’ll just call a tow.”
“That’s stupid. Get in and I’ll drive you home.”
Mia looks at me and then looks back at her car and then shakes her head. “No, I’m fine. Really. Besides, I need to get this worked out before work in the morning.”
“Damn it, woman, just get in the car.” I’m exasperated. I’m trying to be a nice guy here. Can’t she see that?
“Mr. Gallo…”
“Ian.”
She shakes her head. “ Mr. Gallo , I’m perfectly capable of taking care of this on my own. Will you please just go home or wherever it is you should be? Please. Thank you.” She turns back to her car engine and starts wiggling wires.
“I’ll be right back.” I say as I pull out of the parking lot and aim towards the restaurant across the street. Pushing a button on my console, “Call Trevor.”
“Calling Trevor on mobile.” My car answers back to me.
“Dr. Jacobs.” My lifelong friend answers his phone.
“Hey, you busy? One of my staff member’s car isn’t working and I don’t want her to be sitting in the parking lot all night waiting for a tow.”
“Who is this staff member?”
“Her name is Mia. Why does that matter?” I ask, confused.
“Because you’ve never really cared before.” He laughs.
“That’s not true. I care about my staff. Now, are you going to help me or not?”
Laughing, “Yeah. You’re at the office, right?”
“Yes.”
“On my way.”
“Thank you.” I hang up as I pull into the Little Slice of Italy restaurant parking lot.
“Hello, Mr. Gallo. Your regular table?” Massimo, the restaurant owner, asks when he sees me walk in.
“No, Massimo. Not tonight. Actually, I’d like an order of chicken alfredo and an order of Zuppa Di Pesce to go. I’m in a bit of a hurry, if you don’t mind.”
“Of course, Mr. Gallo. Coming right up.” Massimo scurries to the back of the restaurant and before I know it, he’s carrying two bags filled to the top with takeout containers.
“Here you go, Mr. Gallo. I’ve added tiramisu and cannoli, plus two bottles of water. On the house.” He hands me the two bags and processes my credit card. He’s compensated well for his generosity. It’s one of the many reasons I come here. That and the privacy he instills in his waitstaff. I never have to worry about paparazzi when I’m here.
“Thank you, Massimo.” I call behind me as I make it back to my car. I can see Mia is still fiddling with her car engine when I pull up next to her.
“Help is on the way, but until he gets here, I’ve got dinner.” I say as I climb out of my car.
Mia looks confused. “What? What help? You?”
“You don’t have to look so surprised. I know a thing or two about cars, just not cars this old.” I pull out the two main entrees. “Chicken Alfredo or Zuppa Di Pesce?”
“Zuppa Di what?”
I hand her one of the containers. “Zuppa Di Pesce. It’s shrimp, mussels, clams, and calamari. Here, eat the chicken alfredo.”
She hesitates but takes the takeout container. “How much do I owe you?” she asks as I watch her inhale the delicious scent of the food.
“Nothing but thank you for offering. Eat.” I hand her the plasticware from the bag and then take a bite of my food.
She wraps the noodles around the fork tines and puts it in her mouth and all I can think of is how hot that is. I have to look away, so I take a taste of my food.
“Who’s coming to help? Tell me you didn’t call a mechanic.”
I shake my head and then swallow the food in my mouth. “No. A doctor.”
“A doctor? Like a car doctor? Isn’t that called a mechanic?” She laughs at me.
“No, an actual doctor. A surgeon, actually, but he’s a huge car guy. Trevor. He should be here any minute.” And as if I planned it, Trevor pulls up in his 1967 Ford Mustang.
“I hear you need some help, little lady.” Trevor says with a country twang. We’re in the South, but not from the deep south. I have no idea where that twang came from, but I don’t like that he’s hitting on Mia.
Again, I don’t know why.
“Hi there. Yes, if you know anything about ancient cars.” She points to her dilapidated ride. “It started, but when I put it in gear, it died and won’t start up again.”
“Hi. I’m Trevor Jacobs. And you are?” Trevor looks at me and then shakes Mia’s hand.
She smiles at him and all I want to do is punch my friend in the face. “I’m Mia, Mr. Gallo’s receptionist.”
That smile should have been for me and now I’m wondering what the fuck is wrong with me.