to do ridiculous shit like buy him condoms or cater to diva-like whims. In fact, he never sent me on any personal errands, as if preferring to keep his personal life separate. He was an intensely private guy, and I’d long ago given up trying to get to know him.
He rarely sent me out of the office on errands, though he did occasionally ask me to courier sensitive documents to other buildings. He also used me as a sounding board on occasion, which I liked. Mostly, though—in a nutshell—I handled his calendar, kept things running smoothly, and freed up as much of his time as possible by taking care of tasks that didn’t require his personal touch. I also made sure everyone else was in sync with his calendar of meetings, trips, and conferences.
The most trying part of my job was screening Dane’s emails, calls, mail, and visitors. Everyone “needed” to speak to him, and everything was a “priority.”
One of the things I most liked about being his PA was that I often accompanied him on business trips. They weren’t necessarily fun, since my time was rarely mine during those trips—I ran on pretty much the same schedule as him. Still, I got to travel on private jets, stay in luxury hotels, and attend exclusive events.
I was part way through an expense report for his last business trip when Dane came striding out of his office, and I realized that almost an hour had gone by. My stomach sank. All too soon, he and I were heading to one of the conference rooms for the meeting.
I was so annoyed with myself for caring that Owen would be there. I didn’t want it to matter. Didn’t want him to matter. He didn’t deserve to. Not that I was still hurting after what he’d done. But I didn’t like being reminded of that time; of how small he’d made me feel when he’d not only dumped me but dropped me from his life like I was a bag of crack.
Maybe it wouldn’t have hurt as much if we hadn’t been friends for so long. I didn’t trust easily, but I’d trusted Owen. I’d never thought he’d ever cut contact between us like that. And it stung that he’d so easily been able to do it.
As we reached the conference room, Dane stopped at the door and turned to me. “Is there something I should know?”
I blinked. “I’m sorry?”
“You’re uncomfortable. Why?”
Yep, he was a warlock. “I could tell you, but it involves talk of feminine products—”
“I don’t need to hear it.”
I almost snickered.
Dane entered the room first. The three men gathered at the long table instantly rose to their feet. Once they’d all exchanged greetings and the visitors were done metaphorically kissing Dane’s ass, he gestured at me and said, “This is my PA, Vienna.”
A tall, well-groomed figure moved aside to get a better look at me. Owen. Karma clearly hadn’t caught up with him yet, because he was even more good-looking than he’d been seven years ago. He had more muscle definition now and carried himself with more confidence, but he didn’t make my heart skip a beat the way he used to.
He blinked. “Vee? Jesus.” He stepped forward as if he might hug me, but Dane’s body shifted ever so slightly to the side. It was enough to make Owen halt, though he didn’t spare my boss a glance.
I gave him a professional, distant smile. “Owen, it’s good to see you.”
“You … you look great. It’s been a long time. Too long. I didn’t realize you worked at o-Verve.”
Well, why would he?
One of the other men cut in, “You two have met?”
“We were childhood friends, but we lost touch.” I shrugged. “It happens.”
Dane quickly introduced me to Owen’s companions and then said, “Shall we sit?” Really, it was an instruction, not a question.
As usual, I sat on Dane’s side of the table and silently took notes on my tablet. During internal meetings, I often contributed. But when Dane met with people from outside the company, like other CEOs, stakeholders, or potential clients, I left the discussion and negotiations to them.
As the meeting went on, I pretended that Owen wasn’t casting me way too many looks, just as I pretended that Dane wasn’t watching both me and Owen very closely. If I focused hard enough on the screen of the tablet, I could even pretend I was alone and that their voices were coming over a speakerphone.