Finding You
FINDING YOU
Danielle Ryan
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About this Book
About the Author
Table of Contents
www.aria-fiction.com
About Finding You
Valentina Harrison is a PA at an international advertising agency. She is very intelligent, but, compared to the fashionistas in her Milan office, rather plain. James Spencer is handsome and successful. He runs the agency’s New York office, but when Valentina’s boss disappears from Milan, James is sent to Italy to pick up the pieces.
When Valentina first meets her new boss, she can’t stand him. He is rude and arrogant, and treats her with contempt just because she doesn’t wear high heels.
Valentina is not the smoking hot babe James is used to spending his time with. She wears frumpy clothes and spends her evenings reading. But there is something about her genuine warmth and intelligence that he can’t help finding irresistible, and, much to her surprise, Valentina can’t resist James either. As their work brings them closer together, James and Valentina discover that first impressions can be wrong, so very wrong…
Contents
Cover
Welcome Page
About Finding You
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
About Danielle Ryan
Become an Aria Addict
Copyright
Chapter 1
Valentina
Once again I am on the train. I am back at work after the Christmas holidays. This year seems to be playing tricks on the commuters already: the seventh of January happens to be a Monday and precisely from today the cost of the monthly ticket has increased.
I take my iPod and put my headphones on. I don’t want to travel up to Milan listening to people talking about their exotic vacations or describing the wonderful gifts they received from boyfriends, husbands, lovers, whoever. Is this envy? Sure.
I spent my Christmas in Lugano with Marta and Simon. My sister cooked all day, preparing a real feast. Everything was perfect. As always. Their home was decorated with many small bright lights. In the living room a giant Christmas tree was covered with lavender lace. They also decorated the trees on the terrace facing the lake. Even the guests were perfect: beautiful, young, successful, and always smiling. If I didn’t know that Simon was a surgeon, I would think of him as an actor, or if a doctor, a plastic surgeon! The only note out of tune? Me. This is not just paranoia… Marta, smiling, pointed this out to me.
“Tina, do you know which season we are in?”
“Winter” I answered candidly.
“Exactly. Since you know that, why do you keep dressing in brown? Please change those glasses. You look like Miss Rottermeier in Heidi!”
I looked down at my feet and the first thing I saw was the tip of my boots: black. The long skirt I was wearing: brown. And finally my large baggy sweater: also brown. God, she was right. I looked like an advertisement for the autumn season.
We are sisters, but very different. She has red hair and blue eyes. I am brunette with hazelnut eyes. If I represent the autumn, she is the spring: fresh air, bubbling, pastel colours. Although I am tall, five feet seven, she is taller than me. She moves with elegance and grace.
These are my thoughts as I gaze through the train window. Beyond the fields I can see the beginning of the Alps. It hasn’t snowed here yet, whilst over there it is already all white. In a few minutes the landscape will change and nature will give way to concrete. We are approaching Milan.
I take this train five days a week. Every time I leave the small town of Barconate, nestled in the woods, I can’t wait to get back. Most of the commuters would prefer to live in the city, close to their job. Not me. I love living in my attic apartment, in a little town of two thousand inhabitants in the province of Como.
I adore Milan, but I can’t even think of living there. I like peace and tranquility. I can’t stand the chaos and going out at night. I prefer a good book and hot chocolate at home to drinking with my colleagues. Maybe an ice cream, depending on the season. But, if I am honest, I have worked in the same place for five years and my colleagues have invited me out no more than three times, just in the beginning, so as not to look unfriendly.
After a ten minute walk from the train station, I am in front of the headquarters of Scott & Barny, an important international advertising and communications company. It is in Viale Washington in the heart of the city. I look at the renaissance style building and I feel lucky: it is a beautiful place to work.
Then I remember my job in that organisation and suddenly a feeling of nausea comes over me. The company own the whole building and I work on the fifth floor: the administration department. I am the assistant to an account manager. When I sent in my resume, I applied for a copywriter position. I have always loved writing and think I have a natural way to find perfect sentences for the character of a product. Unfortunately, with a degree in Economics, the only available positions for me were as an administrator or as an account manager’s assistant. I thought the second choice was better. I was wrong! If I knew I had to work with Susan Mars, I would have jumped into administration without a second thought. She is a real bitch. She is four years older than me, daughter of the ex CEO of the American headquarters of the company. She appeared as if by magic, or merit perhaps, at the Italian branch in Milan. She is conscious of her beauty: very long legs, big breasts, beautifully sculpted butt, porcelain skin, long straight hair with bangs; of course honey blonde like a fashion model, with blue eyes and sensual lips. Yet to really describe her, there is only one word: arrogant. Now that I am thinking of her, in the past five years during my Christmas vacations, she has always called with sudden requests for additional work. This year nothing. Surprisingly, I didn’t receive any calls from her, not even to complain about something. Better that way!
I go directly to my desk. Susan’s door is still closed. That is not unusual given her role. I put down my purse and say hello to Emma, my only colleague with whom I have any sort of relationship. She is the other outsider. We have a lot in common: she is twenty seven and I am twenty eight, both single, with a social life equal to zero and a lack of status within the company; neither of us flashy girls. Linked by bad luck… The only difference is that I live alone, while she lives with her parents and two dogs. We are not really friends, just good co-workers.
“Hi Emma. Did you have good vacation?”
“Hi Tina. It was ok.”
“What happened?” Her expression is sadder than usual.
“Same old things. My father ate too much and his blood sugar level went sky-high. Fred stole Wilma’s dog food so they had a fight. I also had to take my mother to the emergen
cy room because Fred bit her hand. They gave her six stitches. Now I have to do all the housework until she is better.”
“Didn’t you tell me Fred was a sweet dog?”
“He is. But my brilliant mother took away his bowl while he was still eating!”
I swear to myself I will never ask these kinds of questions again. Thank god my telephone rang, saving me from this boring conversation.
“Valentina Harrison.” I answered.
“Victor La Blanche.” Oh boy! The big, big boss. The CEO. I can’t speak.
“Hello? Hello?”
“I’m sorry—” I stutter confused. “I am the assistant to Ms Mars. She is not in yet.”
“I am not looking for Susan, I’m looking for you. I want you in my office in five minutes. Don’t even think to tell your colleagues where you are going, otherwise you can clear out your desk!”
“No. I mean, yes! I am coming.” What does he want? I hope I didn’t make a mistake.
He already hung up. I remain staring at my telephone like a perfect idiot. He said five minutes.
I hurry. I feel my cheeks blushing.
“Tina, where are you going?” Emma asks.
I try to come up with an idea.
“Umm— to the administration office.”
“Are you ok? Your face is all red!”
“No, I am not ok. I have a terrible stomach ache!” And this is not completely a lie.
I head toward the elevators shaking a little. Eighth floor. The offices of all the big bosses are here. I have been up to this floor only once before, when Susan was at a meeting with the directors and she had forgotten her cell phone. I went there to bring it to her. Everything is contemporary design. All the girls at the reception desk look like goddesses in grey suits. Incredibly beautiful. Sometimes it happens that I meet one of them downstairs in the lobby, but looking at them all together I feel I am in the high finance part of the Garden of Eden.
“Harrison, wake up!” La Blanche caught me staring around with my mouth open. “I was waiting for you. Please hurry up and follow me.”
“Yes. I am sorry.” He has already disappeared into an office on my right. I follow him.
The situation becomes even worse. There are four people staring at me. The CEO, the director of Human Resources, the Marketing director and the head of the Legal Division. Oh, no!
“Miss Harrison, please take a seat. We have a few questions.”
I sit down immediately because my legs are shaking. Thank god the table top is not glass. I can hide my wringing hands. Perhaps I don’t hide my anxiety enough, since Mr Calligaris, the lawyer, addresses me saying: “Don’t worry. It’s not a trial. We just need some information.”
His voice is friendly. The lawyer is well known to all the women in the company for his attractiveness and for his kindness. I have only met him a few times. Susan used to review the contracts with him. Given the complexity of contracts, it was normal that two V.I.P.’s personally discuss them. Susan always looked up to men more powerful than herself. Claudio Calligaris is very handsome. Dark hair with beautiful green eyes. The fact that at thirty-five he is the head of the Legal Division can only add to his charisma.
“Valentina, did you hear what I said?” He pronounces my name so kindly. I feel my heart beat quicken and my hands begin to sweat.
“Yes… I am sorry. I’m a little bit agitated.” Stammering, I apologize.
“No need to worry, we only want to ask you some questions.” Calligaris says, smiling to me.
Shit! I hope this is not about the time the vending machine gave me coffee with money back. I told Emma I should have gone to the administration office to pay for that stupid coffee!
“If this is because the vending machine gave me free coffee, I swear, I tried three times to deposit the money again, but the machine didn’t accept it and kept giving me coffee. I drank three cups, one after the other. But I can pay you back!”
I say this in such an agitated way that only when I look up do I see that Calligaris is trying not to laugh. God, he is so beautiful when he smiles! His green eyes are so intense.
“No, it is not about that. Actually, it happened to me too, but I stopped at the second coffee!”
At that moment I realize I have made a fool of myself. I feel my ears and my cheeks blushing. I take a breath and say: “Why am I here?”
Calligaris looks at La Blanche who says: “When was last time you saw Ms Mars?”
I think for a second. “Friday before Christmas. I finished the work she gave me and before I left, I knocked on her door. She was on the phone, so I just waved.”
“And after that day did you hear from her?” Calligaris continues seriously.
I shake my head. “No, I am sorry. Did something happen to her?”
The director of Human Resources begins to speak. He is jolly and a good family man with a big belly. The sort of man who never gets angry.
“In short, Ms Mars closed several contracts and our agency never received any deposits. She disappeared without leaving a trace! Now we have all these contracts to honour without deposits. We are in trouble. We are talking about a lot of money.”
“What we need to know from you,” Calligaris continues, looking in my eyes in a re-assuring way, “is if your boss was carrying out any personal negotiation with other companies.”
“The last contracts were with the fashion firm You&U, the sports shoe company Redenge, and the jewellery franchise Burassi. There weren’t any other contracts she was working on.”
The CEO starts tapping his pen on the table.
“Sorry. I only know about those three.”
Calligaris looks at me again and softly says: “Did you notice any strange behaviour in Susan recently? Any telephone call that made her nervous? Anything that can help us?”
Before those deep eyes, I spoke without thinking. “Susan was a person full of energy. Often she was under stress, so outbursts of anger or moments of tension were common. But I didn’t notice anything new. I can’t think of any peculiar behaviour. Everything was as usual. I don’t know how to help you.”
“You aren’t guilty of anything, Valentina. We thank you for your co-operation.” Calligaris says to me. “Here is the situation. From tomorrow on you will have a new boss, Mr Spencer, and you will resume your work exactly where you left it with Susan. We trust your good judgment about the confidentiality concerning this episode. We will say that Susan had suddenly to leave to assist her ill mother. If we need you again, we will call you and I am sure you’ll assist us.”
As soon as he stops talking, he gives me a gentle and very, very sexy smile. Already strained by this experience, I feel my poor heart break.
“I understand. You can count on my discretion. I will be completely at your disposal for any further questions.”
I get up and say good-bye to everybody. Calligaris walks before me and opens the door. Does he open the door to me? I almost faint.
“Have a good day, Valentina.” I am melting and staring at his lips like a perfect fool.
“And you too.” It’s the only thing I am able to say. I’m sure I have a stupid smile on my face.
Once inside the elevator, I sigh with relief. But as soon as the enchanting effect of Calligaris green eyes disappears, I realize what has happened. Susan stole from the company and tomorrow my new boss arrives. A man! Uh-oh, I am in trouble. Big trouble. I am not accustomed to talking to the opposite sex and what just happened upstairs is a demonstration of it. What a shitty way to begin a new year!
Chapter 2
James
Where is this fucking idiot driving me to?
“I think you are taking the wrong turn! The sign says Milan is in the opposite direction.”
“You are right, Sir. I have precise instructions where to take you.”
This guy is incompetent. “You need to turn round for Milan!” Damn it! He’s wasting my time. I look at him in the rear view mirror. I see the light of satisfaction in his eyes.
I can’t restrain myself from cursing before collapsing in the car heading to a city I had never heard of. While I gaze at the unknown landscape, I have only one thought: this time I really made him fucking angry.
After a shitty, turbulent flight, I thought it couldn’t get any worse! Again I look in the rear view mirror and meet the mocking eyes of my insufferable driver. I have other questions for him, but I don’t want to give him more gossipy stories about me to share with his friends.
I lean back and close my eyes, hoping my headache will go away. However outside it is still dark and I am not missing anything.
I moan and don’t know precisely the reason. Is it because I made a mess and disappointed him again, or is it because I was forced to leave New York?
I pass my hand over my eyes and my hair, wishing to wake up from this nightmare.
Looking through the car window, I begin to see some buildings, long arcades, shops, a small square, a fountain. The car stops.
“Sir, we have arrived!” My driver says with satisfaction.
I don’t dare get out. But my new friend opens the car door and smiles. Crap! Why did I get the most annoying local driver?
“Let’s go see what I am up against—” I mumble.
“Excuse me, Sir?”
“Nothing. Which building is it?” I ask grabbing my briefcase.
“The one in front of us. Top floor.”
I look up. It is a well preserved historical building. I look around and there is not a soul in sight on the cobblestone street. It seems to be a pedestrian area. All the buildings are a pristine ivory colour and perfectly restored. They are four or five storeys tall and have small arcades containing shops and offices within.
“I will take you,” my personal Charon1 says.
I follow him without a word. I am too tired. He takes a key chain out of his pocket. He pushes the remote control and a big wooden door opens up. Charon points out a ramp descending into the parking garage.