Chapter 9

Upon arriving at work, Roman is pulled into his boss’ office and told about a new advertising project that was being started and that Roman is going to be heading it. His boss has already put together a team, including a new hire to the company. When he walks into his office, he is introduced to the new hire, Brea Draven. He almost falls over when he hears her name, noticing that except for the blonde hair, she looks exactly like Lucy.

After a while of sitting at his desk, running the similarities of the two women through his head, Roman decides that a call to Lucy is in order. He opens the Connext Communicator ® and calls her.

“Well hello, Roman,” Lucy says, answering. “What can I do for you?”

The man grins at her green image. “For starters, you can pull up that shirt and let me kiss those sweet breasts.”

“You’re being naughty already?” she asks. “If I do that for you, does that mean you’ll be here earlier than tonight?”

“On second thought, you keep the shirt on,” he answers with a frown.

Lucy matches the frown and growls. “For the sake of you keeping your job, I’ll keep them in.” She quickly replaces the face with a smile. “How are you this morning?”

“I’m fine,” he says. “I seemed to have run into your daughter.”

“Have you been hanging around late at night watching us, Roman?” she asks playfully. She can’t see the color of his face change to red when she continues. “Is she there with you now?”

“Not exactly,” he answers, taking a calming breath. “She’s just outside my office. Apparently she is a new hire and has been assigned to my team as my personal assistant.”

“I knew she was getting a job at some big firm, I just didn’t know it was going to be yours,” Lucy begins to explain. “She knows I’m seeing someone, but she doesn’t know it’s you yet. Can you wait to say something until after we’re all together?”

“I can just pretend I don’t know she is related to you, but that will be hard because she looks just like you,” he answers. “I mean, fuck, you two could pass for twins.”

Lucy giggles. “I know, I get that a lot.” She sighs. “Break the ice with her. She likes coffee, so that’s a starting point.”

“Okay, I’ll figure something out,” he says. “I’ll keep you posted.”

“You do that,” she says.

After saying their goodbyes, Roman closes the communicator. He sits at his desk for another few moments before getting up and walking out the office.

“Brea, where can I find a good cup of coffee?” he asks, stepping up to her desk and feeling the same way he did when he first met her mother.

“I’ll go get something for you,” she offers. “Anything in particular you like?”

“No, Brea,” he says, holding up his hand to stop her. “I can get my own coffee unless you happen to be looking to make a trip.”

“Well, I wasn’t going until my break,” she says.

“Well, I’m sort of the boss, at least in this department,” he informs her. “I’m also your boss, so how would you like to take that break now?”

“That sounds great, Mr. Marks,” she says, giving his the same smile her mother does. “There’s a hidden little shop right down the street.” She rises from her desk and leads the man out of the building and down the street to a quaint little vendor on the corner.

Roman notices the slight swing to the girl’s ass and smiles to himself. You are indeed you mother’s daughter. They take a seat outside after grabbing their coffees and start to talk.

“To begin with, I prefer to be called Roman,” he says. “I’m pretty new here myself and this is my first managerial position that I have taken. I make decisions on a fly and I don’t have time to argue when I do. Will that be a problem?”

“No, that’s definitely not a problem,” she answers. “Personally, I’m very good at following directions without complaint.”

“Well it seems that the company has hired the right person to assist me,” he says. “I think we can get along pretty well so long as we keep our communication open and honest.”

“That’s fine with me, Roman,” she says, smiling and sipping her coffee. “Is there anything else you wished to talk to me about?”

“Have you had a chance to talk with any of the other team members on this new project?” he asks, sipping his coffee too.

“Well there is Billy Logan, that guy you’re replacing,” she starts. “He seems good at his job, but from what little I talked with him, the bosses don’t think he’s putting out enough.”

“Which is why I was hired,” Roman remarks. “Anyone else?”

“Besides him, I only met Febe Rhodes,” Brea continues with a frown. “She’s kind of a bitch. I mean I’m sure she is good at her job, you have to be in this business, but it’s like she is carrying a chip on her shoulder.”

“That’s fine,” he says. “What I will need for you to do is give notice to all the team members that I would like to have a meeting. The conference room should suffice.”

“Sure, Roman,” she says with a nod. “Anything else?”

“Nothing right now,” he says, standing and grabbing his coffee. Brea moves to join him, but his holds out his hand again, stopping her. “You go ahead and finish. Take your time and get back to the office when you’re finished. We’re going to get along just fine.”

He leaves the little shop feeling good about his meeting with the girl. As an employee, he feels that she is confident and dedicated. Personally, he thinks that they made a connection. Brea sits, holding the cup of coffee between her hands with a broad smile on her face. The guy is really nice and she likes him and he did seem to turn her on too. Her mother has definitely made a good choice.