The Dickson brothers were exactly what part of their last name was: dicks. They were twins and owned an acne treatment line called “Zip, Zap, and Away.” Did the shit work? Hell if I know. I didn’t care if it did or didn’t. My job was to make sure they were happy with the advertising jingle my company came up with. Apparently, they weren’t and that was why this urgent meeting was called.
“Morning, Sasha,” I said as I took the cup of coffee she had waiting for me in her hand.
“Morning, Sierra. The Dicks, I mean, Dickson Brothers are waiting for you and they’re pissed you’re late.”
I sighed and put on my fake smile as I entered my plush office.
“Good morning, Brad and Tim. You gentlemen are looking spiffy this morning.”
“You’re late, Sierra. How many times do we have to tell you that our time is precious?” they both said in sync. Weirdos. Plain weirdos.
“I’m sorry, but the LA traffic was brutal this morning. I can’t help traffic. I wish I could,” I said as I sat down behind my desk. “Now, what’s going on with your account?”
“It’s shit,” Brad and Tim said together.
I looked at them with knitted eyebrows. “Do either one of you ever speak alone?”
They both looked at me and leaned back in their chairs. Kirsty was sitting in a chair across the room, holding up her pinky finger. I did everything in my power not to burst out into laughter.
“If you can’t handle this account, then we will find someone who can,” Tim said.
“Hold up, guys. You’ve been with Adams Advertising for what, three years now?”
“Yes.”
“We made it work then and we’ll make it work now.”
“Your father made it work, Sierra.” Brad scowled.
Sexist pigs. That was what they were. I folded my hands and brought them up to my chin. “Let me call Terry and bring him up here.” I smiled as I picked up the phone. I picked up the sketches with the slogans from my desk and looked at them. My face twisted as I read the slogans.
“I think they’re catchy,” I said as I got up from my chair and walked over to them. I looked at Kirsty as she sat there, pushing up her tits. I walked over to Brad first and handed him the first sketch. I bent over, making sure my cleavage was all up in his face.
“Zip, Zap, Away; your zits aren’t going to stay,” I read as I pointed to the slogan. “See; that’s catchy. I would totally buy your product and so will every acne-ridden teenager in America.”
I walked over to Tim and did the same, making sure he got a full view of my cleavage. “As you can see here, there’s a happy teenager looking at herself in the mirror. So, what do you both think?”
“They’re absolutely beautiful.”
“Excuse me?” I said as I stood up straight.
They both came back to reality with looks of horror on their faces. Brad cleared his throat.
“We mean that the sketches are beautiful.”
“Yeah, they are, aren’t they?” I smiled as pushed my shoulders back and walked to my desk.
Terry knocked on the door and then poked his head in. “You called for me, Sierra?”
“Come in, Terry. It seems that Brad and Tim aren’t happy with the slogan for Zip, Zap, Away.
“Really? We all thought it was great,” he said.
“It doesn’t matter what you think, Terry. It’s what our clients think and they think it sucks.” I got up from my desk and held my pen in my hand. I walked over in front of Tim and Brad and dropped it between them.
“Oh dear. Excuse me,” I said as I bent down and picked it up. Instead of standing back up, I knelt down with my arms on their chairs so when they looked at me, all they could see were my tits. “So, I’ll have Terry come up with something else.”
“Umm. No need,” they both said together. “We’ve decided we like it.”
“Fabulous, gentlemen.” I smiled.
They got up from their seats and I shook their hands. “See; I knew we wouldn’t disappoint you.”
“No, you certainly have not!” They smiled before walking out of the office.
Kirsty walked over and high-fived me. “Brilliant!”
“They’re pigs.” I laughed.
“That may be true, but they’re pigs who you made very happy and gave them something to jack off to.” Kirsty smiled.
I sighed as I opened the small closet in my office and took out a cami. I slipped it on over my bra and sat down behind my desk. Kirsty left to go do assistant work and I picked up my phone and sent a text message to Don.
“Hey, I’d love to go to that art gallery opening tonight. I’ll meet you there around eight?”
“Hey, gorgeous. Sounds good. After the opening, we can grab a bite to eat and then head over to my place so I can fuck you senseless. Sound good?”
“Sounds great,” I lied.
I only dated rich men who wore expensive suits, drank the finest wine, left big tips, and who were as fucked up as I was where relationships were concerned. No relationships, no strings, and no bullshit. It was the easiest way to avoid heartbreak. I don’t think there’s any other pain in the world that hurts as bad as heartache. I’d had my share. Besides turning two of my ex-boyfriends’ gay, the man I thought was the love of my life left Los Angeles to go on a trip and never came back. Since then, I rarely went out. I buried myself in my work and occasionally, okay, more than occasionally, had sex with the businessmen that were in my own powerful world. I was a huge fan of art, so attending the opening of a new art gallery was enticing to me. Don wasn’t all that bad in bed, even though he called himself “the king.” As long as I pictured George Clooney, I was good to go. If I ever had to step into reality and focus on the guys that were fucking me, I’d probably join the convent. I was happy in my little sex world with George, and nothing or no one was going to change that.
I needed to go home and get ready for tonight. I grabbed a bunch of files from my desk and called James to meet me out in front. As I left my office, I turned to Sasha and told her that she could go home for the day. When I stepped outside the building, James wasn’t there yet, so I decided to run across the street to Starbucks and grab a coffee for the way home. There was a sign on the door that said, “Open during construction.” When the hell did this start? I walked up to the counter and was greeted by Anna, the barista girl.
“Hello, Miss Adams. The usual?”
“Hi, Anna, and yes.”
As I looked around the shop, I noticed a man staring at me. He was dirty, covered in dust, and he was wearing one of those yellow hard hats. Besides all that, the one thing that caught my attention beneath all that dirt and grime were his green eyes. It was the way they looked at me. If they caught my attention from that far away, I could only imagine what they’d do to me up close.
“Here you go, Miss Adams,” Anna said as she handed me my coffee.
I pulled out my wallet and paid her. “What’s going on here?” I asked.
“We’re expanding.”
“Oh. I see. Well, happy expanding.”
I glanced over one more time and he was no longer looking at me. Instead, he was giving orders to one of the other workmen. When I walked out the door, James was waiting for me with the limo door open.
“How did you know I was here?” I asked.
“I saw you through the window,” he replied.
“Oh. Good job.”
James shut the door and, before he pulled away, I looked out the window and saw green eyes staring at the limo from the door.