Chapter 12
"Stephan, can you tell us the plans for the New Year? Should we expect a new line of beauty products from Skin Deep?" the persistent reporter asked as he made his way into the hotel.
"I am afraid you will just have to wait and see," he said, flashing that charming smile of his. "Right now we are concentrating on the products we have out right now."
"And your relationship status?" The woman looked at the beautiful woman clinging to his arms wearing a charcoal grey dress that molded her slender frame.
"Is entirely my business," he said smoothly. But just before he turned to go into the hotel, he bent his head to the well-known beauty at his side and whispered something to her causing her to laugh. That was what the cameras caught and the headline would read that the handsome and charismatic billionaire Stephan Coleman was involved with the famous star of the movie "Unexplained Love" which had hit the theaters just over the holidays to rave reviews. Sasha froze the image and stared at the two of them, ignoring the emptiness inside her as she stared at them He had moved on to someone totally opposite from her and she knew she had been right! She had never been his type and she was glad she had told him no. She pressed the pause button and the image moved showing them going into the hotel. She knew that it was the New Year’s gala where the high society met and mingled. She turned television off and sat back against the cushions. It was time to stop crying and move on. She had work the day after tomorrow so she needed to get herself together. She had accounts to deal with and some brainstorming to concentrate on!
*****
Stephan smiled and made all the right comments as he walked around the room. He had removed Angelica’s hand from his arm the minute they had walked into the vast ballroom and had gone over to where several of his friends were talking and laughing. He had started seeing her in an effort to forget her, but so far the plan was not working. He plucked a flute of champagne from the passing waiter and swallowed half of it.
"Hey, man!" Garrett clapped him on the back as he joined them. "Congratulations on the new line of products. You struck gold as usual."
"Thank you." He glanced around the room. "You are here solo?"
"Afiya is over with some of the other wives. She lives by your products. My wife was not one for much makeup before, but she claims that the ones your company produces hardly seems like makeup"
"My wife says the same thing," Kane Takahashi told him, joining the conversation. "She swears by it."
"You used plus sized women in the ads and that made it even better for Afiya," Garrett said with a laugh as he looked over to where his wife was sitting with some of the other wives. Ever since the interview had been aired, their popularity had soared even more.
"I aim to please," Stephan said, lifting his glass. "I am afraid duty calls," he added as he saw Angelica coming over. "I will talk to you later."
"It feels like you are avoiding me, darling," she said with a pout of very red lips.
"Why would you think that?" he asked as he led her onto the dance floor.
She put her hands around his neck as she looked up at him. "We came in here and you left me all by myself as soon as we did."
"You had a number of people vying for your attention," he reminded her with an amused look on his face. She felt strange in his arms and his mind flashed back to him holding Sasha in his arms as he kissed her and the passion and heat he had felt when he did! He had to force himself to concentrate on what Angelica was saying to him.
"But I wanted your attention," she murmured softly. "I hope you want what I want."
He stared down for a moment and then smiled slightly. "Let’s play it by ear."
*****
Stephan sat in the darkened room, a half glass of bourbon in his hand, one booted foot propped up on his knee as he twirled the liquid around in his glass. He had left the party early and had come home to change and go for a walk along the property. He had needed the air and the bracing cold had been something he relished. Angelica had protested when he told her he wanted to leave and he had told her that he would see her soon. He had invited her to lunch tomorrow, which he was sure had not been a very good idea, but he realized that he was not giving them a chance. He had to try. He had to try and replace Sasha with someone else and it might as well be her! He had come home and sat with his mother for a little bit before turning in.
"You are not happy," she had observed.
"Of course I am," he had said with a smile. "I am always happy when I am here with you."
"I noticed when Sasha was here and the way you lit up when she was in the room. She made you laugh, Stephan, and I mean genuine laughter that I had never seen aside from when you are with me. She makes you happy."
"That’s sad that I have to depend on someone else for my happiness," he had said lightly.
"Call her, darling," she had urged.
He had reached over and took her hand. "No," he had told her softly. "I am moving on and I think so is she. Drop it, Mother."
He turned the glass to his lips and drank the rest of the bourbon, closing his eyes as the liquor burned its way through his stomach. He had not eaten anything much at the ball and he was not feeling hungry. He should have taken Angelica back to the apartment, he thought grimly. Maybe he could lose himself in her delectable body and finally get Sasha out of his head!
******
"I hope you are geared up to do some very heavy lifting!" Benjamin said as soon as she came into work the day following New Year’s Day. He stopped and stared at the girl in surprise! Sasha had decided to stop wearing the weave and deal with her natural black hair. She had washed and deep conditioned it and it was combed back and held with the aid of the gel she had rubbed into it. She had styled it into a bun on top of her head. She had added large silver hoops and was wearing make-up. She had on a winter green wool dress and knee length brown leather boots. She had reinvented herself and was determined to shake off the sadness and get on with her life.
"Is something wrong?" she asked him blithely as she headed for her office.
He followed her in. "You look different," he murmured.
"Good different?" She took off her jacket and hung it up.
"Absolutely." The man stared at her for a moment longer.
"Be careful, Benjie," she warned him. "If you continue to stare at me any longer you might have to buy me dinner."
His face flushed and he looked away quickly. "I – er -we have a client coming in."
"A new one?"
"Yes." He nodded, trying not to look at her. "They saw the ad we did for Stephan Coleman’s company and want us to do something for them."
Even his name had the power to render her helpless! She nodded and sat behind her desk. "Just let me know when they are here."
He nodded at her and left the office quickly.
She sat there for a moment and then snapped back and reached for her laptop. Work was the best remedy to get her mind off him!
******
"A follow-up campaign?" Marge, the head of the PR department, suggested. "The last products have been flying off the shelves, but we are going to need to include the older products as well. I was thinking that we combine the old ones with the new ones. Make it a kind of package deal. That ad agency certainly did a very good job with the line of makeup in December. People are still talking about the ads. Maybe we could get them to come up with something. What do you think, Stephan?"
His fingers tightened around the fountain pen he had been fiddling with. That would mean seeing her and pretending that he was over her.
He nodded. "Set up a meeting."
"Do you want them to come to us?" she asked.
"I will go to them."
******
Sasha dressed with special care. Benjamin had told her that they had a meeting first thing in the morning with people from Skin Deep. He had been so excited that he had not seen the look of dismay on the girl’s face. It had been two weeks since she had been back at work and she had been kept so busy that she had little or no time to think about him except when she went home and by then she had been so exhausted that she had fallen straight into the bed. On weekends, she helped out at the church and got herself involved much to the delight of Minister Brady. Now it was time to test how over him she was! She picked out a long sleeved red wool dress with a deep neckline that showed just a hint of her bosom. She had lost three pounds and she had celebrated by eating chicken! She picked up a multicolored scarf to go with it. He was not going to look at her and see a woman down in the dumps because he had left her! No, sir! She had washed her hair and taken the time to twist the strands into curls and decided to leave it loose around her face and onto her shoulders. She sat at the stool and applied makeup carefully. She had chosen to wear Cranberry Crush, a product from his company. Knee length brown boots to complete the outfit and she was ready. She had seen pictures of him with the actress and every time she saw them together it pierced her heart!
******
Stephan felt the jolt straight through his heart as she came walking into the conference room. He was afraid he was going to make a fool of himself as he sat there staring at her. She looked different and she was so stunning that he knew the other men in the room, including her employer, could not stop staring at her.
"Good morning, sorry I am a little late." She flashed that smile at them before she took her position at the head of the room. "I got a general idea of what you are looking for and came up with something." She positioned the boards on the easels. "You want us to combine the old products with the new ones you put out in the holidays." Her eyes met his for a moment and she paused before continuing. "It’s a package deal. Don’t throw out the old brands for the old. Combine them."
"How do we do that?" The question came from one of the women he had brought with him.
"Good question," Sasha told her. "Lilly." She gestured as she pointed to the woman on the board. "I call her Lilly. She is savvy and confident and is a working class woman always on the go." She picked up a tube of magenta lipstick. "This is for a night out on the town." She picked up a soft shade of rose. "A day at the office or a pick me up. Skin Deep is timeless and no matter what year they make their debut the colors and shades will never go out of style. So we combine the old with the new."
"So you are suggesting that we have two models?" the same woman suggested. She was the only one doing the talking. Benjamin kept looking at the silent man to see his reaction, but he was not showing anything.
"Or one model."
"What do you think, Stephan?" she asked him.
He tore his eyes from Sasha and looked at her. "It sounds good."
"Great!" Sasha flashed that smile again that had his body clenching tightly. "I will start to work on it as soon as possible. I am sorry to cut this short, but I am sure Benjamin will do the final details." Without looking at him, she walked out of the room.
She looked up a few minutes later as she heard the soft knock on her door. She was half sitting on the front of her desk going through something on her iPod when he came in.
"Stephan," she said coolly.
"Sasha." He shoved his hands into the pockets of his slate gray dress pants as he stared at her. He had excused himself from the discussion to find her. "How are you?"
"I am fine and you?" They were like polite strangers!
He shrugged. "You look different."
"People keep saying that, "she said with a laugh. "How is Elizabeth?"
"She has bad and good moments. She has been asking after you."
"Would you give her my regards?"
"I will." He stared at her without saying anything for a minute.
"Did you need anything else?" she asked him.
"Yes. I-"
They both started as there was a noise in the doorway. "I am sorry, Mr. Coleman," Benjamin exclaimed.
He turned to the man. "That’s okay. I just had something to say to Ms. Fullerton." He turned to look back at Sasha his gray eyes wandering over her face and done the length of her body. "We will talk."
He had no idea what was said on the return journey back to this office. He kept seeing her and the way she looked. She was beautiful before, but now she was even more so! She was stunning and had an air of confidence about her that added to it. He had seen the men looking at her and had wanted to smash their faces in and tell them- tell them what exactly? he thought grimly. That she was his and that he loved her? He had been going out with Angelica for three weeks now and he had not suggested that she come up to his apartment. He had been relieved that she had gone on location in Brazil and would be away for the next three weeks. He did not know how to keep putting her off. He was beginning to think that going out with her had been a very bad idea!
*******
She had kid herself that he would call her! She had been buoyed when she saw him come into her office and the look on his face as he looked at her and had told herself that surely he would call her, but he had not done so. She had ended up working late and had not left until minutes to seven. She had come home and put the phone next to her so as to not miss the call. Her phone rang several times, but it had been Diana at one point and Benjamin apologizing about disturbing her at work, but no calls from Stephan. What had she expected? she thought in despair. He had moved on with a beautiful, successful actress. She had kid herself and had misread him coming into her office. She took off her boots and went into the bathroom to stare at herself in the mirror. The tears had coursed down her cheeks without her realizing and had messed up her makeup. She gave herself a hard stare and then taking several sheets of tissue, she removed the makeup. With a stiffening of her spine, she swore to herself that this was the last time she was going to cry over him!
******
"We are actually going on to Mexico from here where we will wrap up productions. Are you sure you won’t be able to join me there?" Angelica asked him softly. She had been carrying on most of the conversation with him barely participating. His mind was elsewhere. He had almost told her that he wanted to see her when he went into her office. His breath caught as he remembered how she looked. He shook his head and tried to concentrate.
"I am sure." He leaned his head back and closed his eyes wearily. It was late and he should be going home. "I have things to do."
"I will be back in another two weeks. Can I depend on you not to see anyone else while I am gone?"
The silence stretched as she waited for his response. "Angelica-"
"Don’t say it, Stephan," she said swiftly. "I know you have not promised me anything and I am okay with that right now. I have a feeling that you are recovering from something or someone and I understand. For now we can be friends."
"And when you want more?"
"Maybe you will want more as well."
"I don’t know." He ran long fingers through his dark hair and closed his eyes. "I will see you when you get back."
"See you then, darling."
********
"I lost a whole three pounds," Sasha said wryly two days later as she handed her friend a glass of wine.
"So we are celebrating?" Diana said in amusement.
"So to speak," Sasha said with a grin. "I spend so much time trying to lose weight that it feels as if I am doing a second job. It’s getting to be exhausting."
"So stop. You look great by the way. I don’t remember ever seeing your real hair," she said as she looked at the girl’s black hair in admiration. "You look great."
"So I have been told." She toyed with the stem of her glass. "I saw Stephan the day before yesterday."
"What did he say to you?"
"I walked into that room with my hair down to my shoulders, wearing this happening red dress and knee high boots, and got the attention of everyone in the room including him and did my thing and I kicked ass. I left that room feeling so confident when I went back to my office and he came in." She shrugged. "I thought that he was going to say something like, ‘I have missed you and I want us to get back together,’ but we were interrupted by Benjamin. I came home that night expecting to hear from him, but he never called. I am done hoping, Diana, and I am taking my life back."
"You could always call him," she suggested.
"No, and as of now, I am done talking about Stephan Coleman!"
******
"Mother, I thought you would have been sleeping," he said as he strode into the room. He saw her sitting up against the pillows with her bedside lamp on and a book in her hands.
"I could not sleep. I guess I slept too much earlier today." She stretched forth her hand. "How are you, darling?"
He sat on the side of the bed and took her hand bringing it to his lips. "Better now that I see you are not bad. What are you reading?" he asked, peering at the cover.
"A silly romance novel," she said with a smile. "When are you going to stop being so stubborn and call Sasha?"
He shook his head and let go of her hand. "It would not work between us, Mother, and I really don’t think I should call her."
"And she has not called you." Elizabeth shook her head. "Both of you are so stubborn."
"She looks different," he murmured as if to himself. "Her real hair is thick and black and she keeps it natural. She looks good."
"Darling, you are still in love with her."
"I will get over it." He got to his feet. "Don’t stay up too late. I will be back down to check up on you."
"Darling, I hate to break it to you but love does not just go away like that," she told him gently as he turned to leave.
He turned and looked at her for a moment. "I asked her to marry me and she turned me down. I told her that I loved her and she never said it back." His expression was bleak. "She has to be the one to call me, Mother," he added.
Elizabeth watched as her strong, handsome son strode from the room and sighed sadly.