Chapter 5-Hits & Misses

Barron was glad to be home. He’d had a long day and needed to unwind. He undressed, thinking about what Rob said and took a long, much needed shower. What was he going to do about Danielle? After his shower, he pulled out his takeout from Eatzi’s and settled ont the couch with a beer. Thirty minutes into watching SportsCenter, he realized he had a missed call on his cell phone.

“Hi Mr. Weston, this is Shari Tate from Channel 5. I saw your picture in the paper this morning. I’d like to interview you and perhaps talk about your relationship with Danielle Mitchell. I know she’s the creative director over at FAT Ads. What’s it like to date someone you’ll be going up against for the Tornadoes advertising account? Give me a call me. My number is 214...”

“Damn!” Barron yelled as he continued to listen to the rest of his messages. The next one was from his brother.

“B, what’s up dude? This is your brother, Melvin. I hear you’re down there making the news already…”

Barron set his plate aside and looked through his missed call log, then he realized he didn’t have any contact number for Danielle other than her office. The he searched the time of the call and compared it to the time she left the message.

“There it is.” He pressed send and waited. Voicemail. Irritated, Barron put his dinner away and grabbed his laptop. He needed something to take his mind off Danielle. Only work could do that.

Danielle was busy working on her presentation when Clarice buzzed her the following morning. “Yes?” she said, taking a sip of her green tea.

“Barron Weston is on the line.

Danielle looked at her watch. It was just 8:30 a.m. I can’t believe he’s at work this early. “Okay, put him through.”

“Good morning, Danielle,” Barron said quietly.

“Barron,” she said softly.

“I got your message last night. Thanks for the call.”

“You’re welcome. Just don’t expect apologies from me too often.”

He laughed. “I know better, but I’m glad you called.” There was a long silence. “Are you ready for Mr. Washington?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be.”

“Are you ready for me?” he asked in a serious tone.

“Yes—I mean no. Will you stop doing that?”

“Doing what? Teasing you? You always leave yourself wide open,” he said laughing. “But all jokes aside. Can I ask you something?”

“Sure, as long as it’s not about my advertising proposal.”

“No, it’s not about that.”

She could sense the seriousness in his tone. “Well, what’s up?”

Barron didn’t know if he would get an honest answer to the question he was about to ask, but he figured he’d take a shot at it anyway.

“It’s really a request.” His voice was sincere.

“A request for what?”

“I want to make love to you again.”

Danielle quieted. Then she felt hot and her heart began to flutter. She rushed from her desk to close the door to her office. “W-what did you just say?”

“I said I want to make love to you again.” Yep, she’d heard him right the first time.

She closed her eyes, remembering that night. His soft kisses and warm hands all over her body were splendid indeed. The question hammered at her, but she couldn’t lie. She enjoyed every minute of him. Every touch he planted on her body made her wish she were his. Calmly she emitted her reply.

“Barron, how do you expect me to respond to something like that?” She asked, in a voice that seemed to have come from a long way off.

“Follow your heart like you did before.”

Danielle was silent for a moment then she said, “The last time I followed my heart, I woke up alone on the beach.

“That was the last time I’ll ever leave you alone like that. I promise.”

“Don’t make a promise you can’t keep.”

“I can keep this one. I told you I want you. This can’t wait any longer.”

“This what? Your need to screw me? Not going to happen. You had your chance and you blew it."

“I know, Danielle. But just let me be a man and do what I need to do.”

“Barron, I can’t. I have to go.” The dial tone was loud and clear in his ear. Barron put the phone to his chin and then placed in the receiver. Getting Danielle to trust him was going to be harder than he ever imagined.

Danielle collected herself for a moment then buzzed Clarice.

“Yes ma'am?”

“Do me a favor and see if you can get a hold of Jerry Breedlove’s agent over at Johnson and Woods? I’d like to talk to him.”

“Sure. Oh, and Miss Mitchell, Evan Washington is throwing a party Friday. Apparently, it’s a party for all the potential advertisers and the vendors for the arena. Would you like me to RSVP?”

“A party?” Danielle wondered what that was all about.“Sure, I guess I don’t have a choice. How many contenders will be there, I wonder?”

“I don’t know.” Clarice tried to suppress her concern. “Forgive me for saying so but you don’t sound too excited, Miss Mitchell.”

“I’m not. It’s awfully close to presentation time. This party is going to be a distraction.”

“It probably won’t be too bad,” Clarice assured her.

“We’ll see.”

“Well, I’ll call Johnson and Woods for you. Let me know if you need anything else.”

Barron read the fancy calligraphy on the invitation from Evan Washington and sighed deeply. He had only one more week to tie up loose ends for his presentation to Mr. Washington and his staff. Partying was the furthest thing from his mind. He liked to stay focused when he was working on something. It allowed for less mistakes. It was bad enough Danielle was on his mind. Now he had to socialize too? One more interruption like this and I’m pulling out. He got up from his seat and reached for his coat. No sooner than he was about to leave for lunch, his boss Roger Simmons came in.

“Barron, how are you?” he asked extending his hand.

“Fine,” Barron said putting his coat back on the chair. “What brings you by?”

“Well,” Mr. Simmons said, clearing his throat. He settled into the chair in front of Barron’s desk and set a folded newspaper on it. Barron recognized the picture of him and Danielle in the lifestyle section of the Dallas Morning News.

“This brings me by,” Mr. Simmons said pointing to the photograph.

“Is there something I should know about?”

“No,” Barron said. “Miss Mitchell’s an old friend.”

Mr. Simmons leaned forward. “What kind of an old friend?”

Barron didn’t like the tone in his boss’ voice. Truthfully, it really wasn’t any of his business what kind of an old friend she was. “We met at a conference after college.”

Mr. Simmons leaned back. “Oh, okay. Because I was going to say if you had been intimate with her you could probably use that to your advantage.”

Barron couldn’t believe what his boss was suggesting. But he decided to play along anyway. “What exactly do you mean?”

“Well, I was just going to say, if you were able to say, coax her, we could get some information on what FAT Ads has planned for the Tornadoes deal.”

Barron frowned but remained calm. What Mr. Simmons was suggesting was unprofessional and unethical. “Mr. Simmons, I don’t need to pick Miss Mitchell for information. As you know, my reputation speaks for itself. I’ve never had to use someone else’s ideas. I consider Danielle Mitchell a friend. And I’m not going to jeopardize our relationship.”

Mr. Simmons’ eyes darkened. “I know we all like to do the right thing. But sometimes in business you have to go far and beyond the call of duty, if you know what I mean.”

Barron knew exactly what he meant.

Mr. Simmons picked up the newspaper. “I won’t press you on this. Since you know what you’re doing, I’ll let you do it. But just remember, FAT Ads is our biggest competitor. Miss Mitchell and her team are good. If anybody gives us hell, it will be them. Keep that in mind the next time you see her. From the looks of her smile, she may want to be more than a friend.”

Barron watched Mr. Simmons leave his office. He was furious. He’d never been so insulted in his life. Of all his years in advertising, he never had to steal someone else’s idea. He was a brilliant marketing genius who started trends not stole them. Who needed other people’s ideas when he had his own? Frustrated and hungry, he grabbed his coat and left for lunch.