CHAPTER 3

  He was waiting downstairs in his black Benz with a driver. He grinned the moment she spotted him. She was wearing a high waist brown pencil skirt with a white sleeveless button up chiffon blouse. She paired them with a black block heels, and a brown Fendi bag.. She looked sexy. It was another day of displeasing heat. But luckily for her, the air-conditioning was working. She got in, met his gaze, and smiled at him.

"You look really beautiful," he said, eyeing her adorably as she slid in beside him. They drove off to get lunch and as he said, it was only a few blocks away from work. Although it would have been torture to walk since it was over a hundred degree outside. He was wearing a grey suit, white shirt and a dark tie, looking all business and serious.

  As usual, she had her hair tied in a loose knot with ivory chopsticks to keep them in place. Making Drake wonder how her hair would look if he pulled the sticks out. He loved the idea of her blonde hair cascading down her shoulders. He was lost in thoughts, unable to concentrate on what she was saying.She was telling him about the meeting with the digital analysts, and she realized that he hadn't heard anything she said.... He was busy admiring her. By then, they had reached the diner, the driver opened the door and helped her out. The diner looked busy,full and clean... The food smelled delicious too.

 She ordered a salad and a cappuccino, while Drake ordered a chicken sandwich and a cup of coffee. And as he stared at her, he found himself wondering how old she was. It was obvious she looked younger than her age.

"Is something wrong?" She asked him, when she notice him staring at her with an odd look on his face, as the waiter dropped his cup of coffee.

"No," he shook his head. He wanted to tell her how nice her scent was, but was scared that she would find it weird that he was subtly sniffing her. She didn't look like the kind of woman who would mix business with pleasure, and in truth neither was he. But there was just something enchanting and mesmerizing about her. And he found himself wanting to be around her.

 She was oblivious to her seductive quality, and he found it hard to stop staring at her. She was definitely oblivious to what was going on in his head. She never paid attentions to the effect she had on men. She was always too busy thinking and talking about variety of things. Drame stared at her, completely fascinated by her.

"I like the strategies Jackson came up with," she said as their food was placed in front of them, and she began to poke at her salad. She wasn't fat, but she wasn't skinny either, she was just large in the right places that made her appealing to men. She looked like she visited the gym, he noticed her firm arms. The budget she mentioned to him earlier was the furthest from his mind as he took her in.

"What are your plans for the summer?" He asked after they were done talking about the budget. He wanted to know more about her, not just about work. "Are you traveling somewhere?"

"Actually, I'm going to be in France in about a week for the shows. And I'm supposed to be in Marseille after that. Then afterwards, it's either I'll be back here, or in London." She grinned at him between bites of her salad, and he laughed.

"I really doubt that. So do you go out to anywhere on the weekends?" He asked, curious.

"Well sometimes I go to the staktons, a lot of times i work throughout the weekends, it just depends on the workload I'm dumped with. I try to take little or no time off, gets the work done faster."

"Okay. So about the shows in France, what kind of shows?" He asked.

"Couture shows, they're just fashion shows."

"Really? Never attended one before." He said, while his mind did the work of envisioning her in that setting, he liked the idea of it.

"The shows are fun, a little bit of crazy though, and beautiful too. Beautiful models and gorgeous clothes. Although there are fewer couture houses than they used to be, but they're still good. Now that you're around boss, you should come along some time. You would be captivated by the models, all men are. I can try to get you some tickets if you're interested. Will your daughters be interested too?"

"I'm not sure,probably," he shrugged. He couldn't recall mentioning Britney and Jenna to her, or maybe he had forgotten. "I don't think either of them are passionate about fashion, but a trip to France can never be rejected. We usually just go to my ranch every year, my girls really love to ride. But I'm not sure we will be able to make it this year, I'm going to be super busy and my girls have summer jobs. Britney is working in Los Angeles, and Jenna took a job at a camp somewhere, I can't quite remember. It's been getting harder to go to vacations together now that they are both in the university." He hated to admit it, but since his wife died, the family didn't spend much time together like they used to. When they first got to the university, they called frequently. But along the line, the call began to become lesser by each passing day.

"Do you have children Emma?" He knew very little about her, other than how much of a workaholic and perfectionist she was.

"No,I don't. I have never been married.... Not that I'm bothered anyway. Most of the people I know who have children aren't married. But to answer your question, no I don't have kids." She didn't look unhappy about it too.

"I'm sorry," he said sympathetically, and she giggled.

"Well I'm not. I know it's awful to admit. But I've never wanted kids. They're a lot of people who would makes good parents, but I've never seen myself to be one of them." He wanted to make a comment, but he refrained himself, he didn't want to offend her in any way.

"Don't knock it until you try it. You would think that you're not a good mother until you have children of your own. I was always like that you know, until Britney was born. The first time I saw her,I felt this love burst through my chest. And now, i'm crazy about my girls, and they're very tolerant of me." He hesitated for a moment,and then continued. "We have been quite close after their mother died, although they're busy with school. But we speak occasionally, and get together when we can."

"How long was that? Your wife I mean," she asked carefully. She wondered if he was still affected by the loss or he had adjusted to it. He didn't speak of his wife with pain, but he did with warmth and acceptance, which made her assume that he had come to terms with her absence and death.

"It will be three years in September, it seems like only weeks sometimes. She was sick for a long time, nearly two years, so the girls and I had time to adjust to the inevitable. She was only thirty-eight when she died."

"I'm sorry." She didn't know what else to say, the thought alone made her sad.

"So am i," he heaved a sigh. "She was a really nice person. She did everything she could do to prepare us for her death,brought my girls and I closer... She even thought me how to cook." He laughed at that, lightening the mood, as Emma smiled at him. She liked him a lot, far more than she ever thought she would. Suddenly the meeting had nothing to do with work, or the budget they were meant to discuss.

"She sounds like a really wonderful woman." Emma also wanted to tell him how she thought that he was a wonderful man. She imagined his dying wife teaching him how to cook and it really touched her heart. She knew for sure that his girls were nice kids too, if they were anything like their father.

"She was wonderful, and so are you. I'm really impressed by how focused you are, and the work you do Emma, that's not a small task at all. You're constantly under pressure to meet up deadlines every month and still you deliver."

"Well you get used to it after some time. For me, I love the adrenaline rush, I pushes me, makes me work harder. The deadline keeps me on my toes. You're the CEO, I'm sure you're constantly under pressure." The agency was the second largest and he had been the head of the agency for a long while.... The one in London.

"I really loved working at the London office, I wouldn't have minded at all if I could still run it for a few years. But daddy got sick, and we had to move. The change came at a right time though, we certainly needed a change of scenery. What about you Emma? Do you see yourself getting old and grey at the the agency, or do you have other plans?"

She laughed. "I don't think you get old and grey at an advertising agency." She said with a smile, "with few exceptions I think. Most of the time it's retirement, and I don't think I have an idea on what I'll do after I leave. Thankfully i still have a lot of years though, but I've always wanted to write a book."

"Fiction of nonfiction?" He asked, intrigued. They finished their lunch a long time ago, but neither of them wanted to leave.

She shrugged." Maybe both, not sure. A nonfiction about the fashion world i think, and maybe after that I could try writing romance. I have always loved writing short stories when I was little, and I have always wanted to turn them into a book. It would be fun though, but I'm not sure." It was hard to believe that Bethany couldn't do anything she set her mind to.

"So how about you? Do you have interest in any other thing apart from being the CEO of one of the biggest advertising company?"

"Honestly, I don't think so. This is a family business as you know, and it's all I've ever known. But just for leisure, maybe tennis?I'm not sure. Good thing I have this work though."

"Trust me, I can totally relate, I don't have time to do much after work."

"At least you get to go to fun places. France and Los Angeles don't sound like hardship to me."

"They are not actually," she grinned broadly."plus I might be going on a cruise when next I'm in Los Angeles."

"Okay now I'm really jealous," he said as he signaled at the waiter. They both needed to get back to the office, even though they didn't want to.

"Well in case you need tickets to the shows, just let me know."

"When?"

"Second week of July, and few days of august. They are really fun, particularly if you are acquainted with people. But either way, they're pretty fun to watch."

"Thank you for the lunch by the way," she said as she slid in beside him and less than five minutes later, they were back at the office building, and she turned to smile at him. "That was really fun, thank you Drake. Most of the time I skip lunch."

"I won't even lie, I do the same thing. Maybe we could do something about that," he replied with a grin. " I enjoyed it too. Let's do it again soon?"

She replied with a smile as she got out and hurried into the building. And he drove off, thinking about her. oDrake Peterson was seriously intrigued. She was the first woman he'd met in two years who seemed worth more than a second glance...And that she was.