Chapter 18

“Someone’s here to see you,” Bunmi said over the intercom. She was Aubrey’s assistant and right-hand woman (as the other staff called her).

“Who?” Aubrey asked absently as she read an email from her stockist in California. “I don’t have any appointments today.”

“He said you were expecting him,” Bunmi replied.

“He? Does he have a name?”

“Barry Thompson.”

Aubrey’s heart sank. What the hell is he doing here? She wondered in annoyance. What the hell did he want from her? Was he stalking her?

“Aubrey?” Bunmi prompted.

“Um, you know what? Send him in,” she said. She was already distracted, and she didn’t want to reply to an important email without a clear head. So, she might as well find out what Barry wanted and send him on his way then get back to work.

He came into her office moments later with a bouquet of colorful flowers and a blinding smile. His whiter than white teeth glistened behind his wide grin.

“Aubrey,” he greeted with arms outstretched, as if he expected her to run into them. “How are you?”

Aubrey suddenly felt sick to her stomach. She couldn’t tell what it was about Barry that suddenly made her feel uncomfortable. “Hi, Barry,” she said without attempting to hide her displeasure at his unexpected visit.

“Don’t I get a hug?” He asked and pouted dramatically when she didn’t get up from her seat to embrace him as he had expected.

“I’m very busy, Barry. What can I do for you?” She asked flatly.

“Jeez, aren’t you a ray of sunshine today, dear Aubrey?” He commented and sat down on one of the chairs in front of her desk. “Look, I got you flowers. I didn’t know what type you liked, so I got every type the florist had in stock. Aren’t they pretty?”

“Lovely,” she said dryly. “Thanks.”

“You don’t seem so happy to see me,” he remarked when he noticed that her mood was sinking lower and lower as each minute passed.

“Barry, today has been a very busy day for me and for you to show up suddenly without notifying me ahead…it’s just, I don’t know, weird.”

He scoffed. “I would have notified you if you’d given me your number yesterday, although I forgot to ask. My bad, but hey, I’m here now, so we can fix that.”

She sighed. “What about your meeting today?”

“Done and dusted,” he said with a flourish. “I’ve got a new investor in the bag.”

“Great.”

“Thanks.”

Silence.

“So…how’s the business going?” he asked.

“Good. I was about to respond to an important email when you came in. I’d like to get back to that now if you don’t mind.”

“Cool. Go ahead, I’ll be quiet.”

Aubrey raised an eyebrow. “Don’t you have somewhere else to go? I mean, your job? Businesses?”

Barry chuckled. “I have an army of competent staff who do the work now. All I do is supervise and make the final decisions. My style of entrepreneurship relies heavily on delegation—my network of businesses is too expansive for me to oversee everything personally.”

“I see,” she muttered. “Well, if you will excuse me, I’d like to get back to work. My style of entrepreneurship is more hands-on than merely supervisory.”

“Hey, I wasn’t criticizing your business model,” he said quickly.

“I know. Thanks for dropping in,” she said, dismissing him.

“How about dinner tonight?” He asked expectantly.

“Uh, I’m sorry, I’m going to have to decline. I have a lot to handle today, and I’ll be working late.”

“Breakfast then? Tomorrow morning?”

Aubrey tried not to grit her teeth, but she was running out of patience with him. “Please, Barry. I need to get back to work.”

He threw up his hands in surrender and stood up. “Ok, ok. This is what I get for trying to be a friendly chap. Fine, I’ll leave.”

“Sorry, Barry. I just really have a lot on my plate right now. No pun intended.”

He chuckled. “It’s ok. I understand. I’ll see you again some other time, I guess.”

A thought occurred to her, and she asked, “How did you know where to find me?”

Barry laughed. “Are you kidding? Maubry is as popular as Starbucks around here. Besides, you ever heard of Google Maps?”

Aubrey smiled. “Right. Lame question.”

“How about your phone number? I couldn’t find it on the internet.”

She gave in and handed him her business card. “Don’t call me after midnight. I don’t joke with my sleep.”

“Noted,” he said with a grin. “Bye for now.”

“Yeah,” she said and exhaled when he finally left.