Secret Relations: Women in Hollywood, Book 1 (16 page)

Chapter Forty-Two

Sean woke up Monday morning feeling like a new man. He’d just spent a wonderful weekend with the woman he loved. He wanted to tell the world how he felt but he’d promised Charlotte he would keep her identity a secret.

He originally fell in love with the image of Charlotte, but after getting to know her on a more personal level, Sean was in love with the woman inside of her. The one she rarely showed to the outside world. He understood her need to exert control, but when she was around him, she could relinquish that control. She didn’t have to make all of the decisions. She could be carefree and that’s how he wanted her to be. He wanted her to feel free to be her complete self around him.

Some men couldn’t deal with an independent woman. Sean found it exhilarating. It turned him on to see Charlotte at work. He liked how she maneuvered through bad situations and how she resolved problems that would make the average person crumble. Charlotte liked being in control but she knew when to allow Sean to take the wheel. He would never deny Charlotte and this weekend sealed it for him. Now that she’s allowed him into her heart without any reservations, he would do whatever it took to protect her heart.

He pulled his SUV up in front of his house. Priscilla greeted him at the door.

“I was beginning to think you got lost,” Priscilla said, as she moved out of the way and let him in.

“Last time I checked, I was a grown man. I don’t have to check in with anyone.”

Priscilla held her phone in the air. “I’m your assistant. I should know where you are at all times, in case you’re needed.”

“You knew where I was.”

“I’m assuming you were with that woman, but I don’t know for sure,” Priscilla snapped.

“That woman’s name is Charlotte. And if you’re going to be around me, you will respect her.”

“She’s not right for you,” Priscilla groaned.

Sean stopped walking. He turned around and looked at Priscilla. “You need to check your attitude.”

“I’m serious, Sean. I tried to tell you what she did to Big Boss. Do you want her to ruin your career too?”

“Either you respect my relationship with Charlotte or you can bounce?”

Priscilla’s lower lip started shaking. “Are you firing me?”

Sean tried his best not to fire her. “Why don’t you take some time off? Clear your head. Get yourself together.”

Priscilla clenched her teeth. “I can’t believe you’re firing me.”

“I wasn’t going to fire you, but since you don’t want to take a few days off to cool down like I suggested, you’ve left me no choice.”

“What am I supposed to do about money? How am I supposed to maintain my lifestyle? I can’t believe you’re firing me.” Priscilla went on and on.

Sean walked near her. “I will give you a monthly allowance until you find something else.”

“The economy is bad. What if it takes me a year?” she asked.

“I got you. I’m not going to let you starve.”

“We’re family. Isn’t that what you like to say?” She mimicked his voice when she said, “We’re family.”

“Priscilla, my decision to release you from your duties is business, not personal.”

Priscilla backed up some. She inhaled and exhaled loudly. “Won’t nobody have your back like I’ve had your back. Believe that.” Priscilla stormed out the house, slamming the front door.

The mirror on the wall shook.

Sean opened the front door and watched Priscilla screech out of the driveway. He got his phone out and called Trevon. “I need every lock in my house changed ASAP,” Sean commanded.

“Was there a burglary?” Trevon asked from the other end of the phone.

“No. I had to fire my assistant.”

“I’ll send someone out to change the locks right away,” Trevon responded. “If I were you, I would also change all of my passwords.”

“Thanks. I will do that,” Sean said. He disconnected the call and went straight to his home office and sat behind his computer. He opened his drawer and pulled out a list of all of the websites and login information. He changed the password to each one of them. He also changed the passwords to his bank account and email addresses.

Sean made a few phone calls. “Bobby, this is Sean. I just fired Priscilla,” Sean said.

Bobby cursed from the other end of the phone. “Man, I hope you’re ready to deal with the wrath of a crazy woman.”

“We’re good. I just wanted you to know. I’m going to hire someone but not sure how long it will take. In the meantime, I might need you to take up some slack.”

“I got you,” Bobby responded. “Oops. That’s her on my other line. I’m not answering. She can get voice mail.”

“You don’t have to avoid her on my account,” Sean said.

Sean called his sister, Marie, in Houston and told her what happened. “It’s something that had to be done. You couldn’t keep her around if she’s being rude to people. She’s a reflection of you. She’ll be fine. If she wants to come back to Houston, I’ll let her stay here until she can get settled.”

“Great. Call and let her know. I’m sure she’ll appreciate it,” Sean said. He felt better about his decision after talking to Marie.

Chapter Forty-Three

A smile seemed to be glued to Charlotte’s face the entire day. Even though, this Monday was like any other hectic Monday, Charlotte refused to let anything get under her skin. She went about her normal Monday activities without a care in the world.

Felicia called her on the phone. “Sean’s on the phone. He said he’s been trying to reach you on your cell.”

“I still have it on silent. Didn’t want the ringer interrupting my conference call. Put him through.”

“Hi, Sean, how are you?” Charlotte asked.

Charlotte picked up her cell phone and saw she had several missed calls from Sean and two text messages asking her to call him.

“I fired Priscilla. I’m in desperate need for an assistant. Do you know of anyone?” Sean blurted.

“Wow. I wasn’t expecting to hear that,” Charlotte said.

Charlotte listened to Sean recap his Monday morning events. While she was basking in the afterglow of their weekend, Sean was dealing with Godzilla who went by the name of Priscilla.

“Baby, don’t worry about a thing. By the end of the day, we will have you a new assistant. I will have the candidates come here. Felicia can narrow them down to three and you can interview them right here at my office,” Charlotte said.

“Thanks, Babe. You’re a life saver. What time?”

“Six. She needs enough time to decide on which candidates will be the best.”

“I will be there around six.”

“Did you change all of your passwords...the locks on your doors?” Charlotte asked.

“Done.”

“Good. Try not to be upset.”

“She’s been my right hand for a long time. I feel lost without her already.”

“Know this, Sean. You can lean on me. I’ve got your back.”

“She was well organized. She kept things running smoothly.”

“Those are qualities your next assistant will have. So as I said, I’ve got you covered. Relax.”

“I’ll try. I know you’ve got work to do, so I’ll go so you can get back to it,” Sean said.

Charlotte called Felicia. “Can you come to my office? I need your assistance with something.”

An hour later, Felicia informed Charlotte that the interviews had been scheduled.

“Have a seat. I want to talk to you about something.”

Felicia took a seat in front of Charlotte’s desk and crossed her legs.

Charlotte slid a manila folder in front of Felicia. “You’ve been going beyond the call of duty, not just for me, or the other associates, but our clients. How does a promotion sound with a substantial raise?”

Felicia opened the folder and reviewed the sheet of paper inside it. Her mouth flew open. “Office manager and I would be making fifteen thousand dollars more a year than what I’m making now. Where do I sign?”

Charlotte held up her pen. “Here you go.”

Felicia signed the paper. “Where’s my new office?”

“For now, I still need you at the front desk. I want you to hire your replacement and train her. I will leave the time frame to make this happen up to you.”

Felicia stood and walked behind the desk and gave Charlotte a tight hug. “I love you, girl. Thank you for believing in me. I know sometimes I can get in your business but that’s only because I care about you. I have five brothers and you’re like the sister I never had.”

Charlotte patted Felicia on the arm and tried to break the embrace. “Alright. It’s good. Now let’s get back to me being the boss and you handling your business.”

Felicia stood. “You try to act like you’re Ms. Cool all of the time, but I know the real you. You’re a softy underneath that tough exterior.”

“Bye, Felicia.” Charlotte laughed.

“I’m going. I can’t wait to tell my friends. They are going to be so envious.”

Felicia practically skipped out of the room. Charlotte smiled, knowing business was so good she was able to give one of her hardest working employees a promotion.

At six o’clock, Charlotte sat in on the interviews with Sean. The first two candidates didn’t seem to be a match. “Felicia, send in the last candidate,” Charlotte said, over the intercom.

“I hope this one is better. I really need to find an assistant,” Sean uttered.

Charlotte and Sean both seemed to be surprised that the last candidate was a male. Charlotte had assumed Taylor was a woman. She’d gone to school with several girls named Taylor.

Charlotte and Sean stood and extended their hand out and Taylor shook it. Taylor was twenty-two years old and a recent graduate from the University of California with a Bachelor’s Degree in business.

They each took turns asking Taylor questions. Sean said, “You are aware if I choose you to be my assistant, that you will not have a typical forty hour week. I will be going on a world tour in a few months. You will be required to travel with me when I go out of town unless it’s a personal trip.”

“I’m not married nor do I have any kids. I want to work in the entertainment field. I feel being your assistant will give me hands on training. I also feel some of the things I learned in school can also be beneficial to you. I know you have a strong social media presence and I want to help continue to build your brand using that resource. I also know that you have certain organizations you support financially and also with your time,” Taylor said.

Sean looked at Charlotte. Sean looked at Taylor. “Can you wait outside for a few minutes?”

Once the door was closed, Sean asked Charlotte, “What do you think?”

Charlotte paused. “I sort of hate Felicia chose him for you because I could use him in my office.”

“So you think I should give him a try then too?” Sean asked.

“Yes. If you don’t hire him, I will.”

Sean got up and opened the door. “Taylor, can you come back in?”

Taylor walked in.

“Taylor, I want to offer you the job.” Sean extended his hand.

Taylor shook his hand. “Thank you. I’m very appreciative of this opportunity.”

Charlotte stood and shook his hand. “Let me get Felicia. She’ll go over everything with you. You will need to sign confidentiality agreements, payroll, etcetera. Welcome to Team Sean Maxwell.”

Chapter Forty-Four

Sean sat in his living room with his new assistant later on that night. He handed Taylor a bag.

Taylor removed a new iPhone and iPad from the bag.

“These are for you. Protective cases and everything else you need are at the bottom of the bag.”

“Mr. Maxwell, thank you again for this opportunity.”

“Taylor, call me Sean. Charlotte had Felicia retrieve my itinerary and printed it out. This is what I have going on this month and she printed out the last previous months to give you an idea of what to expect. I’m going to be depending on you to handle day-to-day activities for me. As you mentioned during the interview, social media is very important to my brand.” Sean went to his desk. He picked up a sheet of paper and handed it to Taylor. “This is a list of all of the websites and login information. If you can’t read my handwriting let me know.”

Taylor looked at the paper. “It looks fine to me.”

“Great. Do me a favor. Type it up and get me a printed copy of it so I can keep for my records. One thing I ask, if you change the password due to someone trying to hack, always let me know what the new password is. You never know when I’m going to access any one of my pages. I use my Instagram a lot. I have it set to repost on my Facebook and Twitter pages so it’s important you keep me informed.”

“Yes, sir.”

Sean said, “You will also be working closely with Jason Lewis. He’s a member of Charlotte’s agency. You’ve already met Felicia. You will hear from her from time to time. First order of business for you tomorrow morning is to order the biggest bouquets of flowers and have them sent to Felicia and Charlotte. You’ll find their information on the iPad.”

Taylor took notes on his notepad.

“Do you have any questions for me?” Sean asked.

“Yes. What happened to your last assistant?” Taylor asked.

“She didn’t play well with others and if you’re working for me, that’s unacceptable. I will not tolerate the mistreatment of others in my camp.” Sean looked at Taylor and didn’t blink.

“I try to treat people the same. My mom said we’re all God’s children and no one person is better than the other,” Taylor said.

“Good. I’m glad we have an understanding on what my expectations are.”

“What time should I be here tomorrow?” Taylor asked.

“Get here around nine. I should be through with my morning workout by then.”

Sean walked Taylor to the door. “Once we both see how this works out for us, I will probably give you a key and the alarm code so you can come and go as you please.”

“I understand.”

Taylor left and Sean went upstairs to his room to call Charlotte. “I need to see you.”

“I can’t. I had a client emergency and I’m on my way to their house now to deal with it,” Charlotte responded.

“Call me when you get a free moment,” Sean said, a little disappointed that he wouldn’t be seeing Charlotte later on.

“It will probably be late, so I’ll call you tomorrow.”

“You want me waiting up all night worrying about you?” Sean asked.

“I’ll text you when I make it back home. I’m warning you now, it’ll be late.”

“I don’t care how late it is. I won’t rest until I know you’re safely back at home,” Sean said.

Sean needed to get a grip on his emotions. He hoped he didn’t come across as some over protective possessive boyfriend. He cared about Charlotte and didn’t want anything to happen to her. He knew she was used to taking care of herself, but she had him now. He wanted to be her protector and be there for her when she needed him.

Sean’s phone rang interrupting his thoughts. He answered.

“Sean, it’s me. Priscilla.”

“Have you calmed down?” he asked.

“Yes. I just wanted to apologize for my behavior earlier,” Priscilla said.

“I want you to know there aren’t any hard feelings. You can still come to me if you need me,” Sean tried to assure her.

“I need my job back,” Priscilla pleaded.

“It’s too late for that.” Sean remained on the phone and headed to his home gym.

“But, what am I supposed to do, Sean?” Priscilla asked.

“You have so many good qualities that it will be easy for you to find another job. Let me know what day you want to fly to Houston. I’ll pay for the ticket and your hotel.”

“Sean, I’ve been thinking. Houston no longer feels like home to me. I want to stay right here.”

“Cool. Then, get your resume together. I’ll give you a glowing recommendation.”

“But, I liked working for you. I don’t want to work for anyone else.”

“Priscilla, I don’t feel like getting into this with you. I’ve made my decision and it’s final. As I said earlier, I’m still here for you, but we can’t work together.”

“Fine.”

Sean looked at his phone and saw that Priscilla disconnected the call.

He put on his workout gear. He needed to release some of the built-up frustrations.