Whisper Privileges (31 page)

“And I’m sure you two will have plenty to
talk about,” she said, prepared to push her aside.

Morgan smiled tritely. “Would you like me to
see if I can get you her autograph?”

“Not hardly.” Sydney paused, as the thought
occurred to her. “But your friend Manny might enjoy one. Maybe you
can give it to him as a gift over your next dinner together.”
Morgan’s smirk disappeared. “After all, he so enjoys the company of
young women. Seems to me he might enjoy his name scrawled across
the photograph of one.”

Morgan froze. Only for a second, but Sydney
savored the victory just the same.

“I have no idea what you’re talking
about.”

Suddenly uninterested in detouring around
Morgan, Sydney folded the notebook within her arms and held it
against her chest. “You tell me,” she clipped.

“Nothing to tell,” she lied, and rolled
glossy lips together.

“Oh c’mon, Morgan. Don’t sell yourself so
short. I bet you two have some pretty juicy stories to tell.”

Ice splintered her gaze. “If you have
something to say Flores, say it.”

Sydney chuckled. It was a nice change to see
Morgan squirm. After her little stunt with opening ceremonies, she
deserved it. Taking her time, Sydney wanted her to suffer over what
may come next. “Let’s just say Javier wouldn’t appreciate knowing
about your relationship with the Mayor. Manny, isn’t that what you
call him?”

“Keep your voice down,” she hissed. Morgan
flogged her with a glare, sideswiping the immediate vicinity with a
hot, angry gaze.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Is this a problem for
you?”

Fury thrashed through her eyes, chilling them
to the core. “Oh, you’d like that, wouldn’t you? You’d like nothing
more than to cause me trouble.”

“That’s comical, Morgan. Coming from you,
anyway.” She peered down at her. Even in heels she was a shrimp.
“But actually, it’s Javier I don’t want to cause trouble
for—something you apparently don’t seem to mind.”

“That’s what this is about, isn’t it,” she
spat. “You still want him, don’t you? You’ve been jealous of me
since day one, Flores, because you know I’m ten times better than
you’ll ever be and now you’re mad because he’s with me, giving
me
the choice assignments.”

“You’re twisted, you know that?”

“You’re jealous.”

“Of you?” Sydney barked an empty laugh.
“Hardly. But I do care about Javier.”

“
I knew it
.”

Oh, please—if Morgan thought she was mooning
over Javier then she was a bigger fool than Sydney first thought.
Suddenly, she’d had enough. Tucking the notebook under an arm, she
dodged around her and headed for Javier’s office.

“Where are you going?” Morgan demanded from
behind her.

“To see Javier,” she replied over her
shoulder.

“
What
?” Morgan’s heels clambered up
behind her, but stopped short.

Sydney smiled at the image, relishing the
desperation in her voice. Did she think she could escort her to his
office and prevent the news from spilling? She laughed under her
breath and rounded the corner. Let her wonder. Sydney detested the
fact that Morgan was cheating on Javier, not to mention using the
Mayor to make her look bad, but delivering said message was not
something she wanted to do. Despite their personal issues, telling
Javier that Morgan was a cheat was not on her list of must-dos. She
was more interested in her career—and the direction of said
career—than airing Morgan’s trashy laundry. If she could manage to
cease Morgan’s interference without hurting Javier in the process,
then that’s what she’d do. But if she couldn’t, then it wasn’t her
problem, anyway. Chalk it up to a bad choice of bed partners—on his
part.

Cutting off into Javier’s front office,
Sydney wondered what kind of mood he’d be in today. No secretary to
play block for him today, she poked her head into his doorway.
“Javier? You ready for me?”

Sitting behind his desk, he smiled at the
sight of her. “Yes, Sydney.” Dark eyes softened in affection as he
set his pen down. “C’mon in.”

She took her usual seat and opened the binder
to her notepad.

Javier leaned back, sliding arms along the
rests of his chair. Donning no suit at the moment, the creamy coral
of his shirt enhanced the brown of his skin. “How are the events
coming along?”

“Great. Everybody’s set and looking forward
to finals tomorrow.”

“It’s very exciting, no? To watch these
athletes compete? Their enthusiasm is contagious.”

“It is.” But talking about the games would
only make her think of Clay and Q—and Trish—something she was
loathe to do. She had requested this meeting for different
reasons.

Javier held Sydney in the scope of his gaze.
“But you’re not here to talk about your current assignment.” He
paused and slid into a knowing grin. “This is about your next
one.”

“Yes Javier, that’s what I wanted to talk to
you about.” The fact that there may not be a next one, she thought
and tamped down a rush of nerves.

“I’d like to discuss the possibility of
working with LBD International.” She’d done her research. The
shipbuilding magnate had an event scheduled in Miami late next year
and if she could get involved from the ground up, she could make
connections with the in-house staff and hopefully secure a job for
herself. Based in London, it would be a dream opportunity. She
could experience a whole new culture by living abroad and better
yet, travel internationally. LBD was a global company with most of
their exhibits held in coastal regions and major ports. Best of
all, their native tongue was English. No language training
required. Living in London would be a nice change of venue for her,
and make it easy for her to explore Europe. She’d never been, but
had always wanted to go. The lack of beach volleyball was the only
downside. But life was about compromise, wasn’t it? She cleared her
throat and said, “It’s my understanding they have a meeting set for
December of next year.”

Javier crossed one leg over the other, the
leather wingback creaking beneath the weight of him. “And you’d
like to take part in handling the event?”

She nodded. Angst jumped in her chest. “I
would.”

“Well, I haven’t actually assigned anyone to
that event as yet, but James has already expressed his
interest.”

James was a senior associate and usually
received the assignments he put in for, but Sydney hoped with the
advance notice, she could change Javier’s mind. She had the
experience. Her track record was just as good as James’. There was
no reason she couldn’t be given this event. “I’d like to be
considered along with him, if possible.”

“I see...” He tented his fingers. “Morgan has
also indicated she’d like to work the convention.”

Resentment percolated. What convention
doesn’t
she want? Grubby, two-timing wench. But then again,
she doesn’t have to compete for events with the rest of them.
Sydney’s gaze dodged to the notebook perched on her knee.

“If you recall, she has connections with
LBD.”

Of course she does. Sydney stared at him,
disbelief curdling her hope into a pit in her stomach. Because you
let her work the boat expo with James! Prancing around in her
so-called “boat” clothes during the exhibit didn’t take long to get
her noticed. Didn’t take a genius to know a female showing some
skin would be cause for attention. But dinner with the
vice-chairman of the company still counted as a connection, no
matter how non-business oriented it was and Morgan soaked the meal
for every drop of recognition she could.

Fighting a well of frustration, Sydney tried,
“Well, I’d still like to be considered. If there’s any
possibility...”

Though it was likely she was wasting her
time. Unless Javier dumped Morgan. But he wouldn’t do
that
until she gave him good reason. On second thought, maybe dropping
the bomb about Morgan’s extracurricular activities would be helpful
right about now. Setting her hands on the armrests of her chair,
she prepared to rise. But spitting out that morsel of info
unplanned would only harm her cause. Disappointment careened
through her.
Hers
.

“Sydney.”

She stopped mid-motion, awash in
light-headedness. “Yes?”

“I want you to know that I’ve only heard good
things about your performance with Special Olympics.”

“Thanks.” Pulling herself to a full stand,
she looked down at him. She took a deep breath and gathered her
thoughts. While it wasn’t earning her any gold stars, she’d rather
he hear positive words regarding her job performance than negative.
Especially after his little threat.

“According to their staff, you’ve made quite
an impression with the kids.”

Images of Q and his friends came to mind. The
sweet young girl at opening ceremonies. Beyond them, she hadn’t had
much contact with the athletes. Did Clay say something? Javier’s
warning floated to the forefront of her mind. Did he ask the
Special Olympics to call her company? Sydney felt uncomfortable at
the prospect. She clasped notebook to her chest. She wasn’t a pity
project. With a cursory inspection of his office, the trendy
furnishings screaming success and everything she was missing out
on, she replied, “Not sure why that is but at least they’re not
complaining, right?” She tried to smile.

A twinkle danced in his eyes. “Perhaps they
sense you genuinely care.”

Seemed kind of odd if you asked her, since
she didn’t share a lot of one on one time with any of them. “Well
that’s nice of you to say, but it may be a bit more credit than I
actually deserve.”

“You’re too humble.” Javier scooped several
papers sideways across his desk and tapped them into a pile. “Me?
I’m not surprised. It was the same way with the kids’ charity event
you worked on last year.”

Sam’s kids.

He laughed and rose from his chair. “It was
the first time I ever received fan mail for one of my
associates!”

The assertion tugged a sincere swell of
pleasure from her. “Fan mail is a bit extreme, don’t you
think?”

He walked around his desk and with a hitch of
his pant leg, sat on the edge. “When the letters include things
like, ‘I love Miss Sydney’ and ‘She’s the greatest,’ I think I’d
consider that fan mail.”

Sydney felt a burst of fondness. Guess it was
nice to receive positive feedback, even if it was from the kids and
not the clients.

“Have you ever considered working for a
company in-house?”

Sydney’s pulse thwacked between her ears.
Was he kidding
?
Was he reading her mind
? “Well,
um...”

“Don’t worry, Sydney. I’m not trying to push
you out of JL.”

She eyed him with suspicion.
Tread
lightly
. This could be a trap set by Morgan to boot you out of
the way. Hadn’t she promised as much? “It has crossed my mind
before.”

“I bet the Special Olympics would love to get
their hands on someone like you.”

The kick to her gut was quick and solid.

“It’s something you should consider. While I
realize you want to work with the latest and greatest in technology
and manufacturing, the edgy atmosphere may not be your best fit.
There’s not a lot of stability. What’s hot today is cold tomorrow.
Old news, if you know what I mean.”

Her heart fell.
Was he saying no to LBD
already
?

“It’s not you, Syd. You’re warm and sincere.
You’re authentic. The real deal. The key in any business is to
match your talents to the job at hand.” He paused. “It’s one of the
reasons I assigned you to the Special Olympics Games. I thought
you’d be a good match and I was right. They love you,” he said with
a smile, as though he felt the same.

Her spirits plummeted. This was not what she
wanted to hear. Yes, matching your talents with job performance was
important, but equally important to success was being happy doing
what you were doing. Feeling as if you were meant for the job, that
it was all you looked forward to doing. Working with kids was not
her gig. Not that she didn’t like them, she did. Kids were great.
She didn’t have any of her own but maybe, one day... Visions of
Clay swirled into her brain, images of Q and his friends, the
pool—

His ex-wife. She knocked them away. After the
childhood she endured, her instinct was to dodge the whole
motherhood thing entirely. She wanted to travel the world. See
things and go places. She was young,
damn
it—she had her
whole life ahead of her! Maybe one day she’d have children of her
own, who knows? But there was zero logic in revolving her life
around them now.

“Your quickest route to success is when a
client is happy.” Javier said. “It’s the sign of a job well
done.”

What was the problem? She peered at him,
tears welling across her lids. Was she not sexy enough? Glamorous
enough? Memories of Morgan and her performance at the boat expo
trotted through her brain, Trish traipsing around in her short
shorts this morning. Was this what companies wanted? Attractive
women who could handle their product and the clientele? Men bought
boats. Men invented machines and equipment, made up the majority of
engineers and CEOs. The cold disgusting truth swirled deep in her
heart. Business was about looks. Morgan never hesitated to use her
feminine wiles like a weapon and from what she gleaned of Clay’s
ex, Sydney imagined the woman wasn’t much different. Technology was
a field driven by men. Women didn’t invent the gadgets. They held
them up and looked pretty. Sydney scowled at the imagery forming in
her mind. Women turned, smiled, winked and wiggled.

“I’m just saying you should give it some
thought,” Javier said, pulling her out of her miserable reverie. He
rapped his hand against the rim of the desk adding, “And yes, I’ll
keep you in mind for the LBD show.”