Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 82090 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 410(@200wpm)___ 328(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82090 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 410(@200wpm)___ 328(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
I had to laugh to myself. I’d thought I was doing such a great job hiding what being around her did to me. I guess I was way more transparent than I thought.
Bianca: BTW, I think we have our roles reversed tonight. I’m the one who is supposed to be interviewing you.
Dex: I find hearing about you way more interesting than telling you about myself.
She was quiet for a minute or two after that. I knew I shouldn’t be pushing, but what the fuck—I was in this deep.
Dex: Are you and this jigsaw dating exclusively?
Bianca: No. We’re not there yet. I don’t have any dates with other men planned, but that’s not intentional.
Dex: So, if say, a handsome, young, wealthy man with a six pack were to ask you out on a date, you’d be open to the invitation, then?
Bianca: Are you referring to yourself?
Dex: Maybe…
I waited eagerly for her response. When it came, my stomach sank.
Bianca: Then, no.
My mood sucked after that answer. I was pissed and just wanted to get the rest of our chat over with. She had no interest in the real me and would rather spend time getting to know a man who lived in his dead aunt’s apartment and whittled.
Dex: Why don’t we get started with your interview?
For the next thirty minutes, Bianca asked me questions. Since I was feeling ornery, my answers were less candid than I’d been the last two times we’d chatted. Toward the end, she mentioned she was going to be away on a business trip and planned to use the time to go through her notes and write up a draft of her story. She’d suggested we chat next week so that she could fill in any holes in her story, and I’d agreed.
Dex: How about next Tuesday at our regular time?
Bianca: That would be great.
Dex: Have a safe trip, Bianca.
Bianca: Thank you.
Feeling utterly deflated, I was just about to shut my laptop when another message popped up from her.
Bianca: Dex? Are you still there?
Dex: I am.
Bianca: For the record, I have a firm rule that I don’t date men anymore whom I have a business relationship with.
Dex: Does that rule apply after your business with a man concludes?
She took a bit longer to respond that time.
Bianca: No. I don’t think that rule would apply once my business was concluded.
Fuck you, Jay. Game back on.
Dex: Good to know. Sweet dreams, Bianca.
The next afternoon, traffic was even heavier than usual. The meeting I’d slated one hour for had turned into a three-hour unproductive waste of time. I looked at my watch when the light turned red again—we hadn’t made it more than four car lengths in two damn green lights. There was a heaping pile of documents waiting for review back on my desk, and my secretary would be gone by the time we made it across town. I emailed Josephine and asked her to order me some dinner to the office before she left and to pull the files I knew I’d need to get my work done tonight, if I ever arrived.
Frustrated, I rested my head back against the leather seat and stared out the window thinking about Bianca. Last night, she’d led me to believe she would be willing to go out with me—the Dex me—at the end of our chat. Which had to mean she felt some sort of connection to the real me. I just couldn’t figure out how I was going to get out of the mess I’d gotten myself into. If there was one thing I had learned in business, it was that anything was possible if you wanted it bad enough. Perhaps that was the key—I needed to look at my situation with Bianca like a business problem. I’d been letting my own emotions get in the way.
What would I do if Bianca was a business I wanted to obtain, yet the owner wasn’t interested in selling to me? That was easy…I’d get to know that business better—the likes and dislikes of the owner—what made him tick. Then use that to show him why I was a good fit to take over his company in a way that was meaningful to him.
I shut my eyes for a moment.
What makes you tick, Georgy Girl? What do you like and dislike and why?
I racked my brain for a few minutes and still came up with nothing I could think of that would help me gain an edge. Discouraged, I opened my eyes when we stopped at yet another red light and looked out the window again. To my surprise—the answer was right there in big bold letters. I was looking for a sign and found a literal one on the corner of West 21st and 7th Avenue. The big storefront sign was illuminated in silver letters.