It was late morning when she was called into her director's office.
"Clear your afternoon, Mr Rhett has scheduled a review of our portfolio. All the accounts. 3:00 O'Clock, 51st floor conference room. We got lucky, we're last group."
Mr Rhett was the new executive Vice President. She had met him long ago. But this was the first time she would see him since then.
She had worked for him right out of college, as an analyst on one of the firms largest accounts. He was the account manager and her job was to provide all the details the firms performance. They had spent many long days together and often travelled to various client sites. She gained a lot of experience from seeing a senior executive managing such a complex contract.
Somewhere along the way they became attracted to each other. One night he simply asked if she would like to have a drink in his room. That lead to many more nights together. Sometimes on business trips, sometimes he visited her apartment, and sometimes that met in a distant city and spent a weekend enjoying each other. He had never lead her on about it becoming anything more than a good time. His first wife had gotten a lot in the divorce. He was healing from that and she had no interest in marriage until she moved farther up the ladder.
One morning they were laying in bed discussing their situation. He described it as an orange rose. We have the kind friendship that the yellow rose represents. But we have this wild passionate sex, like the red rose. So we are an orange rose. Somewhere in between.
It had been the perfect analogy.
Soon after that trip, he got a promotion and left the account. His glowing recommendation had gotten her promoted much earlier than her peers. His early mentoring also paid off in the jobs that she moved into over the years. Occasionally she saw an email announcing his promotion or move into more senior roles.
Two months ago there was a typical corporate announcement about restructuring. While everyone else read through it for corporate intrigue, she had not gotten past his name, He would be a her boss's boss's boss. Which meant she would never expect to see him, except maybe in the elevator.
Until today.
She had been through a lot over almost a decade. Since their affair, she had fallen deeply in love, had her heart broken and moved on. She still dated, some guys longer than others. But the firm had been her focus above anything else.
She left her director's office and headed towards her own. Categorizing which accounts would be easy and which were going to be problems to explain. She knew the one she needed the most preparation for was the South Dakota oil...
She stopped dead in her tracks at her office door. A dozen long stem orange roses were in a vase on her desk.
Her admin assistant jumped to her side. "Aren't they gorgeous? They got here ten minutes ago. I didn't open the card. Who do you think they are from? That lawyer downtown? Come on! The rest of the girls are dying to know."
She opened the small card. "I would love to pickup where we left off so long ago. It's dangerous, I know. If you are interested, just wear your hair up." Oh he always loved it up. In a bun, a pony tail, whatever as long as it was off her neck. Oh things he had done with her hair and her neck.
So many thoughts went through her head. This was not something she'd even thought about in years.
"Um, no not the lawyer. An old friend. Just reaching out." She mumbled.
"I wish I had old friends like that. My husband hasn't bought me roses in years."
She remembered her time crunch and moved the roses to the small table in her office. Then she started making phone calls pulling reports. Lunch was dropped at her desk by her admin. 2:45 arrived in no time. Her boss called and told her to meet at the elevator in five minutes. She grabbed her laptop, took a quick look in the mirror. Her hair was wavy, ruby red and just past her shoulders. She hadn't thought much about the answer to his question, so she left it down.
When they got to the conference room, they were met by a friend in the group ahead them who wears coming out. "Have your story straight. He is looking for honest answers. I don't think he trust what he's seen from the sales team.
Her boss and five of her peers walked in. Some other executives were still there. He was sitting in the chair in the middle of the table. She'd learned that was one of his disarming techniques. Make you feel like one of the people and they more honest with you. When they went around the table for introductions, she never took her eyes off of him.
Is it possible that he was better looking than before?
He was thinner now, leaner. His skin was tanned enough to show color without looking like he was on the beach all day. His black hair was now salt and pepper. More salt than pepper really. His eyes were as brown as she remembered. They were his secret weapon. They smiled or dismissed you without a word.
