Adrianne Byrd - Lovers Premiere

“Calm down, Sofia. When I retire, I fully intend to turn the presidency over to you. Ramell knows that and he knows that he will remain vice president.”

“But until then…”

“Until then…well, yeah, I guess technically —”

“There you go with that technically stuff again.” She tossed up her hands. “This isn’t going to work. It’s just not going to work,” she said as hysteria started creeping into her voice. She had worked too hard to cut Ramell Jordan out of her life only for her uncle to undermine all of her efforts now.

“Sofia, what’s the big deal? Ramell is a fine businessman with a lot of good and creative ideas to help take this company to the next level. We’ve known his family for years. They’re good people.”

“Ha!” She rolled her eyes.

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“Emmett and Ramell Jordan are not to be trusted. I know that for a fact. They have always had their eye out for this company and now you’ve just handed it over to them on a silver platter without so much as a fight.”

“Yes. Emmett Jordan has always expressed an interest in merging our two companies together. And there has always been an interest on our end to do so.”

“Not by my father.”

“I think I’m a little more qualified to know what my brother wanted and what he didn’t want,” Jacob charged back. “I did, after all, start this company with him. I’m also the one who kept the business afloat long before putting you on the payroll.”

“Why do I keep getting the distinct impression that you’re trying to force me out of the company?”

“Because you’re too stressed out and it’s making you paranoid.” He marched over, turned her around by her shoulders and directed her back toward the door. “This discussion is over. Just trust me on this one. Now get back to work, and try not to stress yourself out too much.”

“But—”

“No buts. Just do me a favor and try to get along with Ramell.”

“I don’t know if—”

“That’s all. Thanks,” he said, pushing her out the door and then closing it behind her.

“How rude.” Sofia huffed and stormed off toward her office.

Sarah glanced up from her desk and caught the look on Sofia’s face. Instantly she was on her feet, anticipating a list of duties to be rattled off to her.

“In my office,” Sofia barked, breezing past her assistant so fast that a small gust of wind ruffled the stacks of papers on Sarah’s desk.

“Yes, ma’am. Right away.” Sarah grabbed her iPad and rushed in right behind her boss. When they entered the office Sofia seemed content to just pace in a circle. It wasn’t just a regular oh, I’m trying to think kind of pace. No. Sofia Wellesley looked more like a dangerous wild animal plotting her next attack.

“Is everything all right?” Sarah asked, backing up. If Sofia was going to pounce she didn’t want to get too close.

Suddenly, uncharacteristically, Sofia stopped pacing and began to smile. “Sarah!”

“Yes, ma’am?” Sarah asked, taking another cautionary step backward.

With her smile still abnormally wide, Sofia walked over to her assistant and linked her arm through hers. “How do you feel about taking a vacation?”

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me. I want you to leave. Take the rest of the month off.”

“A month?” Frowning, her assistant’s brows started to stitch together.

“Yes, a month.” Sofia insisted as she brightened. “You deserve it. How long have you been working for me?”

Sarah shrugged and stammered, “Um—five years.”

“Five years,” Sofia repeated. “And you get what—two weeks vacation a year?”

“Well, actually I haven’t actually had a vacation in three years.”

“Three years?”

“We both haven’t,” she reminded Sofia.

“Humph.” She frowned at that for a moment. “Well there’s no time like the present, don’t you think?” Sofia started out, directing Sarah back to her desk. “Now you grab your things and I’ll just see you next month.”

“What? You mean leave right now?” Sarah double-checked.

“Absolutely.”

Sarah stopped and dug her heels in. “Okay,” she said tentatively. “Am I being fired? Did I do something wrong?”

“No,” Sofia reassured her. “It just occurred to me that I’ve been working you too hard. Your family lives in New York, right?”

“Y-yes. But—”

“Then it’s a perfect time for you to go drop in for a visit.” Back out at Sarah’s desk, Sofia helped the girl by grabbing her purse and leather laptop bags. “Oh, and I need to change your computer pass code.” Sofia rushed around to her assistant’s computer and started keying in numbers.

Sarah’s eyes glossed over. “Are you sure I’m not being fired? Whatever I did wrong, I can fix it.”

“You’re not being fired. You have my word on that.” Sofia popped back up and started escorting her toward the door. “Go. Have a good time. I want you nice and refreshed when you come back.”

“Um. Okay,” Sarah said. What else could she say? But Sofia didn’t just walk her to the door, she walked her all the way to her Honda Hybrid and even stood in the parking lot and waved goodbye.

When Sofia returned to her office, she couldn’t help but dance around her office like she’d just scored the final touchdown in a Super Bowl game. Hips shaking and arms waving, she couldn’t wait to see the look on Ram’s face when she told him that Sarah wouldn’t be available to compile him her prized client list and she’d changed the pass code to ensure that no one else could generate the list, either.

“I feel bad that I don’t have any cash on me so I can make it rain up in here.”

Sofia jumped and spun around to see her new boss leaning against her door frame. “What are you doing in here?”

“Well I was enjoying the show. I think you missed your calling. You should’ve been a dancer.”

“And you should have been a jerk. Oops! I forgot. You are a jerk.” She rolled her eyes and marched to her desk. “Now if you’re finished annoying me…I’m busy.”

“Busy getting that list together, I hope.”

Sofia cocked a smile. “Tell you what. Why don’t you hold your breath and just wait for it?”

“All right. Five o’clock.” He tapped his watch.

“I’m not sure if that time frame is going to work for me,” she said, flashing him a smile. “I’m really very busy, so you’re going to have to wait for Sarah to prepare it.”

He glanced over his shoulder to Sarah’s empty desk.

“But don’t bother looking for her. She’s on vacation…for a while.”

“Aww. Well that was awfully nice of you, seeing how you work her about as hard as you work yourself.”

“Thank you, vice president,” Sofia said, before adding under her breath, “of the peanut gallery.” She motioned for him to leave her office. “Now if you don’t mind.”

He didn’t move. “Well, I hope Sarah has fun wherever she’s going. I’m so glad I got her to compile that list before she went.”

“What? You did what? When?”

“After our meeting while you were in the office with Jacob.”

Sofia’s jaw nearly hit her desk.

“You know, I see why she works for you. She’s fast and efficient.” Ram winked at her. “I’ll review it and get back to you.” And with that he strolled off, whistling.

The Latin Grammy Awards were being hosted in Las Vegas. Limelight Entertainment Management represented a number of Afro-Latin musicians that were nominated for everything from Best New Artist to Best Latin Album of the Year. The awards were always held in November—a good six months after the crazy award season in Los Angeles. It doesn’t mean that it was any less hectic—and this year it was doubly so for Sofia because she had foolishly sent her assistant on vacation and she was dealing with a temp, Stewart, that seemed permanently hyped-up on caffeine, had dyslexia when it came to writing down numbers, and had a habit of dropping more calls than a crummy cell phone provider.