Page 9 of Desire Me

Mr. Basille leans back in his seat and steeples his fingers in front of him.

“I’ve made my decision.” He looks up at me and smiles. “We will go with your design.”

The entire room of designers’ gasp. My mouth falls open, but no words come out. His gorgeous brown eyes lighten as they stare back at me.

“So glad we could be of service to you, Mr. Basille,” Mr. Johnson says. He looks up at me and winks.

This is the first time since I’ve been hired that he has acknowledged me.

“This is great,” Tess starts, her tone not matching her words. “I’m glad you made your decision, Mr. Basille. I’ll make sure to take on this project myself to assure that it is done correctly.”

“No, you won’t,” he says glancing at Tess before looking at Mr. Johnson. “Ms. Best will be the senior designer on this project, or I’ll go somewhere else.”

“That won’t be a problem, Mr. Basille.” Mr. Johnson holds up his hands. “Ms. Best is highly qualified to take on the role.”

The man knows nothing about me, but I’m glad he’s publicly supporting me.

“What?” Tess says in disbelief.

Mr. Basille grins and my goodness this man has a gorgeous smile. “Yes, I like to work closely with my designers on my projects. Ms. Best, I shall see you at my office tomorrow at 8 am sharp to go over this project further and my expectations for it.”

He stands to his feet, and the woman with him does as well. The entire conference room starts to clear out. Mr. Basille stops in front of me, and I lift my head to look in his eyes.

“Beauty and talent. I’m going to enjoy working with you, Tiffany.” He walks away following Mr. Johnson out, leaving his incredible scent lingering behind him. I follow him with my eyes until he is no longer in my sight. Mira comes up and wraps her arms around me.

“That’s my girl,” she shouts, pulling back from her hug. “Congratulations, Tiff you earned this.”

“Don’t get too happy,” Tess says, swinging her hair over her shoulders. “When I finish talking to Mr. Johnson, there is no way he’s going to let you take the lead on one of the company’s biggest clients. I’ll have that job.”

“Maybe I should talk to Mr. Johnson. Tell him how the budget for that hospital job is going,” Mira says stepping in front of me.

Tess glares at Mira for a moment challenging her with her eyes. When Mira doesn’t back down, Tess turns and storms off.

“She’s going to be a problem,” I say as I watch Tess walk off leaving only Mira and I in the room.

Mira turns to face me. “If she knew all the shit I had on her, she’d keep her mouth shut. But, we’re not worried about her. You just got your first project. We should celebrate.”

She’s right. I’d just gotten my first big break at this job. Even if Tess convinces Mr. Johnson to change his mind, it’s my design that was picked. I should celebrate, but there is only one person I want to celebrate with. Hopefully, he isn’t still angry with me.

chapter four

Changes

Tiffany

Once again, I look at my phone on the table. The time reads half past midnight. The candles I lit have all burned down to nubs. The food is long past cold, the wine is nearly gone, and my patience is shot to hell.

I’ve left multiple voicemails and text messages on Marcus’ phone, yet I haven’t heard a word from him. I’ve even called his so-called friends and they haven’t seen him either. After calling the hospital and the police station, to make sure he isn’t in either of those places, I’m fuming.

I pick up my phone to check the time again, but quickly put it down. Standing from the table, I start to blow out the candles. Once I’m done, I grab the plates and scrape the food into the garbage disposal.

After making my way into my bedroom, I sit down, dropping my head into my hands. I don’t know how we got here. Marcus and I have been together since we were Juniors in High School. He’s my first and only in many ways. I never would have thought we would be in this place now. It feels as if there’s an ocean between us and no matter what I do the ocean just keeps getting bigger.

Just then, the creaking of the front door draws my attention.

“Tiff,” Marcus calls through the house.

“In the bedroom,” I answer. “Okay, Tiffany let him explain first before you accuse him of anything,” I whisper to myself.

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