“Only if you want to smell like poo. So, what happened?”
“You remember that guy from the club a few weeks ago?”
“Oh, you mean Mr. Chivalry who doesn’t mind you practically falling over him in the bathroom? Or do you mean his sidekick, the guy who would take out your knees with a crowbar in the back alley? Or did I miss someone?”
“You are hysterical… but you’re on the right track. So, it’s the one who looks like a GQ model. His name’s Phoenix Walker, and he’s the hotshot founder of a boutique ad agency. They’re doing pro bono work with military vets and, even though they’ve only been around for four years, they’re winning all kinds of awards.”
“How do you know all this? Are you stalking the men you meet in bathrooms?”
“You’re never going to believe this. He showed up at my office today.”
“No way. Fate.”
“I’ve told you, I’m not in the market at all. I’m off dating. But get this. His agency is doing just the kind of work to prove I’m the one for the China assignment.”
“I am so confused.”
“He knows my boss, Joan. She invited him to give us a presentation today. I walked him out afterwards, and he said he might be able to use me on his pro bono ad work.”
“I’ve never heard you sound so excited.”
“This is just the break I need. To shore up my experience. But wait, if Sir Princeton finds out, he’s going to call foul. If I can even convince Phoenix I’m the right person for the job.”
“First name basis, huh?”
“Quit it, it’s just business. My intuition says I should get the experience, hit it out of the park, but not let even Joan know how the opportunity came about. Princeton might already be suspicious, because when I introduced myself, Phoenix said ‘nice to see you’ as if he already knew me.”
“Cool. So, what’s the plan?”
“Guess I’ll call the guy, sell my experience. And if he agrees to take me on, I’ll ask him to keep it confidential between us.”
“More power to you.”
“And to you. I’m coming over with wine later this week, before you drown in diapers.”
“Sparkling water until I’m done nursing, but bring some for you.” Mandy made a kissing sound before saying goodbye.
Now all Orchid had to do was maintain her composure with this advertising whiz. After a lifetime of shattered dreams, having to make do with whatever life handed her, and generating every opportunity out of her own ingenuity, she tried to quell her expectations. That didn’t stop her from dreaming up ways to encourage this agency grandmaster to grant her most ardent desire.
CHAPTER5
JUDGING GOOD WORKS
Phoenix
Phoenix Walker never believed he could live up to his father’s legacy as a respected judge. It had occurred to him on too many occasions that he might die trying.
Floor-to-ceiling windows hushed the traffic din from below. He leaned into his marble desk while penning an awards acceptance speech. Gleaming chrome placards and golden lion statues winked encouragement from within the glass case lining one wall of his office. He recalled Dex’s suggestion that he replace the fragile crystalline surface with tempered glass. Phoenix had grinned with his customary wry humor. “You know what would be easier? Let’s not break it.”
He refocused and began to revise the text. “This Effie nomination is dedicated to my dad, Judge John Walker,” he said aloud.
Wind buffeted the windows. Rain wept rivulets, smudging the view of the elegant high rises. Easter had fallen early in the calendar this year. It was their first without the patriarch of the family. Grief rumbled like a forgotten animal inside his stomach, mixed with loss, and more complicated stirrings of love and respect. Longing, regret.
The lone photo on his desk showcased his parents with their sons, all of them puffy with ski gear, three of them with their teeth bared through reddened cheeks. Except his twin. As always, he wore his taciturn glower. The brothers had inherited their dad’s height, his good looks and dark hair. There, the similarities ended. Phoenix’s blue gaze shone bright against pale skin and a field of stubble, whereas his sibling’s dark intensity and massive physicality seemed to fill the frame with fury.
By the age of thirty, Phoenix had lost the chance to tip the scales of pride. Three quarters of a year ago, his dad had collapsed, been rushed to the hospital in cardiac arrest, and never recovered.
The secret letter provided one final chance to prove himself. He pulled the envelope from his top desk drawer, his dad’s familiar handwriting on its surface. Nostalgia swept through Phoenix like a second pulse. On the envelope was written:Confidential for Phoenix only. To be opened six months after my death. Read in private.
