I leaned my hip against the frame and sipped my coffee. “Do you think it's time to hire another person? I think we could all use some help, and a receptionist would be a decent solution. Maybe free you up to work on larger projects, and Joanne to finally run this place.”
Mia’s eyes brightened and a grin crept onto her face. “I think that would be a good idea, but as always, it’s your call. You’re the mastermind behind the operation.”
My eyes flicked to the clock on the wall of Mia’s office. “I think I could actually use a break. I haven’t stopped today,” I said, blowing out a heavy breath as I dropped into the chair opposite Mia. Sometimes I was so focused on work I forgot to check in with her and Joanne. I made a mental note to be better about that. “How are things with you outside of here? How’s your new puppy doing?”
“Oh, he’s the cutest little guy ever.” Mia’s enthusiasm rose further. “I think the house training is starting to take hold, and even Kyle is coming around.”
A chill ran down my spine. Mia had talked about her boyfriend before, but the mention of him made me uneasy. I couldn’t help but wonder if the days she came in without her usual pep were because of him. Sometimes she let it slip that he needed her home or she couldn’t do something because he didn’t want her to. As Mia prattled about the puppy, I tried to stay present instead of getting lost in unfounded anxiety on her behalf.
“Anyway, I think his shoe chewing habit is handled since I keep everything put away. Kyle—” Mia was silenced by the ringing of my phone down the hall, and her eyes darted to the doorway. “Do you need to go already?” A frown tugged at her smile.
I moved forward on the edge of the chair. “Yeah, I better get back to it. Next week, we’re all going to dinner. I want to treat you and Joanne while it's still just the three of us.”
Her smile returned in full force. “That would be so fun!”
Mia spoke again just as I reached the doorway. “Oh! Before you go, the whole reason I called you in here was about the new client I just got off the phone with. I think you might be interested in this one,” she said.
I turned back to her, raising a brow. “Oh?” I asked, suddenly a bit more enthusiastic.
“It’s another fairly large account we can add to our investment files.”
My curiosity piqued, the stock market gears in my head creaking to life. “We haven’t gotten a new one of those in a while. Most of our accounts lately have been run of the mill, planning for retirement, upper middle-class types. Give it to me.” I took a step back into her office, eager for the details.
“He’s a voice actor. Apparently, he got popular really quickly and has hefty funds from it. He said it's possible the amount of jobs he’s getting now could taper off in the future if his popularity falls off. So he wants to invest to make money in case that happens.”
My jaw slackened as excitement coursed through me. A voice actor? “What kind of voice actor?” I asked, trying to conceal my interest.
“He didn’t say, but to be fair I didn’t ask.” Mia shrugged. “What kind of work does a voice actor do, anyway?”
Heat crept into my cheeks, and I hoped my blush wasn’t visible. “Oh, the usual stuff. Kids’ TV shows, things like that.”
The voice actors I was familiar with did the farthest thing from kids’ TV shows.
“Hmm, you think it’s someone famous?” A hint of curiosity flashed in her eyes.
I hid my face behind my coffee mug. “It's possible.”
“Either way, I set him up for a call with you on Monday,” she informed me.
I shook my head. “Call him back and have him come into the office next week instead of a call.”
Mia pursed her lips. “I tried. I know you prefer in person meetings with larger clients, but no dice. He said he doesn’t like to leave his house.”
“Ugh. How can people stay at home all the time? I think I would go crazy,” I said.
“No, I think you would go crazy if you couldn’t work. Apparently, he works from home. You should try it sometime. There’s no need for you to be in the office so much, especially at night and on weekends,” Mia retorted.
I rolled my eyes at her. “You’re probably right. Maybe, I’ll think about it if you’ll leave me alone.” Mia laughed. “Seriously, though, thanks for checking in. Call on the office calendar?” I asked, stepping into the hall.
“Of course. Already done,” she called as I walked away.
“Thank you!” I threw over my shoulder as I sped back to my office. A thousand thoughts ran through my mind. What I hadn’t mentioned to Mia was all the voice actors I knew were the ones narrating my romance novels. Especially the steamy ones with insanely hot male voice actors that brought me to my knees with one phrase like Zander Kane. Could I be so fortunate that this client did those? With my luck, he probably did infomercials about some weight loss drug.
I sat down in my expensive silver desk chair and clicked over to the calendar. Most of the time I didn’t buy high end things, but the office was an exception. When I brought up Monday’s schedule, I spotted the appointment. Ryan Mitchell. That name didn’t ring a bell so I opened a new Chrome tab and did a quick Google search.
After half an hour scouring the internet for any mention of a Ryan Mitchell instead of working, I only came up with a news story about a man in Florida who had tried to wrestle an alligator and lost his arm in the process. Those jokes my dad told about “Florida man” rang true, I supposed.
I even checked my audiobook history and searched his name on my various listening apps without success. Maybe this guy really did do acting for animated TV series or something. Or maybe he didn’t have an online presence. I wouldprobably never find out since the type of narration he did wasn’t information I needed to invest his money.
