34. Kyle

34

KYLE

I watched Clarissa leave the coffee shop. I had a lot of work to do to earn back her trust, but I saw into her eyes when she handed me the paternity test results. From what I saw there, I could tell she still wanted me to be there for her son, even though she never said the words. She still loved me. If she didn't, she wouldn't be hurting so badly.

I knew I would do anything for her because this pain in my core could only be because of how much I loved her.

I had to settle in Seattle. I needed to find a place to live. In the meantime, I still had an architectural firm to run without a personal assistant.

As tempted as I was to book a flight and be in Chicago on Monday morning, I knew I needed to stay around in case Clarissa texted me. I needed to prove to her that I was good to my word and that I would be sticking around.

I had to wait for Monday when I could give Jenna a call in the office. She refused to give me her personal phone number, which was probably just as well. She liked to remind me that she wasn't my personal assistant and that I couldn't pay her enough to take on that job.

"How difficult is it to set up an interview for an assistant?" I asked the second Jenna answered the phone.

"Good morning to you too. I just walked in the office. I thought you were in Seattle, or are you back in town?"

"No, I'm still in Seattle," I said.

"Then shouldn't you still be asleep or something?" she asked. "I literally just walked in the office. Give me a second."

I waited for a brief moment, listening to the sleepy hold music.

"Okay," she said when she came back to the line. "What is it you need help with?"

"Who do you use to hire an assistant?" I asked.

She hemmed and hawed a bit before coming up with an answer. "I guess I would put together an ad for one of those job search boards."

"You don't just contact some agency and have them send somebody over?" I asked. "That's what Alayna always did."

"I don't have the same connections or resources that she has. I'm not some kind of super assistant. I run a business office. I juggle bookkeeping and personnel and that kind of work. It's not the same thing."

I grunted a harumph.

"How did you find Alayna and hire her to begin with?" Jenna asked.

"Truth?"

"Yes," she said.

"I poached her from a competitor years ago," I admitted. "At the time, I had thought it was a surprisingly easy thing to do. Later, I discovered it was because I paid her twice her current salary."

"Why does that not surprise me?"

"So I'm on my own when it comes to hiring a new assistant?"

"Yes, you are. I mean, I can place a listing for you, but you need to come up with the job skills you are looking for."

"Do you think that information might have been in the files Alayna left you?"

"That's always a possibility," she started. "I haven't had time to go through everything. Some are physical files. Others are on the computer."

"When you say some are physical, what are we talking about, a file folder or two?" I asked.

"More like a file cabinet or two."

I let out a groan. "Okay, have those sent to me and create one of those Cloud accounts so that I can get access to all the computer files she left."

"I'm not joking when I say it's a file cabinet's worth," Jenna said.

"Fine, just ship the whole file cabinet. How soon do you think you can have it here?"

There was silence on the other end of the call for at least a full minute.

"I honestly have no idea. I will start making phone calls as soon as my receptionist is in and I can focus on this. In the meantime, send me the address you would like me to have this shipped to."

"Fine," I agreed. I ended the call and headed downstairs to the hotel lobby and the concierge desk.

"Good morning." The concierge smiled brightly at me. "How can I help you today?"

"I'm having a couple of boxes of files delivered in the next day or two. I was wondering if the hotel has executive office space that I can borrow and set up in as I sort through some paperwork?"

"We do have office spaces available for our guests. However, those are only available on an hourly basis. Sounds to me like you might want someplace where you can spread out and close the door behind you. Is that right?" she asked.

I hadn't really thought about what I needed. This was the type of thing I would typically have handed over to Alayna, and she would have provided me with a perfect solution.

"Yes, that sounds about right," I said.

"We have several flexible office solution locations in Seattle. Those are the kind of places where you can basically rent an office space, not unlike getting a hotel room," she told me.

"Is that something you could help me find?"

"Absolutely. What was your name again, sir?"

"Kyle Love."

She turned to her computer and her fingers flew over the keyboard. "I see you have an open-ended stay with us… and I have your room number here. How many days do you think you would want your office for?"

"I'm not exactly sure," I admitted.

"I'll put down that something open-ended would be preferred. And your location, is there a particular part of town you need?" Her fingers flew over the keyboard. "I have just a few more questions before I can get started. We've already discussed that you want an office where you can close the door, that will be a private office. Are you planning on having meeting, or will you need access to a conference room?"

"Not this time, just a workspace."

"Okay," she said as she continued to type. "How many desks and chairs, or people, will you need in your office?"

"Right now, it's just me, but I might need to bring an assistant in, so I guess enough space for two people to sort through a lot of files. And some place close to the hotel, I think, would be best for now."

"It looks like I should be able to find some availability. When do you want to start? Is this something you would want for today?"

I shook my head. "I don't think I'm going need it before tomorrow at the earliest."

She looked up from her typing. "I should be able to get this reserved for you. I can put your reservation through the hotel, and it will show on your bill with us. Will that work for you?"

"Yes, that would be fine," I said. The easier, the better as far as I was concerned.

"Fabulous. I will reach back out to you as soon as I have booked a space and have that confirmation."

I thanked her and started to walk away. She seemed competent. I turned around and stepped back to the desk.

"Mr. Love, you're back."

"You aren't looking for a new job, are you?" I asked.

"No sir, I am well situated here. What can I help you with?"

"I need a new personal assistant."

She didn't even seem fazed by my request. "I can do a little research for you and maybe locate a placement agency that would have an executive assistant with the proper skillset for you."

"You can do that?"

"This is a full-service concierge service. It may take a little longer than making arrangements for your office space, but yes, I can do that. I'll reach out and leave a message for you when I have some information."

I scratched my head as I turned to walk away. She was on top of things. She was exactly the kind of person I needed to replace Alayna. I turn back around. "Are you sure you don't want a job?"

She laughed politely and again declined my offer. I walked outside and found a local coffee shop to start my day.

With a hot coffee, I started to think a little clearer. I had an office lined up, even if it was just temporary. An assistant was potentially in my future if that concierge was as good as I expected her to be. I needed to find something more permanent than the hotel.

I texted Clarissa. I'm looking for an apartment or a townhouse out here. What would be a good neighborhood I asked. I would like to be close to you and Leo .

I sat and watched my phone, waiting for Clarissa to respond.

Are you serious? You're really going to stay in Seattle? When I saw her text, my heart actually sped up. At that point, I realized I had expected her to not answer me.

I will be wherever you and Leo are from now on.

What about your offices in Chicago and Hong Kong?

I wanted to be able to call her, or better yet, sit down and have a conversation.

Can we have dinner for a real conversation and not just texting back-and-forth?

The truth was I didn't know what I was going to do about my offices in Chicago or Hong Kong. Right now, I didn't really care. All of my focus and all of my desires were to get Clarissa back. This felt like one of those times when I would go into hyper-focus on a project, only for once, I didn't have Alayna as my backup, making sure the rest of my life didn't fall apart.

And here I was with my life falling apart with too many pieces for me to be able to solely focus on only one aspect of it. However, my main priorities at the moment were Clarissa and Leo.

Chicago and Hong Kong are in capable hands. What about that dinner? I asked.

I'll think about it.

It was a reasonable response even if it isn't what I wanted to see. I was surprised when she sent another text.

The neighborhood around the coffee shop where we last met is a good one. Maybe an apartment there would suit your needs.