Mr. Handsome A Billionaire Romance
By: Alexis Gold
Chapter1
Jeffrey
I bounced one of the many stress balls I had against the large window that made up an entire wall of my office. Below my vantage point, I could see practically all of New York City, sprawling with life and activity. People trying to scrounge up from the bottom, or stay on top. I sighed deeply and bounced the ball against the glass once more.
“What am I doing, Victor? I feel stuck, not that being stuck at the top is a bad thing, but I feel like I need more from life. You know?”
Victor looked up from a productivity report he was looking over for me. My faithful assistant glanced up at me questioningly. He paused in his leisurely pacing around my spacious office. We were on the hundredth floor of the Stargate building. My father had it built just before he died, as a gesture to show the empire we created. Only fifty years in business and Stargate was one of the world’s leading aircraft and aerospace companies.
“Maybe you should date more then, find yourself a wife. Goodness knows your mother begs you to give her a grandkid enough times per week,” Victor said with a snort. I smirked and bounced the ball against the glass once more.
“Maybe I should. Or maybe I just need a change of scenery, I could take up a hobby. Something to occupy my time, something different you know?” I mused out loud while I chewed absently on my lower lip. I glanced over at Victor and saw he was facing me, the month’s reports dangled in his hand, briefly forgotten.
Victor was my best friend as well as my assistant. He always had a solution, smart as hell and sharp as a tack, I was lucky to have him at my side. Really, with his skills he deserved a CFO or board position, but he’d rather silently advise and go through monthly reports at my side.
He placed the papers down on the glass coffee table situated between the office couch and the modern grey and white set’s matching chairs. He rolled up the sleeves of his white button down shirt and put his chin in between his thumb and forefinger. Victor’s signature thinking pose.
“You know, that isn’t a bad idea. Ever thought of modeling?”
He looked at me curiously, expectantly. I pondered the idea…modeling? Well, it would definitely be different. I was more of a nerd, drawing airplanes and making sure they got built correctly for our clients. Never have I capitalized on my looks before, not even to get women.
“Modeling? Seriously?”
Victor nodded his head and then brushed his medium length jet black hair out of his face. Victor was a man’s man, growing up from strict Russian roots. He had the intense dark brown gaze, hawkish nose, strong jaw, and tall, muscular build to intimidate a lot of people. He would be the last person to suggest I dress up in clothes and pose for pictures as a pastime.
“Yeah, seriously, you’re a pretty motherf*cker. Splash your face on the side of a bus, and bam—advertising. Not only for whoever hires you to model for them, but for Stargate as well. Not to mention, it’ll help you meet chicks.” Victor quirked his eyebrows at me as I thought about it.
“Yeah, it couldn’t hurt actually…and you’re right, it would be great for advertising. Why the hell not, I have nothing better to do,” I said resolutely.
“Yes, you do, you have to run this company. If you’re going to do modeling on the side, then it’s on the side. Keep it strictly to time off and the weekends, Jeffrey,” Victor gave me a severe look and I nodded in assurance.
“Of course, don’t worry, I know my priorities. I’ll tell one of the interns to set something up for me. We have to know someone on the inside of the modeling world.” I stood up to stretch my legs and put the call in to the intern working under Victor.
“Yeah, Nessa? I want to be a model, make that happen,” I gave her the order without waiting for her to greet me or anything, then I hung up without her responding at all. Victor looked over at me and snickered. Vanessa was one of our top candidates for a full time job in our public relations department, and if she kept at it, she’d soon be sitting in on negotiations with our clients worldwide. Victor and I were just giving her a hard time at this point just to see how dedicated she was to the company.
“You know, I was kind of hoping we wouldn’t keep Vanessa on anymore. She is really hot and you know how much I love smarts with an ass,” Victor quipped after I hung up.
I threw the stress ball at him and he chuckled as he caught it easily.
“What? I’m stating the obvious. She didn’t hear it so no lawsuit,” Victor assured me. I rolled my eyes while chuckling myself and turned towards the spectacular view of the city once again.
“You know, I’m thinking this modeling thing will be an adventure. In the meantime, update me. How we doing on numbers?” I got back to business with Victor and he picked up the month’s reports and flipped through a couple of pages before he pulled one out of the stack and walked over to place it on my desk. He adjusted the waistband of his slacks before he took a seat on the other side of my desk.
“Changes to the new model of the C-1200 carrier craft have taken up more time and resources than anticipated. We might have to rework some projections for the year’s overall progress. It will be slower as far as our profits and productivity, but it’s nothing we can’t handle.” Victor told me exactly what I needed to know.
“Good, as long as we’re moving forward. I’d be a little concerned if we were progressing too quickly. How about the deal with Ireland? Did they pursue the offer to buy the specialized Z-13s?” I asked Victor.