Business Proposal (closed)

(closed)


If there was one thing Valerie Perris wanted in this world, it was a child.

She had thought of adoption. But with the adoption process, because she was a single woman, she would be put on a list that came after married couples so the estimated time she’d actually be considered was around four years down the road and at 32, she didn’t want to wait that long.

Her only other consideration was to have a child through artificial insemination but even then, she wanted something not so…impersonal.

No, she knew of only one person who’s child she wanted. Thomas Whitney.

The reason she wanted his baby was because of his upbringing. His blood line and his smarts as a businessman. This, along with Valerie’s own intelligence and up bringing, they would basically have the perfect child. The only thing she didn’t want was the commitment of marriage or the hassle of a relationship.

She just wanted his child.

Now she was waiting after requesting a meeting with him. He was due to arrive in 5 minutes. She wasn’t exactly specific on why the meeting was arranged but she knew he would join her, after all, he was one of the firm’s biggest clients. She just hoped that after asking him this, he wouldn’t take offense and end up taking his business elsewhere.

The whole plan was simple. She wanted his child but she was only willing to conceive this child in all natural of means as possible. Through sex.

With a tug to tighten the knot at his collar that had slipped askew, Thomas Whitney settled back against the leather of his office chair and peered at his flat screen monitor. Evaluating the schedule for the rest of the day, he made note of the quick swing he needed to make by Frank’s office to get an update on the challenges with the Asian operations, and debated whether his time would be better spent late in the day on a round of golf with the firm’s CFO, or sitting in on the quarterly supply chain review.

Tapping a pen on his desk, he silently chose golf-no decisions that needed made on that call involved him, after all.

Moving back up the list of meetings and appointments, he saw the note from his secretary that he was due at his company’s PR firm in 20 minutes for a meeting, requested by one Valerie Perris. His brow furrowed. It was uncommon for the firm to request a meeting at their office, rather than come to him, and even more irregular from Valerie, the junior account lead. She was talented, no doubt, but relatively unknown to him, as her boss typically drove their discussions.

He pondered the purpose of the meeting, which was stated nowhere in the invite, as he slipped his light grey suit jacket back over his shoulders. At a lean 6-foot 1, 180 lbs, the slender cut of the jacket fit him well. Stepping out of his office, he looked to his assistant’s desk to ask if she had any more context about the meeting, but Cathy had stepped out for lunch, as she often did on Thursday’s with her sister.

Covering the six blocks between the two firm’s downtown offices in plenty of time, he pondered what could be coming when he arrived at the PR firm. Were they being cut loose? His company had taken on some challenges with human rights protestors overseas relative to their manufacturing operations, and that created a fair amount of extra work for Valerie, her boss, and the rest the team.

Shielding his green eyes from the glare of the sun off the glass doors, he stepped into the building housing the PR firm. Thomas thought about his grandfather, Elliot Whitney, who founded his company, grew it, and brought it to the edge of prosperity. His father and uncle finished the work. Now, at 39, and the Director of Corporate Strategy, he was poised to shepherd the company into the next era.

That said, none of them would ever take a meeting like this-initiated by a vendor, at their office, and led by a woman? Unheard of.

Riding the elevator up to Valerie’s floor, he tugged on the cuff of his shirt under his jacket sleeve and smirked at that thought. It’s a new era, boys, better get used to it.

Valerie sat at her desk, nervously tapping her pen on the oak surface as she watched the clock. She knew Thomas wouldn't be late. He never was. She was trying to calm her nerves before he got here. She was risking a lot to ask him of this because, if he was offended, he would surely take his business elsewhere and that would literally leave the company in shambles because his business was their biggest client.

She was grateful that he had the time to meet with her and she just hoped it wasn't all for nothing.

Just as Valerie thought that, she received a message from the receptionist that Mr. Whitney arrived. Standing up, she dropped her pen but didn't bother to retrieve it as she smoothed out her silk skirt and her top before stepping around her desk and going to one of the two small couches that was off to the side in her office, next to the window that overlooked downtown.

The door opened and she saw Thomas and gave him a smile. It was then all her worries would vanish when she knew that he would say yes. He would have to say yes.

Right?

“Hello Thomas, please...come in.” She walked over to him and guided him further into her office. Meetings alone with him weren't unusual but there were held in more formal settings like the conference room or even his own office, so this was new for both of them. “Can I get you something to drink? Coffee? Water?” She asked as she grabbed herself a bottle of water.

Valerie’s assistant silently stepped back from the door and pulled it shut behind him, an action that caused Thomas to briefly pause and peek back over his shoulder. A slight sensation ran down his spine as the younger woman led him into her office and in the direction of the sofas.

“Water, please,” he offered in response to her question. He’d long eschewed caffeine, not caring much for the up, and even less for the down. In his position, his social standing, an even keel was to be valued. It was the same reason he limited his exposure to alcohol.

“Conference rooms all filled up today?” There was a hint of surprise in his voice. It wasn’t common for Valerie or her boss to bring clients, even relatively important ones, into their offices. Thomas knew this, and knew that, were Valerie to visit the offices of his firm, she’d not be afforded this sort of access.

It was with this question that Thomas sat down opposite Valerie on a leather couch, the kind that was meant much more for decoration than comfort. Out of habit, he studied Valerie’s face, the way her long, brunette locks framed it-the mark of an expensive stylist, no doubt.

Waving away the question before she could even respond, Thomas continued, “So, Valerie, these are,” he paused, “unique circumstances under which you’ve called me here. I have to assume there’s something rather important you need to discuss to ask me over here on short notice, and without Barbara in attendance.”