Saige West went through an emotional rollercoaster ride with her ex-fiancee Brett . She felt confident finally walking out of his life. "You can bet there are plenty of real men in the world who are not sneaky, dishonest cheaters. This man will not be delusional. He will not be dishonest. He will make a commitment in his own relationship." Her soul felt as if it had taken a cold stabbing to the heart by his mischiel. Before long she predicted she would meet Mr. Right. Saige felt betrayed. She thought she would be a target, or projected vulnerability, rejection, and hurt. She wanted not to appear as worthless in anyones eyes so she got her self together again.

WHIRLWIND ROMANCE

- A CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE.By L'SA G'BNZ

AuthorHouse

Copyright © 2011 L'sa G'bnz
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4634-2134-2

Chapter One

Why did not she pretend, to not see him sitting over there, at Starbucks in what seemed to be a ... Stupor? Why had she not walked away? Saige was in denial.

She thought she was in plain view of him at the Anne Klein Boutique, therefore not making a scene, she did not falter. She was not going to go in the store that day, just passing it by. Now spotting him, she thought herself in plain view of him too. If she made any sudden moves or quick turns, he would notice her. Her footsteps were unmistakable.

She got off from her work site early. Of all days, she decided to take the other way to get through to the taxi side. Now on that day, she did not want to share a taxi with Gordon Miller. Her feelings about Gordon were not personal, but excessively that day, Gordon was bad business for Saige West. He was a store associate who would be a little too much for her to handle right at about that time.

As much as Saige hated working with men, she thought, where from the outer limits did this person come from? Gordon seemed as though a flunky, back stabber and an even bigger crybaby, some bull shit new hire, from who knew where. All anyone got was that he spent a lot of time bull shitting around, and times and was clumsy.

Since Tuesday, he Gordon saw her, haling a cab in the same area he had to be, and had been on her skirt tail ever since. How the other work associates, and executives were supposed to deal with this big person, feeling as if they wanted to hurt him every second of the day was a mystery. If he knew, what was really going on he could have stayed out of situations that could cause him embarrassment. Gordon was not too bad looking. There had been a rumor about him, he thought his shit did not stink, and unfortunately, he let Sean Corpus, befriend him.

Gordon was administered a position in the store he knew nothing about. He was no fool and would have had the concept had it been explained properly to him. As things stood, it was not his fault. Gordon had had not been briefed well. They left the young man standing as if in the dark. Saige West was too kind, to hurt anyone's feelings but, she wanted to dodge.

This week, she was sort of, going through the motions. She was lying low, pretending to be okay, with things as they were. Clay stung Saige. She had not known the meaning of his sudden distain, but she as always, cared for Clay, even though he had hurt her feelings, and if she were dating out of her league, and the wedding were off, he should have said so.

Saige did not know why, but Gordon was having a hard time of things, but that day she saw where he was out of sorts quite a fraction. At that time, Saige did not want to cross the line between her company business and the business she had with the department store, or it`s associates. Gordon was to set up the new retail. His team members were reprehensible.

They were as if crabs in a barrel. Gordon was the one in the middle but he was not the one stirring the pot. It seemed as if he were causing all sorts of commotion when mostly, he could not have been in two places at the same time. Gordon was a nice person; he was not getting things, at that point. He was trying to hang in there, being fun and games.

He was too gullible, and too far away from home, yet too intelligent for the people around him. They slowed him down, to leave him out of things. He had not been trained well for the position he was hired to do, and should have been on opposite side of the spectrum. Where he thought he was going to be, the position was full.

Saige was in charge of all the products, and for the photo shoot the next day. The props were another department's responsibility, possibly Gordon`s? Saige heard that there was a problem with that, but thought, no matter, as long as the materials were there. Sure, if she had to she could step in, but Saige was not there for that reason.

The problem started long before she arrived. The photo shoot was in front of the company logo and the products. Very cleaver Saige thought. For once, they thought not to jam up the space with products during the sawdust. Little did she know?

The night before, Sean had taken Gordon out for excessively, too much to drink. It was Friday night, and Gordon should have used common sense. He should have had sense enough to know what he might be getting himself involved. Sean, causing Gordon to be two hours late for work missed the delivery person, delivering the backdrop, which ruined profusely the other day. Launching was in two days!

They had no collateral for the big day, nor had Gordon received the last part of the cosmetic shipment. The store display, the skincare, and, the cosmetic, and fragrance set-ups were not there. Perhaps they went back to the company. Adrian Emmanuel was sure to flip his lid! As it were, he was taking a lot of time away internationally, from his salons.

Even though Saige knew Gordon was trying to find a way to throw her off her game, no matter what, Saige was always nice to him, the Coo-Coo woman and, Justin, where others were not too nice. Nevertheless, after a day as Saige was having, she had hoped she would not have to baby sit Gordon, and his ego on their journey to where they needed to be, on their cab ride. That day was not the day for learning new faces, but she wish she had, at the first sight of Clay.

Chapter Two

That day, Was a day Saige wanted to go home to Dakota's on Long Island. She wanted to catch a hug for herself. Her having to extend her weekend because of Gordon, Sean, another chick, and, his stupid assed cronies, Saige was not in the mood. With Gordon being so chatty, he was sure to find out that her fiancée Clay Woods and she were on the outs. Besides, one more mention of Clay that week, and she was going to cry.

Clay was being too irrational over an argument they had, having insulting, sharp, and snapping words to say to her last week, but there he was. She could not miss him. She was eye balling him, estimating his next move. He seemed to be taking in the scenery, reviewing past scenes, or taking his present and future into account. He was sitting over there, in that new ugly colored coat she hated. She had not hated the coat, as much as she hated its color, but by this day, nonetheless, she had ruled out ever seeing Clay again, because he must have meant what he said to her ... Fine!

Zalden had his quirks, but so did Clay, only his were different. Saige was, or was not beginning to see what she might be up against but loved Clay for the security of his purpose, the freshness of a new beginning. Clay was decent, attracted, and very attentive to Saige. He seemed ready and right for her at the time.

Even with Clay sitting at Starbucks by himself, something was ticking, but she knew not what. What was it that seemed to have him spaced out? He appeared pasty, almost lost, yet as any man could not deny, Saige was a woman any man could trust. If anything, she would approach Clay in friendship. After all, they were not enemies.

Saige was upset with Clay. That week she had not had any closure with Clay yet, but there he was in some sort of a stupor it seemed, and Saige being caring of their friendship, could not help but notice him that way. She knew he was uneasy, and since they had a past, and he arrived at or near her place of business, she would assume he were there to see him. Why else would he present himself? If she walked away, would he have let her?

Saige worked through various cosmetic and fragrance agencies that hire special teams to promote eccentric products to the public. The environments were posh. Saige was not a regular store employee, and tried to stand up for Gordon in a way, listen to what he had to say and be understanding, but at this point, time was of the essence, which stood still for no one.

She was launching a new, cosmetic and fragrance, for one of the major cosmetic company`s. Now she had returned. With hugs, they had recognized one another, and the newer cosmetics associates in the store, introduced. Saige was very well welcomed in her favorite stores and had favorite places. She was doing okay considering, and ready to launch!

A new trend was about to emerge, good, only a few new faces. Saige worked as a promotional artist for the tour. She was used instruct the beauty advisors on the new products, and show and tell them how to promote and boost their sales. It was great for Saige to see most of the associates again. She was happy the last time she was there.

That weekend Saige had another photo shoot, for a new fragrance that was launching in the fall of next year. In sequential time for holidays, she made that shoot. This one she was only to assist, but for big bucks too, therefore she felt not to ignore the invitation. Besides, most of the crew hated one other. The crews were very often funny to watch. Many times, Saige was the glue that held it together.

This weekend, she was to go out on Long Island, to shoot. The scenery this time of year was perfect for capturing the themes essence. Surrounded by nature and away from home, it would take her mind off things. Gordon, no matter how you try to slice it, for his sake, (She had started the site on Tuesday) he would still come up short. Sean having a crush on Saige did not matter; it only made things worse for him in her eyes. No skins off her nose, he fired.

Gordon was sloppy in both, his work and appearances that day. He was too much into his gadgets those couple of days and it was annoying to others. Two days ago, Saige noticed Gordon was more interested in Sean giving him back his earphones than listening to the mornings briefing. He was a slob in the eyes of most, especially in her line of work. Saige generally stayed out of the office politics of the department store employees.

Ms. Justine mentioned to Saige, Gordon could not take care of himself very well. Nor was he used to doing physical labor, except use his mouth for psychobabble, as though no one could read his bullshit, she mentioned. Saige wasn`t too sure about Ms. Justine either She had a few quirks about herself.

Saige looked at the woman who back bit at Gordon, then wondered when the company would get rid of her, too then. She was truly a rude, lazy, and, nosey busy body, faked being sick most of the time, and complained about how much the company needed her. People could not wait for her to retire, but if Gordon did not set out to do the job he was assigned, word had it he was done.

It was because of Gordon, Saige and the rest of the freelance crew had to extend their weekend into a working one. No one was pleased. It was a bad time fall short of a dead line. Gordon got wind that his ass was grass, in a hole, on a wire if he does not match deadline in that store by Saturday night. He had better catch the delivery truck this time, and the crew to have all the shelves stocked, according to the blueprint plan before opening Sunday. He was not to fall short.

Aarlyn, (also part of the trouble), said, all he did when he finally got there, was make a mess that day as well. That week during their break, he managed to fall through a backdrop over some wires, duh.

"He dropped his hot pizza all over the drop cloth, badly staining it on the inner side. What was he doing there? "

It was the camouflage, covering used to protect the backdrop advertisement during expansion process of the cosmetics and fragrance departments. None of this mix up at the store was a reflection upon Saige. Besides, were these people supposed to make asses out of themselves in front of company reps? Sean was the real cause of most of the problems. He was probably the reason the other Rep took off.

That weekend, she wished things would go as planned for a change. In her business, mischief people hating the game, throwing wrenches in the agenda, screwing up all the plans, and trying to shatter diamond perfection. Gordon seemed as if he were oblivious there was a dead line, not having a clue how some people had enough pride to get a job well worked done, not to mention, done on time. However, now she knew what all the gloom and doom had been about, but was okay with things until she found out how behind they were.

This was a no-no in her business. Come hell or high water, the show must go on. Gordon's clumsiness, caused by Sean making fun, and pushing him caused him to ruin the backdrop with his pizza. Gordon knew things electrically. He just wanted to render peace for himself while he ate. The banner he stained had the major advertisement across the front of it.

Debbie, the floor manager, and Peggy, the store manager, called Adrian's company on the telephone. The company replaced the backdrop, and canvas, having it expressed mailed. All confirmed. As it were a big expense, Gordon was no where to be found that afternoon when it was time for him to meet the emergency messenger sent way out of his way, in the first place. The photo shoot switched to another location. This type of shoot was a proto type shoot, a signature shoot in a signature store.

That day as several store managers, people, passers by, were asking about Clay, Saige eagerly responded saying things were going good. She was grateful; the components to this job were intricate. It took precision and was time consuming for everyone, so all the chatter was low. As the store was still doing well even during the change, the upper management was pleased but still they wanted more. Saige was sweet and did not bring up the things she was trouble shot. Saige was aware; they had to be aware of the problem.

She was relieved that her extended work weekend away, just in Suffix County, because of Gordon, was not going to consist of Gordon, hanging over her shoulders as he does everyone, which would probably cause her to loose her cool. Saige would by this time, snap like the other's do. She could see the look on his face, perplexed; leaving him with that stupid dumbfounded look, she had no use.

Saige said she would work later on, next week, as the promotional make up artist for the other store. She`ll be promoting the new phase additions, in the signature, next promotion. Saige was in it for the extra cash too because she would work the site last minute. Adrian Emmanuel compensated Saige for the whole job. The site went up two months ago! Saige scored! She accepted the offer. After all, the holidays were going to creep up and she needed something to do to fill up the space in her life that was now a void.

One-year, some months and days ago, Saige launched the first phase of a new skincare, cosmetic and fragrance line in a major department store. She was the leader of this project phase, on all the launching in the eastern region. In her present state, she just wanted to get through with the project that week, so she could cleanse her mind and unwind. Saige West wanted an honest change, a change that was going to make a difference, a good way to go.

She planned on stopping into the bath stores before she hailed a cab. She thought she would spend some time alone, she had a good mind to stop by the Exotic Bath shop on her way home; since she thought, she would be, anyway. She was over, peony, jasmine, patchouli, but never, ever could she get enough of the fragrant sandalwood.

Sandalwood could refresh her, although it was the season for sultry warm amber, and the bass of moss entwined with romantic sandalwood, she loved. She could wear it in any form. She often shopped for candles and incense, but was allergic to lavender. Eucalyptus was the only plant that could balance her.

She decided she wanted to soak in a hot bathtub of fragrant Ben André bath crystals, but she remembered she was still out. Her shipment still had not come. She wanted to bask in the fragrance, wash and set her hair, preparing for her trip to visit with her mom before she worked Saturday's shoot, and prepared for the cosmetic launch on that Sunday.

She was looking forward to a hot bowl of New England clam chowder, croutons, some salad, and finally finishing the last Candace Bushnell novel. She was going to do the bookstore on Saturday too, to buy Bushnell's latest book before disaster struck. Chances were she would have to work all through Sunday. Clay had been so disagreeable lately, she had not been in the mood to see him, but he was there. Much less, she did not want to argue over the past issues.

(Continues...)

Excerpted from WHIRLWIND ROMANCEby L'SA G'BNZ Copyright © 2011 by L'sa G'bnz. Excerpted by permission of AuthorHouse. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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