Free Trust in Advertising by Victoria Michaels

worked perfectly, much to her dismay. Still, she held out a slim hope that maybe seeing her in person might jog his memory, but until then, Lexi was just another assistant sent to infuriate him.
    The tone of the messages he had sent weren’t the most welcoming, but Lexi could sympathize. To him, she was a complete stranger, and he was testing her. That was understandable if his previous employees hadn’t done their jobs effectively. He wasn’t going to give her the time of day until she proved herself worthy of his time. Never one to back down from a chal enge, Lexi got back work.
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    Victoria Michaels
    Vincent Drake clearly wasn’t the same person he had been all those years ago, but neither was Lexi. She had been through too much in her short life, lost too much, to ever be that girl again. She was still struggling to find herself after all these years, and if part of that process required her to go toe-to-toe with this man to earn some much needed respect, she would do it. She would not be a doormat; she would prove him wrong and be the most competent hire in history.
    By the time he stepped off that elevator, Lexi would know Hunter Advertising inside and out. Then she’d make sure he stood up and noticed her this time.
    Lexi was still deep in thought when Leigh came flying in through the office door. “Lexi!” she shrieked. The papers in Lexi’s hand flew up into the air and rained down from the ceiling like confetti at a ticker tape parade.
    “What?” Lexi gasped as she started gathering the scattered sheets into a disorganized pile on the floor. “You just about gave me a heart attack, Leigh.”
    “Giovanni.” Leigh snatched the Blackberry off the desktop and scrolled through the contact list. “His middle name is Giovanni.”
    “I know. I replied already.” Lexi shrugged as she placed the last of the loose papers back into the folder.
    Leigh just stared at her, dumbfounded. “You … you answered his question … without help?” She couldn’t have looked more shocked if Lexi had sprouted a second head.
    “Yeah, it really wasn’t that difficult. I take it he tests all his new employees this way?”
    “No one has ever,” Leigh continued muttering incoherently to herself as she wandered back to her desk, leaving Lexi to her work. “… not without my help.”
    Just when Lexi started to relax, her phone chirped.
    Alexandra,
    Congratulations on mastering Google. Now let’s see if you can use your brain. I need the advertising budget breakdown for the Fox Jewelers account. I want the advertising expenditures for the local Chicago affiliates and the greater Boston area. I needed them ten minutes ago or you’re fired.
    V. D.
    “Google this.” Lexi flipped her phone the bird before popping another ibupro-phen. “God, he’s even more arrogant now than he was in high school.” Lexi made her way into his office and blew out an exasperated breath as she looked at the mountain of papers on his utterly messy desk. “What have I gotten myself into?”
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    Trust in Advertising
    She began searching through each pile, trying not to move anything for fear of messing up his organizational system, whatever that might be. But after ten minutes it became clear—Vincent had no system other than total and absolute chaos. She was more and more discouraged with each hour that passed, knowing she would probably see the words “You’re fired” in Vincent’s next text message, but Lexi was nothing if not stubborn. Before she let him fire her, she would find that damned file if it killed her.
    She eventually came across the tattered Fox Jewelers file tucked inside a massive file for an inactive account from a couple years ago. “I found it!” She danced around the office, waving the manila file wildly over her head until she was pulled out of her celebration by loud clapping from the doorway.
    “Congratulations,” a deep voice snickered from behind her.
    Lexi froze, her face turning bright red at the sound of