She distracts me

Contract details

Lacy McDaniels

Lacy pinched the bridge of her nose as she flipped to the next page of the contract that was the size of a Stephen King novel that Paul had dropped in front of her. She looked wistfully to her empty mug, long abandoned and her stomach issued a soft growl of protest at having had no true sustenance this morning.  

“Another coffee? Or does the belly require something else?” Paul questioned, a cheeky grin on his face. 

Lacy paled at first at being caught not reading, having thought Paul would have busied himself with something else for the last hour or so. She then blushed as she realized that he had actually heard her stomach growl amidst the cafe patrons. 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t eat breakfast before we left and I hadn’t realized that a contract with Mr. Suarez would be so… extensive” she carefully chose her last word. Truthfully it was insane. The thing was massive, like a giant legal document full of disclosures, clauses, rules and regulations, about a thousand ways of wording confidentiality and more. 

Paul, seeming to understand what was going on, lost some of his brightness and gave her a softer smile. “I understand. It is pretty overwhelming. Do you have any questions that I can help with?”

Lacy leaned back in her chair, dropping the page she had been helding and sighed softly. “Can you just give it to me in black and white? Bullet point it out for me? There is a lot of legal jargon in here and I feel like I could be misinterpreting any of it.”

Paul laughed. “Good question. Roman definitely prefers life in black and white. I actually have my own version of the contract I use for explanations for this very reason.” 

Lacy squeaked “WHAT?! Then why on EARTH have you been letting me drown in this thing for the last two hours?!” her tone holding mock anger but a slight hint of real irritation. 

Paul smirked, picking up the massive contract before her and exchanging it for what appeared to be five or six pages of bullet points. Lacy squinted her eyes at him as if trying to bore into his soul and then laughed flipping through them. 

“Wow. So I see why you don’t lead off with this one. It is pretty blunt…” Lacy gulped. 

Paul nodded. “Precisely why I let you flounder as you so delicately put it, Miss McDaniels. Now if you don’t mind I will highlight the most important parts of the contract and you can make your decision from there?” He raised a brow in her direction to which she nodded. 

Paul continued, breezing through several points in a row: “Employment to Mr. Suarez is exclusive. You shall have no other jobs or perform any services for any other clients without the express permission of Mr. Suarez.” Lacy frowned hearing this, her mind churning away as Paul continued rattling on.

“Confidentiality is non-negotiable. You will share nothing through word of mouth, paper, telecommunication, video, audio, social media of any kind or any non aforementioned forms of communication about anything you encounter in your services to Mr. Suarez under penalty of the law to the fullest extent.” 

Paul paused there. “Basically. Say nothing to no one about anything or he will sue your pants off and ruin your life. But that is kind of hard to put nicely on paper. This is one of the most important parts of the contract. He really means this one.” Lacy tensed under his scrutiny and nodded once. 

“You are required to keep up to date with any certifications, continuing education, licensing, etc on your own time. Schedule it around your duties to Mr. Suarez. Compensation can be discussed if any of these pertain to services you provide to Mr. Suarez.” 

Paul glanced up at Lacy who was still as a statue throughout this. “He is pretty generous in comp situations, you can probably get a lot of your educational requirements paid for in the finance part of the contract.” 

Whether he didn’t notice her growing discomfort or chose to ignore it, Paul continued to blast through more and more of the contract requirements, seemingly drawing near the end. “Now, Miss McDaniels, this last part of the contract is exclusive to you. Having looked over the credentials you provided I can already tell you are a perfect candidate and have everything Mr. Suarez requires, so I am going to take this all a step past the contract and explain more of what exactly the job is.”

Lacy breathed a soft sigh. “Okay, sounds good. I admit some of this stuff is pretty intimidating when I’m not sure if I’m making a diet plan or rehabbing an injury here…” she laughed nervously. 

“The fact that you can do either of those things is what makes you perfect for the job. Basically Mr. Suarez is looking for a… let’s call it a sports assistant. He is a busy man, but also a private man. Too often when we travel, given his status it is difficult to sort true professionals from paparazzi and gossipmongers. We are constantly vetting chefs, nutritionists, therapists of all kinds. It gets old. So we are looking for an all-in-one. And that is you, Miss McDaniels.” 

Lacy exhaled softly. “Wow. So how would that work with my business her in Los Angeles and him travelling all the time?” 

Paul chuckled. “Back to bullet point number one dear. You wouldn’t have a business her in LA. Mr. Suarez would BE your business, remember? You would be granted access codes to his villa here in LA, you would travel with him during the season and be privy to every part of his life to see to it that he performs at peak performance at all times.” 

Lacy felt a little tickle of panic in her brain. Give up all my clients, she thought? It would basically be giving up everything I have worked for here… breathing that last thought out loud without meaning to.

“You wouldn’t be giving up all you worked for Miss… Lacy, if I may. This is what all your hard work has brought you to. You have the potential to land the most lucrative client in the world because of your diligence and professionalism. The contract is a trial contract. It will be for one year only, and if things do not work out, you can come back home a well paid woman and pick up where you left off.”

Lacy felt foolish at having spoken her thoughts aloud and nodded to Paul. She felt anxious and excited and nervous all at once. Causing her already hungry belly to churn, emitting another obnoxiously loud growl. 

Paul laughed, lightening the moment a little. “Come, let me buy you lunch since I have kept you well past breakfast.” 

Lacy smiled as she slowly stood, smoothing out her sundress and rubbing her arms in the well air conditioned cafe, grateful for the open jacket she had grabbed on her way out. “I think I need some time to consider the offer, it would be a pretty big step.” 

“Completely understandable. However, you can definitely think and eat at the same time right? You choose the spot and I will buy.” Paul led her to the door, seemingly not taking no for an answer.