Mythe: A Fairy Tale Read online

  Mythe:

  A Fairy Tale

  P.J. GORDON

  Copyright © 2012 by P.J. Gordon

  All rights reserved. Except as allowed under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any way, without the prior written permission of the author.

  Pago Publishing

  P.O. Box 801

  Eastlake, Colorado 80614-0801

  www.PagoPublishing.com

  The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious.

  Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

  Library of Congress Control Number: 2012910467

  Printed in the United States of America

  To my family, who inspire me every day.

  Prologue

  Josh had a feeling that something was going to happen. He just wasn’t sure if it would be something very good or something very bad. He only knew that their carefully constructed life was about to change. He’d suspected it the moment his brother had laid eyes on the girl.

  Josh had tried to run interference, as he usually did whenever a woman looked at Richard in that one particular way, but it hadn’t worked. Not that Manda had thrown herself at him. In this case it had been the way Richard had looked at her that had put Josh on alert and caused him to turn on the charm. If he could redirect her interest away from Richard and toward himself, things would be simpler for everyone—and Richard wouldn’t have to deal with the guilt again.

  Josh’s older brother had misstepped before, but only once that Josh remembered. That slip, and the ones before, still haunted Richard. That was why he avoided women. It wasn’t that he didn’t like them—quite the contrary—but he refused to put them in danger.

  Richard seemed to be breaking his own rules with this girl though. When she’d announced that she was going downstairs to pick up their dinner, Josh had already been headed for the door to help her when Richard volunteered to go. He’d walked out with her just a few moments ago, leaving Josh standing alone in the conference room in a state of confusion and concern. This was untrodden ground for Josh. He’d never seen Richard volunteer to be alone with any woman who was even vaguely attractive and available. Yet Manda was more than vaguely attractive. She was very beautiful…and quite likeable. It wouldn’t upset him at all if she fell for his diversionary flirtation. Okay, she was a bit quiet for his taste, but she hadn’t been giddy and star struck either, so that was a mark in her favor.

  Outgoing and gregarious, Josh was an anomaly in a family that had a lot to hide. The rest of the family was private, even secretive. It was natural, he supposed. It was drilled into their heads from childhood. Keep a low profile. Don’t draw attention to yourself. Josh, however, hadn’t really absorbed that particular lesson. He was the black sheep, never shying away from the spotlight. Hey, it had worked out pretty well for him so far.

  David walked in, interrupting Josh’s introspection. Josh liked the designer. He sensed a kindred spirit there and hoped they would get the chance to be friends. He liked Manda too. Maybe they could be friends as well…maybe, if nothing happened. He still had the feeling that something was going to happen though, and the greater likelihood was that it would be a bad something rather than a good something.

  Chapter 1

  Richard walked through the glass doors into the airy office space with his brother one step behind him. When the receptionist, a smiling older woman, looked up from behind her curved, pale wood desk, her casual glance toward the visitors transformed into a wide-eyed stare. She stammered “They’re here” into the headset she wore and fumbled with a button on the phone console before gathering herself enough to greet them with a faint “Good afternoon.”

  “Good afternoon,” Richard smiled down at her. “My name is Richard Raines, and this is my brother Joshua. We have a three o’clock meeting with Curtis Aronson.”

  “Yes, of course you are...um...of course you do,” the flustered receptionist stammered. “Please have a seat. Someone will be right with you.”

  She made a fluttering gesture toward a seating area to her left. Richard turned toward one of the armchairs. He didn’t mind waiting, but didn’t expect to be left there long. It had been his experience that people didn’t tend to leave him unattended for any length of time. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been left sitting in a waiting room to flip through magazines or just watch the other waiting people. Funny how you could miss such small, normal things like that.

  “I’ll walk them back, Lena. No problem.”

  A young, female voice brought Richard up short before he reached the armchair. Just as he’d thought, he wouldn’t be waiting at all. Josh, who was already half-seated on one end of the sofa, straightened back up and both men turned in the direction of the voice.

  Richard was startled. The girl who had just spoken was pretty—beautiful actually—but Richard was used to attractive women. He was often surrounded by stunningly beautiful women—women who were all too often maneuvering to secure a place on his arm, or in his bed. Of course it was what he did, not who he was, that interested them. He’d gained quite a reputation for his handling of such women. He pushed that train of thought away. This girl was more than pretty, with even features, high cheekbones, and an expressive mouth. Her wide eyes were the dark, blue-gray color of a thundercloud and they sparkled with humor and intelligence. They met his gaze directly and without faltering. It was her eyes that startled him, guileless yet unexpectedly and disconcertingly perceptive—too perceptive for the young face they stared out of.

  “I can take you back to the conference room,” the girl offered. “Curt’s already there.” She turned her eyes away, suddenly self conscious, and offered Josh a friendly smile.

  “Thank you. That would be perfect,” Josh said, returning her smile with his most winning grin. Yes, Josh would like her.

  “This way then,” she directed and gestured behind herself. She led them away from the still-flustered receptionist, tossing a quick “Thanks Lena!” over her shoulder as she went.

  She walked slightly ahead of the two men, half looking back over her shoulder at them. The soft sound of her footfalls on the thick carpet mingled with the low ambient noises of the office.

  “I don’t think I’ve ever seen Lena quite so out of sorts,” she said in an amused undertone. “She’s usually so composed and unflappable!” She laughed, a quick, quiet laugh. “But you’re probably both used to it.”

  “You could say that,” Josh agreed, still grinning at her.

  Richard offered a wry smile. “Yes.”

  “The conference room is right here,” she said, opening a large door that was paneled with the same light wood as the reception desk. She led the way into the room and then stepped to one side, allowing them the full impact of the view before them.

  The conference room occupied a corner of the top floor of a 40-story building in downtown Denver. Glass walls circled all four sides of the room; the two interior walls were constructed of frosted panels inset in deep frames of the pale wood, while the two exterior walls were each made up of one thick pane of lightly tinted glass stretching from floor to ceiling. These two expansive windows offered a panoramic view of the Rocky Mountains. The large glass conference table in the center of the room, surrounded by eight padded leather swivel chairs, did nothing to distract from the impressive vista.

  “The mountains are beautiful today, aren’t they?” The girl commented before turning to a balding, gray-haired man in a business suit who had been seated at one end of the table with a laptop computer open in front of him. “Curt, Richard and Joshua Raines are here.”

  The man had stood up when they entered and he walked ar
ound the table with his hand extended toward them.

  “Hi, I’m Curt Aronson. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you in person. I’m glad you could make it. Thank you again for allowing us to help with this. My team is looking forward to working with you.” He shook each of their hands firmly. “We’re just waiting for a couple of people before we get started. They’re on their way up now. Please, sit down.”

  Richard gave himself a quick mental shake. He’d been somewhat distracted by the picture that the girl with the storm-blue eyes made in front of the picture-postcard mountains. Thankfully, Josh spoke up before his distraction was evident.

  “The pleasure is all ours. We’re excited to work with you, too. We’ve heard great things about your team.”

  As Josh spoke, Curt slid back into his chair at the head of the table. Richard glanced at the girl, waiting for her to sit. When she moved toward the door instead he took a seat at the table, with Curt to his right. Josh claimed the chair to Richard’s left.

  Would the girl be staying for the meeting, he wondered? Who was she? He noticed Josh watching her with decided interest. His younger brother was as accustomed to the attention of the opposite sex as he was, but was much more susceptible to the attractions of beautiful young women. And this girl was very appealing, Richard had to admit. If she was going to stay, Josh was going to be distracted. Richard grudgingly acknowledged that he himself was already distracted. Those eyes! They were disconcerting. You’re being ridiculous, he thought to himself. There’s nothing about this little girl of any interest to you! She’s just a pretty child. Focus!

  “Can I bring you something to drink?” she asked, intruding upon his silent self-reproach. “Coffee, tea, a soft drink, water?”

  “Water would be fine. Thank you,” Richard responded with a polite smile.

  “For me, too. Thanks,” Josh agreed, but his smile was much warmer.

  Was she some sort of assistant or intern? She didn’t seem to have claimed a seat at the table and she was certainly too young to be anyone of rank or standing in as prestigious a public relations firm as Aronson & Associates. She couldn’t be more than 20 or 21—no older than Josh.

  “No problem,” she said from the doorway. “I’ll bring some for everyone. Be right back.”

  A moment later, Richard heard new voices from the direction of the reception area, as well as the girl’s voice again.

  “Hey guys, they’re already in the conference room. Go on back. Do you want anything to drink?”

  Richard heard their negative responses, then the sound of approaching footsteps.

  “Good,” Curt remarked as two people walked into the room. “That’s everyone then. David, Jen, I’m sure you know who Richard and Joshua Raines are. Gentlemen, this is Jennifer Allen, our special events director.”

  Richard and Josh both stood when the newcomers entered the room. Richard extended his hand toward the slender, strawberry blonde woman, who shook it firmly.

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Allen,” Richard greeted her.

  “Please, call me Jen,” she replied with a smile, shaking Josh’s hand as well.

  “And this is David Ellis, our senior graphic designer,” Curt introduced. The young man flashed them both a friendly smile.

  “Hi! It’s nice to meet you,” David said. He shook Josh’s hand and then Richard’s before taking the seat across from Josh with his back toward the windows. Richard and Josh waited for Jennifer to seat herself in the chair between David and Curt before retaking their seats.

  “We’ve called in the A-team for you. I know that’s why you came to us. I think they’ll be able to accomplish everything you need and more,” Curt assured Richard and Josh.

  The girl slid back into the room, carefully balancing a pitcher of ice water and a tray of glasses. Richard stood, stepping forward to help her, but Josh was faster. He quickly relieved her of the pitcher, returning her grateful smile with a broad grin of his own. She placed the tray on the table and proceeded to distribute glasses quickly around. Then she retrieved the pitcher from Josh and moved around the table filling them all.

  “Thanks, Manda,” Curt acknowledged. “Now let’s get started.”

  Richard expected her to leave then, but after pouring herself a glass of water, Manda seated herself in a chair at the very end of the table, directly opposite from Curt, with empty chairs between herself and both David and Josh, as if separating herself from the rest of the group. She took a sip of the water, then sat the glass on the table and retrieved a small leather-bound notebook from the chair beside her and pulled a pencil from its center. Apparently she was going to sit in on the meeting and take notes.

  “Richard,” Curt addressed him, interrupting his speculation, “why don’t you fill everyone in on what you want to accomplish and then we’ll talk about how we can help you with it.”

  “Thanks, Curt,” Richard responded. “It’s no secret that Josh and I have been blessed with more than our fair share of good fortune. We’re very grateful and we’d like to share some of that, so we’ve decided to create a charitable foundation to benefit a variety of organizations that are close to our hearts. We’ve done some volunteer work for a guide dog training organization and we really admire what they do. We’d like to facilitate their work, as well as the work of other service animal organizations. We’re at a very preliminary phase at this point. We’ve discussed it with our lawyers and our business manager, and laid the initial groundwork. Now we’re looking for an identity for this foundation, and some ideas to help us launch it with real impact, which is what brings us to you.” Richard smiled around the room. “I’ve been hearing a lot about the Aronson ‘Dream Team’ over the last couple of years, and if you’re half as good as your reputation, I’m sure we’ve come to the right place.”

  “So, Richard and Joshua are bringing us in on the ground floor,” Curt explained to his team, “which is exciting! You’ll collaborate with them to come up with a complete identity package—name, logo, tagline, launch events, media and fundraising strategies, the works. We want to leverage all of our resources for this. You three, as the core team, will be working closely with Richard and Joshua, but feel free to pull in anyone else you think you need.”

  Richard glanced at the girl, Manda, in surprise. You three Curt had said. So she was a part of the almost legendary Aronson creative team? He watched her scribbling furiously in her small notebook, deep in thought. She was barely more than a child! She looked up then and, noticing his attention, she blushed and smiled.

  “I’m sorry,” Richard interrupted, stopping Curt before he could continue, “but I don’t believe we’ve been introduced to the third member of your team.”

  “Who? Manda?” Curt asked, startled. “I’m sorry. When you came in with her I assumed she’d introduced herself.” Manda’s blush deepened.

  “Gentlemen,” Curt went on, beckoning to the girl, “I’d like you to meet Amanda Jensen, our creative director for special projects.”

  Richard and Josh stood up as Manda approached, Josh quickly grasping her hand in greeting.

  “It’s certainly a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Jensen,” he enthused with a boyish grin. She returned an embarrassed but friendly smile.

  “You can call me Manda,” she corrected, extracting her hand when Josh failed to release it and offering it to Richard. She was still blushing.

  “It’s a pleasure, Manda,” Richard said, shaking the proffered hand.

  “I’m sorry,” she apologized. “I knew who you were and it just never occurred to me to introduce myself.”

  David laughed and she shot a quick glare in his direction. From her expression, Richard half expected her to stick her tongue out at him as well. It would certainly be in keeping with her apparent youth, if not her title. Creative director! Richard struggled to realign his thinking to accommodate this new information. His assumptions had been completely wrong. She was no intern or assistant. Far from it. It was difficult to reconcile the young girl in front of
him with the responsibilities of such a role. She couldn’t have been out of high school for more than a couple of years, much less have the experience necessary to attain a position of authority on such a renowned team.

  “Well, now that everyone is acquainted,” Curt interjected, refocusing the group, “we’ll see if we can’t come up with a timeline for this project.”

  Manda, Richard, and Josh all returned to their chairs, and everyone but Manda spent the next hour working out a plan to accomplish all of the steps necessary to successfully reach the brothers’ goal. Manda sat at the distant end of the table, studying all of them, absorbing the conversation, and jotting in her notebook frequently. Jennifer was central to the conversation and Richard was impressed by her grasp of the logistics required for such an undertaking, as well as by her brisk, organized approach. As the group began to discuss timetables and deadlines, David contributed more, offering advice about how long certain stages in the creative process should take. His comments were insightful and assured. So far, Richard was very impressed with two of the three members of the Aronson team. Manda, however, was a mystery, sitting silently through the meeting while David and Jen did all of the talking. She seemed to be an anomaly in this dynamic group. It wasn’t until David and Jennifer began discussing a timeframe for naming and logo creation that Manda spoke up.

  “No, guys. We’ll need more time than that.” She was frowning in concentration and staring unfocused at a point above Richard’s head. “The name will be easier I think, but the logo might be hard. It has to be perfect, because that’s what everyone will key into. I’ll want to allow at least another week for that, just to be safe, and we’ll need to meet with Richard and Joshua a few times to get a feel for what they like and who they are.” She nodded thoughtfully to herself and then her eyes focused and dropped to Richard. “Will that be okay? Will you be available? I think it’s important to reflect you two in this, so ideally you should be involved in the creative process.”