|
An excerpt from Chance Encounter.
Chloe awoke refreshed, and joined her sister for a quick breakfast
of scrambled eggs, orange juice, and toast. Soon she would be on
her way downtown for an interview with an exclusive advertising
agency that a head hunter had recommended.
Chloe was excited at the prospect, although she wasn’t thrilled
about the location: smack dab in the middle of downtown Los Angeles.
She loved California, but there had to be a better, cheaper, place
to live. Driving through the heavy morning traffic, Chloe had to
slow, almost to a stop in order to merge, just so she could exit
on the right ramp.
She drove around for a few minutes looking for a place to park.
There were few, if any, spots on the street. If one opened up, someone
was ahead of her and grabbed it before she had any chance. “Dammit!”
she said as a compact car cut her off and zipped into the newly
opened space.
Amazingly, just off Rodeo Drive, a prime parking spot became available
and Chloe maneuvered her Honda into the cramped space. Getting out
of her car she began the process of digging around in her purse
in search of the change required to feed the parking meter.
Grant Alexander walked out of Gucci’s. He needed natural
light to check the color of the two shirts he had just purchased.
The white was whiter, and the gray looked almost pale blue in the
sunlight. Surely, one of them would look okay with the suit he had
chosen to wear to the awards banquet later in the week. He hated
that he had to wear a suit, almost as much as he hated attending
an awards banquet; but knew he would not be able to get out of this
one.
As he made his way to the motorcycle parked on the sidewalk, he
noticed a woman frantically rummaging in her purse, apparently in
search of parking meter money. The meter cop was heading in her
general direction and Grant could see desperation in this woman’s
eyes. He couldn’t help but notice the long, shapely, legs
that were sticking out of the navy blue suit she was wearing, as
well as the auburn hair piled loosely on top of her head. He walked
in her direction, stuck the shirts under his arm, and with his free
hand wrapped his fingers around some loose change in his pocket.
As he walked over to her, their eyes made contact for a just a moment,
and her mouth dropped open.
Grant gave her a boyish grin, took her hand, and dropped a few
coins in her palm, watching her face throughout the entire encounter.
He couldn’t help but smile; she looked completely lost, or
dazed. He wasn’t sure which.
Chloe just stared at this kind fellow as he walked away. He approached
a shiny new motorcycle and slung a blue jean clad leg over the side,
straddling the bike. He sat there for a moment, stuffed his parcels
into a tank bag, donned his helmet, slipped his hands into a pair
of gloves, and fired up the engine. He revved the motor, looked
over his shoulder—at her?—and within seconds he was
swallowed up by the traffic on the busy streets of LA.
Chloe came back to reality just as the meter cop appeared ready
to cite her for an expired meter. She dropped a couple quarters
in the slot and thought, Oh my God! I’ve seen that face, those
eyes and that smile, before … I dreamed of him last night!
She tried to remove the image from her mind, knowing that an important
job interview with Reynolds Ad Agency was imminent. She removed
a portfolio of drawings and posters from her car and made her way
to the interview. Chloe had a way with art, and she also had a fantastic
imagination, so this job would be a good fit. The company was a
prominent poster agency, well known for movie promotions, but recently
they had expanded into doing commercials for television, and Chloe
had experience in both.
All through the interview Chloe had to force herself to keep her
mind on business because she was finding it difficult to concentrate.
The image of the man she had just seen on the street, not to mention
the dream from the night before, crowded her thoughts as visions
of the nameless man would sneak in at the most inopportune times.
“Excuse me, I’m sorry; what did you just say? I’m
afraid I didn’t hear the entire question,” Chloe said
with a pained look as the owner of the company, Paul Reynolds, asked
her to describe her last job in detail.
“Ms. Collier, are we boring you?” Paul asked, watching
intently for a reaction to his question. The rest of the managers
attending the meeting were staring at her, waiting.
“Oh, no sir! I was just thinking about an ad for a motorcycle,”
Chloe said snapping back to reality. “I had the most interesting
encounter on the street, just before coming in here, and it brought
images of a new way to present an old product! I’m sorry if
I was distant. I certainly didn’t mean to give the impression
that I was ignoring anyone,” Chloe said trying to sound convincing,
searching the faces in the room, knowing that the statement she
had just made wasn’t entirely the truth.
“Well, that’s the most honest answer I’ve heard
in a long time, Ms. Collier; when can you start?” Paul Reynolds
asked, his hand held out as if to close a deal.
Chloe told him she could start on Monday and shook his hand accepting
the offer. As she walked out of the conference room, through the
front door and onto the street, the realization hit. Now she would
have to come up with some kind of new promo idea to push motorcycles.
Wonderful …”
During the drive back to her sister’s house, Chloe’s
thoughts wandered back to the encounter on the street. Who was that
gorgeous guy with the awesome body, and how in the world would she
ever find him again? He was everything in one package that she found
physically attractive; wavy black hair, blue eyes, tall, hard, and
lean … and how could she not help but notice that he had a
nice butt! He also had a dazzling smile, and of course, it showed
through his striking blue eyes. He was perfect! She figured that
someone that kind-hearted certainly had to be a decent human being.
The fact that he appeared in a dream just the night before meant
something, didn’t it? She would get to the bottom of this
mystery, one way or another.
Copyright © 2007 by Debbie Ramsey & DayDreamer
Books LLC
Order
Chance Encounter Now!
2CheckOut.com Inc. (Ohio, USA) is an authorized
retailer for goods and services provided by DayDreamer Books
LLC
"A fresh, fast, smoothly mixed cocktail of a novel. Debbie
Ramsey has a keen eye for people and detail, and serves us a
mix of NASCAR, Cape Canaveral, a ghost or two, and a set of players
that tempt, fascinate, anger, and engage us. Take a chance
on this encounter - the most you'll lose are a few nights of
sleep."
- Paul Levinson
An award winning novelist and the author of The Plot to Save
Socrates and The Silk Code.
"Chance Encounter was a thrill ride with more
twists than a Nascar road course. Debbie Ramsey does an excellent
job of keeping the reader's pulse rate on the rise as Grant Alexander
goes from premier race car driver to team owner and company CEO
after his father's death forces him out of the cockpit and into
the real world of cutthroat business. A determined diva (Destiny
Hunter) makes it her life's mission to land the man and his money
at all costs. The problem is, after a chance encounter between
Grant and Chloe Collier, at a parking meter of all places, a spark
ignites that neither have felt before. If only they could find
one another again before time runs out...
The characters are rich and uniquely portrayed. Destiny is
one scary son of a [...], every man's worst nightmare. Armed
with Grant's own gun, she sets out to do the unthinkable. The
story is a joyride truly worth the price of admission!"
- Rocky Robinson
Author of the book Flat
Out.
|
About Debbie 
