CHAPTER 1

  It was blistering hot in June at New York, and normally she wasn't supposed to feel like she was boiling in her office if the air-conditioning was actually functioning... Unfortunately it wasn't. It was their third brownout of the day, and Emma Graham felt like she was ready to murder someone as she strode into her office after being trapped in the stupid elevator for nearly thirty minutes.

  The same thing had happened to her the previous day. Just getting out of the cab on her way back from lunch under the scorching sun made her feel like air had been sucked out of her lungs.

  She was leaving for France in a week, she hope she would survive that long. Days when the heat were so intense could make anyone hate NYC, but in spite of everything, Emma couldn't imagine herself living anywhere else. The atmosphere, the restaurants, and the unending excitements... Even the mansion at the west sixty-seventh street that she nearly went bankrupt to buy about two years ago. She had spent every penny she had to remodel it,and best to say, she didn't regret the decision one bit. The place was simply everything she ever wanted in a house.

  At thirty-five years, she had spent most of her time becoming the Emma Graham that most admired, and women envied, due to her marvellous breakthrough in her career. To some, she was lovable, kind and caring. To others, she could be a fierce opponent, if provoked. She has been the creative director of Peterson's advertising pvt. Ltd for a year and six month, but she was already an icon in the advertising world.

  She also had a personal life as well. She had an affair with a married man once, and a relationship with a man who she lived with for three years. Before that, she dated randomly, artists or her clients, but she had been single for a year now. The married man was a Scottish business man who was commuted between India, London, China and New York. And the man that she lived with owned a real estate agency, and had broken things off when Emma refused to marry him. He had left her to marry and have children , a fate Emma considered worse than death.

  She had always thought that New York was way civilized than most of the world, although she didn't mind staying in France if the need arises. But any other location was a no no for her. The real estate agent and her had kept in touch, she could even dare to call him a close friend. He had come before the business man, whom she decided to leave when he threatened to leave his family for her.

  She had never ever planned to tie the knot, not with him or anyone for that matter. Marriage had always seemed too much a huge risk ,and unnecessary to her. She preferred to be dangled over a pit filled with cocrodiles than risk marriage, and she made it a necessity to be clear with the men from the very beginning.... Marriage was just not an option for her.Her childhood had been really hard and traumatizing to convince her that she definitely didn't want to risk that kind of pain on her own kids, so she decided to never have one.

  Her father had abandoned them when her mother was twenty two, and she was just two years old. Her mother had gone into two more depressing marriages, to which Emma never approved. One was a drunkard just like her father had been, and the other was a drug addict. She never set her eyes on her father again after he left nor any relative, and only knew of his untimely deaths when she was sixteen years old. Then her mother died when she was in the university. In other words, Emma had no siblings, or any relative she knew of.

  She was on her own by the time she was twenty one. Graduated from university of Sicily and made it on her own. She had learned to be independent and fend for herself at a very young age, and worked her ass off to crawl her way up ladder in advertising and landed at Peterson's advertising pvt ltd by twenty-seven. Eight years later, she became the creative director, and the rest was history.

  She was never afraid to take risks, except when it came to her love life. In that aspect, she never took risks at all, and she never planned to. She was not afraid to be alone, and in the past six months, she had come to terms with it. She was never nearly alone anyways,she was always surrounded by workers who reported to her and she had loads of work to keep her mind occupied. She had a busy schedule and an extremely active social life, and she got to host friends once in a while. She had no time for matters of the heart and had no intent of making room for one. She had enough responsibilities at the agency and had no plans to add responsibilities to or for a man as well. Emma had a busy life, and she lived for it. She had high tolerance, and low key addiction to excitement and chaos.

  She was wearing a bodycon off shoulder black dress, as she walked off the elevator after being trapped for nearly thirty minutes, on her way back from lunch. Her long blonde hair was swept up in a loose knot. Her only piece of jewelry was a simple customized bracelet that was envy to those who saw it. She had it customized by David Carter. She was wearing a high heeled gold Louis Vuitton sandals, and an oversized gold Gucci bag. Emma was very dazzling, and could be mistaken for a model instead. Although she wasn't quite young, but she was just as beautiful, even though her looks never meant anything to her.... She knew she had killer looks. She never emphasized on sex appeal, she was more interested on intellectuality and mind, both which shone through her ocean blue eyes.

  She was busy thinking about a marketing strategy that would be best for a client, as she sat down at her desk and picked up the phone. Emma was always on a mission one way or the other, and it took a lot of patience and determination to keep up with her... She was feared as much as she was admired. Everyone had to be on their toes to match her pace, and she had zero tolerance for fools, slackers and dull people.

  Her secretary buzzed her five minutes later to remind her of her meeting with the new boss, Drake Peterson in about thirty minutes.. She sighed. Mr Tyron Peterson just retired, and it totally slipped her mind his son was supposed to come in today. She was to report to him on the accounts they were handling recently, and the clients his father was supposed to pursue, before he retired due to his health. Between the scorching heat, the trouble in the elevator and no air-conditioning, she wasn't in the mood to meet with anyone at the moment... But she had no choice. He was the new head of the agency, and she also needed to talk to him about her ideas... She prayed he was as smart and thorough as his father.

  Despite the fact that the meeting was supposed to be business inclined, it was also a way to meet her new boss officially. He had been overseeing the London branch, before his father retirement, and now that he was to be CEO, he had to meet everyone. He had suggested lunch, but she bluntly refused, she suggested that they meet at her office instead. She intended to keep it professional and brief.

  She made up to a dozen calls before the meeting, and Brian Zander, the head of cinematography and associate creative director, dropped in for some minutes to discuss the shows in France. They were to advertise for some brands there and as such, they needed shots and videos from their shows. Brian was a tall, large, handsome black man. He had worked in a rival advertising agency for a few years before he got a job at the Peterson's. He was as smart and as hardworking as she was, and she loved him for that.

  Brian was a graduate of the university of Sicilia, just like herself, had a masters in cinematography from Yale, worked as an art director at his previous agency and finally landed at the Peterson's... And together they made a fantastic duo. He had been her right arm since she got promoted to creative director. He was as dark, as she was pale, addicted to perfection as she was, and as passionate about his work. Just like Emma. In addition, she considered him a best friend. She had invited him to join the meeting with Drame, but he politely declined, turned out he also had a meeting by four with his team. And just as Brian left her office, her secretary informed her that Mr Peterson had arrived, and Emma asked her to show him in.

  As Emma looked across her desk to the doorway, she watched Drake walk in, and came around her desk to greet him. She smiled as their eyes met, and each secretly assessed the other. He was a tall beautifully built man, with groomed hair.

 He had bright green eyes and a youthful handsome face and demeanor....Although she had a good guess how old he was. He was very flamboyant and as conservative as they came. She knew from some research and little gossips flying around that he was a widower, and just turned forty-two..plus he had an M.B.A from Harvard. She was also aware that he had two daughters, who were currently in the university. One at Harvard, and the other at Princeton. Emma always did well to remember personal details, as they were very useful to help her know who she was dear with, and how to approach them.