Chapter 1
"Ms. Walker, I have Patti Jones on line one."
"Thank you, Amelia. You can put her through... Hello, Patti. So
good to hear from you."
Kate Walker was now living the dream. As a young girl from Los
Angeles, she often dreamed of being a big time fashion designer. She
put in all of the hard work and sacrifice, and now her dreams were
coming true.
As the owner of Grey's Fashion Boutique, she was the CEO of a booming
fashion consulting firm. What started out as a passion for helping
her friends shop for all of the right clothes turned in to attending
fashion and design school and then opening a small boutique.
Business was slow at first, but sticking with it, putting in long
hours networking and working sometimes for free helped Kate end up
with everything she dreamed of. Finding Linda had been invaluable.
Linda had walked in one day when Grey's opened and she confessed that
she did not have much fashion sense and she did not intend to be the
most fashionable in the work. She was the business mind and Kate
appreciated everything that Linda had done to help bring her dream to
life.
Kate clicked on the keyboard and finished her phone call with her
client. The chime on the computer signaled that there was a task on
the calendar.
"Oh shoot." The morning had gotten away from her and she
forgot that there was lunch with Bruce.
If she canceled on him one more time, he would never take her out
again. At least that was his threat after she rescheduled their lunch
rendezvous for the second time in two weeks.
Her cell phone rang. "Yes, Linda."
"Do not stand up my man Bruce again."
Kate sighed. "I will not stand him up. As a matter of fact, I am
on my way to meet him now."
"Sure you were. You were probably just wrapping up a phone call
with yet another client. I tell you, last year at this time, you did
not have any love in your life at all. Now you have Bruce and you
don't have any balance in your life. Don't lose him because you won't
take a little time out in your day to show the man a little
appreciation."
Kate shuffled through her purse to find her sunglasses. "Seriously,
I 'm on my way out of the door. I did not forget about lunch with my
boyfriend. How could I?"
"Later, Kate. I'm on my way to the merchandising warehouse to
check on a few of the things we ordered."
"Great. I'll see you later."
Kate hated the fact that Linda was always right on time. She had a
way of pointing things out to Kate and making her see that she needed
to slow down. Kate did not want to slow down. She wanted to go full
speed ahead in her career. Focus was what she needed. But according
to Linda, and her boyfriend, Bruce, Kate needed to have the ability
to focus not only on work, but on having a well rounded personal life
as well.
They both made good points. Linda was always looking out for Kate's
best interest. Bruce was as well. He was everything that she ever
wanted in a man.
Bruce was the exact opposite of what she would have ever thought she
would be dating. A forty two year old man who took good care of his
body, but left a lot to be desired in the fashion department. He was
ruggedly attractive with steel blue eyes and dark brown hair with a
bright silver gray streak in it. When they met, he wore it in a
ponytail. In the year that they had been dating, he had since cut the
ponytail and wore his hair short and cropped, clean cut.
Bruce was an accountant by trade, but preferred life in the country,
living on a farm where he could smell the rich soil and use his
hands. He was in stark contrast to the woman she was.
Kate never saw herself dating outside of her race. But with Bruce, it
had not been so much of a thought in the forefront of her mind. She
fell for the man. And he fell for her. They were a true match, each
other's balance. He helped her to find the calm she needed, and she
helped him find the fire he needed to go back to freelance consulting
in accounting. It was a passion of his that never died.
With so much work on
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