The Duke Agency

“Good morning. Welcome to The Duke Agency.”

Caitlyn flicked a quick, self-conscious smile at the overly-cheery receptionist as she stepped off the elevator into The Duke Agency’s plush lobby. “Yes. To you also,” she replied hesitantly. “I’m Caitlyn Maddox. I have an appointment this morning with—.”

Eagerly, the girl behind the enormous marble reception desk clasped her hands together beneath her chin and her smile grew brighter. “With Rachel!”

Caitlyn startled slightly at the younger woman’s excited outburst, watching with wide-eyes her sudden scurrying movements behind the desk.

 “Oh, you’re so lucky! She’s our very best coordinator. You’re just going to love her,” the girl continued, quickly gathering a neat package of papers together in a folder tabbed with Caitlyn’s name. “I swear, she’s got a magic touch when it comes to coordinating the right Duke with a client. You couldn’t be in better hands. If you’ll just follow me.”

Rooted to her spot by the sudden burst of frenetic activity, Caitlyn waited as the receptionist collected her materials. Then she emerged from behind the desk and led the way towards a frosted glass door at one side of the lobby, closed with a magnetic lock.

‘Coordinating the right Duke with a client’ the girl had said. Good grief. What the hell am I doing here? I’m a boring research scientist, a frumpy thirty-four-year-old and a widow, not some sorority pledge out for a good time.

I should have cancelled the trip when Alex’s diagnosis had been confirmed, regardless of what I’d promised him. Even if it meant we lost more than half the cost. And I should never have booked this arrangement. Why on earth did I let my girlfriend convince me of this? She’d been divorced and looking for a good time—that isn’t my situation at all.

Pausing with the frosted glass door held open, the receptionist faced her with another encouraging smile. “This way, please.”

Reluctantly, Caitlyn followed.

Beyond the privacy door, there were a series of large, expensively-furnished offices, well-appointed for The Duke Agency’s all-female clientele. The windows beyond looked out of the high-rise over the rooftops of the city, and with a sudden flash, Caitlyn felt small and stupid against the urban sprawl.

Alex had always been the social one of the two of them. He made her feel interesting. Made her feel sexy. Loved.

But Alex was gone. Eighteen months hadn’t deadened the pain or smoothed over the gaping chasm in the middle of her. Even if she could at least think of him now without bursting into tears.

“Is there anything I can get for you? Coffee? Tea? Water?” the administrative assistant asked without looking back, leading at a leisurely pace towards a corner office. “Of course, Rachel will have anything you need brought in immediately, and we’ll get lunch for you today while you complete the paralleling process. Here we are!”

A spectacular blond glanced up from a duo of computer monitors on her desk, then quickly closed what she was working on and rose. “Ms. Maddox. So good to see you again. Thank you, Janna. That will be all for now.”

“Uh—Caitlyn. Please.” She gave another weak smile, watching as Rachel collected her wavy lingerie-model blonde hair over one shoulder and took the collected papers from the over-zealous Janna.

“Italy with a Duke,” Rachel mused, flipping briefly through the folder. Pulling out a chair for Caitlyn at a glass-topped cherry table to one side of the room, she took the other one. She waited for the heavy glass door to close behind the administrative assistant. “And sixteen days, isn’t it?”

Taking the proffered seat, Caitlyn nodded. “Venice, Florence, Rome and Sorrento.”

“Oh, my word. I’m green with envy. You’re going to have a marvelous time. It’s the perfect time of year to visit.” The coordinator opened the folder again and flipped through a few pages, then stilled, studying one carefully.

“I wouldn’t know.” She lifted one shoulder in a little shrug. “I’ve never been.”

A sticky silence spread into the lavish space as Caitlyn watched the blond woman read God-knew-what that had been collected about her, and the self-condemnation in her head began again.

She didn’t need a companion to take what should have been her second honeymoon trip with her. Alex was gone. She needed to accept that this was what her life was going to look like from now on—an endless stream of days working alone, then going home alone and everything else in between. If I need companionship, I should just get a dog.

“Hiking Machu Pichu. Attending Carnivale in Rio de Janeiro. Cliff-diving at Maunawili Falls. Backpacking in Europe.” Rachel closed the folder and set it on the table beside her, swiveling her plush leather chair towards Caitlyn. “And an MD/PhD in Molecular Genomics.”

Uncertain what she was supposed to say, Caitlyn lifted one shoulder in a slight shrug and nodded.

“For as quiet of a woman as you are, you’re quite an adventurer.”

“Oh.” She gave a self-deprecating smile. “No. I j-just went. My—late husband was the one who wanted to do all those things.”

Leaning forward, Rachel took Caitlyn’s hands in hers. “I’m sorry for your loss. But I want you to know, you’re a strong woman. Brave. Only a brave woman does what you’ve done with your life. It was brave of you to decide to go on this trip, even without your husband. And it was brave of you to decide to come here so that you didn’t have to go it alone. I promise you, even without your husband, this will be a trip you’ll never forget. It’s a fantastic starting point for building your new life.”

‘New life’? Is that what she’d come here for? She didn’t want a new life—she wanted Alex back and things to go on the comfortable, quiet way they had. Wishful thinking, she chastised mentally. “Thanks. I think.”

“Okay then.” Rachel sat up in her seat, swiveling her chair towards a large monitor on one wall. “Let’s get started on the process to find your Duke.”