treat?” Charity. Great. Well, if I was going to be the office gossip, maybe a little TLC wasn’t the worst idea. Nodding back at her enthusiastically, I totted across the room and swiped my ID card through the security check by the door.
“Absolutely, I’ll meet you here at one.”
I didn’t wait for a reply. Hurrying through the doors, I breathed a sigh of relief to find the hallway completely empty. Taking my chances, I walked briskly toward my office at the end of the narrow and usually cluttered hallway. The various cubicles that surrounded my door were bustling with people and as I rounded the corner, every pair of eyes turned to me. Silence fell on the entire room. I wanted the ground to swallow me whole. Closing my eyes, I reached for the handle and rushed through the door to my secluded little room, closing the blinds as soon as I entered.
With my back to the door, I sank to the floor in a heap. This was hell. I looked around my office, and as my eyes fell on the pile of paperwork, envelopes of unopened mail and stacks of CDs, I felt an enormous sense of relief. At least I had an excuse to hole myself up in there all day. I was just thinking about how to possibly get out of lunch with Jenny when the door to the left of my office swung open. Regina’s own space was adjacent to mine, and the connecting door had come in handy. We usually left it open and discussed clients, office gossip, and threw random snacks at one another via the damn thing. Today, I wished it were bolted.
Dropping yet more work on my desk, the tall and mostly plastic woman, spun around.
“Oh, Charlene, good; you’re here. I have a tonne of work waiting for you to sift through. Six bands have their demos on your desk, and I have a large coffee waiting for you in my office. Come on, quick, quick. We don’t have all day for you to finally pull yourself together and out of that heap on the carpet. I just had it cleaned after all.”
Smiling, I lifted myself up, dumped my bag beside my desk and headed into Regina’s office. The pink and dazzling silver furniture was a reflection of her eccentric taste and also of her third husband’s excessive bank account. My own office was simplistic with three magnolia walls and the back wall papered in a bright purple floral design. The sofa was black leather and a coffee table separated the conversational area from the work area around my desk. Regina’s office was essentially for celebration. I would sign the acts and then send them through to her office for the fun stuff.
Handing me a large cup of coffee, she perched on the edge of her desk and gestured for me to sit on her plush white sofa.
“I’ll spare you the sympathetic crap. You don’t need it, and you don’t need that arsehole either. Look at me. I’m fifty-three, have been married three times, and I couldn’t be happier. I’m independent, run my own company, and still have an arse you could bounce pennies off of. My countless boy-toys can vouch for that. So, why did it take you so bloody long to get back here?”
Placing my cup on the glass table in front of me, I held my head in my hands, and heaved a sigh, exasperatedly.
“I couldn’t face all the looks of concern, gossip, whispering, and damn eyes staring at me. It was bad enough just walking through to the office today.”
Raising an eyebrow, she nodded at the door. “Out there? That’s what’s bothering you? And I suppose you’ll be hiding in your office for the remainder of the day?”
Blushing, I nodded.
“And tomorrow? Next week? The week after?”
I groaned. “I don’t know. I just hate it.”
“Well, you have to face it some time. But, until you’re ready, I have a project for you.”
Skirting around her desk, she sat at her computer and gestured for me to join her.
“Look at this.”
Pulling up a picture of three men, she swooned at the screen.
“Aren’t they gorgeous?”
I studied the image. They all seemed to be fairly young. Maybe twenty at
“Absolutely, I’ll meet you here at one.”
I didn’t wait for a reply. Hurrying through the doors, I breathed a sigh of relief to find the hallway completely empty. Taking my chances, I walked briskly toward my office at the end of the narrow and usually cluttered hallway. The various cubicles that surrounded my door were bustling with people and as I rounded the corner, every pair of eyes turned to me. Silence fell on the entire room. I wanted the ground to swallow me whole. Closing my eyes, I reached for the handle and rushed through the door to my secluded little room, closing the blinds as soon as I entered.
With my back to the door, I sank to the floor in a heap. This was hell. I looked around my office, and as my eyes fell on the pile of paperwork, envelopes of unopened mail and stacks of CDs, I felt an enormous sense of relief. At least I had an excuse to hole myself up in there all day. I was just thinking about how to possibly get out of lunch with Jenny when the door to the left of my office swung open. Regina’s own space was adjacent to mine, and the connecting door had come in handy. We usually left it open and discussed clients, office gossip, and threw random snacks at one another via the damn thing. Today, I wished it were bolted.
Dropping yet more work on my desk, the tall and mostly plastic woman, spun around.
“Oh, Charlene, good; you’re here. I have a tonne of work waiting for you to sift through. Six bands have their demos on your desk, and I have a large coffee waiting for you in my office. Come on, quick, quick. We don’t have all day for you to finally pull yourself together and out of that heap on the carpet. I just had it cleaned after all.”
Smiling, I lifted myself up, dumped my bag beside my desk and headed into Regina’s office. The pink and dazzling silver furniture was a reflection of her eccentric taste and also of her third husband’s excessive bank account. My own office was simplistic with three magnolia walls and the back wall papered in a bright purple floral design. The sofa was black leather and a coffee table separated the conversational area from the work area around my desk. Regina’s office was essentially for celebration. I would sign the acts and then send them through to her office for the fun stuff.
Handing me a large cup of coffee, she perched on the edge of her desk and gestured for me to sit on her plush white sofa.
“I’ll spare you the sympathetic crap. You don’t need it, and you don’t need that arsehole either. Look at me. I’m fifty-three, have been married three times, and I couldn’t be happier. I’m independent, run my own company, and still have an arse you could bounce pennies off of. My countless boy-toys can vouch for that. So, why did it take you so bloody long to get back here?”
Placing my cup on the glass table in front of me, I held my head in my hands, and heaved a sigh, exasperatedly.
“I couldn’t face all the looks of concern, gossip, whispering, and damn eyes staring at me. It was bad enough just walking through to the office today.”
Raising an eyebrow, she nodded at the door. “Out there? That’s what’s bothering you? And I suppose you’ll be hiding in your office for the remainder of the day?”
Blushing, I nodded.
“And tomorrow? Next week? The week after?”
I groaned. “I don’t know. I just hate it.”
“Well, you have to face it some time. But, until you’re ready, I have a project for you.”
Skirting around her desk, she sat at her computer and gestured for me to join her.
“Look at this.”
Pulling up a picture of three men, she swooned at the screen.
“Aren’t they gorgeous?”
I studied the image. They all seemed to be fairly young. Maybe twenty at
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