my question. “Can I help you?” he countered.
An awkward standoff followed, until he cracked a wide grin that showcased his perfect white teeth. “I’m only messing around. I’m Conrad.” He picked up the name plate from the desk and read it. “You must be Mellissa, Aurora’s new receptionist.”
Confused as to who he was, I corrected him. “I’m Madison, her new assistant.”
“Sorry, darling. My mistake. I didn’t realize she had so many newbies. That’s the problem when a company continues to grow. People move up and away from the more remedial roles.”
He may have clarity, but I still didn’t understand why the department was empty…or why this Conrad guy sat behind the desk, as drool worthy as he was.
“So…Can I help you?” I asked again.
Behind me, Ms. Goldstein laughed sweetly. “No one can help him, I’m afraid,” she said, joining us at the desk. “Madison, this is Conrad Goldstein, my ex-husband. He handles all the PR for the company. Don’t worry, he doesn’t come around to annoy us often.”
She jested warmly. Clearly, their divorce had been amiable. It gave me hope. If two exs could still work together, then so could Rawn and I.
They would have had beautiful babies , I mused. Brad and Angelina would have had a run for their money.
“Nice to meet you,” I said, shaking Conrad’s hand. Then, I turned to Ms. Goldstein. “Is Mellissa okay?”
“I hope so. She called in sick today. Half of the building has now that word has gotten around that starting tomorrow we’re jumping straight into planning another product launch. But I think she might actually be ill. She sounded terrible, the poor thing.”
“So Conrad is playing receptionist?” I asked.
From his seat he laughed loudly—warm and hearty. “Sweet Jesus, no. I was just waiting for Aurora. I want to go over notes for the launch.”
The launch seemed like a big deal, which wasn’t good for me. I had no clue what they were talking about. I didn’t ask, afraid of looking inept.
“We have you to thank,” Ms. Goldstein said. “Mr. Jackman told me how well you handled the situation in Italy. The CEO it is absolutely thrilled we won the contract. She is even on board with the mass market agreement.”
The product launch was for the telescope? I tried not to let the news show on my face. I wanted them to believe I already knew.
“I just can’t believe how fast it’s moving,” I said, speaking truthfully. “Dr. Giordano only just signed the papers. The ink is still fresh.”
Ms. Goldstein agreed with me. “I have concerns too. When things move too fast, they get messy. But it turns out the Germans saw a partial blueprint of Dr. Giordano’s design during their negotiations. Not the whole thing, but enough that we are certain they will try to build their own telescope. It’s important that we’re the market leader, so we want to beat them to it. We’ve spoken with our manufacturing department. The telescope is going to be released in two months.”
“That’s why I’m here,” Conrad said, flicking a pencil across the desk. “Two months to get the press on board is not a lot of time. I have to come up with something big. It ain’t going to be no BBQ.”
“I’m glad your staff can write better than you speak,” Ms. Goldstein said.
Conrad leaned back in the chair. “That’s why I pay them the not so big bucks.”
“Is there anything I can help with?” I asked. It was my job title—to assist.
It was as if I’d just asked Ms. Goldstein to tie her shoe doing the chicken dance. Mellissa had warned me she was a bit of a scatter brain, but I was starting to wonder if she had any clue what her assistants
An awkward standoff followed, until he cracked a wide grin that showcased his perfect white teeth. “I’m only messing around. I’m Conrad.” He picked up the name plate from the desk and read it. “You must be Mellissa, Aurora’s new receptionist.”
Confused as to who he was, I corrected him. “I’m Madison, her new assistant.”
“Sorry, darling. My mistake. I didn’t realize she had so many newbies. That’s the problem when a company continues to grow. People move up and away from the more remedial roles.”
He may have clarity, but I still didn’t understand why the department was empty…or why this Conrad guy sat behind the desk, as drool worthy as he was.
“So…Can I help you?” I asked again.
Behind me, Ms. Goldstein laughed sweetly. “No one can help him, I’m afraid,” she said, joining us at the desk. “Madison, this is Conrad Goldstein, my ex-husband. He handles all the PR for the company. Don’t worry, he doesn’t come around to annoy us often.”
She jested warmly. Clearly, their divorce had been amiable. It gave me hope. If two exs could still work together, then so could Rawn and I.
They would have had beautiful babies , I mused. Brad and Angelina would have had a run for their money.
“Nice to meet you,” I said, shaking Conrad’s hand. Then, I turned to Ms. Goldstein. “Is Mellissa okay?”
“I hope so. She called in sick today. Half of the building has now that word has gotten around that starting tomorrow we’re jumping straight into planning another product launch. But I think she might actually be ill. She sounded terrible, the poor thing.”
“So Conrad is playing receptionist?” I asked.
From his seat he laughed loudly—warm and hearty. “Sweet Jesus, no. I was just waiting for Aurora. I want to go over notes for the launch.”
The launch seemed like a big deal, which wasn’t good for me. I had no clue what they were talking about. I didn’t ask, afraid of looking inept.
“We have you to thank,” Ms. Goldstein said. “Mr. Jackman told me how well you handled the situation in Italy. The CEO it is absolutely thrilled we won the contract. She is even on board with the mass market agreement.”
The product launch was for the telescope? I tried not to let the news show on my face. I wanted them to believe I already knew.
“I just can’t believe how fast it’s moving,” I said, speaking truthfully. “Dr. Giordano only just signed the papers. The ink is still fresh.”
Ms. Goldstein agreed with me. “I have concerns too. When things move too fast, they get messy. But it turns out the Germans saw a partial blueprint of Dr. Giordano’s design during their negotiations. Not the whole thing, but enough that we are certain they will try to build their own telescope. It’s important that we’re the market leader, so we want to beat them to it. We’ve spoken with our manufacturing department. The telescope is going to be released in two months.”
“That’s why I’m here,” Conrad said, flicking a pencil across the desk. “Two months to get the press on board is not a lot of time. I have to come up with something big. It ain’t going to be no BBQ.”
“I’m glad your staff can write better than you speak,” Ms. Goldstein said.
Conrad leaned back in the chair. “That’s why I pay them the not so big bucks.”
“Is there anything I can help with?” I asked. It was my job title—to assist.
It was as if I’d just asked Ms. Goldstein to tie her shoe doing the chicken dance. Mellissa had warned me she was a bit of a scatter brain, but I was starting to wonder if she had any clue what her assistants
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