genuine one I’d managed since stepping foot in her
office, even if there was an underlying smugness to it. “Natalie left me a
message over the weekend and confirmed that she’d meet me this morning,” I
explained as I started to back up to the double doors. I was still a little
stunned about that myself, considering last week the event planner had sworn up
and down that meeting today wasn’t a possibility.
My boss blinked
once, twice, and then a third time, and I thought I would explode from the
delight rolling through me. Sliding her chair closer to the desk, she tilted
her thin body forward. “Make sure you record it on your phone.”
“Excuse me?”
“Make. Sure.
You. Record. It.” She swallowed a drink of her latte, the fact that it was
still steaming hot not seeming to bother her one bit. “When I get the chance
this week, I’d like to take a look. Have her explain where everything will go.
This is a different location from previous years, and I’m absolutely kicking
myself for letting Oliver convince me to change everything around.”
I froze the
moment she said his name, and I prayed she couldn’t see my reaction. Then I
tried to convince myself that my response was only because this was the first
time I’d heard of Oliver’s involvement with the event.
“Is he
co-sponsoring?” I asked nonchalantly.
“The Heritage
is owned by Manning.” She returned her focus to her laptop, her manicured
fingers beating a rhythm across the keys. “When you come back to the office
this afternoon, I need you to start organizing lunch for fourteen to be
delivered tomorrow. Do you think you can handle that?”
“Definitely. Do
you have a particular restaurant in mind?”
Releasing a hiss
of irritation, Margaret looked up from her screen. “Weren’t you an assistant
before this?” she demanded, and when I replied that I was, she snapped, “Then
you should realize I’m too busy to go through menus. If the menu is in the
approved stack in your office, it’s acceptable. Surprise me!”
“Will do,” I
commented through a jaw so tense, it made the muscles in my face ache. With
every name in the book attached to my stepmother’s name and hurtling through my
thoughts, I was desperate to leave the building before I screwed up and let one
of them become audible.
I didn’t stop
moving until I was in the lobby, and an accented female voice called out my
name as I waited for an elevator to go down to the parking garage. I looked
behind me to see Stella striding my way, her black hair bouncing around the
off-the-shoulder neckline of her striped shirt as she closed the distance
between us.
“You look
chipper,” I commented when she stepped beside me and all I could smell was her
jasmine perfume.
“And you ”—she
stared me up and down slowly, curiously, and then tapped her finger against her
lips—“well, you look like a woman possessed.”
“Headed to a
meeting with Natalie Roche.”
When the
elevator opened, we both stepped in the warm car, Stella moving her head from
side to side. “That poor woman won’t know what hit her. Did she send you
armed with a list of demands and questions?”
Recounting all
five minutes of my talk with Margaret, my nostrils flared. “I’m supposed to
record the entire meeting so she can take a look at it later.”
The marketing
manager fought to keep the smile from cracking through her professional mask as
the doors open and we stepped out of the elevator and beneath the dim lights of
the parking garage. “Interested in having company?”
“Are you
loaning yourself out to me?”
She reached into
her purse, her eyebrows knitting together as she searched for what I guessed
were her keys. “I was on my way out to burn some time before my one-thirty
doctor’s appointment.” She shrugged. “I’m a bad, bad employee.”
“Hence, the
chipper smile,” I stated. “But yes, I’d love to have some company.”
As soon as I
told her where we were going, she
office, even if there was an underlying smugness to it. “Natalie left me a
message over the weekend and confirmed that she’d meet me this morning,” I
explained as I started to back up to the double doors. I was still a little
stunned about that myself, considering last week the event planner had sworn up
and down that meeting today wasn’t a possibility.
My boss blinked
once, twice, and then a third time, and I thought I would explode from the
delight rolling through me. Sliding her chair closer to the desk, she tilted
her thin body forward. “Make sure you record it on your phone.”
“Excuse me?”
“Make. Sure.
You. Record. It.” She swallowed a drink of her latte, the fact that it was
still steaming hot not seeming to bother her one bit. “When I get the chance
this week, I’d like to take a look. Have her explain where everything will go.
This is a different location from previous years, and I’m absolutely kicking
myself for letting Oliver convince me to change everything around.”
I froze the
moment she said his name, and I prayed she couldn’t see my reaction. Then I
tried to convince myself that my response was only because this was the first
time I’d heard of Oliver’s involvement with the event.
“Is he
co-sponsoring?” I asked nonchalantly.
“The Heritage
is owned by Manning.” She returned her focus to her laptop, her manicured
fingers beating a rhythm across the keys. “When you come back to the office
this afternoon, I need you to start organizing lunch for fourteen to be
delivered tomorrow. Do you think you can handle that?”
“Definitely. Do
you have a particular restaurant in mind?”
Releasing a hiss
of irritation, Margaret looked up from her screen. “Weren’t you an assistant
before this?” she demanded, and when I replied that I was, she snapped, “Then
you should realize I’m too busy to go through menus. If the menu is in the
approved stack in your office, it’s acceptable. Surprise me!”
“Will do,” I
commented through a jaw so tense, it made the muscles in my face ache. With
every name in the book attached to my stepmother’s name and hurtling through my
thoughts, I was desperate to leave the building before I screwed up and let one
of them become audible.
I didn’t stop
moving until I was in the lobby, and an accented female voice called out my
name as I waited for an elevator to go down to the parking garage. I looked
behind me to see Stella striding my way, her black hair bouncing around the
off-the-shoulder neckline of her striped shirt as she closed the distance
between us.
“You look
chipper,” I commented when she stepped beside me and all I could smell was her
jasmine perfume.
“And you ”—she
stared me up and down slowly, curiously, and then tapped her finger against her
lips—“well, you look like a woman possessed.”
“Headed to a
meeting with Natalie Roche.”
When the
elevator opened, we both stepped in the warm car, Stella moving her head from
side to side. “That poor woman won’t know what hit her. Did she send you
armed with a list of demands and questions?”
Recounting all
five minutes of my talk with Margaret, my nostrils flared. “I’m supposed to
record the entire meeting so she can take a look at it later.”
The marketing
manager fought to keep the smile from cracking through her professional mask as
the doors open and we stepped out of the elevator and beneath the dim lights of
the parking garage. “Interested in having company?”
“Are you
loaning yourself out to me?”
She reached into
her purse, her eyebrows knitting together as she searched for what I guessed
were her keys. “I was on my way out to burn some time before my one-thirty
doctor’s appointment.” She shrugged. “I’m a bad, bad employee.”
“Hence, the
chipper smile,” I stated. “But yes, I’d love to have some company.”
As soon as I
told her where we were going, she
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