Page 33 of Fast Forward

Nine minutes and forty-seven seconds later, I arrived at another car park, this time underneath a tall building. The car manoeuvred into a parking spot and I stepped out, automatically turning to point my key and expecting the characteristic high-pitched beep of the lock. Oh, the e-pad. I held it underneath the door handle and it beeped twice, which hopefully meant it was locked. Not that it mattered. It appeared that you needed to be pre-approved by fingerprint verification in order to drive the car.

I scanned the lot and a sign up ahead said entry. I went to push open the door but it sensed me and opened by itself into a narrow foyer. I spotted the information desk against the back wall of the room. I couldn’t exactly ask the young man at the desk where the KC Interiors head office was. He might recognise me and wonder why I didn’t know where my own office was.

It had to be upstairs somewhere, so I’d walk up the stairs until I saw a KC Interiors sign. Hopefully we were not the kind of posh business that identifies itself by some sort of wordless symbol.

I lifted my foot onto the first step alongside the information desk, but the young guy peered over at me with a frown. “You’re not seriously walking up thirty flights of stairs are you, Mrs McSnelly?”

I removed my foot. “Oh, no of course not. Well, I could if I wanted to…” I puffed out my chest and tensed my non-existent arm muscles defensively. “I bungy jumped today you know. I’m not as old as I look, either.” I spoke like a proud child who had just learned their ABC’s.

“Oh that’s right, happy birthday!” he said.

“Thanks. And I don’t even feel forty.”

He eyed me in a way that suggested he knew I was well over forty, but at least I didn’t lie. It was true. I didn’t feel forty. Heck, I didn’t even feel fifty, more like sixty-two or sixty-three, but probably only because there’d been such a sharp jump in age from yesterday to today.

“Well, I’ll just take the elevator,” I said, swinging my arms in anticipation and also to detract from the fact that I didn’t know where it was. All the walls were stainless steel, it was as though I was lost in a maze of blurry mirrors. Until… Ding! A curved part of the wall opened up and out stepped a woman in a red suit. “Hold the elevator!” I held up my hand and dashed inside the circular capsule.

“Hey, hon. Happy birthday! I’m looking forward to tonight. See you there!” The woman winked at me and sashayed her voluminous butt out into the foyer, where she embraced another woman entering the building.

I wondered if she worked for me. Nah, she wouldn’t have called me hon if that were the case. Unless I was simply the world’s best boss, which was totally possible of course.

“Which floor?”

I jumped at the sudden voice as the door curved closed. So elevators talk too. Nothing new I guess, they sometimes said ‘Going up’ or ‘Women’s Apparel’, or at least that’s what I remembered the most.

The guy had asked if I was walking thirty flights of stairs, so it must be on level thirty. I touched the number on the screen. Moments later the door opened again. The ride had been so smooth and fast. Ding! I stepped out of the elevator and there it was: KC Interiors - Everyone deserves to be surrounded by beauty. Ha! I bet I came up with the tagline. I’d barely entered through the glass door that swished open, when a young woman launched herself at me.

“Where have you been?” she said in that whispered yell I remembered from the phone. “It took you twice as long to get here! Mr Turrow is on his third cup of coffee and getting jumpy!”

“Sorry, there was… car trouble,” I said.

“Here’s your presentation,” she said, shoving some kind of remote control into my hand. “Now get in there and give it your best. You’ll have to be brilliant to make up for your lateness, now go!” She pushed me into the meeting room.

William was in there and his face turned from white to pink in relief as I walked through the door.

“Glad you’re finally here,” he said, giving me a quick embrace. “Lucy told us there was a streaker running through traffic on Main Street. Was anyone hurt?”

I stifled a giggle. That was the traffic incident she was going to mention as the reason for my lateness? A bit crazy, but at least they bought it and now I had an excuse if I appeared a bit flustered during the meeting.

“No, a few near misses and general chaos, but the police eventually escorted him away under a blanket.” I faked an amused chuckle and turned to the short bald man next to William, who was rising up and down on his toes. “You must be Mr Turrow,” I said, taking his hand and making every effort to appear charming.

“Indeed, and what a pleasure to meet you, Mrs McSnelly.” He sandwiched my hand between both of his and shook it to the point I thought it might fall off. “Well, let’s get started. What have you got to show me?” He took a seat and clasped his hands together on the table in the centre of the room and William followed suit.

Tell me and then we’ll both know… I looked at the device in my hand. Your presentation, Lucy had said. Okay, so I’m giving a PowerPoint presentation or something. Shouldn’t be too hard, I’ll just read everything on the screen.

“Right… well, firstly, I’d like to welcome you to KC Interiors and what an absolute pleasure it is to have you in our office, Mr Turrow.” I hoped the pleasantries would buy time while I figured out how to use this device. I waved it about as I gestured and complimented him on his lovely tie (which was an awful tangerine colour) and the shirt that brought out the green tinge in his eyes. He looked rather flattered, but soon his expression became businesslike again.

“Why thank you,” he said. “But I’m looking forward to seeing your presentation.” He pointed to the blank wall in front of the table.

There wasn’t any projection screen, projector, or a laptop. Just this device in my hand. I pressed a round button and pointed it at the wall, and a square shaped blue screen appeared. Phew! Okay, it was similar to a TV remote. I pressed an arrow button and a soothing piece of music drifted through the room, followed by the KC logo.

Right. This shouldn’t be too hard. Except, I still didn’t know who Mr Turrow was and what I was trying to achieve with this presentation.

I clicked the arrow button again and a KC Interiors heading appeared, followed by the tagline and some text, which appeared to be a history of the company.

I cleared my throat and stood side-on with legs crossed and one hand on my hip as they’d taught us in modelling class. If I didn’t have a clue what I was presenting I could at least look confident. William gave me a curious glance.

Here goes. “KC Interiors is a family owned business and has been operating for seventeen years. Longer than many of our competitors,” I began. The screen only showed keywords but I was able to string them together. It was all about putting on a show. I could do that. “We combine creative design with optimal business practices, going above and beyond industry standards.” So far so good.

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