Page 2 of Meeting Up with the Consultant

“Which one?” Rachel asks as she steps up beside me and bounces Lily.

“This one right here.” I point to Harding, his ears turning red as Brad’s mouth continues to move. I wish I could hear what embarrassing story Brad is telling. “The code Darryl gave me has a glitch or something. When it switched my screen over, I lost sound. I’ll have to text Emmy to take notes for me.”

Rachel whistles low. “Kensington, you are in trouble.” She fans herself, then goes back to burping the baby. “That man is hot enough to melt a popsicle in the middle of an Alaskan winter.”

“He’s hotter than a snow monkey bathing in a hot spring.” I try to one-up her comment with my own, a game we always play no matter the circumstance.

I glance at the screen. Brad talks wildly with his hands. Man, he is really on a roll. Emmy has her hand over her mouth, covering a big smile.

“He’s so hot he’d melt the polar ice caps.” Rachel chuckles as Lily let an enormous belch out that could rival a trucker. Rachel’s kids are the gassiest people I have ever met. “Oops. Good thing you’re muted.”

I tip my head back and laugh. Lily follows the belch with an explosive filling of her diaper. I’ve never been happier for the mute button than I am at that moment.

“Whoa, that is rank.” I lean away and plug my nose, catching everyone laughing on the screen.

Dang it. I’m missing a good meeting from the looks of it. Maybe if I log off, I can just take the chance of chaos reigning behind me and get back into the meeting. When Travis wakes, I could always sneak into the bedroom, even if it mortifies Rachel.

“I’m going to go change this.” Rachel goes to the bathroom, and I turn back to the computer.

I move the cursor to log out when a loud screeching sounds from the hall like a horde of banshees before war. I swallow and slowly rotate in my chair. I can handle Travis until Rachel finishes, then get back into the meeting.

My phone dings behind me just as Travis darts into the room with nothing but blue marker scribbled on his skin. Something white puffs from him with each step. He screams again, his eyes wide with diabolical glee.

I shiver.

Maybe I’ll just stick with my cat.

“Get auntie!” Travis dashes up to me just as my phone dings twice in rapid succession.

“Shoot, buddy, I gotta get this text.” I flinch as he wraps his octopus limbs around my leg. “Then I’ll play.”

Not that I’d call what we are doing playing. I pull him off, his body is slippery with white powder. Turning him away from me so I don’t get kicked in the gut, I hold him with outstretched arms.

“How’d you get into the baby powder?” I grunt as he wiggles. “It’s on the top shelf.”

I lean over to check my phone. Texts from my coworkers fill my screen, but Emmy’s snags my attention.

EMMY: We can hear and see EVERYTHING!!!

My eyes dart to the computer where everyone is cracking up. Everyone but Brad. He has his arms crossed and that one eyebrow lifted that always signals he is upset.

“Oh, nuts.”

Travis lets out the loudest fart I have ever heard. A cloud of baby powder puffs over me. Through the haze and stinging tears, everyone on the screen doubles over in laughter. Dear Darryl’s dead.

2

-Harding-

Alaugh snort escapes my mouth, and I cover my face to hide it. Glancing around the terminal, I breathe a sigh of relief and sit back in the chair. I don’t want to be one of those weird guys chucking it up, drawing attention from the other passengers waiting to board. No one wants to sit next to that guy.

But, man, I can’t help myself. Pressing the play button again, I squeeze my lips together and watch the pretty Kensie as a cloud of white engulfed her. The look on her face is priceless, and, from the number of views the video has, the world can’t get enough of her either. I’m planning on finding out who posted the video and thanking them. I haven’t laughed this hard in a long time.

I close the screen and stare out the window at the airplanes flying in and out of Seattle. Getting Brad’s company squared away holds too much importance for me to be distracted. Brad is relying on me to align his company for the next level of success. More than that, I need to show him how having me on the team would be beneficial to Ascent.

As efficient as I am at my job and as much as I enjoyed helping businesses out, the desire to find some place I can really settle into has grown from a spark in my gut to lava-burning, antacid-popping levels. Traveling forty-nine weeks out of the year holds little appeal anymore.

It’s tiring.

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