Page 50 of Embracing Love

Tanya’s lips wouldn’t form into a smile. And the only thing she could hear right now, blocking out the silent hush that suddenly swept the room was the steel drum beat of her own heart.

Nadine took her seat beside Gabriel, and Tanya straightened up, clasped her hands together and gave them an obligatory smile.

“Good morning. A warm welcome to you all. Wow,” she said looking around at everyone. “A full room.” She attempted humor as her gaze swept around the eager faces. Luc, sitting in the back row, gave her a broad smile which only knocked her concentration further.

“A full room, I’m honored.” She said, again.

Now, what was she going to start with? Her introductory piece completely vanished right out of her brain.

What was it?

A blank screen filled her mind as the words she had recited a million times over wiped themselves clean out of her brain. “Just one moment,” her voice wavered as she returned to her laptop and took a hold of the mouse. Her hands shook as she tried desperately to remember what came next.

She hadn’t even prepared her table properly, hadn’t placed her cue cards beside her. Where were her cue cards?

Upstairs in her room.

She had no backup and she was flying blind. She clicked her mouse and the first slide of her presentation flashed up.

She faced the audience again as her slideshow sprang to life on the screen. Nadine gave her a heart-warming smile, which gave her just enough steam power to get some semblance of her act together.

“As I was saying, I’m here today to talk about our collaboration with our Paris office and Flight Europe. We have a very successful advertising campaign created by the amazing Nadine Stefano,” she swept her arm to the side by way of introducing Nadine, and for a second the entire crowd turned to look at Nadine.

It gave her a moment’s breathing space and she reminded herself to take a long, deep breath. Except that she forgot what she was going to say next. Introducing Nadine hadn’t been part of her early morning recital and it threw her.

Nothing had ever thrown her before.

There was a pause, a long, slow awkward moment that seemed to last for more than a couple of her heartbeats.

“Would you care to share a little about the San Francisco campaign?” Michael jumped into her silence and stole Tanya’s train of thought from right under her.

Nadine, ever the consummate player, got up. “Sure, I can share a few moments—if that’s okay?” Nadine looked to Tanya for reassurance and both women knew this wasn’t part of the presentation. And both women knew it was Michael’s way of getting the presentation going.

“Of course.” Tanya smiled and gave Nadine the floor, while she returned to the table where her laptop was. She felt humiliated, embarrassed and uncomfortable. She’d failed before she’d even started.

And everyone knew it.

She dared not even raise her head to look around.

You have to fake it.

Her heart thumped like mad, and she couldn’t concentrate. Her hand paused as she held the mouse. What was she going to check? Ah, yes, her slide notes. These would help her remember—since she’d lost the whole freaking plot—what she was going to talk about.

But she’d messed up the opening.

The opening was key.

It hooked people in, gave them a promise of how great her presentation would be. But she’d messed the opening up, so nothing else mattered anymore.

Michael had seen she couldn’t do it. He knew it. And so did everybody else. This negative self-talk wasn’t helping her one bit. But, oh god, she was falling to pieces and she didn’t know how to fix it.

She’d been flown over especially for this. Even worse, Russell Trent and Gabriel Valois had been flown over too. And here she was in the prime time, first-presentation-of- the-day slot and she’d messed it up big time.

The crowd laughed and she briefly lifted up her head. They were hooked, swallowing each and every word Nadine offered. She stood center stage, a magnetic commanding presence, completely holding their attention. She oozed confidence from every hair follicle and skin pore.

The woman was at the top of her game. And in love with a gorgeous guy and she had the world at her feet.

Tanya had been that woman once.

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