Page 6 of Set In Stone

TO: KrystinaCole

FROM: AlexanderStone

SUBJECT: Re:Reminder

I haven’t forgotten. And yes, angel. For you, I willtry.

AlexanderStone

CEO, StoneEnterprise

I hit send, and my thoughts drifted back to the strained air between Krystina and me. My gut told me it was because of these damn appointments, and not because she was overworked. I just couldn’t be sure. However, if it was work related, I may be able to remedy thatproblem.

I recalled the list of potential clients Krystina told me about over dinner last week. Acting on instinct, I buzzed Laura through theintercom.

“Laura, get Sheldon Tremaine on theline.”

It was time to call in afavor.

3

krystina

Iclickedthe door closed behind the brooding Samuel Faye, my newly appointed shadow. He was polite, formal. And positively boring. Sure, he was well built, fit. I’m sure he would provide ample protection against whatever it was Alexander thought I needed protection from. I just hoped he would stop referring to me as ma’am in the very near future. It made me feelold.

Nevertheless, I gave him his first job assignment. Since I had no plans of leaving the office today and I would be with Alexander all evening, I told him to take the rest of the night off. There was no sense in wasting payroll dollars. I was pleased that he did as he was told without question. I think. I wasn’t sure if Samuel would be taking direction from Alexander or me. More than likely, it wasn’t me, but I couldn’t waste time worrying aboutit.

It is what itis.

Returning to my desk, I went back to sorting emails. It was a slow, painful process that I had been struggling with all week. I created three folders: one for rejected proposals, a second for prospects, and a third one for projects in the works. As I clicked on the next email, I superstitiously crossed my fingers and hoped it wasn’t anotherrejection.

“Damn it!” I swore aloud to my empty office. It was another thanks-but-no-thanks response for our services. I clicked off the email from the potential client and sent it to folder number one. I tried to shrug off therejection.

Sometimes things just don’t go as planned, Cole. Shake itoff.

However, if I were being honest with myself, not much of anything had gone as planned all week. No matter how hard I tried, things just seemed to go from bad to worse. Tilting my head from side to side, I cracked my neck and tried to stifle a yawn. Fatigue was setting in and I still had a long night ahead of me. In an attempt to summon more energy, I sat up a little straighter in my chair and extended my arms in a stretch. Looking around, I surveyed the entire length of myoffice.

Alexander had pulled out all the stops to make sure everything was perfect for me. Not only did I have an entire floor of Cornerstone Tower at my disposal, I was able to call one of the poshest offices in the city my own. It was everything I ever dreamed of. From the floor to ceiling windows and polished hardwood desk, to the sprawling wall mural with the Maya Angelou quote, it was an impressive space. At times, it was hard to believe that it was mine. The fact that it was all mine only solidified my determination to fix the predicament I wasin.

And it was a bigone.

Focus,Cole.

I sighed to myself and spun my chair around to flip on the office stereo behind me. Using the music as motivation, I turned back to my computer, determined to stay focused on the task athand.

My first week back to work since the car accident had been rough. When I proposed buying Turning Stone Advertising from Alexander, I had high hopes. The company held great potential and only lacked in direction. I truly felt that it wasn’t anything a little elbow grease couldn’tfix.

However, after spending nearly three weeks in a coma, then another five weeks resting as per doctor’s orders, my business affairs had been put on the back burner. My employees kept the ship afloat during my absence, as they were used to operating with little instruction before I came along. Nevertheless, they allowed seventy-five percent of the potential contracts I had lined up to fall through the cracks while I was out. They weren’t the most pro-active group of individuals to say the least. As a result, the direction and progress I made when I first took over Turning Stone had to be revisited. My ideas to make the advertising company take flight were suffering from more than one majorsetback.

Conversely, the buyout contract I signed with Alexander was airtight. I made sure of that, and I refused to play the fiancé card. Just because I was now engaged to the sole owner and billionaire CEO of Stone Enterprise, didn’t mean I could shirk my responsibilities andcommitments.

I couldn’t play the damsel in distress role even if Itried.

Either way, the circumstances for how and why I got into this position didn’t matter. They wouldn’t change the simple fact that I was short on clients and one-month delinquent on my buyout payment to Stone Enterprise. I was back to square one. My only option was to keep pluggingaway.

Moving the computer mouse to click on the next email, I absently hummed along to “Walk” by the Foo Fighters. I smiled to myself when I realized how apropos the lyrics were to my current situation. The singer sang about finding your place and conquering challenges, which is exactly what I felt like. It was like I was learning to walkagain.

As I waited for the email to load, a knock at my door interruptedme.

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