Page 63 of Cinderella Screwed Me Over
Patricia arched an overly filled-in eyebrow at me. “Do you think you can manage to do that again?”
“Tell me what you need and I’ll get on it.” Normally, I got to pick and choose my clients. Occasionally, though, we got a company-wide account—like we did with the building I lived in. Patricia was working on a presentation for a new hotel renovation, which meant she’d tell everyone else what to do for it.
“I hope you haven’t been getting lazy. This deal with The Lion Inn is big for us. You’ve got to be a team player sometimes.” Patricia clicked a button on her laptop, changing the slide being projected onto the front of the room.
After going over the rest of the layout of the Red Lion Inn, Patricia dismissed us.
I hurried out of the conference room, toward my office. A person could work her butt off impressing Patricia and never get more than the tiniest acknowledgment. Screw up once, and she remembered it forever.
“Everything okay with you?” Nadine asked, stepping next to me.
“I didn’t get up early enough to organize all my notes, and my mind just wasn’t working as fast as normal,” I said. “Thanks for stepping in back there.”
“Of course. The only reason I had the information was because you’d given it to me.” Nadine stopped in front of her office door. “Barbara wants to know if she should put you down for one or two tomorrow night.”
One or two?It took me a moment to figure out what Nadine was talking about. “Right. Barbara’s party. In all the excitement last night, I forgot to ask Jake.” I wasn’t sure if I even should ask him to go with me. “Fridays are usually busy nights for him.”
“You know that she’s going to be setting you up all night if you don’t have a date.” Nadine shrugged. “Maybe there will be some interesting guys there.”
“Yeah, interesting like they have money and one to three ex-wives.” I sighed. “Let me call him and I’ll get back to you.”
I walked the rest of the way to my office and tossed my binder on the desk. It slid off the edge and fell to the floor. When I bent down to retrieve it, I noticed it had opened to the page I couldn’t find earlier. “Figures.”
After how bitchy I’d been this morning, I wouldn’t be surprised if Jake avoided me for a few days. I definitely I owed him an apology. And I’d much rather have him at the party with me than deal with the men Barbara would try to set me up with. I grabbed my phone and called him.
“Hey, how was your meeting?” he asked.
“Awful. I was disorganized and my boss called me out on it. Basically, it was my worst meeting ever.” I sat in my chair and scooted it closer to my desk. I’d never been great at apologies and my nerves were twisting around in my gut. “Look, I’m sorry about this morning. I was stressed and late. I really hate being late. But I shouldn’t have talked to you like that.”
“Meet me at Blue and we’ll have lunch. End on a better note.”
“I’d love to, but I can’t. I’ve got to fast track my current jobs and draw up a proposal so my boss doesn’t think I’m incompetent. I do have a question for you, though…” I picked up my pen and started doodling on my notepad. “There’s this party tomorrow night. The client with all the ex-husbands is throwing it, and I’ve got to go. I know it’s last minute, and that Fridays are really busy for you. I’m also sure it’s going to be boring. Anyway, if you can’t go, I completely understand. But if you don’t come with me, I’ll be forced to meet rich, eligible bachelors who may or may not have all their original teeth and hair.”
I bit my nail as I waited for his answer, trying to prepare myself for the possibility he couldn’t go.
“You’re not really giving me much of a choice,” Jake said. “Not when I know you’ve got a weakness for bald men with dentures.”
I grinned, getting that tingling-tummy sensation that flirting with Jake always brought. “The money eases those minor flaws. I’m really shallow like that.”
Patricia walked past my office window, slowing in the way that meant she was coming in. She always saved the meanest comments for when she sat down for a one-on-one meeting.
Apprehension replaced my momentary happiness. I had a feeling my day was about to go down in flames.
…
Only a few people remained in Blue, finishing up their meals. In five minutes, the place was closing for the night. After working late, going for a run, and pacing my apartment, I couldn’t get over my horrible day at work. I wanted to talk to someone about it but kept getting halfway through a number and hanging up. Steph was stressed enough with all her wedding stuff, and Mom would just tell me to do whatever I felt was right. So I decided to go for a walk around downtown.
After wandering in and out of a couple stores in the area, I’d ended up near Blue. I walked past once. Then doubled back. Then decided to go in.
Sitting across from Jake, picking at the chocolate-lava cake, I was getting more and more fired up. “Patricia’s made good money off jobs Nadine and I do all the work on. And I’m the one with the good rapport with all the vendors. Whenever they call, they request me. I’ll admit I wasn’t the most prepared for the meeting this morning, thanks to certain events…”
“That’s why I brought the chocolate.” Jake took a bite of the rich cake, then slid the plate back toward me.
I swirled the fork through the thick syrup. “I don’t even like doing the commercial jobs. They’re so plain and impersonal. Then to get yelled at about it, when I’m the one who has all the contacts in the first place, was really infuriating.”
“Have you ever looked at going into business on your own? Or with Nadine?”
“I considered it about a year ago,” I said. “But that was more of a relocation thing.”
