Page 10 of Love From the Ashes

“I’m sorry, Krista. I was trying to help Sofie, and I dropped the presentation on the floor,” Della said, shooting a glance in my direction.

“Hurry up and pick the damn thing up. I’ll delay the meeting for a few minutes, but I want those copies as soon as you’re finished.” Krista marched from the room, looking pissed.

“Why did you cover for me like that?” I said, eyeing Della.

“Because Krista would have made a bigger deal out of what happened if she’d known you did it. Besides, that’s what friends do. They cover for each other. Haven’t you had anyone do that for you?”

I sat back on my heels and stared at her. “No, I haven’t.”

“Then you better get used to it, because I consider you a friend.” Della handed me the last of the papers and smiled. “I wish I could see Krista’s face as she tries to explain we had a malfunction. But that’s what she gets for always trying to set you up to fail. There has to be some reason Krista doesn’t like you aside from Alice. We need to figure it out.”

“Fine. We can do that later. I need to get these pages in order. Dammit, where’s page twelve?” I scanned the floor, spotting the page behind me. “Okay, they’re in order. I have to make the copies.” I jumped up and shoved the presentation into the document feeder without dropping them this time.

“Hurry up. I’ll tell Krista it’ll be a few more minutes.” Della got up and dashed from the room.

Finished with my task, I ran down the hallway with the packets in my hand and stopped outside the conference room door. After taking a few seconds to catch my breath and compose myself, I entered the room. Mr. Morgan’s eyes were instantly on me, his gaze so intense it seemed as if he were burning a hole right through me. Faking a smile, I walked around the table and handed out the packets, trying to pretend I didn’t notice.

“Thank you, Sofie. You can go,” Krista said icily, her eyes glued on Mr. Morgan as he watched me.

Thankful for her dismissal, I returned to my desk. Leaning my head back, I closed my eyes. Why were all my interactions with her so intense? That woman obviously hated me. It was Mr. Morgan. It had to be. Krista already disliked me because of Alice, but he had to be the icing on the cake. She became irritated whenever he was near me and even more upset when she caught him looking at me or talking to me. As I thought about it, considering how much of a conceited snob I thought he was, her irritation was amusing.

The hour must have flown by because the next thing I knew, the conference room door was opening, and people were exiting the meeting. I turned around to file paperwork away in the cabinet behind me and heard someone clear their throat. I swiveled in my chair and found Mr. Morgan standing at my counter, staring at me.

“Well, Ms. Fletcher, if I’ve calculated correctly, you’ve been with the company for a month. Personally, I’m surprised you’re still working here,” he said with mock astonishment while placing an elbow on the counter.

“Why wouldn’t I be?” I gave him a demure smile, remembering to hold my tongue this time.

“Oh, no reason other than your habit of offering pointed comments.”

“Mr. Morgan, I can assure you I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Why don’t you call me Reid? We hurdled past the Mr. Morgan part when you told me what you thought of me. And you adeptly followed it up during our last encounter with a wonderful comment about my manners and driving.”

“Reid is a little inappropriate, don’t you think? And I would never be so forward as to voice my opinion to my employer like that.” I gave him a wide-eyed look of denial, my voice sounding shocked.

“Really? Since when?”

“Since I’m on the company’s clock.”

“Ah, I get it. You’d like to say something but are holding your tongue instead.”

“Mr. Morgan! Now you’re making stuff up. I’m feeling offended.”

“Somehow, I doubt that. You truly are an enigma, Sofie Fletcher.” Mr. Morgan leaned forward and grinned.

“I beg your pardon,” I said curtly.

“That’s it. There’s the snappy attitude I remember.”

“What’s going on here? Is Sofie bothering you?” Krista said, walking toward my desk. After flashing a smile at Mr. Morgan, she turned and glared at me.

“Sofie was telling me about her job and how much she likes it. Isn’t that right, Ms. Fletcher?”

I stared at Mr. Morgan, trying to decide whether the twitching at the corner of his mouth was an attempt to suppress a grin. Based on the glint in his eyes, I assumed so. “Yes, that’s correct. I was telling Mr. Morgan how happy I am here and how polite and well-mannered most everyone seems.”

Mr. Morgan laughed, and I was sure he caught my private dig insinuating he was one of the people who were not.

He cleared his throat and directed his attention to Krista. “I better get going. That was a great presentation. After making the changes we discussed, you can send the presentation out. The earlier the better, since Rob will be waiting to see it.”

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