Six Years After The Bet

2. Abby

The New York traffic today is showing no mercy. I know by now that I will be late for work. Luckily for me, I don't have any meetings today. The only thing I've been working on lately is how to advertise our new clothing line here at the company. It's a big project and everyone is comparing us to Nike. They put me in charge because I'm the best on the team that we have and they know that I'll do a good job.

I finally get to work and park my car. I walk into the tall building, rushing inside. I wave to Debra, who's sitting at her desk talking on the phone with someone. I've learned how to run in heels which I never imagined I would be able to do. I guess when you live in New York, you kind of always have to rush around and everything. I press the button on the elevator and step into it when it opens. I press the button with a number eight on it and wait for the elevator to take me to my floor. It opens a few seconds later and I hoist my purse up on my shoulder, exiting out of the elevator.

"Hey, Ms. Monroe." A girl named Kylie greets me.

"Hey, Kylie. Any news today?" I ask.

"There's some papers on your desk and the boss is having a small meeting about the ad campaign. He was waiting for you to get here." She informs me.

"Thanks, Kylie." I wave goodbye to her and make my way to my office. I open the glass door to it and place my bag beside my desk. I look at the papers on my desk and decide that most of them aren't important.

I start working on my ad presentation when my boss, Richard, comes in. He's a short guy. About five six. Not tall at all. His suits always look too big on him, but he claims he likes loose more than tight.

"Abigail. Nice to see you finally made it to work." He teases.

"Traffic was a killer this morning." I lean my head back against my chair and start to move side to side in the rolling chair.

"That's why you should check the news in the morning. Anyways, we're having a small meeting in the meeting room. Do you think you can grace us with your presence?" He asks in a playful tone. Just got to love Richard.

"Yes, sir." I stand up and follow him out of my office. I wave to Jackson in his office and he waves back. He's probably on the phone with some people who want to work with us telling them the price and what not.

We enter the meeting room and I take a seat beside one of my coworkers-Charlie. "Do you know what this meeting is about?" I ask.

He shrugs, "He has some big idea for the new ad campaign."

I nod my head wondering what Richard could have came up with. He usually leaves the big ideas to us, hence why we have our jobs. Richard waits for everyone to get in here before making us all be quiet like we're in kindergarten.

"Okay, did anyone watch the super bowl game?" He asks and I wonder what this has to do with the ad campaign.

"Yeah?" Charlie states it more as a question.

"Well, the Panthers won. I thought we could get someone from that team to advertise our new sports wear. I have Jackson on the phone with a couple of people right now trying to get a special person in particular." He has a grin on his face that makes me question this whole thing. Whoever it is, I'm going to have to work with them.

"Well, who is it?" I ask.

"It's a surprise, but you're going to love it if you're a big sports fan because you get to work with them." He smiles at me.

"I don't even like sports. I don't keep up with football like that." I deadpan.

"It doesn't matter. He's going to help bring a lot of money to this company. Abigail don't mess it up. This company needs this with this being a new thing for us. I want you to be nice and make him feel comfortable. Whatever it takes. We need him to agree fully to this." He gives me his strict boss voice that he only uses when he means business.

I sigh, but nod my head. This is my job. How bad can it be talking to some arrogant athlete? Don't ask me how I know they're arrogant. I just know they are. Every celebrity that I've worked with so far is a total pain in my ass. That's why I hate the ad campaigns with celebrities.

I leave out of the meeting room and go into the break room. I pour myself a cup of coffee and skip the donuts that look extremely good right now. I'm on a diet and I refuse to break it. I go back to my office and begin working on the ad campaign. I send an email to Jackson telling him we'll need a photo shoot for the ad and tell him to set it up. Jackson and I work well together and he's not in competition with me like most of the people around here are. I don't know why they just can't work with me.

A knock comes at my door and I wave them in, not looking up from my computer. "Is eleven o'clock good for you tomorrow? You have a meeting with our new client for the ad campaign." Jackson says.

I look up at him. "He agreed already?" I ask slightly surprised.

"They're coming to check it out. I talked to his manager, but not him personally." He says.

I snort. "He must be too famous to talk to us himself. I really don't have the patience for some obnoxious jerk."

"I know, but the quicker we get everything done the sooner you can relax and focus on the big day." He smiles.

I give him a warm smile. "Yeah, that's true. Eleven o'clock is good for me."

"Alright. I'll let you get back to work." He leaves out my door and go back to typing on my computer.

My phone vibrates on my desk and I take a quick look at it. It's from Jake. I smile and quickly look at the message that he sent me. It's been a while since I've talked to him or Alyssa. I've been too busy to actually have a social life, but they understand.

From Jake:
Have you thought about my offer, yet?

I smile at the message. Jake has been trying to get me to go on this camping trip with him for months now. I always turn him down, telling him I can't do it because I'm too busy with work. Alyssa is harassing me just as much as him. They think that if they keep bothering me about the trip that I'll say yes eventually.

To Jake:
I'm still thinking about it. I've just been put on a new project, so it's probably a no.

When I went off to college; Jake, Alyssa, and I were separated from each other. We still stayed in touch, though. Alyssa is a nurse and stays busy just like me, but she manages to find time to spend with her friends, unlike me. Jake is a physical therapist and he works for a team in the NBA. I haven't seen them in a long time and it would be nice to spend time with them, but I just don't have any time to spare.

From Jake:
What about after the project?

To Jake:
I should be free for a little while. Enough time for us to take that camping trip.

From Jake:
Great. I'll tell Alyssa. Enjoy the rest of your day, Abby.

I cringe at him calling me by my nickname. I don't know when I stopped liking being called Abby, but now I prefer my full name. Abigail or Ms. Monroe. I guess it's because of the professionalism it signifies. Jake claims I've changed a lot, but I don't necessarily agree with him. I think I just grew up into the adult I was supposed to be. I drink some of my coffee before going back to typing on my computer. I start to work on the presentation tomorrow that I'll present to the new client. There's no way he's going to say no to me.
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What do you guys think so far?
Don't forget to vote and comment. Next chapter will be longer with a bunch of surprises.

Also, big shout out to jillcw for guessing the right answer to the first question. (;