Tongue Tied

Chapter 8

"I can handle this," I told myself, smoothing the wrinkles out of my blue blazer. "I'm going to go in there and blow Sean Ashworth's mind. Rutherford Laurence is going to write Corbin and Hilliard a gigantic check and I'm going to get a raise for acquiring the business of our biggest client ever."

I didn't believe everything I was trying to convince myself of. I doubted I'd get a raise, promotion, or anything other than a "good job!" But I did believe I could impress Sean and keep Rutherford's business. I just had to make a better presentation than the last time. I already knew my material was a hell of a lot better than before.

"I got this," I high-fived the mirror, earning a raised eyebrow from a neighboring law firm's receptionist who happened to walk in at that moment. I quickly scurried out of the bathroom in embarrassment and headed for the elevator.

I'd arrived at the office an hour early to go over everything one last time before presenting it. I re-watched the slideshows I'd made for the two commercials and, though they were exceptionally better than my original single ad, I hated that they were slideshows and not actual commercials with people talking and background music.

Corbin and Hilliard did a few things differently. One of those things was how we came up with commercial ideas. A lot of our competitors actually went ahead and created the commercials and then when the client agreed to the ideas, they'd throw a chunk of money into recreating the same or the majority of the same commercial with a more professional appearance and sound.

Unlike our competitors, Corbin and Hilliard was known for our slideshow ideas. I didn't like them but I understood why the bosses chose to do it this way. Creating a commercial costs the agency money that they don't want to spend, and if the inquiring entity doesn't like the commercial or takes their business to a competitor, that agency just wasted all that money on a commercial that was thrown in the dumpster. Creating a slideshow didn't cost a thing, though it was a royal pain in my ass.

Renee poked her head in my doorway twenty minutes prior to the meeting to remind me of the time, which I was thankful for because I was beginning to get lost in overthinking the slideshows. I probably should've asked Shelby's advice on some features to make it more appealing, but I'd created both entire slideshows myself without anyone else's input.

I told myself to stop thinking too much and go with the flow while Renee and I set up in the boardroom. Five minutes went by and Sean hadn't made attempts to start the meeting. It was a few minutes after three and Renee was surprised. Sean was the type of executive to be a half hour early and ready to go before everyone else was.

I stared at the round clock on the wall, watching the big hand slowly make its way toward the bottom of the hour. Renee and I, along with one of our receptionists, Michelle, had all tried to make contact with Margaret to no avail. By four o'clock we'd given up and Mr. Hilliard was about to blow his top, pacing around the office and shouting about how outrageous it was that a man of Sean's standing couldn't keep an appointment.

I was pissed as well. I'd gone to all the trouble to put this presentation together and embarrassed myself with an awkward bathroom pep talk and Sean Ashworth hadn't even bothered to attend our video conference. I felt like my time had been completely wasted. "At least I'm getting paid for it," I mumbled to myself, trying to make something positive of it.

While Sandra, Mr. Hilliard's personal assistant, continued trying to make contact with Rutherford Laurence, I threw my presentation in a pile in my office and told Renee and Michelle I was going to head home. I didn't want to stick around while Mr. Hilliard was ranting and possibly going to fling hot coffee on someone without meaning to. I already felt like I'd had shit thrown at me. I didn't need coffee burns too.

Fed up with the day, I made a beeline for my car as soon as the elevator doors opened. I paid no attention to people giving me strange looks as I practically sprinted across the lobby in my heels. Once inside my car, I cranked the air up full blast and sat there for a while trying to relax. The cold air felt good on my face and I could feel my blood pressure starting to lower.

Craving someone to vent to, namely Alec, I pulled out my phone and called him. Five rings later, I was listening to the familiar voicemail I'd only heard about two hundred times. "You've reached Alec Shaffers. I'm either working or... not working! Leave a message!" I giggled at his choice of words. Harper Media's clientele had to wonder what on earth when they called Alec and got his greeting.

I decided against saying anything after the high pitched beep that closely resembled a fax machine screeching. I'd already left Alec two messages since the last time I'd seen him and he hadn't returned my calls or texted me. The line between the possibilities of him being caught up in work or blowing me off was thinning. Had I done something wrong? I doubted Alec would be that torn up over me turning down sex a few nights ago. Although, that was the first time I'd ever turned him down. I didn't know what kind of man he was when he didn't get what he wanted sexually. Maybe he was pissed enough to ignore me.

While I drove home, my mind became a whirlwind of thoughts pertaining to Alec and his silence. I started trying to come up with other reasons as to why he wouldn't speak to me. It crossed my mind that I might have taken it too far with strutting my stuff through his apartment building. Maybe his neighbor who'd given me disapproving looks happened to know his family and had mentioned something. I usually wasn't one to judge people by their appearance but she looked like the gossiping type.

The drive to my apartment was silent, which was unusual for me. I was notorious for having the radio cranked up. But I took the peace and quiet as an opportunity to overthink - again. When I wasn't arguing with myself about the possibilities for Alec being AWOL, I was stressing over Sean Ashworth's lack of attendance and how it might affect my position at Corbin and Hilliard.

The first thing I did when I reached my apartment was strip my pantsuit off, throw my cozy satin robe back on, and plop down on the couch with a pint of ice cream to sulk. I couldn't help thinking it was exactly what the Healthier Is Happier campaign didn't want me to do. For the time being, until I had to be nice to him again - if I had to be nice to him again - Sean Ashworth could kiss my ass.