Killing Me Softly

Two-Drink Minimum

Mariah sat down at her desk at Hamilton-Winters Group, running through her daily to-do list. Her emails had been cleared when she first walked in, she had set up a couple of appointment for Devon, her boss, and was now going to transfer some YouTube videos to a thumb drive for Devon to look at when he got time. Mariah had been scouting talent for Devon's music label for a few months now and he seemed to really like her ear for music.

Scanning the videos she had selected, she moved them to the thumb drive and hit save. Mariah knew it would take a couple of minutes, so she went to freshen up her coffee and start a new pot before the boss got back from the studio. There was not a lot to do on this day, as a lot of Devon's time was being taken up by planning his upcoming wedding to Hilary Curtis. Mariah was happy for them both. She liked the idea of finding love, but she doubted she would ever be that lucky.

Sitting back down at her desk, she was happy to see her files had transferred without problem. She knew that Devon would not have a lot of time to watch them, but if they were available, he would try.

"Hey." Devon said as he pushed through the door. "Can you give me a hand with these?"

Devon was carrying two boxes and his briefcase, all while juggling a to go cup of Crimson Lights coffee. Mariah took the boxes from him and sat them on the table.

"What is all this?" She asked. "We weren't expecting a delivery, were we?"

"No, these are the supplies for the candy gift boxes for the wedding. Hilary asked if I could help out with them, meaning if you could do them for me." Devon laughed. Hilary was always pushing stuff onto Mariah's plate, it was almost like she thought she was her boss.

"Anything for you boss." Mariah took the boxes to her desk and opened them.

"She included two that she did, so you could copy them...exactly." Devon sat down at his desk. "I know you will do a great job, and I hate to ask you to do it, but I need all the help I can get."

"You know I don't mind helping, any way I can." Mariah would not have felt so generous if Hilary had asked her directly. The two women on more than one occasion had bumped heads. "So, I have a thumb drive with some new artist videos on it. I thought you might want to check them out if you have time."

"Thanks." Devon looked up. "I actually need you to go scout some talent for me tonight, if you don't have plans."

"Yeah, you know that isn't a problem. I haven't had plans for a while." Mariah had been single for several months now. Not really finding anyone interesting enough to bring her out of her singledom. "What do you have for me?"

"This singer song writer performing down at the Wet Whistle. The bar is not that great, but I hear she is new and fresh." Devon reached into his briefcase and pulled out a credit card. "They have a two-drink minimum, so you will need to put it on the company tab. If she is good, buy her a drink."

"No problem boss." Mariah started folding the small boxes that would hold the candy for the wedding.

The two worked in silence for a little while, Devon making phone calls and Mariah folding and filling tiny boxes with assorted chocolates wrapped in the pastel colors Hilary had chosen for her wedding. Mariah took a break around noon, running downstairs to pick up lunch for her and Devon. He was due back in the studio after lunch, which meant he would be gone the rest of the afternoon.

After they ate, Mariah finished up the candy boxes and packed them all up to be returned to Hilary. She went through her emails and got everything ready for the next day. Leaving a little early, since she would need to go home and get ready to make it to the venue, Mariah locked up the office and headed home.