Augusta Again (Completed)

10- AA Training

 Copyright © designschool 2020

All Rights Reserved

     At 7:30 am Caroline was exiting the elevator on the fourth floor. Noticing that Mason's door was closed, she stepped into her own office and dropped her things before going back to knock on Mason's door.

     Just as Caroline was about to knock, Megan called out, "Mason has asked not to be disturbed this morning."

     Caroline furrowed her brows in frustration. "I was hoping to speak with him before training."

     "I'll be sure to let you know when he's available," Megan smiled in understanding after the events of the night before.

     "Thanks," Caroline answered softly as she went back to her office. "So much for getting here early," she mumbled to herself as she tapped her fingers on her desk.

     She checked emails and handled some minor things until she heard voices in the waiting area. Moments later John entered her office, giving Caroline a sinking feeling. He's a nice guy too, which made her feel bad about all this. She really needed to speak with Mason before having him, John, and herself all cooped up in the training room today. That would be interesting.

     "Hey," John said with a huge grin. "Did the birthday girl sleep soundly after her big day?"

     "If he only knew," Caroline thought, wondering if he was oblivious to how she felt caught in the middle with the way he and Mason had acted the night before. She plastered on a fake smile. John started talking and Caroline wasn't even sure what he was saying. She saw his lips moving and occasionally she would nod or say "mm-hmm", but her mind was in the office next door. She checked her phone and saw that it was 7:55. "That's it," she thought as John continued chatting. She pushed her chair back to stand up when someone walked in.

     "Good morning," he said with a smile on his face looking between Caroline and John. He was handsome with his dark hair, chiseled features, and business suit.

     "Good morning," Caroline tried to hide her frustration. She really wanted to speak with Mason and time was running out. "You're Michael, head of accounting from the third floor. Right?"

     "You remembered," he said with the corner of his mouth turning up. "And you must be John, from the Atlanta office," he said reaching a hand out to John. John nodded as they shook hands. "So are you ready for training?" Michael said enthusiastically clapping his hands together.

     Caroline looked at him confused. "Are you joining us?"

     "Sorry," Michael answered, "I thought you had been informed of the changes. I'll be leading the training. Mason had something come up and asked me to do this morning in addition to the late afternoon and tomorrow, that I was already scheduled to do."

     A flood of emotions went through Caroline and she looked down at her hands while trying to compose herself. Was it because of last night, or did something actually come up. He did say he had some things to take care of before she left last night. It felt like he was avoiding her. Why wouldn't he give her a chance to talk? Surely he wouldn't be that insecure. Finally she was able to hold it together and she stood up from her chair to follow Michael and John to the small conference room the on the third floor.

     The morning went relatively smoothly, and when they had a break Caroline managed to slip away and go upstairs to "get something from her office." It was really just an excuse to see if Mason was available to talk.

     When she arrived on the fourth floor she saw that Mason's door was opened and she rehearsed in her mind what she would say, but as she approached she could see that his office was empty. Caroline turned on her heels and went to Megan to ask when he would return.