Back in my office, I shut the door so I can concentrate on my job.
A job I probably won’t have for much longer.
Leaning back in my chair, I place my hands behind my head and close my eyes. I do this a lot whenever I can’t focus, and focus is one thing I don’t seem to have a lot of right now, especially after seeing her this morning. My God, she’s beautiful. I stopped dead in my tracks the second I noticed her hiding in the corner of our break room. She’s wearing a blue sweater over a pale yellow top that makes the blue in her eyes practically glow. I couldn’t see what she was wearing on that luscious bottom half, but if I had to guess, I’d say it was another skirt. Honestly, it wouldn’t matter what she was wearing. She’s stunning no matter what. Hell, I bet she’d rock a brown paper sack. She’sthatpretty.
Opening my eyes, I rest my hands on my desk. “That’s not focusing, Ben,” I mutter to myself. Thinking about her isn’t helping anything. I’ve got a job to do, and I need to do it.
Picking up my phone, I call our art director. “Hey, Silvia, it’s Ben Schilling.”
“What’s up, Ben?”
“Can we meet up today to talk about the new insurance line?” Graham purchased a small struggling insurance company, and now it’s our job to create a marketing, design, and social media campaign to boost its identity.
“What time?”
Silvia doesn’t spend a lot of energy on wordiness, which makes her extremely efficient.
“After lunch. One thirty?”
“Sure. Come to my office.”
“Perfect. I’ll give Lindsay a call too. See you then.”
With that done, I begin work on my ideas for the new campaign. We’ve done something like this before, but Graham is going to want to see something fresh, not the old plan revised. And since my head is on the chopping block, I need my A game. It’s too bad the only thing I’ve got on my mind is blue eyes.
* * *
It was justa matter of time. Our meeting started thirty minutes ago, and it was going along like any other meeting until there was a pause. A pregnant pause. The elephant was in the room. That’s when Silvia blurted, “What the hell’s going on with Clive? I saw the green folder.”
“Chartreuse,” I reply.
“Huh?” Lindsay asks.
“The folders. They’re chartreuse.”
“He’s right. They are chartreuse.” Silvia, our art director, should know. “What’s he up to?”
I shrug. “All I know is he was promoted one day, and we had someone consulting the next.”
“I never liked that guy.” See? Silvia doesn’t beat around the bush.
“Oh, now,” Lindsay says softly, “he’s okay.”
I’m staying out of this conversation. Whatever I say, one of them will disagree with me, and I don’t need either of them on my bad side. On the contrary, I need everyone on my good side.
“All I can say is I have no idea what’s going on. I’m as surprised as you are.” Maybe more so since he was my assistant.
“What the hell is in that folder?” Silvia again.
“No idea.”
“Whatever it is, it’s not good.”
I nod slowly because she’s right. It’s most definitely not good.
* * *
“Oh, Sky.”I sigh as I run my fingers through her silky hair. “I’m not sure what to think about work.”
