She smiles as she approaches me and pats my cheek. “Sure, you can.”
I hold back a deep huff. “I need to shower and get to work.”
She grins. “Have fun, honey bunch.”
This time I let that huff fly, and she giggles.
I quickly shower, and since we only get maybe four minutes of hot water, I have it down to a science. You have to love tiny apartment living in New York City, right?
I leave Brianna and Antonio, who made a groggy introduction and is way too freaking pretty, and head into the Anchor Light office. Each time I walk through the doors, it’s like the best moment of my life. I love being a publicist and to have been hired, right out of grad school, to work at a company like this? It’s everything.
Anchor Light Corporate is a newer sub-office with a very small staff of intelligent women. The co-owners, Brynlee and Thea, are both supportive and have great visions for the company. I work most closely with the senior publicist, Aarabelle Dempsey.
The atmosphere is warm, supportive, and endlessly inspiring.
As soon as I step in, though, the energy is different.
Aarabelle spots me. “Conference room, right away,” she says, her voice clipped.
“Okay,” I say quickly, my heart rate jumping a bit.
We don’t really have immediate meetings, or at least we haven’t since I started. Something must be going on.
I walk to my desk, toss my stuff down, and rush in just as Aarabelle is sitting. The team is gathered around the table, and the phone speaker is in the middle. Brynlee is supposed to be on maternity leave, but her voice fills the room. “Everyone there?”
“Yes,” Thea says as I sink into an empty chair. “Go ahead, Brynn.”
“I know I’m not supposed to be working and all that, but we have an issue with one of my clients who is a real estate mogul.I don’t have much information on what’s going on, but it seems urgent, and our presence is needed.”
“Where is the client located?” Aarabelle asks.
“Boston, but they are out of town so someone would need to meet them,” Brynn explains. There is some noise on her end of the line before she returns to the call. “Sorry, the baby was fussing. The client is in Ember Falls, Virginia?”
Aarabelle jumps in quickly. “I can do it. I’m from Virginia, and I have most of your clients assigned to me while you’re out.”
Disappointment fills me. I also have some of her clients. I push down my own feeling of failure and decide to speak up.Closed mouths don’t get fedas my best friend used to say. “I can also go if it’s one of the clients you have me handling.”
Thea smiles. “We have two eager publicists, and I think they both could do it, just depends who you think would work best with the client.”
“Okay, let me think…” Brynn says as she soothes her son who is fussing behind her with shh-ing noises.
I wait with bated breath, hoping so much that they’ll ask me to go.
“As much as I agree, both Aarabelle and Tessa can handle it, I think it would be best to send Aarabelle.”
Aarabelle glances at me, and I force a smile.
Yes, I would’ve loved to have had the chance to do it, and I know I can do it, I understand the decision.
I’ve only been here a few weeks and I don’t have a ton of experience, but man, I wanted a chance to prove myself.
“Whatever Aarabelle needs, I’ll be here to help,” I say, tamping down my disappointment and working to sound helpful.
“Thank-you, Tessa. I promise, your time is coming,” Brynlee says quickly. “You both are truly talented and capable.”
“There’s no need to explain,” I assure her.
The last thing I want to do is come off ungrateful for the opportunity to work here. Anchor Light is a well-respected company. Originally, they started off working out of California with celebrities. Catherine Cole is the owner and has allowed Brynlee and Thea to buy into the company to start a corporate subdivision, which gives us a huge advantage as Catherine’s contacts are extensive and her name is respected.
