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That remains to be seen. It’s too long a story to tell. We can talk in person. That’s if you want to see me.
Do you want to see me?
Very much but I know how you feel. Can we meet for dinner tonight?
I should be out by five.
“Miss Stone? Did you hear what I said?”
I wasn’t paying attention to my conference call to text Austin, and I missed what Carl Laudner, the agent I was speaking with said.
“I’m sorry Carl, can you repeat that?”
“If we can agree on the changes in terms, then Clive is on board.”
“Can I have this in an email so I can outline it in his contract?”
“I can do that. I’ll send them over to you in a little while.”
I wanted to tell Carl that if he had done this in the first place, then the call wouldn’t have been necessary. However, Clive was perfect for the part, and the writer had written the script with him in mind, so I tried to maintain my patience.
“Very good. Nice speaking with you, Carl.”
After I got off the phone with Carl, I concentrated my attentions on the texts Austin had sent while I was discussing Clive’s contract changes.
How about you come to my house this evening. I can make dinner.
Samantha? Are you ignoring me? I said I was sorry.
I can be there this evening. I was ending a call. Sorry.
You’re busy. I’ll see you when you get here. Come right over.
The plea in his text made me wonder about the seriousness of his visit back east. It was a big trip, and his lack of contact with me during the week said it was an emergency. I checked the time on my laptop and saw that it was almost five. I was glad to be getting out of here though I might have to come in on Saturday for a few hours. I also had a lunch scheduled on Sunday afternoon with Hassan Jindal, Chairman of Spotlight’s board.
I opened the door and Marina’s replacement, Crystal looked up at me. She was scared since I had yelled at her earlier for not properly handling my electronic schedule.
She shrank back in her chair. “Miss Stone, do you need something?”
I shook my head. “No, Crystal. You can leave for the day.”
“I’m sorry about you sche…”
I put my hand up to stop her. “See that it doesn’t happen again if you fill in for Marina. That’s all I ask.”
She nodded. “Sure. Thank you.”
I should apologize, but I chose not to. I wondered if HR sent this woman up because she was new. Most people didn’t want to cover for Marina because they knew how I was. I gave perfection, and I demanded it from my employees. Like I said, I wasn’t sure if my employees hated or feared me, neither was good.
I headed to the bathroom, and when two young women fixing their makeup at the mirror saw me, they quickly left the room. I used the end stall and heard two others come in. Once again, I was being talked about.
“Did you hear Stone scream at Crystal earlier? I’m glad HR didn’t ask me to cover Marina.”
“I know. I thought she was gonna cry. How Marina puts up with her, I’ll never know. I guess the vacation fog has lifted. She was actually nice when she got back on Monday.”
“Whatever. I can’t wait to go out tonight.”
They chattered on for another minute, and I debated whether I should go out and make them squirm when they saw me. I decided against it. I waited for them to leave and went to check my face in the mirror. It looked fine, but my brown business suit didn’t do me justice. I let it go and headed to the elevator.
