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“That’s it for the seventh inning,” said Luke.
“Seventh inning?” I asked, trying to remember how long each inning took. I recalled a game lasting nearly three hours and if it were the seventh inning, it would be nearly over. “Oh my god, how long have we been gone?”
Luke checked his watch. “Not long,” he said.
“How long, Luke?” I asked, gritting my teeth.
“It’s not even three o’clock yet,” he muttered.
“Three o’clock?” My voice sounded shrill. “You mean we’ve been here for over two and a half hours?”
He grinned and sipped his damn beer. “Yep. And I saw you take a bite of my Crème brûlée.”
4
Grace
James looked as horrified as I did. “We should get going,” he said.
Do you think? I wanted to scream but kept my composure.
“Let’s go.” I grabbed my purse and pulled out my credit card.
Luke waved me off. “I invited you. I will take care of the bill. You go on ahead.”
I nodded and rushed out the door, with James right behind me.
“Don’t worry, Grace. It’s no big deal, really,” started James as we walked back. “We’ll get the audit done.”
“I wanted to get it done by the end of the week.”
“Oh,” said James. “Well, in that case…”
I groaned. It didn’t matter. I would bring work home with me tonight to make up for the extra-long lunch. I was used to it, anyway.
“It’s fine. We’ll get back on track. But for the rest of the week, we have to keep it simple. When the audit is over, I promise to take you out for a huge lunch. Deal?”
“That’s a deal, Grace,” said James.
“Good.”
My shoulders relaxed and my lungs loosened the closer to the office we got. Heading up the elevator of Crawford Corporation, I even smiled at James when he recounted some of the best plays of the game.
I knew I took work more seriously than others did. While I wasn’t sure if that was because of my circumstances or personality, it didn’t really matter. I didn’t have the luxury to take my time climbing the corporate ladder. I needed to get to the next pay grade fast. Otherwise, the consequences would be too horrible to consider.
Settling back into the boardroom, I’d barely opened my email when Colton Crawford walked into the room.
“Ms. Sweeney,” he said, putting his hands in his suit pockets.
I folded my hands underneath my chin, in a semblance of calm, even if the look in his eyes worried me. “Yes, Mr. Crawford?”
“Someone from your office has been calling here for the past couple of hours looking for you. I told him I’d let you know as soon as you returned. The name he left was Steinberg.” He nodded, satisfied having delivered his message, and left the room.
On the outside, I sat still, but my insides were screaming. Oh, shit!
Glenn Steinberg had called here, looking for me? I checked my phone. He had called it as soon as we’d left for lunch. That was nearly three hours ago.
When I turned toward James, he held his phone in his hands and cringed. He adjusted his glasses. “Four missed calls,” he said. “I had the ringer on silent. I’m so sorry, Grace.”
