“Hello Claudia.”
“I’m sending you a budget for the planners. This number should take into account all expenses and the fee,” Claudia stated firmly.
“I take it you’re accepting my terms,” I leaned back in my chair.
“I’m still negotiating the spot they can have on the floor.”
“Excellent. Let me know when that’s confirmed.” I went to hang up with zero hesitation until I heard her on the other end.
“Scott, we’re running out of time.”
“Not when it comes to Dean’s team. They’ve already proven that. I’ve got to run, call me when their spot is confirmed.”
“They can have the centerpiece,” she blurted.
A slow smile spread across my face. “I’ll let them know and we’ll be in touch.” I hung up and called Kat to let her know to have Starr come in regardless.
17
ELLE
“Why iseveryone all of the sudden so chatty with me?” I asked, walking up to my desk from the copier on Friday afternoon.
“You forget yesterday’s events already?” Mimi teased. “Earned you some respect around here.”
I rolled my eyes and unlocked my computer, refocusing on the team meeting agenda I’d been working on.
“I’m still shocked as hell you did that. Especially with the rumor about the cuts.”
I tried to hide the lump in my throat of possibly having to go through losing my job again. I seriously needed to find another line of work. “Well, I’m not surprised. This is a pretty lavish office for a firm whose main focus was charity events. And, no offense to you or anyone else here, but I don’t see the kind of work ethic I used to see at Brightman. I also see a lot of time wasted on unnecessary meetings and cube talk.”
“Okay, first ‘cube talk’? And second, you mean like the meeting you’re creating a mile long agenda for?”
“Oh, this?” I nodded to my computer screen. “I don’t intend on discussing half this shit. This agenda for Monday’s meeting is purely to piss off a certain cocky and feckless individual. I mostly want to focus on pitching and see what’s been working for everyone and what hasn’t. And then if there’s time, how to juggle multiple projects efficiently.” I shrugged, “It’s sort of my specialty.”
“I’ve been meaning to ask you,” Mimi began cautiously. “You have quite the reputation for being one of the top five planners in the city. You clearly know what you’re doing and could probably run a place like this.”
I swallowed, knowing where this was going.
“Why did you end up taking this job?”
The answer to that was something I still hadn’t been able to understand. Char thought it was my eagerness to secure a job asap instead of looking for something more managerial.
“I just want to do what I do best.”
And keep a roof over my head.
My phone vibrated loudly on the hard surface and my heart skipped a beat. I reached for it and swiped to see a new message from Char saying she was in the neighborhood and wanted to take me for coffee nearby. I was always up for a few minutes with my friend, but my shoulders sank regardless.
Get over it, Elle, it’s for the best.
We came from two different worlds. And his dumping me in the middle of a pre-lunch cocktail proved that he was no better than my exes. Just with more money and social status.
“Everything okay?” Mimi asked.
“Yeah, I’m just going to call it a day an hour early.
My computer pinged and I looked down to see an instant message from Dean asking me to stop by his office.
