“Oh God,” was all Chastity could say as I got out of the car. She handed me a pile of clothes and we took off into the building.
“Where’s the bathroom?” I asked.
“No time.” She dragged me across the lobby and onto the elevator. As soon as the doors closed, she turned to the five people crammed in there with us and snapped her fingers. “You all, turn around. My friend needs to change.”
Here?!Now? What? Why!Whatever. There was no time. I kicked the Crocs into the corner while Chastity literally tore my dress off. Then she yanked off my wig and started to fix my hair.
“Now tell me about this stalker,” Chastity said as she tried to get a comb through my hair.There’s no time for that!
She pulled it harder when I didn’t answer.
Ow.“The guy we tried to find outside One57 the other day.”
“You mean the guy you’re stalking?”
“I’m not stalking him!He’sstalkingme.”
“You creep outside his building every Tuesday and Thursday. You’re the stalker in this situation.”
“I am not.” God, now everyone in the elevator thought I was a psycho. “I’m not,” I said more determinedly. I was halfway into my skirt when the elevator dinged. The doors opened and I made direct eye contact with the guy waiting to get on. I had never seen a look of such pure and utter confusion. And…seduction?Nope.Just confusion. As if it wasn’t already awkward enough - me with my tits out, Chastity holding my wig, and the five other occupants standing in the corner facing the wall like naughty little children who had been sent to time out - I had to go andsay, “Top of the morning, good sir.” I curtsied with my skirt bunched around my knees.What the hell is wrong with me?
After that, he and I stayed completely still, staring into each other’s horrified souls, while we waited for what felt like three hours for the elevator doors to close. Of course he didn’t get on. Because who in their right mind would hop onto this train wreck? I promised myself right then and there that I would immediately kill myself if I ever saw that man again. Death. No questions asked. He’d understand.
There was no time to dwell on it though. We were only three floors away from our destination and I was still half-naked surrounded by a bunch of strangers. Chastity zipped my skirt while I pulled on my blouse and buttoned the middle button. Then I slipped some heels on and ran my fingers through my knotted hair. And that was it. The elevator dinged again and the doors opened. And I prayed that I looked at least a little presentable.
“Good morning,” said Bee. She was wearing a fancy suit and looked so perfectly chic. Especially in comparison to me. God, I never should have shown up. I backed up and ran right into Chastity.
“Hey, Bee,” said Chastity as she pushed me out of the elevator
Bee smiled. “I see you already know our small business strategist. Ash, it’s so nice to have you aboard. I promise I’m not usually a monster, but this is gonna be one heck of a first day. Because Rhodes VC just called and asked if we could have a presentation ready this afternoon.”
“Thisafternoon?” asked Chastity.
“Is that bad?” I whispered. “That sounds bad.”
Chastity nodded. “Uh, yes. That’s bad. We usually have weeks to prepare a pitch.”
“I’m sorry,” Bee said. “But he insisted it had to be today. And if we land Rhodes, it’ll double our business. And your Christmas bonuses.”
Well, that sounded amazing.
“Plus he’s a friend. We’ve been trying to get him to come in for ages. But now that he’s finally coming…I doubt he’ll be taking his business elsewhere. You still need to give him a great pitch though. Just let me know if you have any questions,” Bee said. “See you two this afternoon.”
Chastity and Madison introduced me to the rest of the marketing team and then we worked our asses off for three hours straight. We made graphics for the slides, tweaked the copy, and went over the notecards for the presentation. With my help - that’s right, I’m awesome - we finished with an hour to spare.
“So who is this client that we just busted our asses for?” I asked.
“Oh, only one of the richest men in the city,” said Chastity. “Tanner Rhodes. I’m pretty sure he’s a billionaire.”
I pulled out my phone to look him up, but I got distracted by a notification from the Society app. I clicked on it.
“RATE YOUR EXPERIENCE” popped up on the screen with a picture of Ocelot, the possibly gay realtor. Sorry, I mean the metrosexual.
“What’s that?” asked Chastity, craning her neck to see my screen.
“The Society,” I whispered. “I’m supposed to rate the guys I met.”
“Ah! I need to hear all about it. Let’s go in the conference room and pretend to set up.”
