Chapter 17
Chapter Seventeen
M arch came in like a lion, and the wind nearly wrenched Kat’s arm when she opened the door to the museum. She smoothed her hair on her way to her cubicle, dumped her purse, then headed for the production center. Today, she’d pick up the final story plaques for the bamboo exhibit.
As she approached, she crossed her fingers that no typos had weaseled past the multiple rounds of editing and proofreading. Re-dos were talked about, and they showed up on a special line in the budget accounting. Not a good look.
She took the box from the man at the desk and held her breath as she read each piece. And then she read them all again. Finally, she declared them perfect. Smiling inside and out, she delivered the box to the exhibit space where the team was assembling the displays.
“Wow, this looks fabulous,” she told the crew.
One of the men gave her a thumbs-up. “Getting there.”
She handed him the box and a copy of the schematic that showed where each plaque was to be placed. “Are you ready for these?” she asked.
“Just about. You can go ahead and check placement of those on the black wall.”
“Will do.” Kat took her time making sure each framed box of text matched the correct photo.
When voices suddenly filled the room, she turned to find the crew unveiling the ultra-modern chairs that would sit in the center of the exhibit.
So cool . The smooth curve of the design shouted sophisticated and fun at the same time.
Though it wasn’t her art on display, Kat loved bringing the pieces together and helping to create a dramatic and informative exhibit that would draw people into the world of art and creativity.
She snapped a few photos then returned to her office.
It was mid-morning before she had a chance to refresh her coffee. When she finally sank into her office chair, she opened her email. And froze. A message from Human Resources stood out like a neon sign.
Her stomach dropped. The first line wasn’t congratulations .
It was thank you . She swallowed hard and opened the email to confirm what the sick feeling inside already told her—she would not be offered Cassie’s position.
With tears building in her eyes, Kat scanned the message.
A number of highly-qualified applicants…
appreciate your interest…blah, blah, blah.
Lips trembling, she blinked hard and fast, fighting to maintain her composure.
She’d known this was possible. Still, disappointment settled hard in her chest. Why?
She wanted to demand an answer to that question, but knew she’d never get one.
Her only option was to grin and bear it.
To hold her head high and accept the snub with grace.
When the shrill peal of her phone cut into her silent dismay, Kat jumped. Terrible timing. Sniffling, she let it ring four times before picking up.
“This is Kat.”
“Kat, it’s Amy.”
Ugh, the last person she wanted to talk to. “Hi, Amy.”
“Can you meet me in my office?”
“I got the email from HR,” Kat told her. No need to hear the bad news again.
“Yes, I’d like to talk. See you in a few minutes.”
Kat gaped when the phone went dead. Amy always had a brisk, no-nonsense style, but Kat hadn’t expected her to be quite so abrupt. Couldn’t the woman give her a few minutes to recover?
On legs that felt like mush, Kat trudged to Amy’s office. She gave a soft knock, and Amy looked up from her desk. “You wanted to see me?” Kat asked.
“Come in and shut the door. Have a seat.”
Kat perched on a chair in front of the desk and hoped she didn’t look miserable. But she couldn’t muster a smile.
Amy leaned forward and placed her arms on the desk. “I know you’re disappointed. It was a tough choice. You have a lot of outstanding skills and qualities, and I’m sure your time will come.”
Kat swallowed hard. But when, and what else did she have to do?
“In the meantime,” Amy continued. “We need to adapt and make sure there’s as little disruption to day-to-day operations as possible.”
“Sure. When does the new person start?” Looking down, she brushed non-existent lint from her lap.
“Two weeks. The team will get an announcement in the next day or two.”
“Will Cassie still be here for training?” Or would Kat be training her new boss?
“We’ll have Cassie, me, and HR for that.”
“Who’s the lucky winner? That Blake guy?”
Amy’s face pinched slightly, and she sat back. “That will be in the announcement. I need you to welcome the new person to the team and give the same professional courtesy you’d give Cassie or anyone else.” Her brows rose. “That’s not going to be a problem, is it?”
“Of course not.” Kat forced a bright smile.
“Good, we’ve had a great team, and I don’t want that to change.”
“Sure,” Kat said softly. She didn’t trust herself to say more. Sensing the meeting was wrapping up, she pushed back her chair and stood. “Thanks, Amy.” What else could she say? Kat squared her shoulders and walked toward the door.
“You know, Kat.” Amy spoke again, forcing Kat to turn back.
“Yes?”
“You and the new person may not become good friends the way you and Cassie have, but I think if you give them a chance, you’ll be pleasantly surprised.”
Them. Amy certainly was being careful with the pronouns to not give away any identity.
“I’m sure they’ll be great,” Kat told her.
Team player shifts into autopilot . As she made her way back to her own office, something about Amy’s tone made Kat wonder if she was resentful of the relationship between Kat and Cassie.
They’d hit it off right away, but she’d never sensed that Amy felt left out.
She was so much farther up the ladder, she had a different peer group.
Kat sank into her chair and blew out her breath. It was so tempting to take the rest of the day off. It was so tempting to book a flight to Colorado Springs. How she’d love to get lost in Nick’s arms right about now. The distance between her and Nick might as well be Earth to Mars.
* * *
Nick looked up from the stack of mail to find Trena waving at him.
She put a hand over the receiving end of the phone. “Someone on the phone from Denver Art Museum for you,” she whispered. “You want to take it?”
He didn’t remember hearing the shop phone ring. “Sure.” Probably just a fundraiser call, but he did have a few relationships there. He reached for the handset on his desk. “Nick Summers.”
“Hey, Nick. This is Lanie Sampson from Friends of the Denver Art Museum. How are you?”
Not anyone he knew. Nick cleared his throat. “Doing great. What can I do for you?”
“Well, I’m calling to tell you that you’ve been nominated to be one of our bachelors in this year’s Summer Swing auction.”
Silence settled on the line while her words bounced around inside Nick’s brain. “Excuse me? I what?”
“You were nominated, and since you’re also a museum member, we’d love to have you on board.
This is one of our most fun events. All you have to do is commit to being at the fundraiser on June seventh and agree to take your winner out for a nice dinner.
You’ll come up on stage and mingle through the room, but the auction itself is silent.
” She gave a little laugh. “So, don’t worry.
No one will know which bachelor gets the highest bid. ”
She finally paused. But Nick was still speechless. Who would do such a thing? And who would nominate him? Or, whose butt needed kicking?
“Can we count on you?” Lanie asked in a bright voice. “I promise, it’s a blast. And it’s for such a good cause.”
She continued her sales pitch while Nick slowly came-to.
“I…um…do you need an answer right now?” He’d be done with HBTV segments by then.
But would it be fun or humiliating? A promo stunt to kick off summer?
Could he work in some publicity for the shop?
He could see how people would love that sort of thing. And it was for a good cause.
“We’re hoping to get commitments by the end of this week. I could–”
“How many do you have so far?”
“Three. We’re hoping for five or six.”
Hmm. He was a bachelor, but he wasn’t exactly unattached.
Probably didn’t matter. It wasn’t a real date.
Still, he couldn’t help wondering what Kat would think of the idea.
He thought of her volunteer project and remembered her enthusiasm.
She got a lot of satisfaction from that.
She’d probably think it was cool. He imagined her bright smile.
Nick shook his head. He might regret this, but…
“Sure. Count me in. Can you send an email with all the details?”
“Of course. I’ve got your member profile. If you could just confirm this information.”
Seemed she had everything she needed. “All good,” he said.
“Thank you so much,” Lanie gushed. “We are so grateful. We’ll be in touch.”
Still shaking his head, Nick replaced the receiver and laughed out loud. What had he gotten himself into? He couldn’t wait to tell Kat.
Nick added the event to his calendar then turned his attention back to the stack of mail on his desk.
He opened an envelope from the city. A moment later, he drummed his pencil against the desk and re-read the letter.
What the heck? All of a sudden, an idea that had been bounced around last summer had apparently grown roots and taken hold.
And now there was an official proposal to create an improvement district and levy a special sales tax for the retail area around the shop.
Where did this come from, and why did the meeting for business owners have to happen during the one week he might’ve been able to get to New York to see Kat?
Something on the calendar prevented him from going every week.
Didn’t make sense to go the following week because then it was only another week until her show opened.