Chapter 19
FAITH
After reading the brief, I got to work. I was twenty minutes in when my cell rang.
I didn’t usually answer it at work, but Stephanie’s name was on the screen.
“Hello, Faith speaking.” I didn’t want to say her name out loud in case Curtis heard me and wanted to know why I was chatting to his aunt on my mobile.
I had a good idea why she was calling though.
“Hello, Faith. How are things going?”
“That’s great. Can you give me any hints about the way it’s going?
Are we losing work because of someone inside the company or outside of it?
” Hmm, someone must be a reference to Curtis.
I’d thought Stephanie was a nice lady, but the more I interacted with her, the more my opinion sank, kind of like the way boobs drooped with age and lack of bra wearage.
It was sad, and I didn’t want to look at it too closely.
His family supported him about as well as mine did.
“Not at this stage. Sorry. I promise I’ll call you at the end of the week. I’ll know more by then.” I hope.
“Okay, then, but let me know ASAP. The board is eager to put this to bed. We’re counting on you.” Yes, the board. I imagined it was Knight Senior, but it wasn’t my place to say anything.
“Of course. I’m doing my best.”
“I know you are, Faith. And thank you again. Bye.”
“Bye.”
My mind wandered to what had happened in that impromptu “meeting” with Queen V.
I could tell she’d annoyed him by barging in.
It was nice that he didn’t have blind love for her like some men did of beautiful women, thinking that they could do no wrong.
And he’d even given me a compliment. I’d almost fell off my chair.
Also, yeah, bitch, I was capable and experienced enough to pick apart someone else’s work. Which reminded me, she needed it ASAP.
It took me another twenty-five minutes to go through the images.
The vibe didn’t quite match the brief. The coloring wasn’t bright and vibrant enough for the young market they were trying to capture.
They needed a few tweaks, nothing major, but recoloring everything to match the mood was going to take hours.
If she was going to get this to the client today, it would be closer to dinner time than five o’clock.
I buzzed Bosshole and told him I was done.
“Great. If you could come in, I’ll get your opinion on a couple of things, and you can run your impressions of the images and videos by me.”
Wow, we were actually going to work together like mature adults. And he hadn’t even insulted me today or been an actual bosshole. Maybe things were looking up.
I went in with my laptop and almost tripped when I saw him.
The dirty rat had rolled up his shirt sleeves, exposing muscular forearms with just the right amount of light-brown hair.
I knew some women loved when men were either super hairy or liked to manscape smooth for sport or whatever—each to their own—but I was like Goldilocks: I appreciated a medium amount of hairiness, except on the back.
I didn’t want my fingers getting tangled in back hair while doing the deed.
I shuddered. Although, this man’s face was so delectable that maybe I’d forgive a bit too much hair.
He looked up at me, stress tightening his features.
Either the job Queen V had handed him was terrible, or there was more going on.
Now that I really perused his face, telltale darkness shadowed under his eyes.
He obviously wasn’t sleeping properly. Maybe he’d partied too hard on the weekend?
“Please bring one of the chairs around here so we can look at the screen together.”
“Ah, sure. Teamwork makes the dream work.” He looked at me as if I was an idiot.
I couldn’t argue with that, so I didn’t, which was a first. I dragged the chair around and put it as far away from him as possible while still being able to see the screen.
I didn’t want to be presumptive, but also, if I wanted to keep my wits about me, I needed to be out of scenting range of his cologne.
He sighed. “I don’t bite. Bring your chair closer. You’ll need to set your laptop up so I can see it too.”
I acted as unaffected as possible. “Not a problem.” I placed my laptop on his desk, opened it, and logged in, then brought up the pictures.
“These don’t really match the brief. I’ve advised on what edits I think they need.
The commercial was okay, but again, the vibe was a little low on energy.
I think it could be helped with a younger person doing the voiceover.
” I stared at the screen the whole time because watching his face at this distance, I was liable to drool on him or something.
If I wasn’t so desperate to finding out what was really going on, I’d march to Stephanie’s office and quit right now.
I’d spilled into not-quite-impartial territory, which was embarrassing to admit.
With everything I’d been through, I knew better, but it seemed that my body didn’t care.
It took him ten torturous minutes to sift through everything while I sat and breathed through my mouth, trying not to smell his intoxicating scent. He finished and looked up. “Have you got a cold?”
“No.”
He gave me a weird look, and great, because now he thought I was a mouth breather. Turning back to his computer, he said, “Your opinion is very perceptive, and I agree.” He turned his desktop screen slightly toward me. “Read these and my edits and see what you think.”
I risked a full hormone malfunction, closed my mouth, and breathed through my nose so he could see I was normal…
normal being a relative concept when pertaining to me.
When I was done, I sat back. “Those are all fair edits. I also think we can get rid of these.” I pointed to a few lines of copy that were going on their social media.
“It’s all a bit preachy for that age group.
They’ll respond to something a bit more chill, like this.
” I typed a couple of lines. “What do you think?”
“Hmm….” He nodded slowly. “I like what you did there. Much better.” Then he turned and smiled at me. The warmth in his eyes slayed me. I’d never seen him so unguarded. My heart skittered with the unbounded energy of a puppy trying to run on a slippery floor.
I smiled back, careful not to let it turn into a crazy-woman grin.
“Thank you. I appreciate the compliment. I also know I’m not your favorite person.
” I wished I could come clean and tell him why I was here.
If he was innocent of all the accusations, he could probably help me get to the bottom of it.
But if I told him the truth, and he was to blame for the client losses and had done something to that singer, I was signing my own professional death warrant, not to mention, I’d signed that NDA.
He could use it against me. Yes, I’d lost my last job because of some stupid choices, but if I broke that confidentiality agreement, I’d never work for another marketing company again.
Word would get around because Knight Advertising was a huge player.
Piranha was a small company with limited contacts. I was playing in the big leagues now.
My mother’s words niggled annoyingly in my head: “Aim low. People like us aren’t meant to have great success. Be happy with getting by.”
“What if I told you that you were my favorite least-favorite person?” He chuckled.
I laughed. “I could live with that. I think we’ve made some progress.” I ignored the guilt that screeched its fingernails down the blackboard in my head. It was too late now, and I just had to get on with it.
The door opened, both of us jerking our heads around to look at Queen V stride in on towering heels.
If I didn’t know what a bitch she was, I’d be in awe of her beauty and posture.
If I managed to keep my job, I’d have to work for her again.
Best to be polite and kill her with kindness.
“I love your shoes. The cherry motif is super cute.” I’d seen them somewhere before, probably on an ad or something.
Maybe Amy had shown me them as a pair she wanted to buy.
I was pretty sure they cost a few weeks wages…
well, my wages. Queen V earned a heck of a lot more than me.
Her gaze dragged from Curtis to me and back again as she ignored my compliment. Maybe I should repeat myself. “This looks cozy. You really were serious about her helping you.”
Her? Fuck’s sake, I had a name. Also, that was the last time I made an effort to be nice to her.
“Of course I was. We have some notes for you.” I didn’t think I imagined the emphasis he put on we. He was trying to rile her up, and by her flaring nostrils, he succeeded.
“There better not be too many notes. I don’t have time for major changes.”
He didn’t say anything, just lifted his chin and looked down his nose at her.
The unspoken “Well, you should’ve thought of that before you handed this to me at the last minute” hung in the air.
I was happy I wasn’t the one getting chastised for a change.
Curtis’s voice was calm when he said, “I’ll email everything to you now.
If you have any questions, I’ll be here for the rest of the afternoon. ”
I emailed my stuff to him so he could keep it all in one email, then shut my laptop, and walked out. There was nothing to discover with their remaining interaction. They could have it alone.
I plonked into my chair and positioned my laptop in front of me. My cell phone rang. Stomach tensing, I pulled it from my bag. Was it Stephanie again, or had Amy discovered something?
Argh, it was neither. I pressed the red button and rejected the call.
My mother knew not to call during work hours.
The phone rang again. It was 1:20 p.m., just after lunchtime, but I guessed I hadn’t taken lunch.
I might as well take this call, or she’d keep ringing and then be pissed about it later. I’d never hear the end of it. “Hello.”
“Don’t sound so happy to hear from me.”
I spoke quietly. Even though I could technically say I was on lunch, it still felt wrong to take a private call. “I’m at work.” She didn’t need to know I had time if I wanted. The quicker I got her off the phone, the better.
“Oh.”
Why the heck did she sound surprised? I rolled my eyes. “So, is everything okay? Why are you calling?” I didn’t want to be a complete bitch. Maybe someone was sick, and she needed my help.
“Just checking to see how you’re going. You know your ex, Mark, the one who cheated on you and dumped you, well, he was just on one of my news shows. His agency is expanding. If you’d stayed, you probably would’ve gotten a raise.”
I shut my eyes tightly and tried to force out the negative energy.
She knows not what she says. Forgive her.
“Napping on the job and talking on the phone?”
I opened my eyes to Victoria glaring at me.
I kept my sarcastic, “If I was napping, I wouldn’t be able to talk” to myself.
“It’s my lunch break, and I’m multitasking.
” That was as rude as I dared be. Maybe she’d think I was trying to be funny.
My whole life, I’d bitten my tongue more than I should’ve, and if I wasn’t careful, I’d chew it to a pulp.
“Well, make sure you’re off soon.” She turned and glided dramatically to the elevator. Was she upset that her office wasn’t on the executive floor when she was so close to the boss? I hadn’t seen anyone else barge in on Curtis while I’d worked here. Even his aunt had knocked.
“Hello? Are you there?”
“Yes, Mom.”
“Well, what do you have to say about Mark?”
“Was Amanda there too? Were they doing it live?” This conversation was ridiculous. I might as well make it more so.
“Faith Harriette Emery, don’t be so rude!” Oops, she’d slapped me with the middle name.
“What do you want me to say?” One minute she’s telling me not to go for good jobs, then she’s telling me I should’ve stayed.
Not that I’d had a choice, but if I had, as if I’d work for the man who cheated on me.
And man, it sucked that he and Amanda were making more money.
Karma was a load of crap. If she existed, all Amanda’s hair would’ve fallen out, and his dick would’ve shriveled to a prune.
Plus, they’d both have butt boils. “Have you had some of Bethany’s edibles again? ”
“Wash your mouth out. I don’t dabble in that nonsense, and neither does your sister.” I hated when she called her that. We weren’t related by blood or choice. The only thing Bethany and I would probably agree on was that.
“Hmm, if you say so. Look, I’ve got to get back to work. If you like, I’ll come visit you when I lose this job, and you can gripe some more. We’ll make a day of it.” I’d tried the direct, rude method with my mother before, but she was immune. Maybe this time she’d get the message?
“Don’t be ridiculous. You always have to take things too far. At least you have a job right now, even if it won’t be for long. That’s something. I’ll call you next week. Bye.”
Hmm, that worked. Great.
“Who was that?”
Curtis stood in his doorway, curiosity livening his expression.
Heat moved up my neck and to my cheeks. At least he hadn’t heard her side of the conversation.
“My mother. I have to be blunt sometimes. I don’t think I’m actually going to lose this job…
I hope. Anyway… can you please forget you heard anything?
Also, before I get in trouble for taking a private call, I’m on my lunch break since we worked through it.
” The more he knew about my life, the more ammunition he’d have against me. There was protection in mystery.
When Mark found out about my mother, he used similar tactics to put me down and make me feel less than.
It made me easier to manipulate. I wasn’t falling for that again, and as far as my mother was concerned, I’d been far less patient with her attitude after Mark.
Maybe I was moving in the right direction.
“Okay, on all counts. I’m going to be working the rest of the afternoon. Please don’t put any calls through.”
What could he be working on that would require that kind of concentration? “Of course.”
“Thanks.” He went back into his office and shut the door.
I crossed my fingers that Amy would have some info for me tonight. Time was running out.