Chapter 2 #2
“That’ll be fine.” She opened the door and immediately, I noticed my little monster was holding a kitten.
Carrie squeezed my hand, likely from seeing the look on my face.
“Don’t worry. He adores little Raven. Maybe you should consider getting him a pet.
That worked when I was a kid. Kept me out of trouble. ”
“Maybe you’re right.” As if I could afford another mouth. But… the idea wasn’t a bad one. I could tell how much he adored the kitten. But more complications weren’t in the cards. From where I stood, I could see his little wheels going a million miles an hour as he whispered to the soft creature.
As I left, the same feeling of dread and anger that I’d fought for years swept through me. I’d come so far since my experience with my ex, but today was a reminder that I still had a long road ahead.
At least the drive wasn’t memorable, which in my mind was a good thing. By the time I walked back into the office, the crew appeared to be working hard.
“What’s wrong?” Brenda asked. “Did something happen with Damon?”
I rolled my eyes, tossing my purse into my bottom drawer. “You could say that. He started a fire. I don’t know what I’m going to do, but the school he’s in just isn’t right for him.”
“You need a change of venue.”
Nodding, I grabbed my notebook, eager to try to work out a problem I might be able to handle. “I know, but I can’t afford to send him to a private school.”
“Your ex needs to go to prison,” she chided. “His voice is grating, his attitude worse.”
“Tell me about it. However, if you met him, you’d think he was the nicest guy in the world. On top of dealing with school and the munchkin’s suspension, my babysitter is moving out of town. I am… fucked.”
She squeezed my arm. “Oh no. You’ll think of something. Who knows. Maybe this campaign will change everything.”
All I could do was burst into laughter. “Right. I doubt that. Come on. You’re not getting out of this.”
Her chuckle wasn’t comforting. We headed into the group room where I tried to be hopeful that something good could come out of the wretched day.
“We have a list of possibilities,” Greg proudly announced while holding up a notebook.
“Then let’s have it. I need some good news.” I slipped into a chair, preferring them to a bouncy ball that my previous counterpart had insisted everyone use when in the room.
Greg was more than happy to bounce up and down while reading off a list of possibilities. While a few of the professions were decent, including the local ice hockey team, the proof was in the pudding of what the players looked like.
“Do we have art?” I tossed out when he was done.
Sheila pulled up the coordinating photographs, which had been blown up and was showing on one of the large screens.
I sat back, uncertain what to say. Everyone else was also quiet.
“Do you mean to tell me that there isn’t a single hockey player on the Los Angeles Cougars who is even remotely decent looking? ”
“That guy right there isn’t bad,” Debbie insisted.
I turned my head very slowly, certain she was kidding. “Now, I admit that I don’t know much about hockey, but given he’s sitting on that huge machine, I think he might be the ice sweeper or whatever they call him.”
“The Zamboni driver,” Wayne tossed out. “She’s right.”
I dropped my head, which was now pounding just behind my temple. “Let’s roll through the other ideas.”
After twenty minutes of looking at what they came up with, I was now one hundred percent convinced there wasn’t a decent man anywhere in or close to California. Not one.
“I don’t mean to burst your bubbles, but…” My words dropped off because I honestly had no idea what to say and it was closing in on three in the afternoon. Four hours until disaster.
“They all suck.” At least Mark made the statement with utter confidence.
“They all suck. So…” I continued, trying very hard not to rip every strand of hair from my head. “Spit out more. Random ideas. Whatever comes into your minds.”
While they were slow in starting, more and more ideas were thrown into the gauntlet.
Meanwhile, Brenda was actively searching on her laptop, staying out of the fray. I didn’t blame her in the least.
By the time the crew finished, I was exhausted. “The rodeo doesn’t sound too bad.” At least I could admit one decent idea. Especially since Debbie had tossed out waste disposal men. Garbage men. I couldn’t get past the idea of the stench.
“What about smokejumpers who just happened to be involved in a rodeo event for charity?”
I glanced at Brenda to see if she was serious. “Is that for real?”
“Yep. Very real and you see the photographs from the event and from some marketing promo they did for trying to hire new firefighting dudes.” Brenda was more excited than I’d seen her in a long time.
“Then by all means. Let’s see them.”
We all crowded around the laptop as she scrolled through several pictures. I had to admit the men were hot. All perfect representations of the male species.
“From what I can tell, there are six contenders minimum, but look at this guy. He is the cover shot. Right there.” The moment she flipped to another screen, even the guys whistled.
Leaning forward, I read the name and chuckled. “Steel Beckett. That can’t be his real name.”
“Who cares? A man of rock-hard steel. Imagine what we could do with the promos. I mean, whoa, baby.”
Debbie was right about this. He was wearing jeans and leather chaps and it appeared he’d just ripped off his shirt when the photographer snapped the photo.
To say the man was hot as Hades was an understatement.
While my eyes were drawn to his perfectly chiseled six-pack abs, so perfectly formed I longed to run my fingers over every indentation, the chaps accentuated the rest of his carved package.
And exactly what God had given him in the manhood department. The bulge between his legs was… mouthwatering. While I should be ashamed by my reaction, I couldn’t help myself. His body was bronzed from being in the sun and his hair a wild mess, completely tousled as if from spending hours in bed.
My very active imagination managed to get the best of me. For a few seconds, I envisioned him under a sheet, staring up at me with his sensual eyes.
Blinking, I forced myself to look away before things got completely out of hand.
“What’s a smokejumper?” Sheila asked.
“An elite wildland firefighter who generally parachutes into remote locations to provide an attack on wildfires.” Every one of us turned our full attention to Wayne.
He shrugged, his grin more of a smirk. “My brother-in-law wanted to be one before he figured out he had to be in top physical shape. They work out every day. A requirement.”
Brenda and I looked at each other first. Then I glanced at both Sheila and Debbie who were practically drooling.
“Where are they located?” I asked.
“Missoula,” Brenda answered. I’ll be damned if she didn’t have a shit-eating grin on her face.
“As in Montana?” That was definitely a little farther away than I was thinking. It was also a place that had a permanent place in my memories, one of the few that I had of my parents being together.
“God’s country,” Greg piped in.
It might as well be Europe. “There is no way Eric is going to spring for allowing us to go to Missoula.” A couple of visions crowded my mind. I remembered a river and one day going swimming. I was very young, five or six, but I envisioned laughing and enjoying the bright, warm afternoon.
That was before everything in my life had gone south.
“Is something wrong?” Brenda asked. “I mean other than the obvious.”
“No, I was in Missoula a couple times years ago. A small town.”
“So I’ve heard. Good memories?”
I thought about her question. “Decent ones. Anyway, that’s a lot to ask Eric to consider.”
Everyone nodded. “But a change in venue would be great,” Wayne threw out.
Yes. Maybe. I wasn’t certain bringing up old memories was good at this point. I had enough of them to deal with.
While I was debating internally, Steel’s picture was right there for the girls to continue lusting over and make the men eager to head to the bathroom and do a little size comparison.
“What other choice do we have? I mean really?”
Unfortunately, Mark was right.
I sat back, closing my eyes briefly and thought about a plan of attack. “You’re right. We don’t. This is it. Our one shot. Is everyone in agreement?” I popped open a single eye to see everyone in the group nodding.
“Let’s do this,” Brenda said, her voice full of excitement.
“Alright. Let’s go. Let’s try and have everything ready by six. I know it’s a long shot, but maybe…” I grinned without finishing.
“We can do it!” Debbie said, clapping her hands together. “Work. Work. Work. Go team.”
For whatever the reason, the team was full of more energy and excitement than I’d seen from them in a long time. They worked together seamlessly while utilizing Brenda’s design skills to put it all together. Yes, the campaign was crude, but it was also artistic, exciting, and very, very real.
Real men doing real manly jobs in God’s country.
What could be better than that?
When we were finished, we all took a deep breath. Not one of them said anything as I made the final run through, checking and double checking.
And it was five minutes after six. Maybe we’d get lucky and Eric would have the time to make his decision tonight.
And of course, my hands were sweating. Even my pulse was skipping, going higher and higher until I was at the point of hyperventilating. But we were ready.
“Okay, guys. You’ve done such an amazing job with this. I am so proud of you. Wish me luck.”
“You’ve got this, Vi,” Mark assured me.
I squeezed his shoulder before leaving the room and heading to Eric’s office. Once outside his door, I was at the point of passing out. Instead, I threw my head back and knocked with gusto.
“Come in.”