8 am
Board meeting on Saturday. That's what the bad news was.
A few great moments of enlightenment later, I realized I was about to get screwed. The Creative Development Team at Bexley's was elected by the CEO, and thus answerable to the CEO and 'the Chair', and the 'team leader' was a namesake title. 'The Chair' was that awful group of experienced people who pick on new weaklings like me, the other word for that is- boomers. Someone from HR had this splendid idea of getting a word in with the boomers so the current plans of Creative Dev to be reported accurately to the HQ. To my dismay, this was worse because everyone else on Creative Dev thought I was getting an easy pass and they roped me into doing the presentation.
Little did they know that-
1. All I did at Bexley's before was sit and staple a bunch of papers.
2. I had no idea how a board meeting goes.
3. I was counting back moments to getting everything messed up.
We are fucked. Period.
"You seem too tensed for a Saturday. It kinda sucks they have to do the meeting today." Josh gave me a sympathetic smile.
"I don't think Eva minds it. She is just all that you know. She cultituates." Amanda said, plastering one of the fakest smiles in a history of fake smiles. She finally figured it didn't exist.
"Before you say a word, I had rather have you know me in person," I said, the frustration clear in my voice.
"Easy there, Mellon. I hope you got it all covered, Mr. Harris!"Tyranny Turner walked in with his freshly ironed, three-piece suit.
We were all holed in his office, discussing the schedule. The five of us stand there, looking at him as he gives us pointers and we add more stats to the slides. Five are Rachel, I, Josh, Amanda, and the Tyranny himself. Rest of the people had a weekend leave.
"Can't wait to get done with this, "I mumbled when Josh passed a script to me.
It was a list of all the board members attending, with a picture of them and their names. They were old, Bible names that made me do all the unnecessary tongue-turning. I had one of those worse names- Evangeline. God!
I looked at Josh, squeezing his arm lightly, and whispered a thank you. His cheeks turned pink, and he smiled. His dimples were in clear sight.
"Eva, get me the yellow file from the shelf." My moment with Josh came to an abrupt end.
Can't Tyranny read the fucking room? The file was so close to his seat, he could just reach for it!
"Yup. On it." I monotoned.
I walked a little too fast, my eyes fixated on the chandelier, and I bumped into something hard. My jaw hurt, and my head has an indenting bump. I fell back, hitting the ground, and my butt ached as I landed.
"Heaven's sake, are you okay?"
Strong arms surround me, holding me in place.
"What were you thinking running into the wall like that?" Will's grey eyes glared at me.
His hands moved across my back. I felt a tingle in my finger as he pulled me closer.
"Get on your feet, Mellon." He whispered low. I am trying. The words lay buried in my throat.
When I feel the ground underneath, his arms moved out. Someone handed me a glass of water, and I was too phased to see who. I pulled the glass to my lips, mumbling a thank you to see Amanda.
"Nothing new for you to lose your head like that!"
She thinks it's a joke. Will was still glaring at me.
Josh hushed her to shut up while Rachel looked at me sympathetically.
"That's not funny." Rachel almost squealed, and then a drop of dead silence engulfed me as I sat on a swivel.
"What if something were to happen to you?" Will sighed.
He seemed worried.
"If this presentation gets sabotaged, you will get your termination letter by evening."
He isn't worried. He is giving me reasons to worry. Typical Tyranny Turner.
Why did I think he was worried about me? He never was! He will never be. All he cared about was- his reputation, the presentation, and the Chair.
"The Chair's waiting for us. Let's go." Amanda said, giving me a sly smile when Will nodded and moved out with her. The two of them made quite a pair. He was cold, distant, heartless, and she was cruel, beautiful, and a complete bitch. The yin and yang put together.
I walked into the elevator with Josh. A briefcase rested in his hand, and he motioned me to make it quick.
"You will do good, Eva. All the best!" He said as we stepped out, shooting me a reassuring smile, and I smiled for the first time since morning. Suddenly, the sore bump in my head doesn't hurt. Life didn't suck. Is this what they call love?
I let out a sigh, and we entered the meeting room.