When the elevator doors slide open, I’m not surprised that no one is here yet because it’s only seven thirty in the morning. I put my Starbucks coffee on my desk and then take off my black jacket and put it on the back of my chair. Pulling out my chair, I have a seat and start the computer. I grab my notes and the reports I did on him yesterday, and the first thing I do is google Carter’s name and then set up a Google alert for him on my phone.
I scroll and see that he was out and about last night. The picture of him leaving a Hollywood hotspot three hours ago fills the screen. I scroll through them, seeing him arriving in gray jeans and a red, white, and blue plaid shirt with a blue jacket. Then there is a picture of him leaving the hotspot wearing a white T-shirt, holding the jacket and shirt in one of his hands while his other hand holds a redhead’s hand. Her skirt is barely there, and her shirt looks as though it’s buttoned wrong. He smirks at the camera guy, making me groan.
“You’re here early.” I hear Sylvia behind me. I turn and see that she is wearing another pant suit, this one gray with capris, and she is wearing a white shirt with a pink jacket. “Let me put my things down, and we can start right away,” she says. Turning around, she walks into her office and puts down her big Louis Vuitton purse in one of the chairs facing her desk. She opens the shades in her office, allowing the sun to come shining in. “We should use the conference room and get things set up,” she says loudly. Sitting behind her desk, she picks up her stack of messages. She is still old school. She wants all messages written on little pink papers, and right next to her desk is a shredder that she uses as soon as she finishes with the message. My phone buzzes on my desk, and I pick it up and it’s Sylvia. “I have to return a couple of calls, so I’ll buzz you when I’m ready,” she says and hangs up. I start on another list of things that we should do. When she finally buzzes me, I grab my coffee, my pen, and the folder that I started for him.
We walk to the conference room together, and she pushes open the door. We sit down at the table and toss ideas around until it’s a little after three. “You really did your research,” she says, leaning back in her chair. I stare at the notepad in front of her. She’s taken so many notes that she filled four sheets.
I shake my head. “I had to see what I was up against.” I tap my pen on my own pad. “Honestly, I don’t think this will ever happen.”
“Define this?” Sylvia asks, then doesn’t wait for me to answer. “If you are referring to you being able to tame the biggest social risk we’ve ever had, I am ready to bet you that you will not only make it happen, but you will also have him eating out of the palm of your hand.”
My eyebrows come together in confusion. “I don’t understand.”
“Do you know you’ve been here for five months, and you have everyone under your spell? You are social, you are nice, and you make people come to you and respect you.” She laughs. “I was on the fence with you, but when I saw the way you were with everyone here, I knew if anyone could do it”—she points at me—“it would be you.” She shakes her head, laughing a bit. “Now me, on the other hand, I would not do well. I would lock that asshole in a room and bring him out only when I needed him.”
I laugh silently. “You saw all that.” She has been the hardest nut to crack since I’ve been here. I’ve befriended everyone but her.
“I did.” She pushes away from the table. “I see everything. Now go get something to eat and get ready because he isn’t going to cave easily. The saying a leopard doesn’t change his spots means you have to be ready to prove them wrong.” I nod at her, and she walks out of the conference room, leaving me alone with my own notes.
I get up and run down to grab another coffee. Carter will be here at four and Sylvia will buzz me when it’s time for me to come in. I don’t know why I’m so nervous. Maybe it’s just the biggest opportunity of my life. Maybe because if I actually achieve this, it will put me up there and my name on the map. I’m walking back in when my phone rings. I look down at it in my hand and see it’s my mom.