“Thank you,” I said. I may have paid her college tuition, but having her as my cheerleader was more than enough of a payback.
“I love you,” she replied.
I slipped the phone back into my pocket and headed into Daniels & Co.
* * *
I had no complaints about the people I worked with at Sparkle, who had been creative and energetic, but as I sat on my navy velvet chair alongside the rest of the competition team at Daniels & Co, Sparkle seemed a long way away. Daniels & Co people carried themselves slightly differently. Teresa used to high five everyone on the team every morning and my fellow American on the team, Evan, called everyone “winner” regardless of circumstance. The people at Daniels & Co were far more subdued. It was almost as if making the finals had been a foregone conclusion. They’d expected to excel, and now they expected to win.
People spoke in hushed tones as they joined us around the huge black conference table, though the seat at the top of the table remained empty. Over text, I’d tried to get Dexter to agree to act as if he didn’t know me. He’d refused to go that far, but agreed to treat me like any colleague. I just hoped I could do the same thing. The problem was I could feel his rough jaw under my fingertips right now, and he hadn’t even entered the room yet.
The subdued chatter settled down as an older lady with hair swept up into an elegant chignon came into the room.
“Good morning, team,” she said, smiling as she set her silver pen on her notepad. “I see we’re all here.” She glanced around the table and her gaze set on me. This must be Primrose, Dexter’s head designer. The one Dexter was going to tell about me. “You must be Hollie.”
“Yes, Hollie Lumen. I’m so happy to be here.”
“Well, we’re delighted to have you on the team. I’m Primrose and I’m the head designer at Daniels & Co.” She beamed at me, but just as I thought she was going to say something else, she turned back to her pad. “So, I know we are all very pleased to have reached the finals of the competition.”
Was Dexter not planning to come to this meeting? I didn’t know whether to be relieved or disappointed.
“But we can’t celebrate yet,” Primrose continued. “Now is when we want to increase our focus and commitment.”
Had he stayed away to make me feel more comfortable? I needed to focus. On the meeting. On work. I had to stop thinking about Dexter. This was a second chance and I wasn’t going to squander it.
“We want to win this entire thing and bejewel the princess of Finland. We’re not at work so we can say on our CV that we were on the team that finalled. That’s not who we are.”
I glanced around the room. No one was doing Jell-O shots or flashing their boobs. I’m not sure Primrose needed to tell her team to focus. Everyone seemed very serious.
I made notes of almost everything Primrose said—details of deadlines, information on the timing of each piece and who was working on what. If someone needed to know what Primrose had said in this meeting, I was their gal.
“Now we’re through to the next stage,” Primrose continued, “the gems will all be reexamined to see if there’s anything else we can improve. Dexter will want to see everything every day, as you know. Don’t expect him to be less demanding, less exacting, or any more forgiving. We must not let him down. But more importantly, we must not let down the princess of Finland.”
I’d only been on the Daniels & Co team a couple of hours, but I knew already why they’d finalled and Sparkle hadn’t. The contrast between there and here was like being on different planets. One was a kindergarten paddling pool and one was the 100-meter freestyle at the Olympics. If I’d thought I was lucky to be interning at Sparkle, I had to believe some kind of divine intervention brought me to Daniels & Co.
Primrose swept out of the room and I turned to Macey, my boss, who sat beside me and had been designated to show me around. “Can you go grab us coffees?” she asked, handing me what looked like a corporate credit card. “I’ll have a double espresso. You’ll need to take everyone’s order.”
“Absolutely,” I said. Some interns might have balked at the idea of making a coffee run, but not me. This was an opportunity to get in front of everyone, have a one-on-one interaction, and hopefully make a great first impression. Maybe they’d remember me when they needed something other than coffee.
“Don’t forget Dexter,” she said over her shoulder.
My stomach flipped at just the mention of his name. And I mentally wrapped myself on the knuckles. I was just getting the guy’s coffee order. No. Big. Deal.