“Have fun.” I called to her as she left the room.
I was in the middle of putting together a list of tabloids I needed to call to start spreading the word about Julissa and Kyle’s big photo op when Jonathan popped his head into my office.
“Hey Chloe, sorry to interrupt.” He said.
“That’s okay come on in.” I told him.
Jonathan walked over to my desk and put his hands on the top of one of my chairs.
“I just wanted to remind you about the Best in Business networking luncheon scheduled for tomorrow.” He said.
What the heck is he talking about? I tried to think quickly. I didn’t remember anything about this from my interview or my first day. I didn’t recall getting a message, but I can double check with Jocalyn. Jonathan gave me a curious look.
“Right the Best in Business networking luncheon. I’m looking forward to it!” I tried to sound as convincing as possible. I certainly didn’t want him to know that I had no idea what he was talking about.
“That is good to hear. I’m looking forward to you getting out there and meeting people. You never know when doors might open up for you.” He said. He patted the top of the chair twice before he turned to leave.
I got up and poked my head around my doorway. As soon as Jonathan was out of sight, I ran into Skylar’s office.
“What’s this about a luncheon tomorrow?” I asked with obvious panic in my voice.
“It was scheduled before you came. Jonathan gave a reminder at the meeting the other day.” Skylar replied without looking up from her computer.
I made a face. “Right, I wasn’t paying attention.”
Skylar looked up at me a smiled. “Yeah I noticed.”
“So do we come here first or do we go straight there?” I asked.
“Come in normal time. We’ll all leave here together right about 11:00. Jonathan usually lets us leave for the day right afterwards. I hope he does anyway so I can hit the shops before we go out. Are you still going to Barnaby’s?”
“Yup, what time are you getting there?”
“Wes and I will probably get there around 8.”
I looked at her a raised my eyebrows.
“What?” Skylar asked.
I wanted to ask her if they were dating but I figured if they were, they obviously didn’t want anyone to know. I wonder if I could get anything out of Jocalyn. That was a silly question of course. If she knew anything at all, it would be so easy to get it out of her. I glanced at Skylar who was giving me an odd look.
“Oh nothing.” I said as I turned to leave.
~*~
I went straight to my closet as soon as I got home. I had to find two outfits. One outfit was to wear to the luncheon, and another one to wear to Barnaby’s.
The luncheon outfit was easy. I pulled out my black suit with pink pinstripes and a pink dress shirt. It was my favorite suit to wear. It says I’m all business, yet loads of fun.
Now to figure out what I was going to wear tomorrow night. I had to dress as if I was positive Jack was coming. I mean, if he wasn’t I honestly wouldn’t care so much. I’d just wear any old jeans and t-shirt. Just in case he does come though I had to make sure I didn’t look like a total hag. I started pulling out all of the clothes in my closet, which was starting to become a weekly ritual.
Since I was going to see a rock band in which I didn’t have an insane crush on one of the members, I decided to go more casual. You would think that would be an easy outfit to pick out, but you’d be wrong. I tried on every shirt and pants in my closet. Nothing seemed to scream out “Hey this chick is so awesome!”
Two hours later, I finally decided on a pair of tan corduroy pants, a long sleeve white shirt, a striped pink t-shirt and brown boots. This didn’t exactly scream out awesome chick either, but I have nothing else to try on and I was starting to get irritated with my clothes. As I stood there twisting a gray waffle knit shirt in my hands, I realized the reason I was so annoyed was because I was starving.
After hanging up both my day and night outfits, I went into the kitchen to make myself a toasted egg and cheese sandwich. I quickly realized that was the wrong meal to make when I was in that “so hungry I am angry at everything” mood. The sandwich went completely wrong. I couldn’t get the egg to flip quite right and the cheese kind of slid off of the egg and into the pan. My toast burnt when I put my bread in the toaster and didn’t pay attention to the setting that I turned the knob to. I ended up with 2 pieces of coal black bread, weirdly scrambled eggs and scorched cheese. Feeling defeated, I gave up and ate a piece of chocolate cake instead.
~*~
I felt so professional in my suit the next morning. I mean I knew I was a professional, but there was something about wearing a really great suit that just added to it. Jocalyn looked like she was going to burst out of her seat when I walked into work.
“What’s up Jocalyn?” I asked raising an eyebrow.
“I’m just so excited about Barnaby’s tonight! I can’t wait and you guys are gonna be gone today, which will make the day seem even longer!” She squealed.
Jonathan walked out of his office rubbing his temples. “Jocalyn.” He grumbled.
“I know I know volume.” She said.
“And pitch.” He muttered as he closed his door.
“Do you want me to meet you at the tube station?” She asked me.
“Actually Barnaby’s is right around the corner from me. I’m just gonna walk there.” I said.
Jocalyn’s mouth turned down in obvious disappointment. For a moment I felt kind of bad and wondered if I should just walk to the subway and meet her. Then I realized that was ridiculous as I would be walking the opposite way to Barnaby’s only to turn around and walk all the way back.
“You could meet me at my place.” I offered.
“Oh my gosh really? That would be so awesome!” Jocalyn started shaking with excitement again.
I gave her directions to my condo and went into my office. After quickly checking my emails, and returning a call regarding Tyler and a rogue golf cart, I made a list of things I needed to do on Monday.
The first thing on the list was setting up the Julissa/Kyle/sister photo opp. Maybe this is a little mean, but I kind of feel like this a way for me to get back at her for being.....well.....her.
I added follow up with prospects I may find today. Next on the list was to return any messages I may receive. I looked at my list. It looked awfully short. I needed at longer list that way if anyone was standing in front of me and I had the list on my desk, they might glance at it and think I must be terribly busy. I started to add non work items on the list. I mean people were supposed to glance at it and not read it right?
By the time I was done my list looked something like this:
Chloe’s to do list for Monday
1. Set up photo for Julissa, Kyle & sister.
2. Follow up with luncheon prospects.
3. Return messages
4. Go to the grocery store
5. Purchase more face cleanser and moisturizer
6.Start thinking of things to do when Abby comes
7. Clean condo.
8. Check and send email
9. Start Christmas shopping
10. Call mom so she knows I am still alive.
Okay I’ll admit, I had to struggle to come up with things to put on my list, but I figured ten was a good number of items. I don’t appear to be overworked but at the same time I don’t want it to look as though I need more work to do.
I glanced at the clock and realized it was about time to go. I hid my list away in my desk and grabbed some business cards, a pen and a notepad. Grabbing my purse and coat, I said goodbye to Jocalyn before I headed down to meet the rest of the group.
There were six of us going, including me and Jonathan. After we were all in the lobby, we walked over to Jonathan’s gigantic SUV. Veronica, who was apparently quite the office suck up, immediately jumped into the front seat next to Jonathan. Wes an
d some guy named Norman, who pretty much kept to himself, climbed into the back, which left me and Skylar in the middle.
We were all pretty silent during the ride to the hotel, with the exception of Veronica who talked about herself and how amazing it is to work for Drayton McGuire the entire time. I wanted to kick the back of her seat. At first I wanted to just lightly kick it, but the more she rambled on and on the more I wanted to kick it as hard as I could. I imagined ramming my feet into the back of her seat so hard, she broke through her seat belt and flew forward nearly hitting her head on the dashboard and everyone would start clapping out of gratitude. I had actually started pulling my legs back to do it when we pulled into the parking lot of the hotel.
“Thank god!” I heard Norman mutter.
Once we were inside and checked in, the group pretty much split up. Since the others had done this before, they knew the majority of the people here. All of the sudden I felt really awkward. I didn’t know a single person here and I was beginning to feel like the wallflower at the high school dance. Everyone seemed to be really consumed in their conversations and I felt weird about jumping right in to one.
I was still standing there staring, when all of the sudden a woman with long blonde hair, a stern pointy face and a crisp white suit came walking up to me. “Fiona Appleby, you look lost.” She said extending her hand.
“Chloe Carver. Not lost, just new.” I said. I was relieved to find that she seemed nicer then she looked.
“So which company are you here with?”
“Drayton McGuire.”
“Oh that’s the entertainment P.R. firm,” Fiona said with an interested look on her face. “Are you a publicist then?”
“Yes, I am. Who are you with?” I asked her.
“Who do you currently represent?” She asked ignoring my question.
“Currently I represent Subzero, Julissa Patton and Kyle Anderson.” I said cautiously. I started to feel like this lady was up to something.
Fiona’s eyes widen and a smile formed on her lips. “We should talk sometime.” She pulled a business card out of her satchel and handed it to me.
I took her card and handed her one of mine. Just as she took it, someone called her name.
“I’ve got to jet, but I will definitely be in touch.” She said before walking away.
I glanced down at her card and it all made sense. Fiona was an entertainment journalist. I stuck her business card in my purse. Maybe if I could get an exclusive interview for Julissa it would get her off of my back. Probably not, or at least not as long as I would like but it was worth a try. What would make Julissa happier than getting a chance to talk about herself to people that would eat up every word that came out of her overly plumped mouth?
As soon as lunch was announced, everyone pretty much swarmed the buffet tables. I was somehow herded up towards the front of the buffet line. Grabbing a plate off of the plate warmer, I scooped on baked ziti, salad and mixed fruit before selecting a slice of strawberry cheesecake and a bottle of water.
Since we weren’t supposed to sit with anyone we work with, I tried to find a table that the friendliest looking people. I saw a couple of empty tables but I didn’t want to chance being the only person sitting there. How embarrassing that would be? The lone diner at a networking luncheon! I finally found a table that had two men and one woman sitting there.
“Is this seat taken?” I asked flashing my friendliest smile.
“It is now.” A guy wearing a brown sweater vest and a white dress shirt with a brown and white striped tie said. I hate when people say that. I mean, isn’t a simple “No” enough?
“I’m Liam Frederick with Indigo Communications.” Sweater vest said.
“Hi Liam, I’m Chloe Carver with Drayton McGuire.” I said cheerfully.
“Not from around here it sounds.” The other guy, who was wearing a pretty sharp looking black suit with a maroon dress shirt said.
Gee nothing gets by him.
“No, I’m from New York originally. I’ve been here for a couple weeks now.”
“Are you rude?” The woman asked.
“Well apparently you are Amelia.” Black suit said.
“I am not Alex. It’s a known fact that New Yorkers are rude.” Amelia said annoyingly.
Alex opened his mouth to respond, but I started talking before he got a chance.
“Well first of all, New Yorker’s aren’t rude, we just tell it like it is and second of all, to answer your question, I consider myself to be a nice person, up front when I need to be, but not rude, and I definitely try not to insult people when I first meet them.” I said. The other girl blushed and looked away quickly.
“Nice.” Alex said as he held his hand up. I slapped him a high five, feeling completely satisfied as I dug into my cheesecake.
On the way back from the luncheon, Skylar and I started discussing plans for tonight. I mentioned that Jocalyn was meeting me at my house.
“You realize she may never leave!” Skylar pointed out.
“Yeah I thought about that and the fact that she may just start showing up!” I said.
“Tonight should be fun though. Do you think Jack will come?” Skylar asked.
“Not sure,” I shrugged. “To tell you the truth I haven’t talked to him since we went out.”
“Do you think maybe he’s not interested?” Wes piped up from the back seat.
“Oh piss off Wes! Of course he’s interested in her. I’m sure he’s been busy is all.” Skylar said swatting at him.
“Yeah I think you’re right. He did say they were working in the studio. We’ll see I guess.” I replied.
Jonathan pulled up to the curb and we all scrambled out of his SUV.
“Alright well I will see everyone bright and early Monday morning.” Jonathan said before he sped away.
The rest of us said our goodbyes before heading off in different directions.
Chapter Eight
Ten minutes before Jocalyn arrived I decided I didn’t like the outfit I had picked out the day before. I returned to the madness of my closet in a mad rush to find something, anything that jumped out as THE outfit. I was still searching when Jocalyn knocked at my door.
“Is that what you’re wearing.......It’s cute.” Jocalyn said pointing to my pajamas.
“No I can’t find anything to wear.” I sighed.
“Oh I’ll help!” Jocalyn said enthusiastically as she followed me into my bedroom.
Jocalyn walked into my closet and her eyes almost popped out of her face. She looked like a little kid that was just given full run of a toy store. She looked all around as she held her hand out and ran her fingertips over the different fabrics hanging from the chrome bars.
“Wow! Look at all of your clothes! I could live in here! Oh I love this!” She gushed pulling out a light pink satin dress with beading across the chest. I had worn it when I was a bridesmaid in my cousins wedding.
“It’s pretty but I think it might be a little fancy for tonight.” I said.
“Right,” Jocalyn said as she browsed through my shirts. “What about this?” She pulled out a tan peasant top that had the outlines of pink and yellow flowers on it.
I scrunched my nose. I hated that shirt. I didn’t even know why I still had it or why I bought it in the first place. I wondered if there was any way I could sneak it in with my sister’s luggage when she comes for a visit. If she asks about it I can just pretend I’ve never seen it before. Probably won’t work though. My sister is really into fashion and if I hate that shirt there is no way she would even consider wearing it.
“Okay picky. What about this then? It’s cute.” She held up a pair of gray cords and a green sweater.
“Jocalyn that’s the same thing you’re wearing.” I pointed to her outfit.
“We could be twins for the night!” She squealed.
I shook my head. “Absolutely not.”
Her face fell for a moment but brightened back up as she reached for another outfit. I was al
most afraid to see what she was pulling out. When I turned to her though, she was holding up a pair of jeans and a satin low cut emerald green top.
“That’s actually a great outfit.” I said as I took it from her.
I put it on and checked myself out in the oval shaped cheval mirror in the corner of my bedroom. Jocalyn jumped up and down clapping her hands, her blonde curls bouncing around her head.
“You look fantastic!” She said.
“Thanks.” I said as we grabbed our purses and headed off to Barnaby’s.
As we walked up to the bar, we could see Wes and Skylar standing up against the wall on the other side of the room close to where the band was playing. Their heads were bent close together and it looked as if they were possibly holding hands but I wasn’t sure. I could see Wes’ lips moving as a smile widened on Skylar’s face.
“Are they holding hands?” I asked as we waited for the bartender to make us both sweet tea vodkas.
“Probably. They’ve been dating for a while now. They think no one knows but everybody does.”
I paid for our drinks and we started to make our way through the sea of people. As soon as Wes saw us he dropped Skylar’s hand.
“What took you guys so long?” Wes asked.
“We were playing dress up.” Jocalyn said.
Skylar raised an eyebrow. “Dress up huh?”
I shook my head. “I couldn’t decide what to wear. Jocalyn was helping me.” I explained.
Jocalyn started talking nonstop, which was quite funny because none of us could hear her over the music. We just kept nodding our heads at everything she said. We were there for about forty five minutes when Wes leaned over and said into my ear “Don’t look now but your boyfriend just walked in.”
It took everything I had to not turn around but I was trying to play it cool. I looked over at Jocalyn and laughed. She had apparently spotted Jack as well. Her mouth was moving a mile a minute and she was bouncing up and down pointing at him like crazy. A few minutes later Jack appeared by my side with a beer in his hand. Jack bent down to give me a hug, and as he did, I got a whiff of that sage and musk scented cologne. Oh my god he smelled so good!
Fall into my Heart (The Subzero Series, #1) Page 7