Total pages in book: 155
Estimated words: 147128 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 736(@200wpm)___ 589(@250wpm)___ 490(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 147128 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 736(@200wpm)___ 589(@250wpm)___ 490(@300wpm)
‘Right.’
‘I am,’ I insisted, frowning at her smiling face. ‘I’d rather be alone than fumble with idiots who can’t even… Never mind. That’s not important.’
‘Yes, let’s not fight about this right now. You want me to help you out in the bathroom?’
‘Yes, that. Can you get me a pair of scissors so I can cut these off? Plus my spare shirt from my office. It’s in the third drawer of my desk. That’s it. Then we’ll be even.’
‘Oh, shit. Why didn’t you say that right away instead of making small talk?’
‘I wasn’t making small talk. You were… what? Why?’
‘Your dad is coming.’
‘Charlie?’
I froze, only for a moment, when I heard his annoyed voice. Leaving the cake box and Gayle where they were, I swiftly walked towards the bathroom with my balloons flying behind me.
‘I’ll be right there, Dad, go ahead and start without me,’ I shouted over my shoulder while I closed the bathroom door behind me.
Letting out a deep, deep breath, I took a moment to gather myself. There was nothing I could do but go out to the meeting in the same shirt and make sure I stood behind everyone. Which wouldn’t be the first time.
‘This is as good as it’s going to get,’ I murmured to myself and ran my fingers through my hair as if it were fixing anything. All I had to do was get to my desk, get my shirt and it’d be fine to explain the rest. Then the balloons were filling my vision and I was cursing myself all over again.
After struggling for quite some time to undo the knot, I gave up and decided to go and find a pair of scissors on my own. As I was passing Blair’s – our receptionist’s – empty desk, I realized everyone was congregating in the middle of the office, standing around the desks and almost creating a human wall between me and whatever they were looking at.
Noticing Gayle standing behind a desk on the far left, I hid my right arm behind my back, hoping to hell it wouldn’t be the first thing people noticed, and made my way towards her.
‘Good morning, everyone,’ my dad said, causing my steps to slow down. Standing on my tiptoes I looked over some shoulders, only to realize there was some sort of meeting or announcement being held right in the middle of the office instead of the meeting room. Ignoring the looks and apologizing to anyone I had to squeeze past, I quickened my steps and finally made it to Gayle’s side in one rough piece.
‘Why are we not in the meeting room?’ I whispered, as my dad kept going on with some sort of speech about Rob. ‘Is this the goodbye for Rob? Is the meeting after? Where is he?’
‘You’re still wearing the shirt and the balloons,’ Gayle added unhelpfully. ‘You still look pretty by the way. A little ballsy with the bra showing, but still pretty.’
‘Bite me.’
Reluctantly, I pinched the shirt and held it away from my body so my bra wouldn’t be visible to everyone. Well, to everyone who hadn’t seen it already.
‘I tried to get you the shirt, but your dad was standing in front of your room so I couldn’t go in. And this isn’t about the meeting we’re gonna have later. This is a completely different thing. Oh, and apparently Rob isn’t coming in today.’
How many meetings were we supposed to have exactly?
‘Rob isn’t coming in?’ I asked a tad bit louder than I’d intended and drew my dad’s attention.
‘Glad to see you could join us, Charlie,’ he drawled, earning me snickers from some of my other colleagues. I ignored them as I always did. I was pretty sure my dad couldn’t really see me with how I was standing behind Gayle, so I made sure not to make any sudden movements to draw more of his attention.
‘I got the cake and balloons for nothing?’ I whispered when he started to talk again.
‘He’ll be in tomorrow. They’ll hold.’
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath to calm myself down.
‘What are we doing here then?’
‘Meeting the new guy to replace Rob,’ Gayle answered. ‘William Carter.’ She gave me another curious look over her shoulder. ‘Your dad didn’t tell you about it?’
I ignored her question and asked one of my own. ‘I didn’t think he’d find someone so soon. Who is he?’
She turned to study me. ‘Are you kidding me?’
‘Ah, not really.’
‘You’re telling me you don’t know who William Carter is?’
It wasn’t really a question, it sounded more like a statement to me, so I opted not to answer.
‘Clearly I’m missing out.’
‘He is really good at what he does. You should’ve heard of him. He was based in California. But he is our new managing director now.’
‘Okay. I guess we’ll meet him eventually. Now can you reach into the drawer next to you and see if you can find any scissors? I need to get these off of my wrist before my dad bites my head off in front of everyone.’