Lost and Found

Chapter 22

"Celia, the dimensions of the stage haven't changed. Just the curtains on each side."

Sydney put her hand against her forehead as she listened to the musician on the other end.

"Ok, tell you what. Give me an hour to get ahold of Tony. I'll have him give me the stage dimensions and I'll call you back, ok?" She nodded at the receiver. "Yes, I know." She rolled her eyes. "Ok, I'll call you right back. Bye." She hung up the phone and stared at the ceiling. She let out a half sigh, half scream, causing Audrey to poke her head in.

"Everything ok, Syd?"

Sydney looked at her. "Oh yeah. Phase four in full effect. Maybe this year we'll raise enough money for me to hire someone to plan next year's fundraiser."

"Yeah, and maybe I'll win the lottery and buy us all an island to live on," Audrey said as she smiled at her friend. "On the bright side, only three more days of craziness before things can go back to normal."

"Which reminds me, we need to start placing the kids' art projects. So, we need to pull out the big boards," Sydney said as she closed her eyes.

"Bethany and I will go get them now if you want to watch the desk."

Sydney opened her eyes and looked at Audrey. "You both just want to get away from me, don't you?"

Audrey smiled. "The sigh/scream did scare her a bit."

"Ok, you two go get the boards from storage and here's to hoping they do the trick. I'll watch the desk." Sydney got up, grabbed her phone and headed out front. Bethany was already on the other side of the desk by the time Sydney got there. She looked at her. "Sorry if I scared you Bethany."

"It's ok. Kasey warned me about Phase Four," She said with a smile.

"Glad that's becoming a thing." Sydney sighed as she leaned on the desk. "Take the boards all the way up to the conference room."

"Ok, we'll be back," Audrey said as the two of them went into the elevator.

Sydney dialed Tony and explained what she needed from him. She hung up a moment later with a promise from him to get back to her soon. She looked at the clock. 5:00, she thought to herself. Everyone else's day is ending, and I'll probably still be here for another 3 hours. She sighed again as a patron came to the desk with a few books to check out. She smiled as she took the books and his card.

"Did you want a one week return date or two?" she asked him.

"Two please," The gentleman said. Sydney scanned the books against his card and slid them back to him. "There you go. Have a good day."

"Are you new here? I don't think I've seen you at the desk before," He asked as he put his card away.

"No, not new. I just tend to hide in my office," She said as she smiled at him.

"Oh, you're in charge here, huh?" he said as he picked up his books.

"That's why they pay me the not so big bucks." He laughed at her joke and headed for the doors with a wave. Her phone buzzed on the desk with an email from Tony including pictures of the stage and dimensions. She forwarded it to Celia and put her phone back down. She sat down in a chair and took off her glasses, putting her hands on her eyes.

"Sydney?" came a voice from across the desk.

She opened her eyes and put on her glasses. "Hi Brad," She said as she stood up. "If this has something to do with the governor not coming to the fundraiser, don't tell me. I can't handle it right now."

He smiled. "No, he'll be arriving about 7:30."

"Good. What can I help you with then?" she asked.

"You know that I'll be attending the fundraiser too, right?"

"I assumed as much, since the governor will want to take at least one picture with you."

"I was wondering if you were bringing someone."

"Brad..." Sydney said with a sigh.

"Please, let me finish," He pleaded. She nodded at him. "I'm bringing someone. But if you weren't, I would tell her another time."

"Why would you do that?" she asked.

"Because I wouldn't want to hurt you anymore than I have. I get it Syd. I look back now and know that I was beyond wrong. Since we may be working together again in the future, I want to start mending this bridge between us, beginning with me no longer bringing up the past and not doing anything to hurt our future dealings, you know?"

She smiled at him. "Thank you for that. Truth be told, I'm glad you're bringing someone. I meant what I said, I do want you to be happy."

"Really? You're ok with it? Does that mean you're bringing someone?"

She nodded. "My boyfriend is coming with me."

His eyes widened. "Boyfriend? How long have you been together?"

"Almost a month now."

"Congratulations Syd," He said with a sincere smile. He paled a bit. "Does he know...like who I am?"

"Yes. He saw us at Lucie's that day. Besides, I had already told him that we'd be working together."

"And he was ok with that?" he asked with a puzzled look on his face.

"He knows I'm a professional first and he knows what this fundraiser means to me. Not to mention the fact he knew about us and my feelings about it when we started dating." She shrugged.

He smiled at her. "Seems like you really like him?" She felt the blush creep up on her cheeks. "I'm happy for you Syd, really."

"Thanks. So, feel free to bring a date. Don't worry about me."

"It's going to be our first date, so this should be interesting." They both laughed. "Ok, I'm going to head out. See you on Saturday."

"Bye Brad," She said with a smile. As he walked away, Bethany and Audrey stepped out of the elevator and saw him walk out the door.

"What did the asshat want?" Audrey asked.

"He wanted to see if it was ok with me if he brought a date on Saturday."

"What, was he like asking permission or something?"

Sydney giggled. "Kind of. All the boards upstairs?"

"Yeah, but I'm not sure if we have enough. We might need like two more," Bethany chimed in with.

"Well, I'll head up and start lining them up. If we need more, I can pick some up before I come in tomorrow."

"Syd go home for the night. Call up Bryce. You guys haven't seen much of each other in last couple of weeks," Audrey said.

Sydney sighed. "The two of us have just been busy. He and Nick are still getting that manager from Miami used to the club and Rob."

"The work will still be here in the morning along with another crisis," Audrey said as Bethany and Sydney laughed.

"Fine, you win. I'm going home." She threw up her hands in defeat as she walked into her office to collect her things.

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Author's note

Small chapter, I know, but we're coming to the end and I felt this was a good place to stop for the moment. You'll see when you read (and vote for) the next chapter. Thanks for the read!!