Falling For You In Cape May

THREE

Maine

"Good morning Maine!" Hillary beamed at me as I enter the office.

"Good morning Hillary. One large vanilla latte with a shot of espresso for you!" I said, handing her a large cup of Starbucks coffee.

"Thank you! You just never forget."

"Of course not. How's your weekend?"

"Oh it was fun. My daughter brought her daughter to me and we had a grandma-and-me time. I had her all Sunday."

"That's great! She's probably bigger now." I said, opening the door to my office.

"Oh yes! She's almost four and she's a smart aleck, that one. Always so inquisitive." She said proudly.

"You probably had a good time."

"We did. How about you? How was the inn?"

"It was alright. The inn is in good condition. Thanks to Annie, the inn's operation is running smoothly. I told her I am not changing anything." I sat behind my desk and turned on the computer.

"Good for you. Oh, just so you know, Michael's in early today. I don't know but I saw him in the lobby when I got in." She informed me, placing a stack of papers that needs my signature.

"Oh, what's new. He's probably looking for something that he can blame on me."

"Well, he's just being a pain because you don't like him. And I am so glad you don't sell yourself short! I am so proud of you."

I leaf through the documents and started reading.

"Oh and if you can approve the top documents first, that's the proposal for Project Puppy. The deadline is the day after tomorrow."

"Thanks Hillary. I better start working now."

"I like your new suit by the way. Are your shoes new too?" She said eyeing my outfit.

"Yes, I got it last weekend. Audrey and I spend the whole Saturday afternoon together." I winked.

"Oh my! When you girls get together, I see a big damage on your credit cards."

"Ha ha ha. It's alright, I don't do it everyday." I laughed at her comment and start my work week..

The day progressed into a very productive one. My team has excelled in all levels of this project and I am so proud of them. Corrine is a very efficient Creatives Lead and I am willing to write a promotion letter for her to be a manager once this project is done.

Towards the early part of the afternoon, I called for a team meeting.

"Hey everyone. Thanks for coming, I called for this meeting, just to let you guys know that I am so proud of each and everyone of you. You are all doing a very good job and I know you are all working very hard. Please know that I appreciate all that you do. The client is very happy with all our efforts and I know we will finish this project on time, if not, ahead of time."

"Why am I not informed of this meeting?" Michael said barging into the meeting room. All of us looking at him surprised.

"I didn't know that I NEED to inform you if I wanted to have a meeting with MY team Michael." I said, in a very sarcastic and annoying way. "Is that a new protocol that I am not made aware of?"

He looked at me stunned that I just reacted to him that way in front of my team. He closed his eyes and breathe deeply.

"Please come to my office Miss Mancera."