The Savior

Chapter 2

After heading out the door of the coffee shop Peyton grabbed her phone and called her assistant Andrea.
"Good morning Miss Thompson."
"Andrea, I'm afraid I've had a little mishap this morning. In my office, in the closet is a garment bag, and inside is a black pant suit. Can you please pull it out and make sure it's not terribly wrinkled? I'll be in the office in five minutes." She told Andrea.
"Of course ma'am. I'll see you soon."
She quickened her pace to the office building, now not having much time to change and clean up before she had to prep for her meeting with Mr. Clayton. After walking at a much too brisk pace she finally entered the office building, and handed the security guard her ID card while she tried to catch her breath. She received an apologetic look and a shake of the security guard's head as he sent her through the lobby to the elevators.
Up in her office Andrea had her suit laid out across the couch that sat in the corner of her private office. After she gave a quick examination and it seemed to have no wrinkles, she quickly changed as Andrea laid out copies of the packets that were made for the new hopeful clients.
She changed and gave herself a once over in the mirror and headed to the bathroom to wash up a little so she wasn't so sticky. After rinsing off it was time to head to the conference room and prepare with her colleagues for her meeting.
The meeting went off without a hitch, and Peyton was surprised considering how the day had started. She told her new client that, of course she could not elaborate on client privileges she was able to give examples of how she handled certain press relations in the past. She also listed some charities that James could get involved in to help mend his reputation. The new client and his parents were impressed with how she and the firm conducted business and agreed to sign the contract pending some negotiations with pricing and security protocols. After they left Peyton and her coworker Scot sat in the conference room eating bagels to wind down from the excitement of landing one of the biggest clients this firm has ever had.
As she was finishing up her bagel she had just sat up in her seat when Andrea walked in holding a coffee for her.
"Thank god, Andrea. I am seriously lacking caffeine after having mine spilled on me this morning." Andrea smiled and set the cup down on the table along with a list of messages Peyton had already piling up from this morning.
"Typical Monday?" Scot joked.
"Hardly." Peyton said with an eye roll "This morning I managed to walk into a man and spill my scalding coffee down the front of my brand new white suit, which was then followed by him dumping his iced coffee down my front, I assume so I didn't get burned."
"Well that was chivalrous" Scot joked.
"You and I Scot, have two totally different ideas about chivalry."
She rolled her eyes and gathered her coffee and message slips to head back to her desk. En route to her office she noticed written on the coffee cup was "I'm sorry about this morning. Hope you get through the day without wearing anymore. -Steve"
Stopping at Andrea's desk she asked her about the coffee and Andrea said security brought it up after a man brought it for her and insisted on Peyton getting it this morning.
  Back in her office Peyton sorted through her messages and there is a note from Steve. He called too? Not only had he figured out where she worked but he figured out her name too? After giving it some thought, she figured he must have gotten that basic information from Christine the girl who ran the morning shift in the coffee shop. His message read "Sorry again about the coffee. I'd like to pay to have your suit cleaned. -Steve" attached was his phone number.
  She did have Andrea take her white suit to the dry cleaners to see if there was any hope in saving it, so, the thought of him covering that tab for her was almost enough for her to pick up the phone right there. Though she had no interest in speaking to a man who had purposely dumped his coffee on her.
  Though, she didn't want to be rude, and it was nice of him to send her a replacement coffee. Just after lunch it had gotten the better of her and she picked up the phone to call his number. He answered on the third ring and had a kind voice.
  "Hello?" He answered
  "Hi, is this Steve? This is Peyton Thompson from the coffee shop this morning."
  "Oh, yes! Hi, how are you? I hope this morning wasn't a sign of how the rest of your day would be going."
  "Uhm, no, the rest has been alright thankfully. Well, so far anyhow. But, I just wanted to say thank you for the replacement coffee you sent me here at work. It was sweet and very kind of you but, you didn't have to go through the trouble."
  "No trouble at all," there is a smile in his voice and it strikes Peyton, she didn't really get a look at his face "I know how it is to need that coffee in the mornings. Especially on a Monday so, it was the least I could do."
  That made her smile. He seemed sincere.
  "Well thanks, again. It was kind of you."
  "How's that white outfit? I gotta say, I think you're nuts for ever even wearing something so white."
  Peyton laughed into the phone and replied "Yeah, I guess now it was a bit of a risk. It's at the dry cleaners now so we'll see if they can work some magic."
  "What do I owe you for that by the way?"
  "Absolutely nothing. It was me who ran into you. Me who should have been paying better attention." She replied.
  "No, no I insist. I made it out of there without a drop on me somehow, and I believe it was my iced coffee that went down the front of you intentionally. Sorry again for that but, I thought it might keep you from actually getting burned from your coffee."
  "Well, that was very quick thinking on your part, so I guess I should be saying thank you, then." He chuckles again "I can have my assistant reach out to you when the bill comes."
  "That'll work." He says
  "Okay, well I should be getting back to work. Thanks again Steve."
  "Anytime Peyton. Enjoy the rest of your day."
  "You too. Bye"
  After hanging up the phone there was a slight smile at the corners of her mouth. Just the slightest up turn at the innocent flirting that had just taken place, but she quickly swatted away the butterflies stirring in her stomach.
"No distractions." She firmly reminded herself and got back to work.