Come To Me | Jerrie

Chapter 6

The alarm blares at six the next morning. I stretch, turn it off, and walk into the kitchen to start my Keurig. I feel so much better after having a night of restful sleep. Grabbing my cup of coffee, I head to my desk to prepare for my phone call with the people from Raven.

With coffee in hand, I fire up my laptop and get to work. The new email alert sounds off so long that it almost seems as if I've held my finger down on a keyboard for a minute or so. Great. I'm out of the office half a day and I have over one hundred new emails. I skim through and see a few new possible client assignments that look promising and one that I'd love to grab if Raven Cosmetics doesn't work out. I open the email from Taylor, which goes over the details for today's call, and see that she's attached a few files with updated sales figures for the company. They show a small decline from last month's figures but nothing too drastic.

After going through the remainder of my emails and taking care of some mundane things around the house, the conference call reminder pops up on my phone. Dialing in, I mentally prepare myself to hear Gigi's and Zayn's voices so I won't be blindsided by them. I hear the beep and announce my name and company.

"Hello, Ms. Edwards. This is Danielle."

"Good morning, Danielle. I hope your morning is good so far."

"Yes, thank you. We appreciate you fitting us in last-minute," she replies.

"As I promised in our meeting, I haven't taken on any other accounts in hopes that you'll select CJJ to represent you," I say, projecting my strength through the phone.

"I'm glad to hear that. After we conclude our call, we have a call scheduled with Boyce PR. Ms. Thirlwall should be on in about two minutes. We were advised by Gigi of her opinion, and we want to be one hundred percent sure we choose the right person."

"I understand completely. Do you have anything you'd like me to clear up prior to Ms. Thirlwall joining us?" I ask earnestly.

"Our questions this morning will focus on you and your company. I think either company would provide a similar approach, but we would like to know more about you since you would be the person primarily responsible for ensuring clear and consistent branding. Also, I wanted to let you know that I'm not an assistant—I'm actually the director of product development. I'm sorry I wasn't honest, but I wanted to get a feel for both you and Zayn without either of you being influenced by my title."

"Honestly, Danielle, I never believed you were an assistant, but thank you for being frank." I let out a short laugh. "I assure you—"

A tone cuts me off, alerting us that someone has joined the call.

"Good morning." A deep, hoarse voice fills my ears. My body tenses and something stirs deep inside. "Danielle?" she asks.

"Yes, Ms. Thirlwall, good morning. I have Perrie Edwards on the call, miss. She's with CJJ Public Relations," Danielle informs her.

I shake my head, trying to release the tension triggered by her voice, and prepare to impress her. "Good morning, Ms. Thirlwall. It's a pleasure."

"Ms. Edwards, thank you for joining us. Danielle was impressed by your presentation. I asked to have a call with you since I was out of the area and couldn't make it to the meeting yesterday. I wanted to speak with you and the other candidate before I make my final decision." The strong, sexy timbre of her voice exudes confidence.

"I'm more than happy to go over any questions you may have."

The call continues for about thirty minutes as we discuss my professional background and the company's growth expectations. The sound of her voice pulls at me, though I can't quite place it. With each question she asks, I field and answer appropriately, reaffirming that I'm the right choice.