He's The Boss

9

Monday morning does not get off to a good start. Firstly, it's raining, and I'm wet-haired and miserable walking into our office building.

I catch sight of one of the elevators getting ready to close, and make a dash for it, making it inside just in time.

"Whew, thanks," I gasp, then my jaw drops when I see who's inside with me.

"Oh, hey, Caitlin," Anna greets, looking great that morning, and not to mention nice and dry. "Got caught in the rain, huh?"

Obviously. But I resist the urge to make that smart comment, doing a smile instead. "Yeah. That's Monday blues for you."

"You left the party pretty early on Friday. Nate said you weren't feeling well."

"Yeah. Sorry I missed the rest of it. Anything good happen?"

"Not really, aside from some tabletop dancing and an extended game of Guess The Color."

"Guess the color? Of what? Oh. No, wait, I just got that."

She laughs. "You guys are fun. I mean, I love being a freelancer, but HowWeMet actually seems like a great place to work, you know?"

"It is. I just hope it stays that way."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, now that your brother's bought over the business, nobody knows what to really expect. In cases like these, there's always changes."

"Change can be for the better."

"I don't know. I don't know if I'm ready for that."

"Try keeping an open mind. I'm sure my brother just wants what's best for the company, and for you guys. You just need to trust that."

We reach our floor, and both of us move to step out at the same time.

"Whoops! Sorry," she says.

"That's OK." I step back to let her go first, watching as she saunters on her high heels towards the receptionist's.

I wave goodbye to her, making my way to my desk, where Lacey's already waiting patiently for me, sipping her coffee.

"Good morning. Hurry up and get settled in. You and I have a lot to get started on."

"Oh?"

"Love's A Picnic," she reminds me, referring to our next big dating event. "James wants to move it up."

"To when?"

"Next week."

"What?? Is he serious?"

"Yeah, he thinks it's a good idea because of the Valentine's Day thing."

"We get a lot more business every year around Valentine's Day."

"I told him that, but he just seemed to take it as me supporting his argument?" She sighs. "Come on. You've got to help me get this going or we'll never make it."

The rest of the day, in fact, the week, is a blur of calls, emails and texts as we make arrangements. The event is basically a giant picnic for our still-single clients to come together, mingle and have fun. Events like these are like our lifeblood – that's where we get people in, and get them together.

"I've got a venue! Hayden Park!" I call across the office that evening, and Lacey gives me a thumbs up.

"Nice work, Caitlin," someone says behind me, and I stiffen up.

"Nate." I swivel slowly in my chair to look up at him.

"James will be pleased."

"James is making us scramble for our lives."