Private Relations

6

Monday morning came and Sarah was more nervous than she had ever been before. She spent all weekend getting this presentation ready. She stayed up late again Saturday night as well, starting her whole presentation over about three times because none of it felt right. She even ignored her cell phone, which rang uncontrollably with texts and calls from Chad and Tiffany, worried about her and wondering if she was all right. Finally, midday Sunday, Sarah felt she had fine-tuned it enough so that it was presentable to her boss and this new client. She eventually texted Chad and Tiffany back, letting them know that she was fine and was just working the whole weekend. She felt bad when she had to blow off seeing Chad because she wanted to practice and be focused for Monday. This was a big deal for her, and she wanted to be on her A-game. He wished her luck and told her he loved her. Now here she was, in her office pacing back and forth awaiting the start of the meeting. A light knock on her office door sent panic through her body. Mr. Davis let himself in, "We're starting Sarah," he told her. She gathered her notes and laptop from her desk took a deep breath and followed her boss out of her office.

The walk to the firm's meeting room felt like everything was moving in hyper-speed. Sarah just wanted more time so she could get her nerves in check, but it was too late, the meeting was going to start, and she had to be ready now. She walked into the meeting room and scanned her surroundings. Four other colleagues of hers occupied the long table in the room, all their notes, and files scattered around them. Everyone was scrambling to get prepared, and suddenly Sarah felt a little more at ease knowing that she wasn't the only one nervous about today. She sat down, opened her laptop, and pulled up her presentation. She read over every slide, confident in what she was going to say and was excited for once today. That was, until Mr. Davis walked to the head of the table, "Hello everyone, I'd like to introduce our client for today, Mr. Christopher Blake, CEO of Turner Electronics." Mr. Davis gestured toward the door and in walked Christopher Blake, standing six feet tall dressed in a gorgeous black pinstripe suit. He looked like money walking. He looked... familiar. Sarah's breath caught in her throat as she studied the man standing at the head of the table. His facial features; the chiseled jaw, but the angelic slope of his cheeks, the dark hair, everything looked like she had seen this man before. It wasn't until he spoke, "Hello, I hope you all are ready to get down to business," he said to the group. That voice, a whisper so soft and relaxing, you had to almost strain to hear it. Sarah's eyes widened and her heart rate picked up, "Elevator man!" she screamed in her head. She followed his movements with her eyes all the way to his seat, which he took at the end of the table so he could watch everyone with a front and center view. Sarah turned her attention back to Mr. Davis at the front of the room and tried her hardest not to notice the gorgeous man whom she'd shared an elevator car with twice sitting two feet away from her. Sarah patiently waited until all her colleagues had present their thoughts and ideas about the way they would run the campaign. "Of course, I have to go last," she thought sarcastically, anxious to get it over with and get out of this tension-filled room.

Finally, it was her turn to present herself to Mr. Davis and Mr. Blake. Her legs felt like Jell-O as she made her way up to the front of the room. She felt her hands shake as she put her presentation up on the screen; this was it, the moment she had prepared all weekend for. She took a deep breath, faced her colleagues, her boss, and Mr. Blake.

30 minutes later Sarah was finally finished, she had gone through her presentation with ease and survived the Q&A portion. It was hard to focus and get her answers out when Mr. Blake had questioned her about her leadership skills and tactics. His voice wrapped around her like silk and made her feel hot from the top of her head all the way down to her toes. Through the constant distraction, Sarah felt that she conducted herself very well and was proud of all the work she put in. She stood in the break room with the rest of her colleagues waiting to hear who would take the reins on this project. She kept to herself and tried to put positive vibes out into the world. She wanted this leadership opportunity, badly. It had been 15 minutes of Mr. Davis and Mr. Blake deliberating and the time just seemed to drag on. Sarah overheard the rest of her colleagues talking about the meeting, "That Mr. Blake was a real hardass!" Erica said to the group, "He made me so uncomfortable and unsure of what I was saying. I hated it." The other three standing by her all agreed and murmured their responses. At 21, Erica was one of the youngest working at the firm, fresh out of grad school and working at her first "big girl job," she took everything either too seriously or not serious enough. "But did you notice how hot he was?" Sarah heard Heather say back to Erica. "I mean, good lord, I have never seen a man more gorgeous before in my life! I hope I get picked just to spend some time with him." Heather was a typical blonde-haired, blue-eyed girl. All she talked about in the break room was the attractive men in the office, nothing very deep there with her. Sarah rolled her eyes in the corner of the room at the conversation between the two girls. Of course, she agreed with Heather, but she wasn't going to voice that aloud, not when more important matters were at hand. Another 20 minutes rolled by and Mr. Davis came to bring the group back to the meeting room for the final decision. Sarah's nerves picked up again as she walked back, but she tucked them in the back of her mind and stood up straighter as she entered the room. She took her seat along with the rest of the girls who were in the running for this position. Mr. Davis stood at the front of the room and addressed the group, "I just want to let you all know how well you handled yourselves this morning. I'm very pleased with all of you, but as you know, only one of you will lead this project for Mr. Blake, so I'm going to let him do the honors of saying who that will be." Mr. Davis motioned for Mr. Blake to join him up at the front. Sarah couldn't help but stare; he radiated confidence and lust as he moved through the room. Her eyes were locked on him like a lion on its prey. When she noticed how hard she had been staring, she blushed and looked down at her lap pretending to be awaiting the news. "As Mr. Davis said, you all handled yourself well, but one of you was exceptional. So, it is my pleasure to announce that Sarah Jensen will be the leader of this project," Mr. Blake finished. Sarah's head snapped up and looked around, everyone was looking at her and smiling, she stared in disbelief. "Me?" she said as looked up towards Mr. Davis and Mr. Blake. "Yes Sarah, you did so well and hit a lot of key points, both of us are very excited to have you lead this project," Mr. Davis explained.

Sarah stood and made her way up to the front of the room. Her four other colleagues in the room applauded her and she smiled nervously at them. Mr. Davis outstretched his left hand and shook hers. She was still in shock that had been chosen. He smiled at her, "Well done Sarah," he told her with a toothy grin. "Thank you so much sir," she told him with a weak smile. Mr. Blake stepped towards her, "I'm excited to start working with you Sarah," he told her as he stuck out his hand, she grabbed ahold of it lightly, the touch electric. His voice brought her nerves down and made her melt right there in front of him. When she finally mustered up the courage to look up, she saw that twinkle in his eye that she noticed the first time she saw him, yet up close it was much more mesmerizing. He smiled at her, his lips curling and pulling back to expose his perfectly white teeth. "Say something dummy!" she yelled inside her brain when she realized that she had been standing there like a statue for much too long. "Me too," she croaked. Mr. Blake chuckled, "I'll be in touch," he told her and left the room. Everyone shuffled out of the room, Sarah being the last to leave. Her colleagues gave her their congratulations and she muttered her thanks as she made her way back to her office.