This is love

NINETEEN

“It’s not going to disappear, you know?” Sapphire’s cheekily grin appears over her coffee cup. I flinch, elbows bumping against my desk in a risk to spill my tea over the keyboard. I feel my cheeks flush at Sapphire’s noted remark. “We get it. Big hot shot hubby, even bigger hot shot ring is hard not to daydream all day but girl, you better get your head out of these clouds because I’m just about to forward an urgent email from Clarke Thomas.” 

“Urgent?” 

She hums and shrugs her shoulders. “That’s what it came in as.” 

A swooshing notification fills my emails and flashes. 

Miss Fields/To whom it may concern. 
With a vast growing expansion within the toy industry in the upcoming weeks, it is my greatest concern that the store will not be ready for the Christmas preparations that will take place in only weeks time. The building is standing with no walls, no ceilings and no floor. While it is only May and I appreciate that Christmas is a far while off for most, this industry does not stop or slack. We need - forgive me for the cliche - workshop for the toys, storage and offices for online sales that staff are having to do from home. 
Please, if someone could contact me urgently about the forthcoming collaboration, it would be highly appreciated as I’m afraid I won’t be able to wait much longer. 
Regards
Clarke Thomas. CEO/OWNER Thomas Toystore. 

I could’ve choked if I had been drinking the stewing tea that was undoubtedly going cold and gathering a weird white film across the surface. My chest felt tight as I read and reread the email that was dimming on the screen and becoming blurry behind my aching eyes. 

“Everything okay?” Sapphire asks, quirking up her perfectly plucked brow. “You’ve gone very pale.” 

I could feel the sweat prickling the back of my neck. “Clarke is having second thoughts about giving us the Oxford Street deal.” 

“What?” She shrieks. “He can do that? Is there no something signed?” 

There was a throb between my brows and a dull ache in my temples. My throat was dry and my palms were sweaty. The contract was only verbally binding after attempting to ship Ivy overseas to get the needed signature and getting her phone call about her panic attack in JFK before she boarded. She was sent home with reassurance that her job was safe and Clarke was contacted and told that things were still in the process. 

I don’t take a minute to grab the phone and dial the foreign number and listen to the dial tone with my stomach knotting in anxiety. 

I wouldn't risk losing this job. This was the biggest I’ve ever done, and possibly ever will do. This was a worldwide, household named store that people flocked all over the world too see and not just at Christmas. Their New York store gained all sorts of attention, London would be exactly the same if not bigger. I wasn’t willing to let this slip through my fingers. I didn’t work this hard to get a tainted name of a company that couldn’t pull their weight. 

“Thomas Toystore, may I help you?” 

“Yes, er, hello. May I speak to Mr Clarke Thomas, please? It’s Frankie Fields - oh, um, Hayes. Sorry, can you just tell him it’s Frankie from F-Interiors. Please."

She mumbles something sweet and again, I'm listening to a dial tone while chewing my lower lip anxiously. Sapphire leans forward in her desk, all attention turned from the daily scroll through Pinterest boards to my conversation that was ultimately the liferaft my company needed. 

"Miss Fields? Sorry, Hayes. Apologises. It takes me a while when someone gets married to make that transition." The thick, English accent greets warmly. I almost relaxed. Almost. "I'm really sorry about sending that email so soon after you returned from your honeymoon. Hope I didn't dampen any spirits."