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“Well, he said he’d call me, so we’ll see.” I can hear the doubt in my best friend’s voice. “It wasn’t a great first date spot,” she admits.
“Well, if he wants to call, he’ll call. And if not, be done with him!” We both laugh at my usual reaction to Carrie’s dating woes. Somehow, she always finds herself in the strangest situations when it comes to guys.
But that’s probably better than no dates, like yourself, I reprimand internally. Suddenly, a voice makes us both jump.
“What could possibly be so funny that you’re disrupting the entire office, Ramona?”
Melody’s sharp voice causes both Carrie and me to sit up straight. “I’m sorry, Melody,” I offer quickly. “We were just taking a moment to – ” but the skinny blonde holds up a perfectly manicured hand. It’s her go-to gesture to make us stop talking. It annoys Carrie and I to no end, and I almost roll my eyes, but catch myself and instead smile as sweetly as possible at the horrible woman.
“I do not give a crap what you were doing. Your lives outside of work do not interest me in the slightest.” As if to prove her point, Melody hardly bothers to look directly at us.
Carrie raises her eyebrows at me, my own face turning red with barely-composed anger. God she’s such a bitch, I think to myself. But outwardly, I manage to respond calmly.
“I’m sorry, Melody,” I repeat myself. “Is there something I can help you with?”
“How are those notes from last week coming along?” my manager queries, tapping her long nails impatiently against the edge of my cubicle wall.
“I’m almost done,” I answer with exaggerated politeness. “You’ll have them before the end of day.”
“Fine. And is the conference room set up for the client meeting?”
I nod quickly. “The caterers delivered coffee and pastries about twenty minutes ago, and the intern should have finished setting out the sketches and notepads by now.” I smile tightly. I may hate my job, but I’m really good at it.
Unfortunately, Melody rarely gives credit when it’s due. “Should have?” she responds, displeasure etched across her otherwise pretty face. “Honestly, Ramona, why would you let an intern handle such an important task?”
I frown slightly and glance at Carrie. She shakes her head slightly, also clearly confused by Melody’s question. We always have the intern prepare the conference room, but for some reason Melody seems especially dictatorial about the details today.
“I was absolutely planning to go check the room before the meeting,” I offer carefully. “I was just trying to wrap up these notes first and then grab – ”
“Do it now,” Melody snaps, cutting me off mid-sentence. “If there are any issues with this meeting, I’m telling the big boss who’s to blame. If there is even the slightest mishap in this meeting, so help me God, then it’ll be the end of your career here.”
And with a flip of her blonde hair, Melody turns around and stalks away, leaving only the smell of her cloyingly sweet perfume in her wake.
“What the hell was that about?” Carrie asks, her eyes going wide now that we’re alone.
I exhale, not realizing that I’d been holding my breath. “I have no idea,” I say with a shake of my head. Melody threatens my job on almost a daily basis, but this was beyond the pale because she’s completely on edge today. Almost immediately, I register the reason behind her especially intense demeanor today.
“Well, no, that’s not entirely true.” I grin mischievously and crook my finger for Carrie to lean in closer.
“What is it?” she whispers back excitedly.
“Well, apparently the bigwig client that Melody’s freaking out about is Dissidence Corporation. You know, the really hot firm that everyone’s talking about lately?”
Carrie blinks several times as she processes this information. “You mean the real estate development agency? Aren’t they worth billions since that project they did downtown? They have properties everywhere.” I can hear the awe in Carrie’s voice.
I nod my head eagerly. “According to the portfolio they sent over, they’re working on another big project and they’re looking to hire a new interior design team. Melody is determined to land them as clients.” I lean even closer to Carrie, my voice barely audible. “It’s gotten to the point where she’s keeping everything super hush-hush, even from the other project managers.”
“Wow,” Carrie says as she leans back in her chair. “I can’t believe it. About the client, that is. Of course, I believe that Melody would hog the project. That woman is all about getting ahead by stabbing others in the back.”
I nod in agreement. “Well, it turns out that if they hire us and like our work on this first gig, then they’ll probably give us tons of other projects later on.”
I shrug, knowing that Melody will never pass such a project on to me, but I still feel excited to have a taste of what my future could look like.
