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“I wish you all the best with yours!” he said, lifting his glass to me.
I toasted him in return, though I had to admit, I was glad when the dinner came to an end.
I was happy that he was happy with his life choices, but I really did want to find someone to settle down with. I didn’t see anything at all wrong with having a wife and kids, and I hoped the day would come when I would be able to have my own.
Still, I wasn’t going to try to spend my time convincing this man that his life wasn’t for me.
We were different, and I was okay with that.
As long as he was happy, that was all that mattered.
I’d find my own happiness my way.
FOUR
Laurel
I absentmindedly tooka sip of my coffee as I walked through the door at work.
But, my peaceful morning erupted into a madhouse as I did.
Mondays were typically busy, but I wasn’t expecting anything nearly this busy. The fact that there were fellow employees buzzing about as though the place was on fire was enough to make me feel like we were about to hear something big, and I wasn’t sure I was ready for it.
It was a rare thing for the entire place to be buzzing with this level of excitement. But, here we were. There were other members of the team who were on the phone, and some were busily typing away at their computers as though their very jobs depended on it.
And I felt entirely lost.
I had no idea what was going on, and I grabbed one of my coworkers by the elbow and asked her if she knew what the big deal was.
“Haven’t you heard?” she asked.
I shook my head. Clearly I hadn’t.
“There’s a new account considering the company, and Leroy is picking who he wants to take them on today. I don’t know how you missed the memo. Didn’t you get the email?” she asked.
“I guess I got a little busy over the weekend and didn’t get to it,” I said. “I’ll check it out, thanks.”
I turned and headed toward my personal office, wondering who this new company was, and why everyone was so excited about it. It wasn’t like this was the first time that we were faced with getting a new account, let alone a large one.
Being one of the biggest names in interior design in all of New York City, it wasn’t at all unusual for us to be working with some of the more famous names in the world. But, if everyone was so on edge about this client, that left me wondering just who it could be, and what it was they were after here.
If they were anyone who was potentially bringing in a lot of money, I could see why there was so much excitement going around. But, with so many of us working on commission, I had no idea where the account would fall. For the most part, a lot of us were chosen directly by the client in question.
But, there were those who came to the company just wanting our services, and when that happened, we often went by seniority on who was going to step up and take the new account. I was one of the top designers in our company, but there were two others who would have the first choice.
At least, that’s what I assumed would happen until Leroy himself found me.
“Glad you’re here,” he said as he appeared in the doorway to my office. “Did you get my email?”
“I’m looking at it right now,” I told him, though I hadn’t yet gotten that far. “Sorry. I was a bit busy over the weekend, and I didn’t get the chance to see what this was about. If I had known it was this urgent, I would have made it my top priority, you know that.”
“It’s not so big you had to be briefed per se,” he replied. “But I do want you to take on this account.”
“What’s going on?” I asked. “It seems that everyone but me knows about this big account. Isn’t it going to go by seniority?”
“Normally, I would let it go that way, but with this particular account, I want to make sure they are given the best of the best, and you know how highly I think of your work,” my boss said. I blushed. I knew he did think very well of what I was able to do, but to think that he was going to be handing this account off to me for the simple fact he wanted the best was beyond flattering.
“I’m surprised you’re not the one taking it yourself,” I said.
