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“Are you ready for this?” She takes a step back, tipping her head to the side. “You look good, too. I noticed you got a haircut.”
“You do have an eye for detail, don't you?”
“It's my job.” She takes a deep breath, gesturing for me to do the same. I follow her lead, feeling like a fool. “Now. What do you need to remember tonight?”
“Do we have to do this?”
“No. I'm in the habit of asking questions I don't expect answers to. Tell me. What do you need to remember tonight?”
“You're enjoying this, aren't you?”
“I'm doing my job.” Yes, and she is entirely full of shit because she is most definitely enjoying this. She can't even be bothered to hide a grin.
With a heavy sigh, I repeat what she's drilled into my head the past week. “I can't have everything the way I want it exactly when I want it.”
“And why is that?”
My jaw’s beginning to ache from all the teeth grinding. “Because I don't run the world.”
“And?”
“And I need to be nice to people if I want them to give me what I want.”
“Close enough.”
“What? Isn't that what you have drilled into my hand?”
“Actually, what I told you was, you might be a big fish in a small pond, but in the grand scheme of things you are not that important.”
“Do you sweet talk all of your clients this way, or do you reserve that kindness for me?”
“I'm trying to give you a sense of proportion. I realize your situation feels like the end of the world, like everywhere you go, people are looking at you. But that just isn't true. And if you can see it that way, it can be easier to take a breath and look at this situation from the outside. That's where you can think strategically, from the outside, not when you are neck deep in drama.”
“Alright, fair enough.”
My desk phone rings, and the double chime tells me it's a call from somewhere in the building. “Mr. Cargill, all of your guests are down here.”
“Thank you.” Just like that, there's ice in my stomach, threatening to freeze me in place.
“Are you ready for this?” Willow asks, and for once there is no sarcastic note to her voice, no smirk.
“You tell me. Do you think I'm ready?”
“The truth?”
“Would you give me anything less?”
“I think you are capable of great things so long as you remember to stay out of your own way.”
It's funny. The hardest fought compliments are the ones that mean the most. A man like me is easily surrounded by yes men, by inconsequential strangers hoping to score access to wealth and prestige. In other words, I hear compliments a lot.
Yet for the first time in as long as I can remember, I feel bolstered by her observation.
“Okay.” Squaring my shoulders, I head for the elevator. “Let's do this.”
