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Arms crossed and perfectly sculpted eyebrows lifted skeptically. “Of course he did, you looked horrified at the idea of having a meal with the man.” She shook her head in sympathy. “I’m sorry it turned out that way, but you can’t blame him for not wanting to look at you. Just leave it alone.”
Skylar scoffed. “Would you leave it alone?”
“No, but I would have just said yes or no in the first place. I wouldn’t have turned my face up like there was a rotten animal in my panties.”
“Ugh, seriously Ken?”
She laughed. “Hell yeah, seriously. Why were you so surprised anyway, you said there was major sparks between you two.”
“That’s exactly why! I don’t have time for sparks and chemistry and passion. That way lies madness.”
“Then maybe you should have just made up an excuse about not making things complicated since you’re working together.”
Skylar rolled her eyes. “Hindsight, Kendra.”
She sighed heavily. “Common sense, Skylar.” She waited until Skylar’s hazel eyes were on her again before she contorted her face into an ugly scowl. “If a guy had that reaction to your dinner invitation, would you ever want to see him again?”
Her shoulders sagged. “No.” Dammit she hated when Kendra was right. She still didn’t like it. “Fine, whatever. I need to go there today and show Cressly the final ads before they go out. Wish me luck.”
“Good luck,” she waved to Skylar’s back.
When she arrived at the Tompkins-Cross building, she ran into Ryder’s assistant, Mimi in the lobby. “Hi Mimi, how are you?”
Mimi gifted the woman with a genuine smile. “Hi Skylar. I’m good, how are you?”
Skylar shrugged. “Busy in a good way.”
Mimi nodded thoughtfully. “I’m always busy and I can assure you there is nothing good about it.” She laughed and ran a hand through her nearly white locks. “Did you have a meeting with Ryder today because I don’t have it on the schedule?”
“No, I’m meeting with Cressly now.” Skylar saw something flash in Mimi’s eyes but she couldn’t identify it. “Is he on the same floor? I completely forgot to get that information.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll take you up. Follow me.” They walked onto the elevator and silence reined for several floors. “How is the campaign going?”
Skylar smiled, always eager to talk about her work. “It’s going great, actually. There has been a ton of response from social media and online ads. I’m here today to get approval for print ads.”
Mimi’s brow crinkled in confusion. “Shouldn’t Ryder do that?”
She felt her face flush. “I thought so, but I received an email from Cressly saying he was now my point person.” She watched the realization sink in and saw the flash of anger in Mimi’s eyes.
“Stupid man,” she muttered and turned to Skylar. “I know I shouldn’t ask you this but can I see digital copies just to pass them along to Ryder? He’s being a stubborn ass right now, but he’ll kick himself if he hates the ads. Not that he will,” she quickly added.
“Sure, no problem.” She wasn’t sure how to broach the topic they’d both tiptoed around. “I don’t know what to say to him other than I’m sorry and he probably doesn’t want to hear that.”
Mimi let out a long breath. “You’re right he won’t want to hear it. Just give him time and do your job, that’s about all you can do. This is our floor.”
Skylar followed her onto a floor that looked remarkably like Ryder’s floor except the grey carpet was a dark blue color. They weaved through a maze of cubicles until they stood in front of large wooden double doors, where an kindly woman with grey streaked hair waved them in. She watched Cressly’s face light up in a friendly smile when he spotted her and motioned for her to have a seat.
He ended the call and turned to her. “Skylar, thanks for coming in today. Do you want anything to drink?”
A gin and tonic would be nice, she thought but she shook her head. “No thanks. But I do have something for you,” she teased and opened her portfolio. “Ads.”
“Ah, yes. Let’s see what magic you and Kendra have created.” He stood and she followed him to a large table off to the side.
Skylar laid out the print ads on the large table and went to stand on the other side while she explained where each ad would be published and why she thought it would work. “We have a series of ads for each level of education. Each add will focus on learning disabilities, teaching aids and learning aids. They’ll publish over time so the Edu-Tech name is always in their minds.” Skylar held her breath and waited as he looked over each ad.
“This looks incredible Skylar, truly amazing. I’m giving you the okay on all of them. Hang on,” he held up a finger and picked up the nearest phone. “Hey, can you come to my office? Yeah, now. Okay.” He turned back to her. “I’ve asked Hunter to come down to see if he has any input.” Cressly explained to her that it was Hunter’s job to bring in new business.
“Cressly, what’s up?” Hunter burst into the office and stopped when he caught sight of a shock of red hair. “Skylar, how wonderful to see you again. You’re looking lovelier than ever.”
