Chapter 2
1413 Words
2
After Stephanie had slammed the door behind herself, she leaned up against it and softly sighed. She shouldn’t have been that mean to Chuck, he was just a little worried about her, but she was just so irritable today. It didn’t help the late rising, but she felt there was something else awry. That strange sensation she’d been experiencing since that wounding. Stephanie reached up and brushed her fingers against the wounds. They still hadn’t healed properly, and the scabs which covered the wounds were dark black and very callous in appearance.
Suddenly Stephanie heard the front door open and a commotion erupted in the front office. It sounded like Chuck was raising his voice at some intruder, and she had just enough time to push away from the door before it swung open. In the doorway stood George Gregory, and the gentleman had a wide, pleasant smile on his face.
“Good morning,” he greeted just as Chuck came up behind him. Her partner’s nostrils were flaring and his eyes were daggers of annoyance.
“What a pleasant surprise,” she managed to welcome him. She shot Chuck a questioning glance, but he just angrily shrugged and scowled. “What brings you here to our small shop?”
“I did promise a visit, remember?” he teasingly reminded as his eyes swept over the back room. He stepped further inside and Chuck replaced him in the doorway. “Quite an interesting building you’re using here,” he complimented. “I would never have imagined anyone could work an advertising business out of an old building such as this.”
“We’re just that talented,” Stephanie returned. She frantically looked to Chuck for him to do something. Speaking with the clients wasn’t one of her strong suits.
“As I was telling you, Mr. Gregory, we’re not really ready to give you a tour of the place today,” Chuck tried to convince him. “We just got back from the conference and we’re still trying to get the place in order with new commissions.”
“I won’t take much of your time,” Gregory consoled them. He glanced over the crowded tables. “I was just wanting to take a quick look at some of your designs for previous clients, nothing more,” he explained to them. He turned to Stephanie and she nervously smiled at his grin. “Then I’ll be out of your way, I promise.” Stephanie sighed, but Chuck was still in the mood to throw him out.
“All right,” she agreed. He was a prospective customer, after all. “What would you like to see first?” Chuck wasn’t pleased with her decision.
“Boss, you sure you’re up to this?” he insisted.
“Has she not been feeling well?” Gregory wondered with concern.
“Just a little ill lately, that’s all,” she brushed aside both of their worries. “I’m fine now, and I’m definitely well enough to show Mr. Gregory some pictures.”
“I’ll be out in the front if you need me,” Chuck assured her. He grabbed the door and paused to give one last scowl to Gregory before he shut it.
“I don’t think your partner likes me,” Gregory commented as he glanced to where the other man had gone.
“He’s just worried about the finances from the trip,” Stephanie tried to excuse her partner. Maybe he wasn’t feeling too well, either, and was trying to hide it from her. “But what did you want to look at first, Mr. Gregory?” she asked her guest. She gestured at several sketches for logos and nodded at the computer in the corner where she did the digital drafting. “Did you want to see the shoddy first steps or the nice final step?”
“What I want you to do first is to call me George,” he insisted. “Being called Mr. Gregory all the time makes me feel old.”
“You’re not that old,” she consoled him with a laugh. He really didn’t look much older than herself, and she didn’t want to think of herself as old. “And how about we meet halfway and I call you Gregory?” She didn’t feel comfortable being on a first-name basis with this strange man, mostly because he’d be calling her by her first name soon. That was just too personal for a business relationship, which is what she intended for this to remain.
“I suppose I’ll have to agree to that,” he replied as he turned his attention to the drawings on the table. “You have quite a bit of ability shown here,” he complimented.
He shuffled through the papers for a moment while Stephanie nervously stood beside him. Usually the visits by clients were scheduled and Chuck would give them a presentation with examples of her work. That left her out until they had some questions he couldn’t answer or wanted a quick sketch for their design.
“Very nice indeed,” he repeated as he finished glancing over the products. “Now how about those final examples?”
“If you’d like to step over here,” she answered. Her nervousness was starting to make her feel ill, and she tried to hide her anxiety as she showed him some random advertisements she’d completed for past clients. “I don’t really have them organized for a good viewing,” she apologized. “Maybe if you give us a call about your coming we can have more examples for you to look at.”
“That’s fine, I’ve seen more than enough to know I’ll definitely recommend you to my company execs,” he brushed aside her concerns. She hoped he would leave now and she could take a breather, but he only pulled back from the computer and glanced at her. She didn’t like that look in his eyes, it was too curious. She felt he was almost trying to see inside of her. “There was something else I wanted to ask you,” he slowly informed her.
“About what?” she innocently returned. She had no idea what this was about.
“I understand something happened to you during the conference,” he plainly informed her. “My associate, Miss Seville, noticed you in the lobby and she mentioned you looked the worse for wear.”
“Oh, that,” Stephanie nervously recalled. Sher unconsciously reached out and clutched the wound on her arm. “I just wandered a little too far from the hotel, that’s all,” she sheepishly lied. “There was an alley beside the hotel that I thought was safe, but I…I fell down and ruined my clothes.”
“I hope there’s no lasting effects,” he oddly commented.
“Well, my clothes were pretty much ruined, so I had to throw them out,” she admitted. “But other than that, I’m fine.”
“Your partner said you weren’t feeling well,” Gregory pointed out. He noticed how she clutched her arm, and his face took a grim turn. “Is there anything I can do for you?”
“Oh, no, it’s just me being a wimp,” she brushed aside. “You know, tired after a long trip and just needing some more rest.” She glanced at her watch in a pathetic attempt to appear preoccupied. “Well, it looks like I’d better get to work on some deadlines coming up,” she briskly informed him. She still managed to keep a smile on her face, though, as she gestured to the door. “I’m sure you have a long drive back to your business office.” She was just guessing, as she hadn’t caught where he was from, but as noted before there were no large companies in the area so he had to have driven a ways to come to them.
“I’ll probably be staying a few days,” he admitted, which surprised her. “I actually took a couple of days of vacation time off and I booked a room at a nice lodge not too far from here. It’s the one over the pass.”
“Oh, yes, that’s a really nice one,” she hurriedly agreed with him. If it wouldn’t have been deemed impolite, she would have been trying to physically push him out of the office by now. “I’m sure you’ll have fun there.”
“Yes, lots of wild nature around there,” Gregory mused. If he was trying to make a point, it was lost on her. Instead he smiled and held out his hand. “I guess I’ll be going, the room reservations start in a few hours and don’t want to be wasting my money just standing here.”
“Have a safe trip,” she returned. This was all very reminiscent of the scene in the lobby as she shook his hand.
“And you keep care of yourself,” he firmly but kindly instructed. “We wouldn’t want anything to happen to this relationship just as it was getting off the ground. The business relationship, that is,” he joked.
“Oh, um, yes, that would be bad for both of us,” Stephanie agreed.
- Writer
