Page 92 of The Fear of Falling
“You’re in a good mood this morning,” I say, unable to hold back my smile as I breathe in the chocolate-like scent of the flower.
Benson shrugs. “Good weekend,” he says like it was a perfectly average couple of days. His gaze lingers on me for a few seconds, heating the whole room this time, before he turns to Eric again. “Do you need me to walk you through some of the plans we started putting into place last week?”
Eric blinks, glancing from Benson to me and back again, then shakes his head. “No, uh, I’m sure you two have everything handled. Unless there’s something you need from me?”
“At some point we’ll need to walk through the budget together. I…” Benson pauses when the main office door opens behind him and the new social media manager steps inside, giving all of us a nervous smile.
“Melissa!” I say, and my own nerves spike higher. I haven’t had a chance to warn Eric about my unilateral hiring decision. “I’m so glad you made it. Um, Benson, would you mind showing Melissa to the desk in my office and get her set up in the system while I…uh…” I jerk my head toward Eric, who furrows his brow and glances from me to Melissa.
“Of course,” Benson says, though his hesitant steps make it clear he doesn’t want to leave me on my own with Eric.
“Oh, I can get her settled!” Lynda says brightly. Blessed woman doesn’t know about Melissa either, but she gives me a wink as she takes Melissa down the hall.I love her.
As soon as they’re gone, my office door shutting with a click, Eric folds his arms and gives me a stern look that used to beenough to get me to back down on whatever differing opinion I had. Now it just makes him look petulant. “Avery, who’s Melissa?”
I stand tall despite a tremble in my hands. “Our new social media manager.”
“But I said we didn’t need—”
“You were wrong,” I argue. Based on the way Benson’s eyebrows fly up, I must sound stronger than I feel, and I take that to heart, folding my arms to match Eric. “Social media has always been under my purview, but it’s time to give the responsibility to someone better suited to marketing so I can focus on acquisitions and production.”
Eric’s jaw slips open partway as he stares at me. I wonder if I’ve ever talked to him like that. Chances are high that this is the first time I’ve really shown him any backbone.
It feels good.
“I thought her reasoning was solid,” Benson says with a poorly masked grin. “So I agreed with the idea.”
Eric glares at him. “That’s not your—” He cuts himself off as the door opens and a woman who looks to be in her thirties steps in, a polite smile on her face as she takes in the lobby. All of Eric’s anger dissipates in an instant. “Cathy!” It’s more of a squeak than an actual word. I’ve never heard him sound like that, and he’s redder than he was in my office as he hurries forward. “I mean Ms. Stanton. You made it.”
She smiles sweetly, adjusting wire-frame glasses on her nose. “Hi, Eric.”
This is the agent? I wasn’t sure why she would go to the trouble of coming all the way out here with no promise that Rose & Quill would work with an agent right now, but with the way Eric is staring at her with a dorky grin…
The puzzle pieces start falling into place. No wonder Eric hasn’t sent any messages over the last couple of days. Bensonand I were trying to figure out why he would spend so much energy keeping us apart and then drop the subject without a word. But if the cartoon hearts in Cathy’s eyes are any indication, I don’t think she came here just to meet me and see the Rose & Quill office. Based on Benson’s smothered laughter, he’s thinking the same thing.
I clear my throat, breaking the intense eye contact between Eric and Cathy and pulling their gazes my way. “Hi,” I say, holding my hand out to the agent. “I’m Avery Baldwin. CEO.”
“Yes! Hi!” Cathy takes my hand with enthusiasm. “Oh, I’ve been so excited to come here and meet you, Ms. Baldwin.”
“Unfortunately, I don’t have a lot of time to talk to you today,” I reply, since I can’t honestly say I’m happy to meet her.
Cathy’s smile doesn’t falter. “Oh, that’s okay. I plan to be around for a few days.” She sends a smile to Eric, who seems to have swallowed his tongue.
I’m honestly impressed he learned anything at the conference if his attention was so otherwise occupied.
“Well,” I say, fighting the urge to roll my eyes, “I should get back to bringing our new employee up to speed. Nice to meet you, Cathy.”
She barely spares me a glance because her focus has returned to Eric, and I look at Benson, matching his amused smile before I head back to my office to hug Lynda and get to work.
“Hey, sorry to interrupt.” According to the twinkle in Benson’s eye, he’s not sorry at all, and I playfully narrow my eyes at him while Melissa keeps exploring the scheduling software I use for our socials.
“What’s up?” I ask.
“Phillip Rogers is out on the balcony.”
My stomach does a little flip. “Is he? Why?”Don’t tell me he’s changed his mind about investing.
Benson’s smile softens, like he can read my thoughts. “He wanted to talk marketing plans with me while I’m still in town.”
