Total pages in book: 114
Estimated words: 108636 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 543(@200wpm)___ 435(@250wpm)___ 362(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 108636 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 543(@200wpm)___ 435(@250wpm)___ 362(@300wpm)
On the one hand, it’s exhilarating. On the other, I spend half my time wondering if I’m truly cut out for it. I’ve never in my life been cutthroat or bold or pushy. Things I desperately need to learn to be if I’m going to succeed in the world of advertising.
The copier comes to a rest, and I ready the next sheet, placing it facedown on the glass top and closing the lid. I’m about to push the button and fire it up when a muffled voice on the other side of the wall pulls me up short.
“Oh, c’mon, Laura,” a male voice croons, the edges of the sound blurry but the context clear. It’s like something over a radio—if I strain hard enough, I can make out exactly what they’re saying. “Just tell me what the plan is.”
“You know I can’t do that, Seth,” she responds, and a few soft giggles follow. “I’m not on your team.”
“You should’ve been on my team,” Seth says, a flirtatious lilt that makes the hair at the back of my neck stand on end. I lean closer to the wall, my heartbeat freaking thundering in my chest. If I can’t get it to calm down, I’m not going to be able to hear anything but the sound of blood whooshing around my body like it’s on a racetrack.
Seth McKenzie and Laura Keller, a very important member of Beau’s Midnight team, are talking in the conference room next door, and a very sinking feeling inside me says they shouldn’t be. I mean, a little flirting is hardly international espionage—though, Seth is engaged to Beau’s ex-freaking-girlfriend, let’s remember—but it feels like it is. In fact, with everything that’s on the line with the “friendly competition,” it feels like the biggest freaking deal of my life.
“You wanted me on your team?” Laura asks, and when I can’t hear Seth’s response, I press my whole dang ear to the wall.
The words are still muffled, and I feel like I’m tiptoeing through a highly guarded museum in the middle of a heist. My breathing is shaky, and my stomach flips over with nerves. I glance over my shoulder, looking toward the still-closed door in the copy room and then press my ear back to the wall, forgoing any more intake of oxygen in an effort to hear.
“I’m on Beau’s team, Seth,” Laura says. “Not yours.” I don’t know her very well yet, but I’m starting to like her a little more. I know the pressure of having someone in Seth’s position push you for information must be immense, but so far, she seems to be holding up. She is mighty. She is powerful. She is woman. Or fucking something, I don’t know. I’m freaking out.
“We’ve already established that,” he comments. “But what we haven’t established is what the benefits would be if you gave me a little insight into where he’s guiding his big campaign…”
“Are you trying to bribe me, Seth?”
Ohhh, shit. Body, mind, and soul, I am an actual piece of this stupid wall now. Tape and spackle and paint me over, I’m here to stay.
“Of course not.” He chuckles. “Just trying to find something that’s mutually beneficial for both of us.”
“Sure.” Laura laughs. “Find someone else to hound.”
“What? So, that’s how it’s going to be?” Seth asks playfully, though I can perfectly imagine his crooked smile as he tries to save face. Just like with Bethany and Henry and all of Beau’s other friends, because of my proximity to the Banks family, I’ve had more than enough occasion to be in his company over the years to learn some of the things that make him tick. He has a quick wit and a flashy smile, but if he’s not getting his way, he’s scheming to figure out a way around it.
Honestly, I don’t know if even Beau noticed the narcissistic qualities of Seth’s personality as soon as I did, but I understand. It’s not exactly normal behavior to study people’s words and expressions and moods as closely as I do. It’s a by-product of trauma and missed connection and, in part, I’m sure, of feeling like my only option for emotional satisfaction was to watch Beau from a distance. Very intently.
“That’s exactly how it is,” Laura comments with finality. There’s a muffled sound of shuffling and then the small creak of the conference room door opening and shutting. I quickly shove myself away from the wall and trip gracefully over my own foot.
“Ow, shit!” I whisper-yell, catching myself on the copy machine with an offensively loud bang. My heart gallops like a fence-breaking horse, and I snatch up the next paper in my stack as quickly as I can to get back to copying. Bing, bing, bing, my eyes flit to the door over and over, just waiting for Seth to come in and throttle me for listening in.