Sitting before the mirror, Stacy dropped the highlight brush she just used on her face back on the nightstand. She looked at her face in the mirror. Satisfied with her work, she applied a coat of red lipstick and admired the effect in the mirror.
“Is Norma on the team?” Blake, who was standing beside her and looking into his own dressing mirror, asked as he Knott his tie.
Norma was another senior marketing manager.
“No,” she put on her earrings, one after the other.” It’s only me and Cameron and our assistants.”
“That’s good.” Blake brushed his hair.
It was Monday morning, and they were both getting ready for work.
Her phone rang on the bed. She walked to the bed, and it was her dad calling. She picked the phone off the bed, swiping across the screen.
“Good morning dad,” she walked back to the dressing table and covered up the compact face powder and the concealer jar while listening to her father on the phone.
“Yes sir,” she rolled her eyes. “I am about to leave the house now.”
“Okay, please don’t be late,” Mr. Waylon said into the phone. “You know how important this contract is for the company.”
“Yes, yes dad,” she walked into her closet and tried to choose from a large array of shoe colors and designs. She finally settled on a pair of beige stilettos to match her brown power suit. “I know that already. We are planning to be there at least thirty minutes before the meeting. It’s just a forty-minute drive down there.”
“I know,” her dad agreed.
“I promise Dad.” She walked out of her dressing room, shutting the door. “I am going to nail this one.”
“That’s my girl,” her father chuckled into the phone. “You know what? If you get this, Gerald and I might consider you for that VP post your husband and brother had been clamoring for, for you.”
“Okay dad,” she sat on the dressing table stool. “I need to go now. See you later.”
She quickly disconnected the line and didn’t hear his last words.
“I wish you all the best today,” Blake kissed the back of her hand, so he won’t ruin her perfectly made face. “The white eagles are testing you with this,” Blake said, referring to their fathers with the pet names their kids had coined out for them.
“As if I don’t know,” she wore her second shoe. “Dad hinted at that now.”
“I know you will do great.” “Thanks, dear,” she stood up. “I have to leave now. Good luck at your meeting too, today.”
“Yeah,” he replied. “Thanks.”
He was going to have a meeting with the representatives of the company they were trying to buy over.
“Bye,” she said, walking out of the room, her heels clicking on the floor.
Blake walked outside minutes after Stacy left the house. His driver, Jeff, stood outside the car, talking to someone on the phone. He quickly stopped talking as Blake approached and put the cellphone back into his pocket.
“Good morning, Mr. Carter,” he greeted with a mock salute as he opened the door for his boss.
“Good morning, Jeff.” Blake replied with a smile, tossing his briefcase on the seat before he climbed in.
When they arrived at the office complex, he called out a general greeting to people at the front desk as he strode to the elevator.
“Good morning, Mr. Carter,” Vanessa said as she walked ahead of him into his office.
“Good morning Vanessa.” “Your daily plan for today is already up on your screen,” she said, opening his office door. She collected his briefcase and set it on the corner of his desk as he took the seat.
“Mr. Waylon asked to buzz when you arrived. Shall I?”
“No,” Vanessa waved her off. “I will see him.”
“Fine,” she looked into the screen of the iPad she was holding. “Clinton Limited representatives are coming in at eleven. The conference room is set for them already. GEG Oils confirmed your meeting with the MD at two in the afternoon. A teleconference with Mr. Harry is at six….” She reeled out his meetings for the day.
“Have you been able to pull out the files I asked you to?” He asked, looking over at the screen of his computer.
“Yes,” she picked off some files from the shelf. “They are here,” she placed them in front of him.
“Thanks Vanessa,” he nodded at her. “I will call you when I need anything else,” he said to dismiss her.
Blake reached for the coffee she prepared for him and sipped. He opened the file in front of him. He needed to get as much information as he could for his meeting at eleven.
They are looking to buy the company, Clinton Limited, which had been redundant for over a decade. Now that the founder had died, his children wanted to sell it off as a scrap.
He finished drinking his coffee, and they left to see his father-in-law.
*********
Tasha stopped her car in her driveway.
“Here we are girls,” she turned to look at Maggie, who was sitting beside her in the passenger seat. Maggie’s best friend, Jasmine, was sitting in the backseat. She had met the girls at the mall and they shopped together.
Tasha was there to get a dress for the faculty party, while Maggie and Jasmine went to get some girly stuff.
“Thanks for the ice cream, Miss. Tasha,” Jasmine said from the backseat.
“You are welcome,” Tasha smiled at her in the front mirror. “Any time, honey.”
“I guess I will see you around,” Maggie said.
“Maggie,” Tasha called. “I have been expecting you, you promised to come bavk so we could finish our discussion.”
“Yes, Miss Tasha,” the younger girl knew she was asking about her returning to continue the discussion about her stepbrother. “Sure, I will.”
“That’s okay,” the older woman smiled. “I will be home all through tomorrow. You can pop in anytime.”
The girls opened the door and went in the direction of Maggie’s apartment.
“It’s so hot, Maggie,” Jasmine whimpered when they walked into the living room. “Why don’t we go to the pool at the back of the house and chill until your mom comes back? I can borrow a spare swimsuit from you.”
“That’s not a bad idea,” Maggie agreed.