Total pages in book: 12
Estimated words: 11006 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 55(@200wpm)___ 44(@250wpm)___ 37(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 11006 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 55(@200wpm)___ 44(@250wpm)___ 37(@300wpm)
“Sir? Are we late?” Jenkins asks as he comes into the conference room with three others from his department that I haven’t met yet.
“Not at all, Jenkins. I took the liberty of ordering an assortment of meals from Tony’s down the street.” I say, getting up to shake his hand. I have it on good authority, from Janey, that Tony’s is the best Italian restaurant that doesn’t do sit-down meals. A glowing recommendation if you ask me.
“Good, thanks. This is Kyle Monroe, Derek Smith, and Jasper Golden.” The marketing department.
“Nice to meet you. This meeting was on the books before I got here, so what’s going on in marketing.”
“Not much. There never is, but we want to change that. We do the sides of busses, benches, but that’s very eighties. We want to bring the marketing department into this century. We want to do television and print, and social media ads. We could really get people who never would have thought of investing otherwise.” Kyle says. Janey brings in the food and lays it out in the middle of the table, family-style.
“Do you have a cost analysis for this?” I ask, helping myself to some lasagna.
“Of course, sir,” Derek says, passing me a printout.
“These aren’t terrible, and we have the budget to do it?” I ask.
“We do. We barely use our operating budget.”
“That’s odd,” I say. Something is very mismanaged at this company, and I can’t wait to figure it out.
After the meeting, which lasted four hours, I head back to my office. My dinner meeting is canceled, thankfully. I can’t listen to another work-related thing today. I check my email one more time before going home. Tatum’s Designs has gotten back to me and scheduled an appointment for tomorrow evening.
I’m looking forward to getting my spaces in order.
Chapter Two
Tatum Lafontaine
Damn, Damn, Damn. I hate being late; it’s one of my biggest pet peeves. So me being late to a meeting with a new client has me frazzled, to say the least. I pride myself on never being late, and it annoys the hell out of me when someone is. It's definitely not the first impression I wanted to make at the meeting I have today with Mr. Leblanc.
It’s not my fault, though, honest.
On my way to my meeting, I was on my way when I got a frantic phone call from my granny telling me to “come right away” that she needed help. So, of course, without even thinking about it, I was flooring it to her house. Damn woman almost gave me a heart attack making me think the worst, only for me to show up and have her ask me for a ride to her bingo game.
I swear she gets her kicks out of making me worry. My parents never wanted children and made it known by dropping me off at my grandma Ruth's doorstep when I was just three months old. I learned to deal with them not wanting me a long time ago. After all, if they don’t want me, I don't want them. I think it was easier for me to come to that conclusion because of my gran. She has never not once made me feel like I didn't belong or like I was anything but loved.
On my way to drop her off, I call Janey. The secretary of the man I am meeting and made sure to let them know that I was going to be late.
“I’m sorry for worrying you, sweetheart; I didn’t think you were being serious about having a meeting tonight. After all, what kind of man asks for someone to show them swatches and samples so late in the evening?” She folds her arms across her chest. “Besides, it wouldn't have been the first time you used work as an excuse not to meet my friend’s grandson.” I let out a sigh and try not to roll my eyes.
“I wouldn’t have had to do that if you’d stop trying to set me up with them secretly.”
It’s not that I don't want a boyfriend; They just seem to think that having a strong, independent woman who does not need a man is a turn-off. It doesn't help that I am one of the top up-and-coming interior design experts in Toronto. I work seven days a week from sun up to sundown, trying my hardest to make sure that my clients’ house feels like a home when I am done with it. I spent five years in college working on getting my Master of Fine Arts in Interior Design and Interior Architecture degrees while simultaneously trying to get my business up and running.
When I was younger and wanted to become an interior designer, I didn't think it would be that hard. I just knew I loved to make things pretty, and I had an excellent eye for detail. It started off small in my room, then that turned into me trying to re-decorate everything. I had no idea all of the shit that went into doing that. I wasn't going to let that stop me, though. I worked my ass off, and I graduated third in my class; after that, I worked with Madame Groux, the number one designer, for two years before opening my own business. I've spent three years making a name for myself, even if it did take my sweat, blood, and tears.