"What are you going to do about Rutherford Laurence?" Michelle asked, throwing back the rest of her vanilla frappe.

Renee, Michelle and I had decided to go to the little coffee shop across the street from Corbin and Hilliard for lunch. I'd told them about what happened with Darin and Alec at the gala, though Renee already knew most of the story. Michelle's mouth hung open in surprise when I told her I'd not only had a good conversation, but I'd slow danced with the vice president of Abernathy Advertisements, and he'd bought me a drink. Win, win, win?

Rutherford Laurence, however, was a different set of issues. I was down to twelve days to come up with the perfect pitch, somehow talk Sean into giving me the time of day, and pull off the biggest agency swap of the year. No pressure, right?

"Well, there's two ways I could go. I don't know if I should take a chance on whichever one I think is better, or do both and probably waste a lot of time only to get a no." I shrugged, sipping on my mocha and shivering a little.

For mid-fall, though we lived near the beach, it was pretty chilly even inside the coffee shop. I'd made the mistake of leaving my jacket hanging on the back of my office chair when we left and I could feel goosebumps through the material of my long sleeves.

"What are the two options you're thinking of?" Renee asked. She'd been poking at her cinnamon roll for twenty minutes and I was beginning to wonder if she was even going to eat it.

I groaned, leaning back in the flimsy wooden chair. I was sitting right next to a window and I could feel the cold air seeping through cracks in the seal.

"I know Harper Media went with the dark, depressing, negative ad, so I'm debating doing one of those and hoping I design it well enough that Sean will like it more than theirs," I explained. "Or my other option would be trying to pitch that revised positive presentation. I still think it has a lot of potential, and between the two, I think most people would be more influenced by a positive ad."

There was no need for me to explain my reasoning. Everyone I worked with knew I believed positive advertisements were stronger and better than negative ones. It was evident in every advertisement I worked on. Unless the client specifically requested a depressing ad, I never created one. Nine times out of ten, my ads were well-received and wildly effective.

"But you're also thinking of doing both." Renee frowned, trying to comprehend the blob of information I'd thrown at them. It was getting difficult to keep up with all the different options and what may or may not be the best idea.

I nodded slowly, unsure of if I was still debating that idea or not. "Yeah," I said, staring at my coffee cup. "I think."

Michelle took the cloak of silence as an opportunity to bring up the gala again. "So... This guy Darin..." she giggled. "What do you think of him?" She and Renee wiggled their eyebrows in unison.

"I don't know, guys," I waved my hand. I was still pretty upset over Alec and Blondie, though I had no real right to be, and the last thing I needed to think about was anything romantic involving Darin Forbes. He probably wasn't interested in me anyway. "He's nice."

"Nice?" Renee accidentally spit out some of the cinnamon roll she'd finally decided to take a bite of. "From where I stood in the room, he looked a little more than nice, Bree."

She pointed a finger at me with raised eyebrows and I wondered just how much she had witnessed at the gala, which led me to wondering how anyone else - not counting Alec - may have perceived our encounter.

Michelle clapped her hands with a goofy grin. "What are you going to wear for your date?" she asked excitedly.

"It's not a date," I groaned.

I should've been excited about the opportunity to discuss business with the vice president of the company I'd been dying to work for. I should've been anxious to tell Darin all about my advertising strategies, along with how much I admired Abernathy's work. I should've been excited for the chance to impress him some more in hopes of keeping my name on his list for future employment. Yet there wasn't near as much excitement as there should've been. I was actually kind of dreading our lunch... appointment. It was not a date.

In all honesty, I wasn't super impressed by Abernathy's ads, but it's logical to compliment the man's company if you want to work for them, right? Their advertising was really no different than most of their competitors, or even Corbin and Hilliard for that matter - and we weren't a competitor. I was attracted to Abernathy because they were a huge, extremely successful company, known internationally, and I was convinced that if I had the opportunity to work there, my career would skyrocket. I wanted to work for an agency that was going to help me create a prosperous, lasting career in advertising. Abernathy sounded like that agency.

"Right." Michelle dragged out the word sarcastically. "And I'm the Queen of England."

After indulging in two doughnuts and a cinnamon roll that were definitely more than I should've allowed myself, I headed back to the office a few minutes behind Renee and Michelle. Mr. Hilliard passed me in the hallway while I walked to my office and I did my best to avoid his gaze. I felt like I was being put under a microscope and expected to do something extravagant on the spot. I got the same look from Mr. Corbin when I passed his open-doored office. It felt like everyone except the girls was mad at me.

Feeling extra pressure to get the job done, I got right back to work. Still, it seemed like I was wasting my time. There was a voice in the back of my head that kept telling me I was doing all this for nothing. Sean was going to tell me no and Mr. Hilliard was going to give me the boot. I shook my head, trying to ignore the nagging thought.

"Shelby?" I knocked on her door, disc in hand.

She looked up from her desk, sprinkles covering her mouth. She'd been diving into a doughnut when I interrupted. "Oh, hi!" she mumbled with her mouth full, waving me forward. "What's up?"

I was a little surprised at how nice Shelby was being. I'd been getting the cold shoulder from almost everyone else in the office.

"I need your expertise." I sat down in front of her desk, handing her the disc I'd brought with me. She wiped her hands on her slacks and took it, popping it in her disc drive.

"This is actually pretty impressive," Shelby complimented as her eyes scanned over what I'd designed. "This is really good. It's for the Rutherford Laurence thing, right?"

I nodded. I'd stayed up most of the night before working on some designs that our graphic team could bring to life later. "I wanted your opinion and if you think it's good enough, I was hoping you could get the guys on it A.S.A.P. because I have a time limit and I really want to pull this off." I cringed at the thought of how little time I had.

Shelby bobbed her head in understanding, brushing some sprinkles and doughnut crumbs off her blazer as she ejected the disc. "I like it. I'll take it downstairs and see what Jake thinks and we'll go from there," she smiled.

Though I was only point-five-percent closer to finishing this project, I felt a comforting wave of relief encompass me upon hearing her response. Shelby was a genius when it came to graphic design and I only hoped I could create images half as good as she could.

"I trust your work on the Rutherford Laurence pitch is coming along nicely," Mr. Corbin spoke up as I passed his office again.

I awkwardly walked a few steps backwards, stopping in his doorway. His focus hadn't left his computer screen but he gestured for me to enter and have a seat. I did as directed and uncomfortably awaited his next statement.

Mr. Corbin was a tough, rigid businessman. He didn't take no for an answer and he didn't like any results that weren't stellar. He'd always intimidated me, which was why I had been thrilled when I'd found out that my direct boss would be Mr. Hilliard when I'd first come to work for Corbin and Hilliard. Very few of my coworkers liked Mr. Corbin. He never seemed to show a soft side - or a normal side. Everything with him was all business, never casual, and everything had to be perfect. He was the strictest perfectionist I'd ever encountered.

"Well?" he said expectantly, finally shifting his gaze to me. His demanding look and the ice in his stare made me feel a thousand times smaller but I didn't dare let him know it.

"It's coming along impeccably," I answered with a bit of a snap in my tone. It probably wasn't a smart move on my part but I wasn't trying to impress Mr. Corbin. I was trying to show him I wasn't going to shrink back in discomfort. I wasn't going to shy away in intimidation.

His bushy eyebrows drew together and he removed his black-framed glasses, setting them on his desk beside his keyboard and pinching the bridge of his nose before rubbing his eyes. As minuscule and unimportant as his actions were, I was able to see a less intimidating side of Mr. Corbin. I was used to him glaring at me through those thick frames and it was oddly refreshing to see him take the damn things off.

"I heard Darin Forbes is in town." He suddenly changed the subject and a flash of nervousness shot through me. I wondered if Mr. Corbin had been at the gala and seen us together or if Renee had mentioned it to him.

I tried to act as though I had no idea. "Oh?"

"Yes," he nodded. "I was informed by a colleague that Abernathy Advertisements is looking to expand their business."

I wasn't sure what he was getting at. "In what way?" I asked, watching him tap his fingers on the desk.

"They're looking to buy up smaller successful agencies to acquire more clientele and increase their profits." He leaned back in his leather chair, crossing his arms. "I heard that Darin's down here to look at some possibilities. I also heard that they were looking at buying Parker and Associates."

My eyebrows shot up. "I seriously doubt Genevieve would ever agree to a deal like that. She's too proud of the independent company she's built. She wouldn't let another agency take it over."

Mr. Corbin dismissed my words. "I'm not interested in what Ms. Parker does with her company as long as it doesn't affect our business," he said. "What I am interested in is why an employee of mine is having lunch tomorrow with the vice president of the company that is tossing around the idea of not only buying up Parker, but also Harper Media, Vexcon, Sharp, and us."

A chill ran through me as I processed his words. Darin hadn't mentioned that important detail to me at all. Maybe that was what he wanted to meet up for lunch to discuss. I wasn't the right person to talk to about something like that though and he should know that. I had no involvement in what the board of directors or anyone else at Corbin and Hilliard chose to do, and Darin was sorely mistaken if he thought I was going to give him insider information on the agency I worked for.