The Contestant: Ex Lover Edition

Thinking

After the last client left for the day, my mind was still on the offer the first one made. I decided to go talk to Chris. I need to know how he could so quickly agree to do this show.

I walked into his office. He was cleaning up his desk. He did this right before he left for the day. He looked up and saw me in his doorway.

"I was expecting you a lot earlier," he joked.

"Well, it was a busy day. Chris, why are you so sure you want to do this show?" I asked.

"I'm not, but I'm 32. It's time for a little adventure. I don't know how I feel about cameras and all of the dating, but Josh is a friend of mine. I am always willing to help a friend," he explained.

He really was. Chris was the kind of guy that would do anything for anyone. I watched his last girlfriend take advantage of him. use him for material things and he was too sweet to see it, until the end.

"I am going to need you to start clearing my schedule starting 3 weeks from now. If we are filming 2 weeks from Friday, it will be hard for us to make appointments on the beach. I am sure they can set up a remote workstation for us, but we will be busy finding our soul mates. No correction, our audience favorite picked soul mate," he joked.

"Chris, are you sure about the show?" I asked, concerned.

"I'll meet with the other partners tomorrow and they can be prepared to handle my clients while I am away. If you print out my appointments I'll let you know who to set them up with or see if we can move them up earlier." He kept rambling.

He ignored my question. He grabbed his laptop bag and a file off of his desk. He headed toward the door.

"I am going to head out for tonight. I'll see you in the morning." He said as he was leaving.

"Good night," I said.

I was still standing by his desk watching him walk out the door. He stopped and slowly turned around.

"I think you should do the show. If not for you, it would be really nice to have my best friend there," he said in a serious voice.

Ugh! Guilt trip much?

"I'll make a pros and cons list. I promise helping my best friend to be number one pro."

I gave him a wink and he left.

He is right. I need to do this show to protect him. I need to make sure he isn't falling for someone who is terrible for him. If he is so adamant about doing this, I need to convince myself to go too.

I headed back to my office. It was nearly 5 o'clock. Karen left at 4. The two other partners were still there. I saw their cars in the parking lot across the street. Their assistants were still there too. It was an unwritten rule that you stayed as long as your partner was there.

As the executive assistant, I liked to check in with them a few times a day. I walked around to Tina's office first. She looked up at me.

"Hey girl, you look stressed. Chris being too hard on you today?" she asked.

"No. I just have a lot on my mind," I replied.

"Yeah. I had lunch with Karen and she said you were acting differently after the big meeting with Mr. Carter this morning. She said he was asking about you and Chris. Personal questions like if you were dating anyone."

"I wondered what they were talking about. I walked out and they both quit talking. Now I know. I can't really talk about it yet. Is Mrs. Stone leaving soon?" I asked, changing the subject.

"Yeah, she just asked me to wait and send a fax, then I am heading out for today." She said, excited.

"Okay, I am going to check on Angie. Have a good night!" I told her.

"You too!" she replied.

I purposely avoided talking further about the meeting with Josh. I didn't want to break confidentiality and I didn't want all the questions. I don't know how to answer them myself.

As I walked around the corner, I saw Mr. Doplar leaving. I stopped at Angie's office. She had her purse on her shoulder.

"Hey Ang, just checking in! I see you are finished! Have a good night!" I told her.

"Hey Stacey! I was just headed to see you! Karen told me you were a little off today. I just wanted to check in with you! Everything okay?" She asked me.

"Yeah, kind of. I just have some thinking to do. I'll work it out though. No need to worry about me! Get out of here! It's 5 o'clock." I insisted.

"Okay, you have my number! Later girl." She said while leaving.

Now that I had checked on the girls, I was ready to leave myself. I unlocked the front door and locked it with the key behind me.

Karen always locked the front door when she left for the night. That girl was chatty, telling the girls about the meeting.

I walked across the street to my car. It was a green Ford Focus. I loved my little green car. I got in it and drove the 15 minutes to my apartment. I couldn't wait to get inside and forget about the outside world for a little bit. I had a list to make and a friend to protect.