Something Special

Chapter 6

Winnie and Brianna soon finished their lunch and got up to go back to their desks.  Hunter conveniently left the same time and stepped into the elevator with Bri, just as it was about to close.  

“Oh hi!” Hunter smiled at Brianna. He immediately noticed that intoxicating vanilla-citrus scent was strong but delightful. It must be her perfume. If she tasted like she smelled, he would eat her all up. He breathed in the aroma so deeply it affected his nether regions. Get ahold of yourself, man, he told himself.  “I’m sorry about that interruption earlier.  I’d like to actually introduce myself—before any strange women barge in!”

Brianna laughed at that. “Understood. Portia is really…. something,” Brianna restrained her real thoughts on the matter. After all, she didn’t know this guy from Adam. 

“THAT she is. Name’s Hunter Stark.  Nice to meet you,” Hunter cordially stated as he extended his hand.    

“Brianna Blakely. Nice to meet you.”  Bri nervously shook his hand, and immediately got lost in his golden amber eyes. His strong hand delicately embraced her nimble fingers. Brianna’s stomach did a flip flop and heat instantly rose to her cheeks. She self-consciously pulled her hand away and attempted to begin conversation.

“So, what are your plans for this afternoon? More tours of the office?” Brianna smiled mischievously.

“God, I hope not!” Hunter said laughing.  “I’m to meet with Mr. Mason to find out what he wants me to do. I’m a little early, I may grab some coffee first.” 

“Well, I know I have a big project waiting on me.  Hope you have a good afternoon!”  Brianna said as the elevator doors opened and Brianna stepped out, walking past the break room to her cubicle.  

Hunter pushed open the breakroom door and instantly coos of female attention could be heard before the door swung shut.  Brianna heard Portia’s voice, among others, fussing over Hunter. She couldn’t decide if she was humored by his ill luck or angered and embarrassed of how the other women of the office were acting.  Either way, she had work to do. Portia’s work…and apparently Portia was “too busy."

Just then, a couple of the women left the breakroom whispering, but Brianna could still hear them on her side of the cubicle wall.  “Don’t feel so bad, he probably is…you know…”

“Gay?! Do you think so?”

“You know what they say…the best ones are either gay or married.”

Brianna had to assume that she missed a really great moment in the breakroom.  Serves those vultures right, she thought. Poor guy hasn’t even been here a day.

****

Sitting down on her office-issued black rolling chair, she pulled the Dunbar folder in front of her. It was a huge account for Gold Standard, and it had a huge folder to go with it.  It took several minutes for Brianna to make heads or tails of the file. Once she had sorted out the information, she began pouring over the accounting records.  Something seemed off, as the numbers were not adding up.  What the heck was going on with this? Brianna thought.  Line by line, she began to check each entry.

“Who wants a Carmel Frap with extra whip?!?” Winnie suddenly appeared in Bri’s cubicle entry.  “I figured you might need a little caffeine pick me up!”

“OMG, Winnie! Absolutely! You are the best!” Brianna graciously began to sip the heavenly sweet drink.  It was her favorite, and Winnie knew exactly how she ordered it.  

“Well, I had to go pick up our order at the printers, and the coffee shop is right there…soooo, I had to get my bestie a little somethin’ somethin!” Winnie winked and smiled. Then, she bent closer and whispered “and guess what I overheard downstairs?!  The CEO from Dunbar was hot as Hades because they are facing a merger, and it was put on hold because their accounting figures were off—and he’s threatening to move his business to another firm. Guess who was in charge of the Dunbar account?!?”

“Holy crap!  That was the account Mr. Mason has me ‘helping’ Portia with! I’ve spent all afternoon trying to make sense of this account. How dare she pawn off her mess on me and prance around without a care in the world!” Brianna angrily huffed.

“I know, right!?” Winnie agreed. “I bet that’s why Mason has you looking over it. He knows he needs his best CPA on it! And, I bet homegirl is gonna be in some hot water over this.”

“Geez, I hope you’re right, Winnie.” Brianna marveled. Mr. Mason must really have a lot of faith in her abilities to fix the firm’s 2nd largest account.  It was the biggest account Bri had worked on since she was hired 6 months ago. This could be her lucky break. Or not. Oh god. Her heart started pounding out of her chest as a panic attack started to take over her body. “Oh god, oh god…I just realized now all this is in my lap! What if I can’t balance the account? Or I make an even bigger mess of it? What if this was just some evil plot of Portia’s to blame me for her screw ups to get me fired?” Spots started to cloud Brianna’s sight as her chest heaved under the perceived strangulation of circumstance.

“Bri! Are you OK? I didn’t mean to get you upset. Oh god, Bri?” Winnie pleaded by her side.

Brianna’s body suddenly went limp and started to slide out of her office chair. “Someone help!” Winnie shouted.