"Roses?"
"No, absolutely not. Too ancient."
"Not if we ace the arrangement and nail the colours. It can look good."
"No. Good won't cut it...it's just too bland. I wish for unique, breath taking. An absolute dream."
Urgh… Mona tapped her foot impatiently as she continued listening to the two people seated in front of her talk. Or more like argue their points. They had been at it for...
"Two hours?!" She sighed inwardly when she realized that she'd been seated in her boss's office for that long and yet the two people in front of her were nowhere near reaching an agreement.
And she was hungry and hated that her new boss preferred his office so cold she was beginning to feel her fingers and toes go numb.
Their bickering was now giving her a headache too and it was only the first item on the agenda. At this rate they were not going to agree on anything and the meeting could take forever too.
It started out perfectly in her opinion, especially that she had calmed down and managed to sweep her boss's insults aside. But that was until they came to what is David Black's specialty. Design, decor and everything that makes an event pop and eventually be a huge magazine worthy success.
While her boss had every right to be confident in his expertise, he was not giving his client much room to decide what really appealed to them. And if she had to listen to them argue one more time, she would go crazy.
"Coffee, anyone?"
Her question had both of them look her way, both wearing scowls on their faces.
She forced a smile towards the two hoping they might relax a little.
"Sure, with no sugar please." Their client, a sophisticated looking older lady, was the first to accept her offer and Mona quickly got up but not before looking over to David.
"Sir?" She smiled but his cold look wiped it right off of her face in a beat. He looked to have a bitter taste in his mouth and Mona could tell that only the presence of his client was keeping him from spewing whatever was brewing in his brain.
"Water," he grunted.
Not the respectable or enthusiastic answer Mona was looking for, but it would have to do.
She nodded and walked out.
Glad to be free even if it was just for a few minutes, she stood outside his office and took in a much needed breath of fresh air. The warmer exterior also agreed with her.
"Somebody save me." She groaned.
She didn't know just how hard headed her boss could be. The man simply refused to budge on his ideas that he had total faith in. And she couldn't blame him, he was after all the Events industry's golden boy.
But while it was good for business, Mona thought he could drop it down a notch which would allow him to really listen and actually make more progress than the almost zero progress they had had in the last two hours.
"But who am I, except his lowly assistant?"
She shrugged her shoulders and went to get their refreshments.
It was a simple task that she completed without breaking a sweat, and before she got more scolding or glares from her boss for taking too long she walked back quickly.
At the door, she took one final deep breath before opening it and walking in. The atmosphere hadn't changed, if anything it seemed worse. She had no idea what had happened but it seemed tempers may have flared a bit in her absence.
Knowing she couldn't exactly ask what went down, she just set the small tray she used to carry the refreshments on down before serving a cup of very hot coffee to their client.
"Oh thank goodness." The woman raved when she took a sip of her coffee. "You are a lifesaver, my dear."
"Oh please, don't mention it. Just doing my job." Mona smiled, glad to be made to feel useful since she had been in here. But when she turned to her boss, her smile was wiped off of her face in an instant.
His imposing figure and cold glare was enough to show her how displeased he was with her.
"Your water sir?" She smiled, making sure to hide the effects of his glares on her.
"As I was saying…"
Mona's jaw dropped when the insufferable man simply ignored her and continued his conversation. He let her hang with a bottle of water in her hand that was stretched out to him.
"You've got to be kidding me!"
She should have been embarrassed but Mona's temper flared instead and without thinking she did the unthinkable.
She opened his bottle of water and gulped it all down right in his presence. And when she was done, she set the empty container on his table a little too loudly making sure to register her displeasure too.
But it didn't work as she intended when the jerk simply stared at her, looking amused, making the air of embarrassment about her thicken.
"Way to go Mona." She slipped in her seat afraid to embarrass herself even more. And as soon as she did that, their bickering resumed and so did her headache.
"Please…" She wondered if this was how professional deals were clinched. With a lot of arguing and showing of strength.
"Lilies." She butted into the conversation and made sure not to look in her boss's direction.
"What was that?" Their client sounded interested or maybe they were just curious, Mona was not sure, but she chose to indulge them still.
"Lilies say sophisticated, beautiful, resilient…" Mona went through the list of all the beautiful things about her favorite flower and why she thought it would work in their clients flower arrangements. And when she was done, two pairs of eyes were staring at her. One pair looked totally mesmerized while the other was sending her death glares, making her gulp.
"Now, that, I'm willing to think about." The client gushed before sipping on her coffee happily. "Next. Or on second thought, let's finish this meeting at the Oasis this weekend."
Their client got up and so did her boss as if on cue. Which left Mona the only one with her butt still on her seat.
"I hope to see you there too, and please call me Juliet. " A hand was extended to Mona and she awkwardly took it.
"I don't work weekends." She wanted to say but somehow she could tell that would put her boss in a worse mood. So she just smiled and Juliet seemed to think she agreed, but neither did Mona correct her. She actually felt pretty amazing for her contribution to a happy client and she smiled in contentment as her boss walked them out.
"You are not here to hold my hand." Her boss's cold tone cut through like a sharp knife the heavy atmosphere that had suddenly filled his office. He couldn't even wait to be safely seated in his seat before revealing how pissed off he was.
"I wasn't exactly--"
"Get out!"
Mona was beyond shocked at his outburst and wanted nothing more than to snap at him but she needed this job even more. So she just grabbed her pen and notepad and stomped out of the office, a thousand curses bubbling in her throat and damning her boss straight to hell.