Inner Diva by Laurie Larsen Read Free Book Online Page B

this
around, I’m afraid my reputation will suffer.”
    She sat quietly for a moment, and he realized
he really wanted to hear what was on her mind – what a slice of her
work life looked like. He waited.
    “I led a team of volunteers charged with
coming up with a complete advertising campaign for the theater for
next year. The Board was considering quite an outlay of dollars,
hoping the advertising would bring in new audience members. The
team and I met for weeks, and I had people assigned to each aspect
of the project. We came up with some really super ideas. We were
all pleased.”
    Carlos nodded.
    “Today was our presentation to the Board for
their approval. The team asked me to be the presenter, to get the
Board excited about what we’d created. I took everything we came up
with and organized it into three separate formats – one for
newspapers, one for TV and one for radio. Then I put together an
electronic presentation highlighting all three. I was so ready. I
stayed up late every night for two weeks, determined to make this
ad presentation the best it could be.”
    Monica leaned back on the tabletop, her arms
behind her to balance and her legs stretched out front. “But, they
caught me off guard in the meeting. My mind was elsewhere, and by
the time I went up front I was nervous, my hands were shaking, and
I dropped my computer.”
    “With the presentation on it.”
    “That’s right. And I didn’t have a backup.
That was stupid enough. Then I had to come up with a Plan B, and
kept them waiting while I had paper copies made, and then stumbled
through the presentation.”
    He nodded. Sounded like a hell of a lot of
pressure. More than he ever had to deal with at work. He gave a low
whistle. “So how did it go after that?”
    “Mediocre. I could tell the Chairman of the
Board wasn’t particularly happy with me. She thinks I was
unprofessional and probably questions whether I should lead another
creative team.” She sighed and shook her head. “She’s probably
right.”
    He shifted on the tabletop so that he faced
her. Pushing away a feeling that he shouldn’t, he took her hands in
his, forcing her to look his way. “I’m sure it was fine. Don’t be
upset with yourself. I mean, they’re not going to fire you,
right?”
    Monica stared at their joined hands. She
paused for a moment longer, then shook her head. “I don’t think so.
But I’m sure I blew the theater’s chance to benefit from all that
great advertising. The Board may not approve the expenditure now.
My team deserves so much better than that.”
    He blinked and realized how much he wanted to
make her feel better. Someone this accomplished, this intelligent,
this giving of herself to others, shouldn’t feel bad because she
made a mistake. “I bet it wasn’t nearly as bad as you think. I bet
the quality of the ideas came through, despite the unexpected
detour of the presentation.”
    “I suppose, but …” She shrugged.
    At that moment, Monica lurched forward and
bumped her shoulder into his chest. He caught her, pulling her
close. “What the…?” Then he saw it – a kid missed the Frisbee
thrown at him, and it had sailed into Monica’s back, knocking her
off balance.
    “Sorry!” The kid trotted up, grabbed the
plastic disc and raced off with it.
    Leaving the two of them planted on the top of
the picnic table, him holding onto her like there was no tomorrow,
and her looking up expectantly, her lips less than an inch from
his. He really should release her. But when God, or whoever else
was looking out for him, handed him an opportunity like this, he
wasn’t about to let it pass without …
    He lowered his head and brushed his lips
gently over hers. He pulled back just enough to catch her startled
gaze and then covered her mouth firmly with his. He had no idea how
she’d react and frankly, at this moment he didn’t care. He’d been
thinking about this woman non-stop, and he needed to get her out of
his mind. Maybe if he made