Tempo by Kelley Maestas Read Free Book Online

items on the table, he turns and walks to the front of the room. Suddenly, I sit up and I am furious. This man lied to me. He told me his name was Michael and yet here I sit with the elusive Vincent Scarpetti a.k.a. dirty slime ball, lying son of a bitch. Unbelievable, and I was convinced that I had a special connection to him! My face must be beet red because it feels on fire. I stand up tall and walk straight at him, ready to do battle. As I near him, he offers me his hand to shake. “Hi, you must be Karlie, it’s my pleasure to meet you.” Leaning toward me as if to pluck some lint from my lapel he softly tells me: “Lets discuss this later.” I glare into his eyes, wishing I had a super power. One that could burn his eyes out might be nice. I am so mad. I could just wind up one of my balled fists and punch him. I smile a disingenuous smile and head back to my chair. I take a seat and look over at my competition. Introductions are made all around. Tina, a tall thin brunette hails from Chicago. She works for Branham and Benson. She is a senior design consultant and has worked for her firm for ten years. Maggie is a petite blonde from Los Angeles and a partner at Ratchet Designs. They are world famous for their work at the Beverly Hills Plaza as well as the Ritz Carleton. As soon as I am introduced, the other designers summarily dismiss me. This infuriates me and sets me on a mission to kick some ass. Could this day get any worse?  Don’t borrow trouble Karlie. The voice of wisdom decides to pipe in. Where was she when Michael or more correctly Vincent was lying to me? Oh yeah, she was swooning in his presence.
    Mr. Smooth-talker asks for our attention. Looking up, he directs us to the white board. Tempo is written across the top in the exact signature as the writing on the building. He has definitely put his personal mark on this place.
    “My name is Vincent Michael Scarpetti, but I go by Michael.” As he says this, his dark eyes stare directly at me. He might not have lied about his name, but he lied about his occupation. I would bet my life that he knew exactly who I was. He told me he was a vintner for goodness sake and I thought that was so cool. “Vincent Scarpetti is my father. I want to get this out of the way because I don’t want our time wasted with questions regarding my infamous father. My father is a criminal and has been in jail for nearly twenty years. I have no contact with him and so I can’t answer any of your questions. End of story!”
    Wow, that was direct and to the point. Basically he just told us to stay the hell out of his business.
    “One of you will be let go by tomorrow. I have a small window of time to get a lot accomplished. You were all asked to come here because you have the skill set that I need to make things happen. Our original design company filed for bankruptcy and could not finish the project. My family lineage makes getting things done much more difficult. Licenses, permits, and just about everything else takes longer when you’re associated with a major crime family.”
    Thinking about his statement, I never really considered how a powerful family could influence things in a negative way. I figured if you had enough money you could get anything you wanted.
    “Tempo means something very specific to me. I would like you all to write what Tempo means to you. When you are finished please bring your submission to me. I am going to take some time to look them over. In the meantime, you will have some free time to explore the building. Due to tight security I ask that you leave all of your belongings in this room. There will be security personnel at the door, so everything will be safe. Let’s meet back here for lunch at noon.”
    Sitting down I ponder the meaning of Tempo and write my submission.
    Webster’s dictionary defines it this way:
    1.         The speed at which a passage of music is or should be played.
    2.        The rate or speed of motion or