I give Bre a dirty look, and what she says is only half true. I do love my job, and it's not that I'm excited about the meeting, I'm just really, really, really curious.
"Whatever," I say defensively. "Isn't it time for you to get back to your dating website?"
Bre cracks a smile and grabs her phone.
"Ohhh…that sounds fun. What dating site?" Aly asks excitedly. She slides her chair over to Bre. This is just perfect. Now I'm outnumbered. I may need to consider moving my desk or figure out a way to get that fancy office with my name on the door.
The day seems to be dragging on, and I haven't seen Aiden at all. I think about sending him a text, but I don't want to appear desperate. Finally, three o'clock arrives. I'm clearly the only person who's interested in going to the meeting. This is, in part, because I'm bored. Between my stupid writer's block and no appearance from Aiden, I need something to distract me. Thankfully, Bre was there to witness him asking me out, or I would wonder if I imagined the whole thing.
Everyone slowly makes his or her way to the conference room. Chelsie starts off the meeting with a few announcements. I look around the room to see what everyone is doing—Aly is sitting to my left with a notepad, ready to write down every word Chelsie says. I notice she even wrote the words Mandatory Meeting at the top of her paper as well as underlining it twice and dotting the letter I with a heart. Bre will tease her to no end if she sees it. Luckily, she's too preoccupied with her phone to even notice anyone around her.
"The reason I called everyone here is to let you all in on some fabulous news, and I know many of you are going to like it. Our sister magazine, Bleu Amour, has asked that we collaborate on a few projects with them. We will be sending a team to start working on this in the next month or two as well as looking for a journalist to head up the team. The project will last about five weeks."
Bre and I glance at each other with excitement. Oh my gosh, this is unbelievable. Our sister magazine happens to be in the one and only City of Light—Paris!
Chelsie continues, "So, if you are interested in being on this team, you will need to go through a whole new interview process and come up with a piece that will blow the interview panel away. And it absolutely needs to be your best work because only five people will be selected for the team."
The room is abuzz with everyone talking at once. This is what I've been working so hard for, and now is my chance to actually take my career to the next level. It will be difficult, though, because there is so much talent in this room alone, and I don't doubt for a second that almost everyone wants a chance at this project.
When the meeting is over, I make a mad dash back to my desk. I'm determined to prove myself. My coworkers are still in the conference room talking about the big announcement, so I have a few minutes of peace and quiet to jot down some ideas.
"How fantastic is this?" Bre says when she and Aly return to their desks. "We better get to work."
I force a smile. Don't get me wrong. Bre is a great writer, but she spends most of her workday on social media and dating websites. She's hardly dedicated to her job. I have no doubt she sees this as an all-expenses paid trip to Paris, and that's the only reason she wants to go. Honestly, I don't blame her because who doesn't want to work in Paris for a month? The energy on our floor has changed, and people are actually doing what they are paid to do. I'm going to have to up my game if I want to stand a chance.
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