The
mood was very light, everyone laughing and exchanging family holiday nightmare
stories. Christmas was right around the corner, and I was dreading it. Another
holiday in a lifetime of holidays to come when I couldn’t be with my family. As
I watched Dane and Valerie work, I thought, This is my new family. It
felt good.
I
got back to my desk and checked my phone. There was a text from Sergio and a
couple of voice mails.
U
got away early this am. Thinking abt u. r u free 2nite?
I
responded quickly: Yes! Where & when? Thinking abt u 2. XO
As
I waited for his response, I checked the voicemails.
“Hi,
Bridget, it’s Sally returning your call. I’m so glad to hear things are going
so well for you. I’d love to talk with you about Sergio’s project. Call me when
you can. I should be around this afternoon if you have time to talk. ‘Bye.”
“Hello,
my sweet. It’s Sergio. I just wanted to hear your voice. Talk to you later.”
Sergio’s
message made me smile. He was so considerate and kind. Even the sound of his
voice made my stomach twist with a tinge of arousal. Dane poked his head around
the corner. “Wow, that’s an electric smile. What’re you so happy about?” he
asked.
I
could feel my face flush. “Nothing specific,” I said, trying to sound
nonchalant. “I was just thinking about how much fun we’re going to have working
on this book.”
“Uh-huh,”
Dane said, not buying it. “Well, whatever. I think we only have one more set up,
and then we can talk about the book. Can you print out the proposal so we have
it as reference?”
“Sure.
Oh, by the way, Sergio said Adele would send a contract over tomorrow, so now
it’s really official.”
“That’s
great. I’ll be glad to get the business out of the way so we can begin planning
the creative. We need to build a formal calendar, too, and lock down the dates.”
“I’ll
print out some calendar pages so we can talk about it.” As Dane went back to
the studio, I wondered how long I could conceal that I was seeing Sergio. It
was going to get much harder when we were all working together.
Within
the hour the farmer’s market execs were gone. Dane and I sat at the kitchen
counter as Valerie finished the last of the clean-up. “That was a really fun
shoot,” Dane said. “It’s so refreshing when a client gives me so much creative
freedom. I hope Sergio and Adele will be equally trusting.”
“I
hope so, too,” I said. “Sergio’s a pretty creative guy, but I know he totally
respects your work. I’m sure he’ll give you room to do what you do best.”
Valerie
joined us at the counter, and we began dissecting the proposal and creating a
schedule. Dane looked at the calendar. “There’s really no time to get this
going until after New Year’s. I mean, maybe we can squeeze in a couple
of meetings, but there’s no point in even trying to prep this until after the
Christmas madness is over. If we can wait until after the first of the year,
everything will go much smoother.”
“I
doubt that will be a problem,” I said. “Sergio’s really busy with holiday
parties. I’m sure he’ll be glad to put it off until he has time to think about
it.”
Valerie
added, “I’d like to get to know their stylist a little bit, too, before we’re
in the thick of it. Do you think they would mind if I called her to set up a
meeting?”
“She’ll
be part of our crew, so we can set up any meetings we want to. I’ll let Sergio
know out of courtesy, but, it’s our call.”
Dane
thought for a moment and asked, “Are you dealing with Sergio directly on this,
or is Adele the point person?” He seemed a little suspicious that Sergio was so
communicative with me.
“Well,
I’m sure I’ll deal with Adele on the business side of it, but Sergio
specifically said he wants to work closely with you, and he wants me to manage
the project. He feels like we get what he’s looking for with this book even more
than Adele does.”
Dane
and
mood was very light, everyone laughing and exchanging family holiday nightmare
stories. Christmas was right around the corner, and I was dreading it. Another
holiday in a lifetime of holidays to come when I couldn’t be with my family. As
I watched Dane and Valerie work, I thought, This is my new family. It
felt good.
I
got back to my desk and checked my phone. There was a text from Sergio and a
couple of voice mails.
U
got away early this am. Thinking abt u. r u free 2nite?
I
responded quickly: Yes! Where & when? Thinking abt u 2. XO
As
I waited for his response, I checked the voicemails.
“Hi,
Bridget, it’s Sally returning your call. I’m so glad to hear things are going
so well for you. I’d love to talk with you about Sergio’s project. Call me when
you can. I should be around this afternoon if you have time to talk. ‘Bye.”
“Hello,
my sweet. It’s Sergio. I just wanted to hear your voice. Talk to you later.”
Sergio’s
message made me smile. He was so considerate and kind. Even the sound of his
voice made my stomach twist with a tinge of arousal. Dane poked his head around
the corner. “Wow, that’s an electric smile. What’re you so happy about?” he
asked.
I
could feel my face flush. “Nothing specific,” I said, trying to sound
nonchalant. “I was just thinking about how much fun we’re going to have working
on this book.”
“Uh-huh,”
Dane said, not buying it. “Well, whatever. I think we only have one more set up,
and then we can talk about the book. Can you print out the proposal so we have
it as reference?”
“Sure.
Oh, by the way, Sergio said Adele would send a contract over tomorrow, so now
it’s really official.”
“That’s
great. I’ll be glad to get the business out of the way so we can begin planning
the creative. We need to build a formal calendar, too, and lock down the dates.”
“I’ll
print out some calendar pages so we can talk about it.” As Dane went back to
the studio, I wondered how long I could conceal that I was seeing Sergio. It
was going to get much harder when we were all working together.
Within
the hour the farmer’s market execs were gone. Dane and I sat at the kitchen
counter as Valerie finished the last of the clean-up. “That was a really fun
shoot,” Dane said. “It’s so refreshing when a client gives me so much creative
freedom. I hope Sergio and Adele will be equally trusting.”
“I
hope so, too,” I said. “Sergio’s a pretty creative guy, but I know he totally
respects your work. I’m sure he’ll give you room to do what you do best.”
Valerie
joined us at the counter, and we began dissecting the proposal and creating a
schedule. Dane looked at the calendar. “There’s really no time to get this
going until after New Year’s. I mean, maybe we can squeeze in a couple
of meetings, but there’s no point in even trying to prep this until after the
Christmas madness is over. If we can wait until after the first of the year,
everything will go much smoother.”
“I
doubt that will be a problem,” I said. “Sergio’s really busy with holiday
parties. I’m sure he’ll be glad to put it off until he has time to think about
it.”
Valerie
added, “I’d like to get to know their stylist a little bit, too, before we’re
in the thick of it. Do you think they would mind if I called her to set up a
meeting?”
“She’ll
be part of our crew, so we can set up any meetings we want to. I’ll let Sergio
know out of courtesy, but, it’s our call.”
Dane
thought for a moment and asked, “Are you dealing with Sergio directly on this,
or is Adele the point person?” He seemed a little suspicious that Sergio was so
communicative with me.
“Well,
I’m sure I’ll deal with Adele on the business side of it, but Sergio
specifically said he wants to work closely with you, and he wants me to manage
the project. He feels like we get what he’s looking for with this book even more
than Adele does.”
Dane
and
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