Balancing Act by Laura Browning

man, older than Alexander Barrett. Unlike the younger executives with their designer suits and slick hair, he was dressed as if his mind were on more important things than the business at hand. In fact, he reminded Tessa of her English Lit professor at Smith.
    There was a break in negotiations about mid-morning. Seth excused himself and asked Tessa to join him. He took her arm and led her out to a small terrace at one end of the building.
    “What do you think?” He asked once the door shut. This high above the city, the breeze ruffled her tightly confined hair.
    “I think you’re not selling the chairman.”
    “Damn!” Seth turned to stare out of the skyline of the city, his jaw clenching in frustration.
    “Mr. Barrett… Seth,” Tessa said, “I didn’t say you can’t sell him on your plan. I said you’re not.”
    He turned and studied her without smiling. “And what do you think I need to do?”
    Tessa looked him straight in the eye. She might not have his years of experience, but she had learned a lot about human nature, good and bad, through her own childhood and her work with juveniles and their families.
    “Play to your strength. You’ve enumerated all of the sound business reasons for the acquisition, but you haven’t mentioned the thing you love, and more to the point, the thing I believe Mr. Golding loves…the journalism.”
    “What makes you believe he cares more about the papers’ journalistic stature?”
    Tessa smiled. “Present company excepted, he has the stereotypical look of the reporter or editor who is so focused on other things, they forget their appearance. If you look, I bet the man still has printer’s ink under his fingernails.”
    When she paused, Seth waved his hand for her to keep going.
    “Now we’re into your area of expertise,” she told him. “So think of it from that position. How would this acquisition make Golding’s newspapers stronger journalistically? Will a stronger internet presence bring more national and international attention to quality columnists?”
    Seth scratched the back of his thick blond hair before grinning at her.
    “You are a genius, Tessa!” He grabbed her face in his hands and kissed her on the lips. Heat flooded her cheeks and other areas she didn’t even want to think about. Before she could feel any awkwardness, he took her elbow to lead her back inside. “Let’s go close this deal.”
    And Seth proceeded to do just that. By lunchtime, Jacob Golding was smiling and slapping him on the back like they’d known each other for years.
    “Let me buy you lunch, Barrett. We’ll work out a few more things and get the contracts out.”
    Seth cast one look over his shoulder at Tessa, who smiled at him and went back to packing her things. She knew the invitation didn’t include her and didn’t care. It would be easy enough to pick something up at the deli she’d seen down the street, maybe even give her a chance to look around. She’d never been to Chicago before. She was the last one out of the conference room, juggling her laptop case and her oversize bag.
    With a heavy sigh, she looked at the stairwell, but there was no way she could carry all of her belongings down twenty flights, and she was reluctant to leave anything behind in the conference room where someone could get access to it. She marched toward the elevator and pressed the down button. She could do this by herself. She was sure of it. After all, she’d ridden up in it, even if it was with Seth, and didn’t she ride in Alexander Barrett’s elevator every day now? She’d come a long way. It would be a breeze.
    The doors opened and Tessa stepped on. After punching the button for the lobby, she retreated to the back of the car and stared out the window. The doors snicked shut and the elevator moved. Tessa didn’t even look at the floor numbers; she kept her eyes focused outside. The elevator lurched to a stop, so she expected to hear the sound of the doors and more people getting