heads.
With a fresh set of nerves coursing through my veins, I took the stairs down to the conference room, my stomach growling on the way down. I’d had a quick granola bar and coffee for breakfast and wondered whether we’d break for lunch or if there’d be food at the meeting.
When I entered the room, the only other people there were Braden and a skinny, pasty-looking guy with dark, messy hair and warm brown eyes. “Hey, Lexi.” Braden stood up and flashed me a wide smile, his eyes lighting up. I offered a shy smile and a wave as I made my way to sit on Braden’s right at the far end of the long oval table.
Braden pulled the chair out for me as I sat down, then gestured to the other man and said, “This is our very talented head of the graphic design department—which is part of post-production—Scott Levante. Scott, this is Lexi, my new assistant.”
Scott stood up and reached across the table to shake my hand with a grin and a brief, appraising look. “Welcome to the Huntington team, Lexi,” he said warmly and sat back down.
I’d brought my laptop in order to take the meeting minutes in an attempt to look tech-savvy and professional, though I had no idea if I could keep up. As more and more people trickled in and sat around the table, my pulse picked up. Everyone looked at me curiously—not unfriendly, but I felt self-conscious.
Braden leaned towards me, his forearm resting on the table mere inches from mine, which sent a different kind of jitters racing through my body. He said in a low voice, “It’s okay, Lexi, you’ll do fine. Just remember to breathe.” His tone was kind with a hint of teasing, and his eyes met mine, gleaming ice-blue.
I caught my breath quietly and responded with a simple, thankful smile. The meeting began, and after Braden introduced me to the group, I typed the notes on my laptop. I tried to keep all the names and departments straight, as well as follow progress reports and the list of what still needed to be done for the upcoming shoot in Brazil. Not only was it difficult to keep up with all the new information and details, but I had trouble deciphering which to-do tasks needed to involve Braden or me, either directly or indirectly. My mind and notes felt like a jumbled mess when we broke after an hour to grab coffee and pastries brought in by a delivery guy.
I was ravenous and exhausted as I took replenishing sips of dark roast coffee and bit into a fresh cheese Danish. Braden leaned towards me again before the meeting resumed and said, “Almost there. I’ll get us sushi for a late lunch afterwards while we go over everything. Sound good?” I nodded in agreement, my mouth too full of the Danish to answer.
***
One more confusing and equally tiring hour later, the meeting was finally over, and I sat with Braden outside on a back patio behind the building. We were under the shade of an umbrella at one of the picnic tables with a selection of spicy tuna rolls, avocado rolls, and crazy Maki rolls from a nearby takeout place.
Braden and I were alone on the patio, but I was too drained and hungry to feel as anxious about being alone with him as I had that morning. After I virtually inhaled half of the rolls, I sat back and looked sheepishly across the table at Braden. “Sorry. Guess I was hungry.”
He laughed and sipped a cup of steaming green tea that we’d ordered with the sushi. “No apology necessary. I’m sorry to make you wait so long for lunch. So, were you able to glean anything from the meeting, or are you completely lost?” Braden asked in a compassionate rather than condescending way.
I pulled out my laptop, which I’d brought with me to go over the makeshift to-do list and scanned that very long list. Some of it made sense, but I’d added a lot question marks after many of the tasks or details to denote that I wasn’t sure what it meant or whether Braden and I were supposed to take care of it or not.
I cleared my throat and looked from my
With a fresh set of nerves coursing through my veins, I took the stairs down to the conference room, my stomach growling on the way down. I’d had a quick granola bar and coffee for breakfast and wondered whether we’d break for lunch or if there’d be food at the meeting.
When I entered the room, the only other people there were Braden and a skinny, pasty-looking guy with dark, messy hair and warm brown eyes. “Hey, Lexi.” Braden stood up and flashed me a wide smile, his eyes lighting up. I offered a shy smile and a wave as I made my way to sit on Braden’s right at the far end of the long oval table.
Braden pulled the chair out for me as I sat down, then gestured to the other man and said, “This is our very talented head of the graphic design department—which is part of post-production—Scott Levante. Scott, this is Lexi, my new assistant.”
Scott stood up and reached across the table to shake my hand with a grin and a brief, appraising look. “Welcome to the Huntington team, Lexi,” he said warmly and sat back down.
I’d brought my laptop in order to take the meeting minutes in an attempt to look tech-savvy and professional, though I had no idea if I could keep up. As more and more people trickled in and sat around the table, my pulse picked up. Everyone looked at me curiously—not unfriendly, but I felt self-conscious.
Braden leaned towards me, his forearm resting on the table mere inches from mine, which sent a different kind of jitters racing through my body. He said in a low voice, “It’s okay, Lexi, you’ll do fine. Just remember to breathe.” His tone was kind with a hint of teasing, and his eyes met mine, gleaming ice-blue.
I caught my breath quietly and responded with a simple, thankful smile. The meeting began, and after Braden introduced me to the group, I typed the notes on my laptop. I tried to keep all the names and departments straight, as well as follow progress reports and the list of what still needed to be done for the upcoming shoot in Brazil. Not only was it difficult to keep up with all the new information and details, but I had trouble deciphering which to-do tasks needed to involve Braden or me, either directly or indirectly. My mind and notes felt like a jumbled mess when we broke after an hour to grab coffee and pastries brought in by a delivery guy.
I was ravenous and exhausted as I took replenishing sips of dark roast coffee and bit into a fresh cheese Danish. Braden leaned towards me again before the meeting resumed and said, “Almost there. I’ll get us sushi for a late lunch afterwards while we go over everything. Sound good?” I nodded in agreement, my mouth too full of the Danish to answer.
***
One more confusing and equally tiring hour later, the meeting was finally over, and I sat with Braden outside on a back patio behind the building. We were under the shade of an umbrella at one of the picnic tables with a selection of spicy tuna rolls, avocado rolls, and crazy Maki rolls from a nearby takeout place.
Braden and I were alone on the patio, but I was too drained and hungry to feel as anxious about being alone with him as I had that morning. After I virtually inhaled half of the rolls, I sat back and looked sheepishly across the table at Braden. “Sorry. Guess I was hungry.”
He laughed and sipped a cup of steaming green tea that we’d ordered with the sushi. “No apology necessary. I’m sorry to make you wait so long for lunch. So, were you able to glean anything from the meeting, or are you completely lost?” Braden asked in a compassionate rather than condescending way.
I pulled out my laptop, which I’d brought with me to go over the makeshift to-do list and scanned that very long list. Some of it made sense, but I’d added a lot question marks after many of the tasks or details to denote that I wasn’t sure what it meant or whether Braden and I were supposed to take care of it or not.
I cleared my throat and looked from my
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