A/N - Thanks for the response to the last chapter guys. I'm glad you like it so far! Your comments are always fun to read lol.
The conference room was almost full as she walked inside. She spotted her friend and partner in crime Trish Stratus in the corner and immediately made her way towards her.
"Where have you been? We're almost ready to start!" the blonde woman hissed under her breath.
"I know, I know!" Stephanie hissed back. She awkwardly pulled her coat and hat off. "Alex completely slept in this morning and it was a mad rush all the way here." She paused for a moment and then shook her head.
Trish looked at her curiously. "What?"
"I'm so ashamed."
"Oh My God! What did you do?"
"You could try not to look so excited," Stephanie huffed causing her friend to immediately remove the excited expression from her face. She couldn't help it, she loved any type of gossip.
Trish shrugged her shoulders. "Sorry."
Stephanie sighed. "I stole somebody's cab this morning." Her face looked pained. She replayed the whole scene out in her head. The man on the sidewalk trying to hail a cab. The woman slipping and falling on the ice. The man turning to help her as the cab pulled up beside him. His eyes latching on to hers and then staring right through her. He was gorgeous, that was for sure. But if she didn't get that cab she was going to be late. So she turned on the charm, swung her hips a little and flashed her best smile. It totally worked and now here she was, safe and sound in her office while the poor guy was probably still out there trying to get a cab. She felt horrible.
"That's it?"
Her friend's unimpressed voice broke her reverie.
"You stole a cab? Gee, Steph, you're a regular Charles Manson."
Stephanie glared at her. "Oh shut up!"
"You should just be glad that you made it here on time. The bosses are all on edge. This new guy they are bringing on is supposed to be a marketing genius. They have been crapping themselves all morning waiting for him to show up and here is the kicker, he still isn't here!"
"He isn't?" Stephanie was genuinely shocked. What a way to make a first impression.
"No! So can you imagine what would have happened if you were to come in late too? They would have slaughtered you!"
She swallowed the lump in her throat. Maybe it was fate that she got the cab this morning. From looking at her bosses she could clearly see that her friend was right, they were all totally on edge. The meeting was scheduled to start any minute now and this guy wasn't here yet. She thanked her lucky stars that she was.
Paul swiftly worked his way around the numerous desks in the office and sighed with relief when he spied the huge conference room in the corner. That's when the panic set in. Shit! The place was full and somebody was already speaking. "Fuck!" he muttered under his breath. Now he would have to walk right in the middle of this thing. He took a calming breath and paused outside the door for a second before softly knocking and walking as confidently as he could inside. In that instant, around 25 pairs of eyes were locked on him, including 3 pairs that looked seriously pissed off. He gulped and immediately stuck out his hand and started his apologies.
"Hi. I'm so sorry I'm late. I had a...thing...with my daughter this morning and well...I'm here now!" he whispered to the main man in charge, Mr Pringle before smiling sheepishly. The older man's empty expression gave nothing away until it eventually broke into a small smile and he shook Paul's hand.
"Everyone, I'd like you to meet Paul Levesque, our newest Marketing Consultant. If his work at Cooper-Dunworth is anything to go by, he's going to light this place up. And despite the fact that he's almost twenty minutes late, we're pleased to welcome him aboard!"
Paul's face reddened in embarrassment as the room clapped. He nodded his head a few times then finally slid into an empty chair towards the back of the room. He removed his gloves and just as his eyes lifted from his hands, they made contact with a familiar pair of shocked blue ones that were directly across from him. His expression narrowed as he tried to remember where he had seen the woman before until it hit him like a smack in the face. It was her! "Son of a..." he muttered softly. It was that God damn bitch that had stolen his cab this morning and caused this whole mess in the first place! And from her embarrassed expression he could tell that she knew too. He couldn't stop his lip from curling into a snarl as he glared at her. Of all the coincidences in the world, this took the cake. He just couldn't believe it!
Trish was pleasantly surprised to see the handsome man that stumbled through the door. She wasn't expecting their new colleague to be so...hot! Her eyes followed him and inside she squealed with delight when he sat across from her. Now she would get to stare at him, maybe even flirt a little if he looked her way. She watched as he pulled at his gloves and finally lifted his head. And that's when it happened. His expression turned to shock, then disgust and then anger the second he caught sight of her friend. She glanced to her left to find Stephanie's cheeks stained a nice shade of red, her hand trying to cover her face. She looked between the pair in confusion. Did they know each other? If they did they must not have liked each other because the guy was starting a whole right through Stephanie right now! She nudged her friend in the arm and moved closer to her ear. "What the hell is going on? Do you know him?"
"That's him! That's the guy!" Stephanie squeaked out. She couldn't believe it. Her heart was thumping in her chest and his glare wasn't helping things one bit. The second he had walked through the door she had almost died.
"What guy?" Trish asked in confusion. She had no idea what was going on.
"The guy who's cab I stole this morning!"
Trish let the words sink in for a moment before she couldn't help but laugh out loud. The whole room turned to look at her not to mention that now Stephanie was shooting her a death glare too.
"Is there something wrong Miss Stratus?"
"Ummmm, no," she coughed in an attempt to hide her laughter, batting her hand nonchanlantly. "Sorry, please, continue."
Stephanie couldn't believe she found this funny. It was humiliating and he looked PISSED the hell off. "Stop laughing. It isn't funny!"
"I know, it's hilarious! Damn you have shit luck!"
The brunette could only roll her eyes. Well, her friend was telling the truth. She just couldn't believe this. She continued to avoid his gaze. God help her but she couldn't look at him without feeling horrible.
"Well folks, I think that will do us for this morning. We'll meet again next week." Mr Pringle finished up as people began to get out of their chairs. He turned to Paul and motioned with his hand. "Paul, why don't you come over to my office and we'll get you started."
Paul smiled and waved absently. "Absolutely, I'll be there in just a second." He watched as his new boss wandered out of the room before instantly making his way over to the woman across the table from him. He was completely blind to how beautiful she looked this time. All he could see was red. He came to a stop before her and continued his glaring.
"Look, before you say anything, I'm really..." she began but was cut right off.
"What? Sorry? You're sorry? Well that's just great. I guess I'll go tell old Pringle in there that I'm late because you're sorry," he fumed.
His attitude instantly made her angry and her apology slipped away. What an asshole! "If you think you're going to talk to me like that you have another thing coming, pal."
Paul laughed sarcastically. What a bitch! "Oh, you don't like it when somebody does something unjustified, say like, stealing somebody else's cab!" They glared at each other before he started up again. "You saw me on the sidewalk and you saw that woman fall. But you didn't even have the decency to go help her out and instead you stole my cab and made me late! If I wasn't so rational I would say that you planned the whole thing!"
"First of all, you aren't being rational at all. Seriously, I didn't plan anything. And secondly, I would have been late if I didn't get the cab and I'm sorry but I'd rather it be you than me," she huffed. God damn this guy was infuriating. Did he really think she had planned for that woman to fall so she could steal his cab? Was he crazy!
Trish watched them spar for a few moments before she felt the need to step in no matter how entertaining the whole thing was. The guy looked ready to burst a brain vessel and her friend looked ready to throttle him. "Guys, guys, guys! I really think you need to calm down and..."
"Oh I'm calm," Paul stated, holding his hands up in the air innocently, his expression now one of indifference. "If you'll excuse me, I have to go explain to my boss why I'm so damn LATE!" With that, he pushed between them and stormed off leaving Stephanie fuming behind him.
"What. An. Asshole! Did you hear him? Did you hear him? Oh My God!" she ranted. Her face was red with anger and her blood was boiling. Alright, she was in the wrong but he had no right to talk to her like that. His actions were making her feel all the better about what she did this morning. The guy was a jerk.
"Steph, just calm down alright?" Trish tried to soothe without laughing. The entire situation was hilarious to her. Her morning could not have turned out any better.
"I just can't believe him!"
"It's OK. Come on, let's go to your office and talk this over. I need details!"
Stephanie glared at her friend. At least somebody found this funny. But she just was not in the mood. "Not now Trish!" The blonde could only watch as she stormed off down the hall. Things just got extremely interesting around here and she couldn't wait to see how it would all play out.