“I remember watching you eat them before school.” She glanced down at the carpet to hide her embarrassment. “I took a guess you still liked them.”
Vincent reached out and gently lifted her chin up so he could see her face. “You know it kills me that I can’t remember you.”
Leigh came around the corner at that moment, sending Lexi scurrying across the room. “I’ll go grab lunch. I’ll be back as soon as I can, with traffic and all.”
Leigh and Vincent watched her dart down the hall like a jackrabbit.
The entire day went by in a flash. A little before six, Lexi got a text from Hope that she would be a late. Something about a Porsche owner with his head firmly planted up his ass. Lexi laughed and was actually relieved because Vincent was still in his office and had given her a laundry list of things that still needed to get done for tomorrow.
At seven, Lexi had just changed her clothes for her date with Hope when the printer jammed. She was about to crawl under her desk and drag it out when her phone rang. “Lexi White, can I help you?”
“Hey, Lexi, it’s Christina. How are you?”
“I’m great. We’re a little busy getting ready for a big presentation that my boss has tomorrow with this really famous fashion designer,” Lexi teased as she eyed her makeup bag and glanced at the clock; Hope would be there soon. “What’s up with you?”
“Nothing,” she said in a hushed tone. “I just wanted to see how you guys were doing with the presentation. Everything ready to go?”
Lexi dropped her tone to match Christina’s. “Why are we whispering about this?”
“Because I’m not supposed to be calling about these things, but I just want to make sure that everything’s on schedule.” Her voice became deadly serious. “He liked Reid’s campaign.”
Lexi felt like she was going to be sick. “How much did he like it?”
“A lot. It was good, all about being unique and expressing yourself.”
Lexi’s eyes immediately flew to the production boards sitting beside her. The main tag line for the ad was burned into her memory not only from the boards, but the PowerPoint and the mockup ads. Everything had those same two words on it: Unique expressions of self, by Julian Stone.
“Shit, shit, shit.”
“No, no, don’t say shit, Lexi. Say ‘we can kick Reid’s ass.’ Tell me he’s gonna look like dog food after you guys present tomorrow.”
Lexi’s mind was a million miles away, trying to figure out how she was going to break the news to Vincent that the presentation he had been slaving over had already been pitched to Julian.
“Lexi? Are you still there?” Christina’s worried whispers snapped Lexi out of her trance.
“I’m here. We’ll be there tomorrow, and Vincent’s presentation will make David’s look like dog food!” Lexi was on her feet pacing in front of her desk. “Christina, I love you, but I gotta go. I’ll see you soon.” Lexi tossed the phone onto her desk and flew into Vincent’s office.
“What the hell?” Vincent’s head shot up when the door crashed into the wall, rattling the framed pictures that hung nearby. “Wow, you look
gorgeous.”
She nearly melted into a puddle right there in the doorway of his office as he smiled at her. Shaking her head from side to side, she forced herself to remember the real reason she had come barreling into his office in the first place, and it wasn’t to fish for a compliment.
“Thanks, but we have trouble, big trouble.” Lexi began pacing across his office in her high heels, trying to figure out what they were going to do and how they could quickly tweak what they had and turn it into something wonderful, something that would knock Julian Stone’s socks off.
“You’re making me really nervous here. Is there someone with a gun in the lobby?”
Lexi shook her head no, but continued her rapid movements.
He slowly looked her up and down. “Stalker ex-boyfriend?”
Lexi stopped walking, glared at him, unamused, and then bit her lip as she resumed her walking.
“Have you spent any time in a psychiatric facility?” he asked, slowly reaching for the phone.
Lexi went to his desk and slammed her hand down over his. “Don’t ask me how I know this because I will deny it until the day I die, but I just found out that David Reid gave a great presentation to Julian Stone today.”
Vincent swore under his breath, then collected himself. “Okay, well, I’ll just have to be better than him now, won’t I? Nothing to worry about. I can do that. Reid is a walking social disorder.”
“That wasn’t the bad part. Apparently, his presentation centered on being ‘unique’ and ‘expressing yourself.’” Lexi had barely finished the sentence, but Vincent was already on his feet.
“What did you say?”
“You heard me.”
“There must be a mistake.” He sat on the edge of his desk.
“I wish there was. My information is from a very reliable source.”
Vincent raked his hands though his hair, tugging on the strands before releasing them from his grasp. Suddenly, his face lit up and he grabbed the phone. “Come on … come on … pick up. Someone …”
“Who are you calling?”
“Productions. I’m going to tell them all to stay, and we’ll pull an all-nighter if necessary.”
“Vincent, it’s after seven. No one is down there. You know they run out the door at five o’clock sharp.”
“Then get them on their cell phones and tell every one of them to get back in here or they’re fired.”
“Vincent, most of them left for the airport before lunch. You know Tony took the team to that conference, and that’s why all the boards had to be done this morning.”
“Do it!” he barked, at his wit’s end. “Please, just try,” he said in a much softer tone as he closed his eyes and clutched his head, deep in thought.
Lexi ran to her desk and scrolled through the employee logs, searching for phone numbers. She then began the uncomfortable task of calling his production department back in to work or even worse, firing them for not answering Vincent’s orders. Phone call after phone call kicked to voice mail, not a single one of them picking up because they were all in the air.
She slammed down the receiver, knowing she wasn’t going to be able to get anyone at this point. In sixteen hours, Vincent needed something intelligent to take to Stone, and what they currently had in their possession wasn’t going to get them the account.