Free Breene, K F - Growing Pains 01 by Lost (and) Found (v5.0)

at the email just in case she missed
part of the message.
    No, she was right the first
time--it was a pretty simple message.
    It was the simplicity that was
misleading. Did he understand she was going out on a limb for him? If so, where
was the gratitude? What did he think about it being her first presentation? Did
that worry him? Did he have confidence in her? There was so much more going on
than “understood” could portray.
    Could he have at least given her a
sentence so that she could read into it a bit more? Cripes, she had nothing
else to do, dissecting his code like she was in high school would have at least
passed the hours.
    And while she was on the “I hate
Sean” bandwagon, why bother with the Dear Krista shenanigans? And why sign his
name? The email said who the sender was; she didn’t need him to double up the
info.
    She sighed, loudly, and leaned back
in her chair. Then she went for coffee. Her friend Peet was always willing to
lend an ear while selling his wares.
    The next day there was an email
waiting in her inbox. Thankfully it was from Sean. Thankfully because she had
slept horribly worried that he would accidently, or not accidentally, tell Mr.
Montgomery that she sent it directly to him. She would get in serious trouble
if her boss found out.
    Krista—
    Fantastic work! You get a gold star
for this. And thanks for breaking protocol sending it ahead of time—your secret
is safe with me. Any problems and don’t hesitate to say I strong-armed you.
    I have noted some minor changes
that would help on a macro level. As soon as James sends me his version (which
I doubt will have any changes), I will send these changes to him so we are all
on the same page. I will not mention you already received these notes.
    I also have some art mock-ups. If
you wanted to pop by my office I could briefly show you what we are looking at
in terms of overall feel. It would help you to know how you fit into the
overall layout. Please let me know if you have time for this.
    J Thanks again on such a
thorough job. I knew I would be in safe hands.
    -Sean
    Well, now, that’s more like it!
    Krista smiled to herself. Her worry
had been stupid. Of course Sean would understand! Thank God!
    She got to work right away on his
notes, which were both insightful and easy to change, then got her mug and
headed down to meet him with a bounce in her step. It wasn’t until she stepped
out of the elevator that she paused. That she realized where she was going.
Alone.
    Her stomach filled with butterflies
and her fist tightened on her lucky mug.
    “This is not a big deal,” she
whispered to herself.
    Taking a big breath, stepping out
of the line of fire into a fake, bushy plant, which was only weird if she got
caught, she took stock of her situation. She was here for business. She was not
here to meet him in some kind of intimate tryst. He was funny and nice to talk
to, but so were a million people. His handsome face and freaking god-like body
just meant he was bad news to boot. No mystery there. She’d already catalogued
that fact.
    So why the hell was that open door
beckoning her closer, the pull of the charismatic salesman moving her feet as
if she was in a lovesick daze. It was so freaking unfair.
    With a big sigh, face a stern mask
of determination, she stepped out from behind the bushy plant, then apologized
profusely to the passing woman who jumped and screeched at the Research girl
materializing out of thin air.
    Back on track, Krista marched down
the hallway, eyes trained on the battlefield, ready to keep her wits about her,
hands to herself, and not grab any crotches in an act of sexual starvation. As
she stepped up to the gaping door, hand in the act of knocking, she heard a
female voice float out into the hallway. Then laughter.
    Her gut pinched in worry. She
really, really didn’t want to walk in on some sort of office sexual fantasy
being acted out by Sean and his squeeze of the day.
    She poked her head in slowly,