Beloved (Toni Morrison Trilogy #1)(17)
“Hello, Ms. Pope. This is Danielle.”
“Good morning, Danielle. I hope your morning is good so far.”
“Yes, thank you. We appreciate you fitting us in last-minute,” she replies.
“As I promised in our meeting, I haven’t taken on any other accounts in hopes that you’ll select CJJ to represent you,” I say, projecting my strength through the phone.
“I’m glad to hear that. After we conclude our call, we have a call scheduled with Boyce PR. Mr. Cole should be on in about two minutes. We were advised by Piper of her opinion, and we want to be one hundred percent sure we choose the right person.”
“I understand completely. Do you have anything you’d like me to clear up prior to Mr. Cole joining us?” I ask earnestly.
“Our questions this morning will focus on you and your company. I think either company would provide a similar approach, but we would like to know more about you since you would be the person primarily responsible for ensuring clear and consistent branding. Also, I wanted to let you know that I’m not an assistant—I’m actually the director of product development. I’m sorry I wasn’t honest, but I wanted to get a feel for both you and Neil without either of you being influenced by my title.”
“Honestly, Danielle, I never believed you were an assistant, but thank you for being frank.” I let out a short laugh. “I assure you—”
A tone cuts me off, alerting us that someone has joined the call.
“Good morning.” A deep, hoarse voice fills my ears. My body tenses and something stirs deep inside. “Danielle?” he asks.
“Yes, Mr. Cole, good morning. I have Catherine Pope on the call, sir. She’s with CJJ Public Relations,” Danielle informs him.
I shake my head, trying to release the tension triggered by his voice, and prepare to impress him. “Good morning, Mr. Cole. It’s a pleasure.”
“Ms. Pope, thank you for joining us. Danielle was impressed by your presentation. I asked to have a call with you since I was out of the area and couldn’t make it to the meeting yesterday. I wanted to speak with you and the other candidate before I make my final decision.” The strong, sexy timbre of his voice exudes confidence.
“I’m more than happy to go over any questions you may have.”
The call continues for about thirty minutes as we discuss my professional background and the company’s growth expectations. The sound of his voice pulls at me, though I can’t quite place it. With each question he asks, I field and answer appropriately, reaffirming that I’m the right choice.
Mr. Cole breaks in right before we’re about to wrap things up. “I’d like to know one more thing.”
“Ask away.” I smile, hoping it shines through the phone.
“Why should we hire you?” he asks point-blank.
I anticipated this question. It’s pretty typical and I honestly love to answer it. There’s no real reason other than what I always answer. “Because I’m the best. I work hard, and I don’t fail. Ever,” I say confidently.
His deep voice vibrates through the phone. “We’ll be in touch by the end of the day with our final answer. Thank you, Catherine.”
When he says my first name, a familiar feeling washes over me. Though I’d love to take the time to analyze why that is, my professionalism prevents me from dwelling. “I look forward to hearing from you. Have a wonderful day.”
“Thank you, Ms. Pope,” Danielle replies.
Then the line goes dead.
And I wait.
Again.
After taking a long shower, I stand in front of my closet debating what to wear. The warm water helped ease my residual anxiety from the phone call, but I need something that will make me feel sexy and strong. It’s still warm out, so I opt for my navy blue empire dress and pair it with my dark crimson heals. I smile at my reflection in the mirror—I look good. I decide to take some extra time on my makeup and hair. Large barrel curls soften the ends of my dark brown hair, and I leave them hanging loosely down by back. For my makeup, I choose a really soft smoky eye, which gives me that coveted mysterious look. Not bad. This is the Catherine Pope I know and remember.
Once I arrive at the office, I settle into my desk and … feel useless. I don’t know if I won the account yet and my last two clients finished last week. I cleared out most of my emails at home, so I have nothing to work on. My ambition and work ethic won’t allow for me to sit around, so I decide to look at the open bids board and start mock-ups for a pitch. I have no idea if I’ll get the Raven account and I don’t want to waste any time getting to work on the next possible account coming in. Plus, my coworker Elle is the only other person competing with me for the upcoming promotion. I can’t let her get ahead, so I need to focus and act as though I’ve lost this one.
I head over to the board to see what’s there, and Elle looks up, grinning broadly at me. “Already looking for a new account, Cat?” Her high-pitched voice pierces through the room.
I give her a fake smile. “No, just looking to see what came in. What about you?”
“Oh, you know, I’ve got some new models coming in for a shoot. Atelier Clothing wants to do a tour with hot guys. You should stop by and see the eye candy I have coming in!” She’s practically bouncing. I have no desire to see the “hot” guys she has lined up. She has the worst taste, especially when it comes to the way she does ads and press releases. I can only imagine what the guys will look like. I’ll never understand her choices. They always seem overdone to me.