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herself
    with
    anticipation. Now I can go home and get out of my harness.
     
     

 
CHAPTER SEVEN
     
     
The next day Suzanna was somewhat surprised that Quentin didn't
    remark
    on her work when he called on the intercom to say that he had
    another
    batch of layouts ready for her. She also had to admit she was rather
    disappointed. She had been so sure she had hit just the right note
    with
    the piece.
     
     
"I'll be right there, Mr. Pierce," she answered.
     
     
When she went into his office to get them a short time later, they
    talked for a time about this and that, until finally their
    conversation
    began to lull. When he still made no mention of the layout she had
    stayed late to finish, she couldn't resist asking, "So, what did you
    think of my idea for the Reynolds account?"
     
     
"I thought it was great, Ms. Sills," he said with a rueful smile.
    "Really great."
     
     
"Then what's wrong?" she asked, staring at him, looking for any clue
    as
    to what the problem might be.
     
     
"Unfortunately, someone else had the same idea just before you did.
    He
    presented it to the top brass yesterday afternoon and they were most
    impressed, so he's going to get all the credit for it, though am of
    course going to show them your layout, since it's all been fully
    conceptualized by you on paper rather than just chatted about at an
    informal meeting."
     
     
"Oh, er, thank you. Someone else? Really?" Suzanna said, knowing how
    unlikely, though not impossible, it was for such a thing to happen.
    "Would you mind telling me who's on the same wavelength as me?"
     
     
"Of course I don't mind. It was a Junior Exec named Brad Sherman. To
    tell the truth, I was a bit surprised. Brad isn't exactly known for
    his
    original ideas around here."
     
     
"Well," said Suzy, shrugging, "I guess there's nothing new under the
    sun."
     
     
He looked up at her for a moment, and then rose from his chair.
    "Yes, I
    think I'll just head up now myself and drop this off to them. Even
    if
    the two of you both came up with the same idea, it's so fresh and
    original, we wouldn't want the competition to steal a march on us."
     
     
"No, of course not."
     
     
"Sorry you lost the account, but there will be others, I promise."
     
     
She smiled and held back the bitterness in her tone as she said,
    "We're
    all playing on the same team here, Mr. Pierce. I'm glad you're so
    sure
    we'll be award the account, and I'm glad my concept board can
    contribute to the success of the campaign."
     
     
He nodded, though again she sensed a strange coiled tension in him
    that
    had definitely not been there before. "That's the spirit, Ms. Sills.
    Your turn to shine will come soon enough if you keep producing work
    like this." He lifted all the work she had left on his desk the
    night
    before. "I'll see you later," he said, then headed out the door.
     
     
On her way back to her office, Suzanna recalled the feeling she'd
    had
    the day before when she had come back from lunch. She had been sure
    that her papers had been disturbed and had even asked Quentin if he
    had
    taken a peek at her work.
     
     
Now she recalled that Brad had left the staff cafeteria about
    twenty-five minutes before she and Sharon had.
     
     
For the rest of the week, Suzy examined her papers when she returned
    from lunch, but found nothing amiss. She also made sure to change
    the
    password on her computer and lock all her filing cabinets, where she
    hid most of her good work.
     
     
She baited her mousetrap with a few inconsequential pieces, copies
    of
    which she time stamped on her computer to show when she had created
    them in case anyone tried to get ahead of her again.
     
     
But by the end of the week, she had no evidence of anyone having
    tampered with her work. She tried to tell herself she was just
    imagining things, but all the same, she needed to know what was
    going
    on, and where she stood...
     
     
That weekend Suzanna and Elsa went out on the town. They