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can’t do that,” he
said sympathetically.
     
    “You cannot block the lounge
off!” she insisted.
     
    “Even if I didn’t do my job, he’d
just fire me and hire someone else to do it. Your best option would be to take
it up with Mr. Blake, Miss,” he informed her.
     
    “Fine, then I’ll do it myself,”
she snapped as she began to tear down the red tape.
     
    The men stood back as she went
from door to door and removed everything they had hung. The foreman grabbed his
cell and quickly dialed his boss.
     
    “Mr. Blake? Yes, she’s taking
down the signs, what should we do?”
     
    “Put them back up when she’s
done. You’re getting paid extra for this scenario,” Dean instructed over the
speaker.
     
    “Yes, Sir,” he said and hung up
the phone.
     
    Lux had finished ripping down all
of the signs and the tape. As she headed towards the garbage can she noticed
that the men had immediately started to put new signs back up.
     
    “What in the hell are you doing?’
she yelled, still carrying the large ball of signs and tape.
     
    “What we were instructed to do… put
them back up after you were done.”
     
    “Your boss told you this?” she
asked as her anger intensified.
     
    “Yes.”
     
    “We’ll see about that,” she
whispered more to herself as she stormed out of the front entrance of the
lounge, still carrying the big ball of signs wrapped in a mound of tape.
     
    She cursed under her breath as
she headed out to her car. She opened the passenger’s side and tossed the big
sticky ball in the seat. She rushed to the driver’s seat, started her car, and
headed to see the attempted-lounge-wrecker himself, Dean Blake.
     
    ***
     
    Lux parked in front of the office
building and then stormed inside. She knew Dean’s office was not located on the
same floor as their original meeting. The secretary that had led her there that
day had told her as much. She walked through the lobby and headed straight for
the receptionist’s desk.
     
    “Can I help you?” the woman
smiling behind the over-sized, round desk asked.
     
    “Yes, I am here to see Dean Blake.
I just can’t remember which floor he told me his office was on,” Lux said
nonchalantly, despite the fact that the receptionist was staring at the large
red ball of tape in her hand.
     
    “He’s at the very top; I’ll just
call him.”
     
    “That won’t be necessary; he’s
expecting me.” Lux smiled before walking away from the desk.
     
    “But no one is allowed up there
without permission,” her voice grew louder as Lux rushed to the elevators.
     
    Lux took the long ride to the top
and stepped into a huge lobby. Despite her anger, she took a moment to stop and
look around her. The whole place screamed of wealth… extreme wealth; but more
than that, it screamed of art. She looked at the clean white stucco walls, the
charcoal furnishings, and the platinum accents. The walls were covered in
large, darkly themed paintings that seemed to oppose as well as complement the
elegance surrounding it.
     
    “May I help you?” the secretary
at the main desk asked.
     
    “Dean Blake’s office?” Lux asked.
     
    “Do you have an appointment?”
     
    “Yes.”
     
    “Your name?”
     
    “Lux Hart.”
     
    “Um, I don’t see you here.”
     
    “Just show me where he is,” Lux
sighed in mounting irritation. She preferred to not take her rage for Dean out
on this woman, who was just doing her job.
     
    “You’ll need an appointment
first.”
     
    “I have an appointment. There is
obviously a mistake.”
     
    “Okay, I’ll take you to his
personal secretary. Come with me please.” She smiled pleasantly.
     
    She led Lux down a wide hallway
decorated in the same dark paintings. The end of the hallway opened up into a
large, brightly lit area with a desk and a door. They stood before the desk
that looked too pricey for a secretary and a secretary that was too under
dressed to be a secretary.
     
    “Hello, can I help you?”