Street. This morning the sunlight sparkled on the line of water that shot high into the air and plummeted to the churning pool beneath while cars circled the park on all sides of the triangle. One day, Tori intended to have an office with a view like this.
Apparently the view was lost on her boss. Kate sat facing her computer on the heavy credenza against the wall, her back to the wide desk with the neat piles of papers and magazines placed evenly across its surface. Mitch stood in front of the desk, trying to look casual as he strained his neck to read the screen over Kate’s shoulder. He jerked when Tori stepped up beside him, then gave her an unrepentant cocky grin.
“Close the door and have a seat,” Kate said without turning. “Be with you in a minute.”
An odd request. Typically a closed door at Connolly and Farrin indicated a confidential conversation was taking place, but they were the only three in the entire office. There was nobody out there to overhear. But Kate was like that—overly paranoid when it came to discussing client information. Tori did as requested and then slid into one of the two padded chairs while Mitch took the other. The tap-tap-tap of Kate’s keyboard filled the room.
After what seemed an eternity, the printer on the corner of the credenza hummed to life. A series of papers emerged from the front, and Kate snatched each as soon as the machine released it. When she had six in her hands, she swiveled the chair around.
Made up to perfection, as usual. She’d pulled her dark hair back this morning, the line of her white scalp stark where she’d parted it in the center. She laid the papers face down in the center of her desk.
Tori held her report toward her boss. “Here’s the Harmon analysis you asked for.”
Kate took it and tossed it on the top of a pile to her right without a glance. Tori swallowed a flash of resentment. After she’d stayed up all night to get the thing done, the least Kate could do was look at it.
Instead, her boss planted her elbows on the desk and entwined her fingers. She slid a sharp blue gaze from Tori to Mitch. “Dan handed me a new prospect on Friday.”
Tori straightened in her chair. Dan Farrin, one of the firm’s founders, had intimidated her since her second day on the job, when he reamed out an executive in front of the entire staff. She was pretty certain he liked her, or at least she’d never given him a reason to dislike her. Actually, she stayed out of his way as much as possible. Not hard the past few months, because Mr. Farrin had spent more time out of the office than in. Rumors had been doing the rounds about health problems, but Rita, his longtime administrative assistant, remained tight-lipped.
“That’s great,” Mitch said.
Tori nodded. “Terrific news, Kate.”
The account must be a really big one. Potential new clients weren’t all that unusual at Connolly and Farrin, certainly not enough to justify a Sunday meeting. The firm handled a large number of marketing campaigns for various businesses around Kentucky. When a business owner wanted to run an ad, or film a commercial, or design a new logo, Connolly and Farrin almost always got the job.
When a new account came along, the competition among the firm’s three account executives to sign the client could get fierce. For Dan to hand Kate a new prospect was a feather in her cap.
It also meant a lot of work for her staff. Tori couldn’t imagine how she could squeeze one more client into her workload. But she did have a couple of projects that were nearly wrapped up. As long as the deadline wasn’t too tight, she’d find time.
“Tell us what we can do to help,” Tori said.
A secretive smile hovered around Kate’s mouth. “You two are not going to be helping me this time.”
That made no sense. Kate had no other staff. “But you just said the prospect was yours.”
“It is.”
Mitch cocked his head, his expression cautious. “Are you transferring us to another