No, hes out calling on clients.
Oh. She was actually relieved. Bringing her daughter to the office on her very first day was unprofessional and she knew it. But she simply didnt have a choice in the matter.
Did you need something? Carol asked.
No. I just have a tiny bit of work to finish up, and I thought hed be here to approve it before I left for the day.
Oh, dont worry. If he doesnt like something, youll hear about it.
Really? From what Allie had said-and what little Jane had previously observed-she thought Max was the easygoing, laid-back Remington cousin. Hed been somewhat testy with her earlier, but shed attributed that to anxiety over his deadline.
Dont get me wrong, hes a good boss, Carol said. I mean, Ive only been working for him a short time, but hes fair-minded and flexible. You always know exactly what he wants from you, so you arent expected to read his mind like with some bosses.
But he does want things a certain way, and hes not shy about telling you.
You mean hes a perfectionist?
Yeah. Carol nodded. Thats a fair description. But not in a nitpicky way. Youll see what I mean.
Mommy. Kaylee tugged on the hem of Janes skirt. Can I get a drink? She pointed to the gurgling fountain.
Oh, Lord, she could just imagine Max returning to the office and finding Kaylee with her head in his fountain.
Carol grinned. We have some juice in the break room. You want me to watch her while you work?
Oh, would you? That would be great.
You come with Aunt Carol, Carol said to Kaylee, standing and holding out her hand. Well see if we can find juice and a yummy snack in the break room. Carol looked at Jane. Is that okay?
Sure. Ill only be a few minutes.
Jane hurried to her office, listening for sounds of Kaylees displeasure at being abandoned. But she seemed to take to Carol, which wasnt surprising; Kaylee wasnt a clingy, shy child and usually was happy to meet new people.
As Jane worked on the ad, making only small adjustments now and feeling slightly more confident with her graphics program, she could hear her daughters happy but shrill voice and laughter coming from the break room down the hall.
When the ad was as good as Jane knew how to make it, she e-mailed it to Max as per instructions. She looked at her watch, surprised that it was nearly five oclock. That had taken far longer than shed expected. Time flew by so quickly when she was engrossed in something creative.
Thank God for Carol. If Jane had been forced to divide her time between her computer and entertaining Kaylee, she never would have made the deadline.
Jane found her purse and headed out of her office, grateful she had survived her first day of work. Just as she closed her door, she heard Maxs voice and froze, torn. Part of her wanted to see him and have him look at the ad. His approval was important to her on this, her first assignment. But another part of her wanted to make a clean getaway. Max was exciting to be around, but a little draining on her, too. She was ready to share mac-and-cheese with her daughter and decompress.
Whos that? she heard Max ask.
Oh, no. He was in the break room with Carol and Kaylee.
This is Janes daughter, Kaylee. Kaylee, can you say hi to Mr. Remington?
If Kaylee said anything, it was too quiet for Jane to hear.
Im watching her while Jane finishes up some work.
And dont you have work to do? What if a client arrives? Is anyone answering the phone? He sounded decidedly grouchy.
Darn, Jane hadnt meant to get Carol in trouble.
I can hear the door chime and the phone from here, Carol said, not sounding at all bothered by Maxs reprimand. Then again, she was probably a good ten years older than Max and seemed pretty sure of herself.
Well, I hope this isnt going to be a regular thing. Having a child running around the office isnt the kind of image Im trying to project.
Carol grumbled something Jane couldnt make out.
Did she at least finish the ad shes been working on?
I dont know.
Jane decided shed done enough skulking around in the hallway, eavesdropping. She strode toward the break room and entered boldly. Oh, hello, Max. I hadnt realized you were back.
Mommy! Kaylee, whod been scribbling in a coloring book, flew out of her chair and attached herself to Janes leg.
Jane leaned down to pick up her little girl. Have you been a good girl for Ms. Washington?
Kaylee nodded. We ate Goldfish and juice-
And some apple slices, Carol interjected, probably so Jane would know the snack had been somewhat nutritious.
-and we played horsey and colored in the book-
Excuse me, Max said, looking more and more irritated, but can we finish our business before youre off in Mommy Land?
Yes, of course, Max. What is it?
Is the ad done? Please tell me its done.
Of course its done, she said calmly, as if shed finished it ages ago. It should be in your inbox as we speak.
He bolted out of the room.
Hes mean, Mommy. Mean must have been Kaylees new word.
Carol laughed. Not mean. Just not into kids, I dont think. Listen, you better hit the road before Mr. Remington looks at that ad and decides he wants changes.
Oh, but its perfect, Jane said, alarmed to think she might have more work to do. Im sure hell be pleased with it. The finished product had been beautiful, even if she did say so herself.
One thing you better learn fast in this business, honey. No matter how hard you work, no matter how perfect it is when you let go of it, the boss will always want changes and the client will, too. The sooner you realize that and dont let it bother you, the better.
Jane nodded. Point taken. She quickly gathered up Kaylees toys and stuffed them into the tote bag. Cmon, princess. Lets go home and have some macaroni.
Theyd almost cleared the reception area when Jane heard her name. She considered scooting out the door and pretending she hadnt heard. But since Max had bellowed at her loudly enough to shake the walls, she decided she better obey the summons.
She sighed. Oh, God, what if he hated the ad?
He appeared in the doorway to the reception room just as she reached to open it. Oh, there you are. I thought Id missed you.
Is something wrong?
Not much, really. The ad is beautiful. Really, Jane, you have such an eye for color and composition. Theres just one teeny-tiny problem.
What?
You left off the clients logo.
Chapter Three
Jane gasped. In the span of two heartbeats shed gone from glowing with pride to cringing with mortification. Shed left off the clients logo? How could that be possible?
Just then Kaylee let out an unexpected shriek-right in Janes ear. She strengthened her grip around Janes neck, putting her in a wrestlers stranglehold.
That man is mean!
What? Max asked. Did she just say I was mean?
But Janes mind was shifting back to the ad and the final steps shed taken, and she remembered something. I think I know what the problem is. Give me five minutes.
She dropped everything but Kaylee and ran back to her office. Kaylee, honey, please be good for another couple of minutes while Mommy fixes this disaster. How humiliating would it have been to show the client an ad with no logo?
While her computer booted up, she tried to convince Kaylee to play quietly, but the child was crabby now and wanted none of it. Jane had to work with Kaylee in her lap and Max standing in the doorway, glowering at her.
If she didnt fix this problem in two seconds, she was fired. She knew it.
She called up the file from the graphics program. Yes, there it was! Shed made the logo transparent while she was working on the background, and shed simply forgotten to restore it. One button click, and the problem was fixed. With a huge sigh of relief, she sent it to Max.
Its fine now. The corrected version should be in your inbox.
He didnt rush to his office, as shed expected, but continued standing in her doorway staring at her, an inscrutable expression on his handsome face.
Oh, God. He was going to fire her anyway.
He opened his mouth to say something, then seemed to think better of it and turned away.
Jane wanted to get herself and her fussy child out of there-before the day got any worse. But she forced herself to wait until Max had okayed the ad. If he wanted her to do more work on it, she would, but she would find a babysitter first.
At least Kaylee had stopped crying. She was now flopped across Janes shoulder, her little body relaxing muscle by muscle as drowsiness took over. Poor thing, today had been long and confusing for her.
Still carrying her daughter, Jane tiptoed to Maxs office. He was at the computer, but he must have sensed her presence because he looked up.
Is it okay now? she asked.
Its fine. Ive sent it to the client.
Do I still have a job?
He actually smiled. Yes, you still have a job. I shouldnt have reacted like I did, not on your first day. Im sure things will go smoother once you settle in.
Jane smiled back. Absolutely. See you tomorrow, then. She turned to leave.
Oh, Jane. One more thing.
Shoot, what now?
Im courting a new client, a childrens clothing manufacturer from Houston. If I land the account, it will be by far my biggest. He pointed to a folder sitting on the corner of his desk. Thats some of the print advertising theyve done over the past couple of years, along with some concepts Ive brainstormed. Would you mind looking them over tonight? Ill want you to do some mock-ups for a presentation. We can talk about it tomorrow.
Sure, of course. What sort of mock-up was he talking about? Sketches, or something more polished? She should ask, but she didnt want to look any more ignorant today than she already had.
Jane grabbed the folder, which she would study after Kaylee was in bed. Have a great evening. Did he have a date? Oh, Lord, why did she care about that? He could have ten dates, and it was none of her concern.
As she made her way to her car, the days events floated around in her brain, but the one she focused on was when Max had said her ad was beautiful. Maybe his praise hadnt been sincere, but shed gone all tingly inside.
For a moment, she imagined how it would feel to hear him say she was beautiful. The tingly feeling returned. It was a miracle she got her car home in one piece.