Chapter 16
Just be cool, don’t look at her body, even though you want to, don’t flirt with her or touch her, just keep things professional. You don’t want to blow it now. T has gotten so much ammo for you to use to your advantage, so just lay low.
Once Trevor felt satisfied with the pep talk he had just given himself, he smoothed his shirt and opened the door to the meeting room.
“Hey Trevor, just in time,” said Caryss with a smile as he walked into the meeting room. “Where’s Laurie?” she asked, looking past him expecting to see the bubbly brunette behind him.
“Oh, Laurie has decided to forgo this campaign with us. She realized she wasn’t really bringing anything to the table so she backed out. She sends her best to everyone though,” Trevor answered with a smile, although he was lying through his teeth. You have to lie though. It’s not like you can tell them that you dumped her and then fired her, so the lie is required. He sat down at the table and started removing all his work from his briefcase.
“Oh, that’s kind of strange actually,” Caryss responded, noticing that Trevor was acting rather different. “She was on board three hours ago when we were all on that conference call together; so you’re telling me that she had this epiphany within the past three hours?”
Trevor looked up at her with a blank expression on his face and coldness in his eyes. “Since she’s not here right now, I would say that’s a safe assumption to make, wouldn’t you?” He sneered at her then turned back to pulling out and organizing the information he had brought with him for the meeting.
Caryss didn’t know how to react to what Trevor had said and the way he was behaving. She cast a questioning glance towards Liz and Stacie, both of them shrugging their shoulders, showing neither one of them had any clue what was going on either. Feeling a little uneasy and quite exasperated, Caryss let out a quick sigh and returned her focus back to getting her material ready to be presented just like everyone else was.
Five hours and several pitchers of water, coffee and soft drinks later, the advertising campaign was finalized and ready to be sent to the printer. They had brochures, banners, signs, flyers, and numerous items with the new Heal the Bay logo printed on them just to name a few of the ways they were hoping to attract new donators and spread the word about what Heal the Bay is and does.
“This is so great, all of it. And we never would have been able to do it without you three ladies,” praised Nick as he took another satisfied look at all the advertising. “This is really going to get people motivated to start helping.”
“You know what else is going to motivate, a big expensive gala,” Trevor said with fake enthusiasm and a hint of sarcasm. “And now that we have the advertising crap out of the way, we better get working on finalizing the plans for the gala.”
Caryss looked around the table from Liz, to Stacie, and then to Nick. She shook her head and decided she had had enough of Trevor and his bad attitude today. “Trevor, can I talk to you outside for a minute?” she asked, standing up from her chair and smoothing her skirt and shirt.
Trevor looked up at her and only nodded his head, all the while trying to figure out what she wanted to talk to him about. He stood up and walked with her out into the hallway, pulling the door to the meeting room shut behind him. As soon as the door latched, Liz, Stacie and Nick were out of their seats with their ears pressed hard against the wood door hoping to hear the conversation that was taking place on the other side.
“First of all Trevor, this gala was your deal, not ours. The four of us are not going to sit here all night for something that we didn’t have any part in deciding about. If you need some help that’s something else, but maybe you should learn how to ask instead of going about things the way you did in there,” Caryss said, motioning back towards the meeting room. “Second of all, what is your problem today? And don’t lie to me either. Laurie disappears on us, you’re acting like someone pissed in your cheerios, and you expect all of us to just sit there and take the crap your dishing out; but I’ve had enough.” She crossed her arms in front of her and stared at him, obviously waiting for an explanation.
“Laurie and I broke up,” he started, inhaling deeply and putting a sad, innocent look on his face. “She told me things weren’t working out and she thought it would be best if we saw other people. I tried to get her to change her mind, but she wouldn’t. She said it would be too awkward to keep working with me, so she quit. Now I have double the work to do for this gala and I have to try and find a new assistant that I trust all in the matter of two weeks.” He stopped and brought his eyes up to meet Caryss’s, satisfaction and cockiness welling within him as he saw the empathetic look on her face.
“Oh Trevor, I’m sorry,” Caryss said softly as she placed her hand on his arm in a friendly and reassuring manner. “Breakups are hard. If you need to talk or anything, I’m here, we are all here, okay? I understand now why you are in such a bad mood. Do you need help with the gala?”
Things just keep falling right into place. Here I was worried about how to explain Laurie’s absence and as soon as I open my mouth, these believable lies just flow from them and bring me closer and closer to my goal. “I do need help, and I’m sorry I didn’t ask in a better way, I just--” He allowed his words to trail off, giving an extra boost to his distraught appearance.
“It’s okay Trevor, I understand. I appreciate your apology, but I think it would be a good idea if you said that you everyone else too. Maybe they will be more receptive to helping you if you smooth things over.”
“You’re right. Thanks for everything.” He wrapped her up in a close, unprofessional hug. He pressed her hard against his body, his arms wrapped tightly around her waist. He felt her breasts pressing his torso and he inhaled deeply so her scent could fill his nostrils. It won’t be long… I will have you any way and every way I want. It won’t be long. He released her to keep up the façade of being depressed and just looking for a friend to cry to, and she gave him a little smile.
What the hell was that? I can’t believe he hugged me? I feel like I should take a shower now. Something isn’t right with him, and I don’t believe a word he said, but I’m not going to rock the boat and stir up drama when I only have two more weeks of him and then it’s back to Chicago. Whatever game he’s playing, let him play it.
Caryss smoothed out her shirt and skirt once again and opened the door to the conference room. She saw Nick, Liz and Stacie scurry to their chairs and she couldn’t help but laugh out loud at how obvious they were being. She shook her head slightly and took her seat at the table, placing her hand over her mouth to hide the smile that wasn’t going away too quickly.
Trevor walked into the room behind her and shut the door. He stood by his chair and cleared his throat, putting the sad expression back on his face. “I’m sorry for the way I’ve been acting today. I’m just dealing with something personal,” he started, casting a forlorn look at Caryss as he said “personal” and then continued, “Laurie quit and now I’m way behind schedule on the gala planning, and I was wondering if any of you would be able to take over some of her duties and help me?”
Everyone looked around at each other, feeling like they were being put on the spot. No one really liked Trevor, and the thought of having to stay in the same room with him even later to help him was something no one really wanted to do. Sensing their uneasiness in committing to him, he decided to sweeten the pot.
“It will only take a few hours to finish everything, and we can order dinner from anywhere you’d like and I’ll pay for it. It would really help me a lot.”
“Fine, I’ll help,” said Stacie in an unenthused tone of voice.
“Me too,” said Liz, equally as unhappy.
“Nick and I will stay too. We will all work together and get everything done that you and Laurie were supposed to and then we won’t have anything to do but lounge around until the day of the gala,” Caryss concluded with a smile. “I’m going to use the restroom. Ladies, care to join me?”
Liz and Stacie bolted out of their chairs like someone lit a fire underneath them and quickly followed Caryss into the hall. They walked to the bathroom and once inside, Liz and Stacie turned to Caryss with questioning expressions.
She told them everything that Trevor had said in the hallway and they all concluded that he was definitely up to something.
“We need to talk to Laurie and find out what really happened between them,” said Liz, excitement building within her at the thought of doing some investigating.
“Well, let’s see what time we get done here tonight. Maybe if it’s not too late, we’ll call her,” suggested Caryss.
“No, I’ve got a better idea. I had to go to her condo to drop off some stuff a few days ago and I say we go to her house and talk to her in person. I remember exactly how to get there,” Stacie said with a smile.
“Okay, that’s what we’ll do. But only if we get out of here by 10:00, which I doubt will happen. We’ll probably be here until 3 in the morning if Trevor has his way. I bet he’s only doing this so he can be in the same room as you for longer,” said Liz and she looked at Caryss.
“Whatever he is doing, we will find out. He’s not going to get away with it,” announced Caryss with a smirk. “Now let’s get back so we can get this gala planning over with.”
The three ladies exited the bathroom and walked back into the meeting room, only to find Nick sitting there by himself.
“Trevor got a phone call and went out in the hallway. He came back in and said he had an urgent matter to deal with and he had to leave. He said he’ll handle the planning by himself and he’ll be in touch, whatever that means,” said Nick with disdain in his voice. Ever since the day he saw Trevor checking out Caryss he has made it abundantly clear how he feels about him, never once trying to hide his ill feelings towards the man.
“Well good, because I didn’t really want to sit here with him the rest of the night anyway,” said Liz.
Taking Liz’s cue, Caryss turned to Nick. “Nick, would you mind of I went to dinner with the girls tonight?”
“No, go ahead. I’ve been keeping you from them for the past week and a half anyway,” he said, kissing Caryss quickly on the lips. “Jay called and asked if I wanted to do something tonight anyway, so I think I’ll go meet up with him.”
“Jay?” Liz asked curiously, wondering if he meant AJ, the love of her life.
“Yeah, AJ,” he said smiling, knowing exactly what she was thinking. He chuckled a little as he watched Liz’s eyes get huge. “How about I call you later and let you ladies know where we are, and you can join us if you’d like.”
“Okay,” replied Liz a little too quickly. Everyone started laughing and Liz turned a bright shade of red. After one more kiss between Nick and Caryss, the girls and Nick parted ways, Nick going up to the hotel room to change his clothes, and the girls heading to Laurie’s place.
