I dragged my feet into the room last and sat heavily in a cushy chair, being very careful not to look at Crystal for fear of the laser beams shooting from her eyes killing me on the spot.

I placed the file on the rectangular tabletop and laid my hands on it, spreading out my fingers possessively.

Crystal's mouth was pressed into a thin line.

I cleared my throat and stared at her, twitching my brows down ever-so-slightly, willing her to read my mind and not...

She pursed her lips and held out her hand. In a sharp tone she said, "Give me the folder, Abi."

I sighed internally and pushed it over with one hand. The slight rasping sound as it slide across the tabletop was loud in the quiet room.

I drew back my hands and clasped them in my lap. Instead of making eye contact with anyone, I stared at the loops and whorls in the grain of the wood and said a silent prayer for protection.

Crystal whipped the folder towards her and flashed a winning smile at the execs as she spun it around to flip it open. "As I told you earlier, Reynolds Recycling has been my client for two years now. I visit him every month to check in. He's very happy with the results of the program I designed for him."

She glanced down at the top page full of my notes and snapped, "What the hell is this, Abi? Where's the contract?"

When my head snapped up, a nervous laugh bubbled out of her. Pointedly not looking at her audience, who had a mixture of lowered and raised brows at her tone, she wagged a finger at me like I was a naughty child.

She gave me a smile full of false sweetness. "You know how the paperwork is supposed to be ordered. I'll have to give you a warning for this, Abi."

There was no need to look at the execs to see their displeasure with her. I could feel it.

"I believe the contract is at the back," I said as neutrally as possible.

My pulse raced as she began flipping through my pages of notes. She didn't have the luxury of time to read them, but paused a few seconds at each one to give it a quick scan.

Peace came over me when she reached the original contract at the bottom of the pile. She gave a total body twitch when her eyes fell on the "Agent's name" line, which now had mine next to her crossed-out one.

This was a blessing on many fronts. I didn't have to tell her directly she'd lost Reynolds. She'd seen the new fee and how much money she'd left on the table. Having the execs in the room also meant she was unlikely to throw a stapler at my head and she couldn't yell at me. Lastly, if I managed to sneak out before the meeting was over, I could avoid having to deal with Crystal until Monday morning. Although giving her the weekend to stew might just make her explosion be less 'propane tank' level and more 'volcano'.

Sydney leaned over and put her fingertips on the edge of the folder. "You've spoken so highly of this client, I want to see what has made him so happy. May I?"

Like a wooden doll, Crystal nodded.

Just before the folder was twitched away, she snagged the contract page and explained, "Mr Reynolds requested some changes. Abi, be a dear and run this out to Sally type up immediately. We don't want to keep my most important client waiting for his new contract, now do we?"

She folded the offending sheet and shot it across the table to me.

Rising, I caught Paul's glance at the clock which read 4pm, then a slight rise of his eyebrow as he glanced between the CEO and VP of HR.

"Of course, right away." I jumped up with the paper clenched tightly.

"Why, this is an excellent plan," I heard Sydney say as I opened the door. "He's in recycling, correct?"

I ran the three steps to Sally's desk and put the paper down. Stabbing it with a finger, I quickly explained, "This needs to be typed up ASAP, but don't bring it in. My guess is Crystal just wanted to cover up how she lost one of her only two clients to me. Just get it ready, please, in case Crystal asks for it."

Sally gaped, but before she could respond, I dashed back into the conference room.

As I entered Sydney was just saying, "Oh, I really like this idea for the radio ad. What was the tune you had planned for it?"

"Uh..." Crystal locked eyes with me and flung an arm out, snapping as if she was trying to recall something on the tip of her tongue. "Abi, what was that jingle we were throwing around."

Guy jumped beside me. "Ow! Who kicked me?" He pushed his chair back to rub his leg and glance under the table.

"Sorry!" Crystal sang. "I was just shifting my legs. Had a bit of a cramp."

She waved a hand nonchalantly. "Abi has such a better memory for music than me. We often work together on marketing plans."

Paul turned to look at her. "I thought you said you preferred to work alone on those. And, maybe I misheard you, but I thought you said you love music, songs stick in your head when you first hear them you could write the sheet music, what with playing the piano since you were three and all."

"Well... uh...," Crystal bit her lip. "I meant with classical music. Those songs I've learned by hours and hours of practice. Hours upon hours. You know how complicated classical can be. Little jingles like this might stick in my head or just fly right on out of it."

Crystal snapped a couple of times in my direction and twirled a finger. Through gritted teeth, she said, "What was the song again?"

The ditty written on the page was already leaving my mouth as I slid into my seat and Sydney asked, "Do you need the notes?"

All three execs smiled happily and nodded as I finished.

"That's catchy!" Guy said.

I shrugged as heat rose in my face. "He's having trouble getting the public to bring their re-usable items into the recycling store he started."

"I imagine that'll help them remember," Paul said.

"So let's walk through the rest of this program," Sydney said and leaned forward, running a finger down the top page.

Relief suffused me as they talked about the plan I'd outlined. The hardest part was over: Crystal knew the scoop. By God's grace, I'd managed not to lie about the plan being mine, and the conversation was naturally evolving with only the occasional comment from me to clarify my handwriting. It looked like they were buying Crystal's act that Reynolds was still hers. I prayed God would forgive me any sin from letting them incorrectly believe that.

Sydney flipped the folder closed. "Well, that certainly is an excellent example of knowing your client and meeting their needs. We'd better be off to get checked in to the tournament. It was a pleasure meeting you, Abi."

I shook hands all around and stepped out into the hall to give them room to exit.

Crystal stood near Sally's desk with them as they prepared to leave, "Parry Sound Golf and Country Club is lovely. It's supposed to be sunny all weekend, so great for getting a game or two in."

With a dry tone, Sydney said, "As I explained before, it's a golf tournament for executives. I imagine we might just get out to putt a ball around a bit."

I gave a small wave to Sally, who looked fit to bursting again, and slunk as fast as I could to my desk. I just might have a chance to slip out the back door and get to my car before the execs went out the front.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Did you find this chapter was a bit slow? Was there enough conflict?

Was Crystal's stumbling through the discussion of the new plan believable enough?