he was talking about.
“Please don’t tell me you came all this way to discuss my views on the necessity of eye rolling.” I laughed at the ridiculousness of it all.
“That, plus any other unreasonable considerations of professionalism you may have.”
“You think I’m unreasonable?” I snapped, annoyed that he was wasting my time. “I’m not the one who boarded a plane and flew almost two hours to discuss whether or not eye rolling is an appropriate response to the ramblings of a control freak,” I shouted, surprising even myself with my boldness in front of a client.
Alec leaned back in the chair, folding his arms across his chest, the muscles in his jaw clinching. I maintained eye contact, unwilling to concede defeat this time. “Control freak?” he said, finally putting an end to the awkward silence.
“Control freak,” I repeated. “And now that we’re both up to speed, Mr. Payne, I have a lot of work to do today.” Alec’s mouth dropped open but I didn’t care. He was toying with me and I was in no mood to play. Not now, and especially not at my office. I might have crossed the line last night but I sure as hell wasn't about to let that happen again. I had to put a stop to this.
Gathering the file I needlessly brought with me I stood to leave, pausing to add, “The next time you’re in need of self-discovery, please, make an appointment.” I moved quickly toward the door before he had a chance to gather his thoughts. “Enjoy your day, sir.” I called over my shoulder as I exited the room.
“I bet he wouldn’t like it if someone wasted his time like that,” I mumbled as I stormed off in the direction of my office. Alec Payne might have been accustomed to getting his way, but not this time. Not with me. I wasn’t about to jeopardize my career to become his latest fling.
“Move my nine o’clock meeting to ten and hold all my calls,” I said as I passed Jonathan’s desk on the way to my office. Closing the door, I plopped down in my leather desk chair. “Control freak!” I said out loud, tossing the file I’d needlessly taken with me on top of the credenza.
I leaned back in my chair and stared at the stack of files still awaiting my attention. Exhaling slowly, puffing out my cheeks out as I did, I picked up the top file and started reading.
An hour later there was a knock on my door. “Excuse me, Izzy,” Jonathan said poking his head into the room. “Your next meeting starts in five minutes.”
“Thanks, Jonathan. Can you print five copies of the Sandestin action plan and the Ultimate timeline I just emailed you?”
“Sure thing.” He pulled his head back out and closed the door.
Gathering the files I’d been reading into a neat stack, I placed the list of hand written notes I’d just compiled on the top. I took a deep, calming breath as I prepared to leave the safety of my office, not realizing until that moment I was about to return to the very room where I left Alec, mouth wide open, undoubtedly stunned by my outburst.
“He’s gone, Izzy,” I reassured myself. Alec Payne was not the kind of man who was going to sit around and wait for anything, well, except maybe an unscheduled meeting with me. The thought made me smile for the first time today and with a renewed sense of confidence I opened my office door and strolled down the hall to the conference room.
My team was already assembled when I arrived. I did a quick scan of the room and, just as I’d thought, there was no sign of Alec. A sigh of relief escaped me. “Good morning,” I said in full business mode now. “We implement at the Sandestin next week, so let’s start there.” I passed around the reports Jonathan printed for me then took my seat at the table.
• • • • •
My list of notes was long and it took over three hours to get through them all. I assigned the necessary action items and was confident the work would be handled. I walked back to my office, exhausted from the
“Please don’t tell me you came all this way to discuss my views on the necessity of eye rolling.” I laughed at the ridiculousness of it all.
“That, plus any other unreasonable considerations of professionalism you may have.”
“You think I’m unreasonable?” I snapped, annoyed that he was wasting my time. “I’m not the one who boarded a plane and flew almost two hours to discuss whether or not eye rolling is an appropriate response to the ramblings of a control freak,” I shouted, surprising even myself with my boldness in front of a client.
Alec leaned back in the chair, folding his arms across his chest, the muscles in his jaw clinching. I maintained eye contact, unwilling to concede defeat this time. “Control freak?” he said, finally putting an end to the awkward silence.
“Control freak,” I repeated. “And now that we’re both up to speed, Mr. Payne, I have a lot of work to do today.” Alec’s mouth dropped open but I didn’t care. He was toying with me and I was in no mood to play. Not now, and especially not at my office. I might have crossed the line last night but I sure as hell wasn't about to let that happen again. I had to put a stop to this.
Gathering the file I needlessly brought with me I stood to leave, pausing to add, “The next time you’re in need of self-discovery, please, make an appointment.” I moved quickly toward the door before he had a chance to gather his thoughts. “Enjoy your day, sir.” I called over my shoulder as I exited the room.
“I bet he wouldn’t like it if someone wasted his time like that,” I mumbled as I stormed off in the direction of my office. Alec Payne might have been accustomed to getting his way, but not this time. Not with me. I wasn’t about to jeopardize my career to become his latest fling.
“Move my nine o’clock meeting to ten and hold all my calls,” I said as I passed Jonathan’s desk on the way to my office. Closing the door, I plopped down in my leather desk chair. “Control freak!” I said out loud, tossing the file I’d needlessly taken with me on top of the credenza.
I leaned back in my chair and stared at the stack of files still awaiting my attention. Exhaling slowly, puffing out my cheeks out as I did, I picked up the top file and started reading.
An hour later there was a knock on my door. “Excuse me, Izzy,” Jonathan said poking his head into the room. “Your next meeting starts in five minutes.”
“Thanks, Jonathan. Can you print five copies of the Sandestin action plan and the Ultimate timeline I just emailed you?”
“Sure thing.” He pulled his head back out and closed the door.
Gathering the files I’d been reading into a neat stack, I placed the list of hand written notes I’d just compiled on the top. I took a deep, calming breath as I prepared to leave the safety of my office, not realizing until that moment I was about to return to the very room where I left Alec, mouth wide open, undoubtedly stunned by my outburst.
“He’s gone, Izzy,” I reassured myself. Alec Payne was not the kind of man who was going to sit around and wait for anything, well, except maybe an unscheduled meeting with me. The thought made me smile for the first time today and with a renewed sense of confidence I opened my office door and strolled down the hall to the conference room.
My team was already assembled when I arrived. I did a quick scan of the room and, just as I’d thought, there was no sign of Alec. A sigh of relief escaped me. “Good morning,” I said in full business mode now. “We implement at the Sandestin next week, so let’s start there.” I passed around the reports Jonathan printed for me then took my seat at the table.
• • • • •
My list of notes was long and it took over three hours to get through them all. I assigned the necessary action items and was confident the work would be handled. I walked back to my office, exhausted from the
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