Lahat ng Kabanata ng Shadows & Whispers: Kabanata 11 - Kabanata 20

“Hi Dan, how are you?” “I’m not too bad, thank you. What about yourself?” “I’m good, thank you for asking. I’m guessing you are calling to discuss the proposal on the new print job?” “Yes, I have looked over the samples you have kindly sent me. I have also consulted with my team. The samples were beautiful, and we really did like the roll fold side into the voucher holder inside. It gives us plenty of room for all the text options we have.” Dan paused. My gut twisted and I felt like there was something he was holding back. “I feel like there is a but coming here somewhere, Dan.” I was filled with nerves. “No, but. We would like to proceed and we would like to run with it.” “Are you serious?” My voice high pitched slightly. “However,” Dan paused. My stomach sank again, “I knew there was something.” “We would like to book 1 million copies.” My heart sank; I had just landed one of the biggest jobs we have had in years, and now they wanted to increase the print run. Thi

I was a bundle of nerves on Monday morning. This was going to be the start of a massive few weeks. The drive to work was quiet, so quiet that I ended up 30 minutes early. As I entered the office, there were only a couple of other people there. The back-office light was also on, which meant Damian was already in as well. “Good morning, Erin.” Damian’s voice was low as he walked past me. I wasn’t aware he was there; his words made me jump. My heart pounded and I stumbled. He reached out a hand to catch me. That was the first time we touched each other. His touch was soft, gentle, and almost caring. “My apologies, I didn’t mean to make you jump.” He spoke. I paused; a mix of emotions ran through me. I wasn’t sure what to say. Our eyes were fixed on each other and I fell like I was frozen. I had to break away. “Er, thank you. Good morning.” I fumbled with my words. A small smile flashed across his face as he withdrew his hand and walked to his office. People filtered into the o

“Argh!” I growled as I threw myself back into my seat at my desk. “What happened?” Cleo asked. “He’s infuriating!” I snapped. Cleo laughed, “I’ve never seen anyone get under your skin like this before.” “Did he tell you why he pulled you from the account?” Prue asked. “No, only he has plans for me. Wouldn’t say anything else other than that.” I grunted. “What the hell am I supposed to do now?” I opened my emails and worked through outstanding queries. I sent over everything I had to Prue and Cleo. I also made the call to Dan to explain that Prue and Cleo would be the front facing contacts on the account. I was there if he needed it but was required on another project. Dan, as expected, was alright with it all. He knew that I was only a phone call away should he need me. “Are you coming?” Prue asked as they finished up to head home. “I’ve got a few notes to pull together to send you for the meeting tomorrow. I’ll head home after that.” “Don’t stay too long.” Cleo said. I

I paused before continuing. I wasn’t sure if he noticed the contact or the pause it caused in me. I described different options of displaying the data and different formats to hold the data in for him to be able to produce any format at any time. As I was rambling about the data, I suddenly realised that he had gone quiet. I looked over to see him leaning in and intently listening to me. “Sorry,” I stopped. “Don’t be sorry. I can see your passion and I like it.” “Which option would you like?” I asked shyly as I looked back at my laptop. He reached over and moved the mouse around looking through the tabs on the sheet. The closeness of his body to mine meant that I could smell his cologne. I could feel the heat radiating from him. My mind wandered thinking about him in ways I shouldn’t have been thinking about. “Erin?” He asked. I shook my head. “Sorry, I got distracted thinking about...” I paused, scrambling for an explanation. “Another data option.” He laughed lightly.

I was busy cooking in the kitchen when my phone pinged with a message tone. I looked over at it on the worktop to see it was a message in the group chat we had with the three of us. ‘So, what was up with Mr. Ice earlier?’ Cleo messaged. I rolled my eyes. I knew this was the start of something. It didn’t take long before Prue responded. ‘He seemed nice today, happy even.’ ‘I wonder what could have put him in such a good mood.’ Cleo responded. Before long the phone was pinging constantly as they talked between themselves. I knew I couldn’t avoid the chat much longer before they tagged me, and I needed to contribute somehow. ‘Erin, are you there?’ Cleo asked. Here we go. I thought as I rolled my eyes. ‘Sorry I was cooking. Let me catch up on the messages.’ It was a poor excuse, but I knew it would be enough for them to give me a moment or two before exp