"Ding"
Damn it...that was the third time during this meeting my phone notified me of a text. If I wasn't expecting such an important call from my fiancé, I'd shut the whole thing off. I can now feel the disgust from everyone as they glare at me.
"May we continue or would you like to answer that, Mr. Riggs?" the vice-president scowled at me.
"Yes," I meekly replied. "Please continue, I apologize for the interruption." I wanted to melt down into my chair and under the table.
"As I was saying, we have stayed stagnant largely due to misplaced priorities, loss of market strength, and a lack of commitment to excellence, which is why we brought in Miss Sarah Black. She has a history of turning underperforming companies into solid performers."
With that, everyone turned their heads to the young, attractive woman at the other end of the conference table. Her long black hair pulled back, the gray power suit, the emotionless, cold stare gave everyone the impression that this woman meant business. As she stone-facely surveyed the room, you couldn't help but feel smaller in her presence.
"Ding." Damn it! The room groaned in disbelief which actually lightened the tension in the air.
"With that, let's end this meeting early," Miss Black interjected. "I look forward to working with all of you. Mr. Riggs, please stay behind."
As the rest of the leadership team walked to the doorway, it felt more and more claustrophobic in the conference room. This was the room with no windows. Sound proof. The room were termination meetings were held so no one could see or hear what was going on. Today it was used to give us all an ass-chewing...now I felt I was about to be fired. The last person exited and closed the door behind him. An uneasy silence hung in the room as she stared at me, rubbing her perfectly blush-red manicured thumb and index fingernails.
"Would you like to see who texted you?" She dryly shot at me.
Sheepishly, I replied "No, ma'am."
"Let me be more direct, look at your phone, and tell me who interrupted our work time, and it's Miss Black, not Ma'am!"
I picked up my phone and glanced through my texts. "Yes, Miss Black...It was my fiancé, Staci. I'm sorry, she's meeting with places to hold our reception, and she's texting me where to stop after work and drop off the deposit."
"I see." Miss Black then stood up from her chair and walked over by me, sitting down on the table slightly off from in front of me, crossing her legs. "Stand up," she ordered, and I quizzically followed. She examined me a second. "Now, pull down your pants."
"Excuse me," I shot back.