STAMP OF APPROVAL - a selection story

a good choice

C H A R L O T T E

written by animationchic/aOK706

round three ||

January 10th

7am

"Okay, so in two hours you have to meet with the boys, do you want me to squeeze in a phone call with Beatrice Lakkizt or would you rather do the fitting with Madeline?" Audrey asks, not raising her eyes from the notebook she's flipping through.

I sigh, having just finished my second cup of coffee for the morning. "Schedule the phone call. It's more important."

"Very well." Audrey nods like she hadn't already known my answer. She knows I always complete the phone calls before anything else, especially with those on the east coast. She taps her —my— phone and frowns. Finally, she looks up at me. "She says she's ready now. Are you?"

"Sure." I nod, pulling my agenda out of my desk. I flip the pages preparing myself. After the usual obnoxious pleasantries, Audrey hands my phone off to me. I mouth my thanks and fake a smile. Mom always says that you can hear whether or not someone is smiling from their voice. And I need Beatrice on my side. "Beatrice," I say congenially. "I'm so glad I could catch you. Now I was looking over Marcus Wernstein's latest proposal and had some thoughts about how your company could factor in."

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"You know, I thought a sip and paint would be a lot easier," I sigh, tilting my head to look at my very sad painting. I shake my head and take another sip of the wine in my hand. My painting may be awful, but at least the wine is good.

"Maybe if you slowed down on the wine," Brentley chuckles and in my wined state I can't tell if he's teasing or straight up making fun of me.

"I don't know, it kind of looks like the photo," Oliver says from my other side. He tilts his own head and squints. "Yeah, when you look at it like this it looks like a waterfall."

"Thanks, Oliver, but I think it's a lost cause," I tell the older guy as I dip my paintbrush in black.

"Wait, what are you doing?" he asks just as I raise my brush and smear solid black over everything I've been working on for the last hour. He looks at me shocked while Brentley just laughs from behind me. "You didn't need to do that!"

"I did." I sigh, taking another sip of wine. "Sometimes a blank canvas is easier to work with than whatever that was."

"I think you're selling yourself too short," Ambrose chirps, coming around my tabletop easel to stand beside me. He smiles and it might be the wine but I find it a little cute. "But now instead of the waterfall, we can make it into a night sky maybe?"

"Yeah, I can see that," Oliver says, trying to stay a part of the conversation. "Just maybe leave some of the blue showing through the black and add stars?"

Ambrose nods but doesn't even look at the other man. Instead, his gaze stays on mine. "What do you think, Charlotte? Can I help you save your painting?"

"I don't know, yours isn't much better," I tease him, and I feel my smile shift from the good natured one I've been wearing for the other guys. This one is more genuine.