One for Me

Chapter Nine

"Are you busy this weekend?" Eboney asked Violet as she stabbed at the salad on her plate. She filled her fork tines with spinach and stuffed them in her mouth.

"No, I plan on sleeping in tomorrow and relaxing until Monday, why? Are you?" Violet shook her small Tupperware bowl, making sure her tomatoes, cucumbers and red onions were fully coated in the Italian dressing that had collected at the bottom.

"I wanted to check out this bookstore in upper Manhattan. I saw the books on your shelf in your office. Thought I'd extend an invite."

"Oh nice, um yeah, I'm down. We can grab lunch, make an afternoon of it." Violet nodded in agreement. As much as she wanted to be her naturally introverted self and spend the day cooped up in her brownstone, her therapist had suggested she make friends and get out more, so she had to try.

After lunch with Eboney, Violet went back to work feeling hopeful about a potential new friendship.

____

"Sammy, I'm just running to my car to grab my charger. I'm staying late tonight." Violet badged out of the building after Sammy, the security guard, gave her a nod of acknowledgment.

While all the five p.m.ers were bustling out of the building at full speed to get on with their Friday evening, Violet was pushing against the grain to get back inside. She had quite a few cold calls to make about some accounts on the west coast. Per Brenda, there were a few properties that Bass Enterprises had been waiting to strike on when their parent company's stock took a nose dive, providing them the perfect opportunity.

Violet sat at her desk, with her feet tucked into her chair, leaving voicemail after voicemail and then following up with the same email to accountants at the corporation she was targeting. She was hopeful the accountants would get back to her Tuesday at the latest, otherwise she'd be making another round of calls.

Once she was finished with her calls, she started on her first of three new accounts from Brenda that morning and their respective contracts.

While Violet could appreciate the trust Brenda put into her to handle such accounts, the workload was a bit heavier than Violet was use to. The late nights were catching up to her so around nine p.m., she called it quits. Her bed was calling her name and after an exhausting week, she planned to sleep well into Saturday morning.

Violet gathered her belongings and slipped her shoes back onto her feet. She stopped by the break room to grab her lunch bag and then she headed for the elevator.

Violet rolled her neck in a much needed stretch then tiredly pushed the button for the elevator to take her down. It took a few moments with it last being on the ground floor. Violet's legs felt like lead as she drug herself onto the elevator. Just as she pushed the button for the ground floor to allow the doors to close, she heard a voice shout, "Hold it!"

Violet stuck her hand out between the wall and the sliding door to keep it from closing. Lincoln bounded onto the elevator just in time. "Thank you," he let out a breath and then a chuckle. "I could've caught the next one but I didn't want to be here another minute longer than necessary."

"Hmm," Violet mumbled a tired response. She couldn't even find the energy to speak properly.

"You look as tired as I feel," Lincoln observed as she leaned against the wall. Her purse hung limply in the crook of her arm and her lunch bag dangled hopelessly in her hand. At his remark, Violet gave him a look of admonishment. "Sorry, I didn't mean it like that!" Lincoln immediately started to backtrack. "I mean you look exhausted...but..." he sighed in frustration, earning a chuckle for Violet.