Dark and Stormy: Sacred Hearts Coven (2 page)

CHAPTER TWO

Meeting

KIND WORDS HAD never been shared between Regina and Reddick. The tension was always thick enough to cut with a knife. Years of competing for the executive sales position that neither one of them would ever call their own left their conversations empty and straight to the point. Today’s office meeting was no different.

Serena and her husband Michelangelo owned the company and rotated the responsibility of running the weekly sales meetings. On the rare occasion they were both in the building at the same time, they would run it together. You would think that double the boss load, double the headache, but they were a
ctually pretty funny together. They had a very magical chemistry that made them a pleasure to be around. Serena was much more serious when she ran them alone.

From time to time, Regina admired what they had and wondered if she would ever be lucky enough to meet someone she could be so in sync with. Not that she would ever find it appealing to deal with a bo
yfriend or husband all day long, every day, at home and at work. Regina experienced a few long-term relationships that seemed like they might have had the potential to go somewhere. And they did—each one of them went right down the tubes.

Regina's employers ran a fair but tight ship. If you weren’t pulling your weight and meeting your goals, your desk was given to a new and eager sales associate. Regina and Reddick each ran their own team of junior associates. They had seen many so-called sales people come and go over the past three years.

On the flip side, the office atmosphere was pretty laidback. The number one rule of the house was to close deals. Serena also had a strict dress code: look the part, act the part, and be the part. She said if you look and feel professional, it will help others see you that way too. Other than that, it was a relaxed atmosphere. They kept the kitchen stocked with assorted coffees and snacks in case you needed a pick-me-up and couldn't get out of the office. On the last Friday of the month, there was a potluck cocktail hour. If the sales goals were met or exceeded, the workday ended an hour early. Sometimes Serena and Michelangelo planned something special.

Partying with co-workers was fun on a rare occasion, but Regina knew it helped to motivate her team. She was known to miss most of the festivities because she was u
pstairs continuing to push hard at making sure all the T’s were crossed and I's were dotted. One thing that was always a constant was if Reddick was pushing the pencil, she wasn’t going to be found sipping on some cheap wine one of the struggling associates brought in for the party.

Serena and her husband didn’t like to have long meetings. They, of course, were a necessity, but if everyone was sitting around listening to them, who was working? This meeting, as always, started out with a reminder to everyone that if you take the last document out of a dra
wer, be sure to make a copy or order new forms.

“We are a team. We all might make our own sales and our own commissions, but at the end of the day, we’re a united company. We sell each other every time we get in front of or on the phone with a cu
stomer. Let's support and respect each other. Every happy customer opens another door to a new pool of potential clients.” Serena spoke to everyone in the room.

Serena started to write on the white board that sat just outside her office, facing the downstairs office space. It was a charming place to work. There were desks strateg
ically placed around what used to be the formal living room and dining room of an old Victorian single-family house. Clients commented on classic details that were left alone, like the curved archways between rooms and the original wood-paneled wainscoting that lead to an upstairs office space.

Regina had just come back from a business lunch; her arrival was on the cusp of being late. Instead of being rude at the start of the sales meeting and dragging a chair in from the other room, she just scooted her butt up on som
eone’s desk and crossed her legs.

Regina’s long legs became the focus of more than one pair of eyes in the room. Her friend and co-worker Alita sat behind the desk she
had chosen for a perch. Alita was a bit more mischievous than most of the other employees. She feared not about her position, as she was related to Serena and Michelangelo. There were a number of family members working there, which is why there wouldn’t be a place for Regina or Reddick as an executive sales associate. Though, there had been rumors of a new office.

Alita, as usual, wasn’t paying much attention to the details of the meeting. She looked like she was taking c
opious notes, but Regina knew better. She glanced over her shoulder and took note of the doodles all over the page of her notebook. They were a collection of penis people with happy faces and such. Regina giggled to herself and shook her head. It amazed her how Alita's mind was akin to that of a fourteen-year-old boy.

“You know, Reggie, someone’s got an eye on the lace of your thigh-high that’s peeking out the bo
ttom of your skirt,” Alita whispered.

Regina’s face instantly flushed. She tried to cross her legs in the opposite direction and looked direc
tly at Reddick. He made no attempt to divert his eyes from her. He never backed down from anything. Reddick worked hard for what he wanted, and he got what he wanted. This was why he was the only person Regina couldn’t outsell. She shifted her skirt to make sure she wasn’t exposing herself anymore.

Alita had no problem teasing Regina and suggesting that Reddick had an eye for her, but Regina a
ssured her there was no chance of that. He was easy on the eyes, but her focus was on her next sale and making sure her team was going above and beyond Serena’s expectations.

Regina knew Reddick’s work ethic was on point with her own. The only difference was that she went home alone at night to a TV dinner and an empty bed. Reddick went to the local bars or into the city to exclusive and high-end clubs and lounges. He often came into work after having only slept a few hours.

She did respect that he never let it show. Reddick was always outfitted in a crisp, well-tailored suit. Never did a day go by that he came into work with a single missed bit of stubble on his deep olive skin, his goatee trimmed to the perfect length to frame his full lips.

“Regina?” Serena called out her name, and it sounded to Regina as if maybe she hadn’t noticed the first time she was addressed.

Regina's eyes met with her boss' in acknowledgment.

“Where are we on the Peterson file?”

“We’re ahead of schedule, actually. I’m waiting on one more signature and then we can get started processing the paperwork,” she answered.

“Serena, I haven’t uploaded my team’s sales from last night. I'm sorry if that skews your numbers for the meeting today. I was just really busy closing the Klein and Kaminski files this morning.” Reddick jumped on the tail wind of Regina's response.

Reddick knew exactly what he was doing. This was one of his famous moves. He would hold back from processing things so Regina wouldn’t realize they weren’t as close in numbers as she thought. Sticking it to her in a meeting made the sides of his lips curl up in an ever so slightly devilish grin.

“Excellent Reddick, but everyone is looking good for the month. We’re heading into our last week of the quarter and our goals have already been met. Today, I actually wanted to do something a little bit di
fferent. I certainly cannot complain about where we are for the year, but I think we need to not only address how to keep our numbers on a steady incline, but also on how to maintain the flow of business.

“You all know that I like short and concise meetings, but today I want to take an hour and split up i
nto groups and do some brainstorming on how and what we can implement to continue to grow in this challenging market.” Serena moved to the center of the room and looked around, making sure to make eye contact with each of her employees.

“I am thinking we’re going to mix it up a bit. Let's have everybody split up into pairs instead of groups. Make them boy/girl and be sure you pair with someone from the opposite sales team. It is ten minutes to one. Let’s all meet back here for a recap at two p.m. That gives you a few minutes to get situa
ted and to grab a cup of coffee. Please, people, don't forget to take notes. I want them handed in so Michelangelo and I can go over them tonight.”

The decibel on the volume in the room began to rise quickly as everyone scrambled to pair up and fight for their turn in line at the coffee machine. There was fun to be had, but at the end of that hour they knew there was an expectation that better be met.

“Oh,” Serena interjected over the noise. “Regina and Reddick, a moment—in my office.”

Regina and Reddick looked up at her, then at each other and then back at Serena again. They, as no
nchalantly as possible, scurried to make their way to her office with handcrafted French doors. Always wanting to best each other, they locked shoulders, trying to fit at the same time through the door opening. Serena took notice and just shook her head.

“Would the two of you knock it off and get in here?” Serena shuffled some papers at her desk.

Reddick took a step back and bowed toward Regina, waving her into the office. “Beauty before success.”

“That’s charming, and in case you forgot, my numbers were higher than yours last month.” Regina shook her pen at him.

“You’re both as beautiful as you can be. And quite frankly, if you
both
weren’t successful, you wouldn't be here.” Serena turned her hand palm up to the ceiling. “Please, sit.

“You’re both my star players. I couldn't imagine anyone else in charge of my sales reps. Our numbers are up fifteen percent from last year. Some of our competitors are closing their doors, and we’re gaining momentum. You are not only fabulous at what you do, but are born leaders. Sometimes I ride you, but that’s my job as your boss.” Serena took a sip of her coffee from her hot-pink tumbler that read:
Witchy Woman.

“There are two things I want to go over. First off, I want to make sure that not only your sales teams
collaborate about strategizing new marketing ideas, but I want the two of you to work together and come up with a solid new campaign. I asked that everyone turn in their brainstorming ideas. Feel free to take them home and have a look at them before you hand them over to Michelangelo and myself. You can have two weeks to work on it. Next week we can firm up a date and time for you to give us your presentation.”

Regina forced herself not to roll her eyes at the thought of actually having to work with Reddick. I
nstead, she settled for a sigh and her posture slumped a little. Serena gave her a slanted look, and she did her best to perk back up.

“I have my wheels spinning already,” Regina said with a weak smile and then started to get up to e
xcuse herself.

“One more thing before you go.” Serena’s comment halted Regina’s movement. “I have a little som
ething special planned for our cocktail hour on Friday. Let your teams know that whoever gets a sale between now and Friday will be entered in a raffle for a gift card of their choosing in the amount of two hundred and fifty dollars. Winner will be announced at five p.m. Friday.”

“Wow, Serena. That is going to kick start a few mo
tors out there,” Reddick chimed in and looked like he was going to start bouncing in his seat. One of the guys on his team loved the opportunity to win free stuff. This was right up his alley.

“Well then, what are you waiting for? You have less than forty minutes to motivate them to get those marke
ting ideas down. You know I don't like to waste a lot of time with meetings, and I hear those phones ringing. You can close out the brainstorming session for me with the raffle news.” Serena looked over to her computer screen and started typing away.

“Oh, wait. I almost forgot. I got a little something for each of you. A small gesture to let you know I’m noti
cing all the hard work you’re both putting in.” Serena reached into her drawer and pulled out a small box. She put it on her desk and lifted the lid. She pulled out a red wad of fabric, placed it on her desk, and unwrapped two round stones. They were white with a blue opalescence to them.

“You can put these on your desks. They are moonstones. The moonstone is said to bring success in love and business. They say that if you want them to kick start your
luck,
you should sleep with them under your pillow the first night they are yours. You certainly don't have to, but hey, every little edge we can gain can’t hurt.”

Regina and Reddick graciously walked over to the desk. Serena placed one in each of their hands. She knew by their lack of communication that they didn’t know what to say. Instead of letting things get any more awkward, she scooted them out of her office. “Off with you. Go make me some money.”

“Thank you,” they said in unison.