11 Worth a Try

I was lost in thought when Victor was calling my name.

"Ms. Malitz" he said, his voice sounded concerned.

"Heyy" I smile at him

"Are you alright?"

I nod my head. His face breaks into a smile. He looked relieved.

"We have a meeting right now; I came here to call you" he says softly. He looked at me like he was worried about me.

Hilda walks into the cafeteria and walks towards me.

"Miss Sofia Maltiz, I've been waiting for you. I saved you a seat, now come on." She drags me from my seat and I go with her.

I had my usual nightmares the previous night and ended up not sleeping for the rest of the night. I spent the rest of the night looking at the ceiling and crying occasionally. Of course, it reflected on my face the next morning. My clothes were not color coordinated and I had worn the worst possible headband I could to push my hair from falling on my face. Not at my best, although it was a very important meeting with Aaron.

We were going to discuss the marketing of the new releases this month. The books had to be put up in such a way that would draw the reader's attention towards it. I walk into the meeting room. People were still getting in and I was relieved to know that Aaron wasn't in his seat yet. I prep for the meeting, thinking about my ideas for marketing when Aaron walks in. He was late, but nobody said anything because he was the boss of this branch of the company.

Aaron could easily pass as a dictator. He always bossed over people, forced them to do more work

than they should. Pre-pones the deadlines and takes credit for everyone's hard work. But, Christy, the boss of the entire company, liked him. They were buddies. So naturally, no one dared to stand up against Aaron. I sometimes imagined battling him in a field with fire around. Sword fight. Win the fight and set everyone free. He was also a misogynist. My ideas had very less chance of getting selected but if I put forth my ideas through Victor, maybe it would work out.

I look around the room to find Victor. I look at him and Meghan exchanging looks and smiling at each other. I felt a hint of jealousy. It was fair enough for him to look at other people and flirt around, not that we were seeing each other. They made a good pair. She looked way better than me anyway. Victor catches me looking at him and I quickly look away. I shut my eyes tightly and curse myself. Stupid, stupid girl. You are supposed to stay away from him.

Aaron looks around and speaks.

"So, Catherine Russo eh? New popular actress around the corner, has a book written on her already. Her team wants us to take care of the promotions as you already know. So, as we discussed in the previous meeting, any ideas?" he pauses looking at everyone.

I raise my hand before anyone else, "Yes, Sofia" he says faking enthusiasm.

"Literarium, as we know, is known for its young customers. Many kids and young adults come there because there is a toy store attached to it. We could target them, which would in return target their parents as well. Make the design more appealing, we could set the books in a quirky way, maybe set it up like a pyramid. Maybe have an event? Catherine Russo could have the signing, maybe read her favorite line from the book" I pause. I spoke really fast; I could see with the way everyone was processing it. Hilda gave me a nudge after I sat down, she seemed like she was proud of me. Victor smiled at me.

"Well, she is a celebrity. I am not sure if she would have the time for it. We could set up the books in a nice way though, that idea works." He smiled.

I should have known. She was a celebrity and no way in hell would she make time for a book signing. She wouldn't even be in the city probably. I felt dejected. I had an idea, maybe I could send her a mail and ask her, her schedule. Or maybe her assistant could help me. I google 'Catherine Russo and'. Wait a minute. The sentence prediction showed me 'Catherine Russo and Ivan Radcliffe'. I heard that name before. Ivan Radcliffe. The guy from the library.

Google results showed that they were dating. This was a surprise. I knew the guy seemed influential but wow, he was actually something. There were so many pictures of them seen together at parties, red carpet events. They looked good. Maybe I could ask him for a favor? I could get into the good books of Aaron if I did so. I couldn't wait to get to the library after work to get his number.

I had a mission.