Denver was less than an hours drive and she was already on her third cigarette. This meeting was everything to her. It would show the real powers in Summit County just what she was made of. She wasn’t proud of the way she had arrived at this prestigious position. Everyone does it she thought. Why shouldn’t she? She hoped Daddy never finds out. He wouldn’t like her sleeping with one of his business associates. If he ever learned the truth, he could easily destroy all the plans she had made. Her mother had cheated on him several years before. It had never been the same. If he had only known how many times she had slept around, he wouldn’t have taken her back. She would be lucky if he had let her live. You don’t mess with Daddy.
She turned down Speer Boulevard toward the twelve story glass and steel Corporate Offices of the Senator, approaching the building where the takeover was being designed. A young valet took her car at the entrance, and she walked in to the elevator past the reception desk as the young woman behind it smiled and said, ”He’s expecting you.”
The door slid open as she approached clutching her briefcase tightly and stepped in. The elevator was empty. Jilly pressed the Loft Button, where number twelve should be. She rode up planning her strategy. Her black dress was smart well groomed but not sexy. Sex was the last thing she wanted them to notice. It was what had gotten her through the door, her abilities would have to do the rest. She would be pleasant but not seductively so. The older Board members would see right through her, her most attractive attribute would have to be confidence. She had the drive and the heart to be the best, but she also had all the fine trimmings. The right combination of each would take her to the Top. The elevator came to the top and the doors slid open. Jilly stepped out and saw people running in every direction. They were checking their watches and carrying stacks of papers. It was frantic with people trying to keep the offices moving along smoothly. Loving to see people working hard, it gave her a deep sense of security. This is the way I’m going to run the Basin, she thought. No one will slack off on my team.
Jilly walked down the long grey corridor passed the many different branches of the corporate giant. Each small cubicle was alive, crawling with activity. Every cubicle performing its own function, each worker a drone performing there task. She noticed there were very few decorations, anywhere. She felt a stark coldness in the cubes were the single purpose was only------work. Walking into the main office at the end of the hallway, the receptionist looked up. She eyed her coldly but it was pleasant. Jilly sat and waited for her moment of truth. She watched her chewing and snapping her gum, answering her phone and taking memos.
“What a sleaze,” she thought,” I wonder how she got this job?”
“They’ll see you now, last door on the right.”
Jilly stood without saying a word. She stopped briefly at the wooden door. Meeting room #1 was etched into the polished brass plate. She adjusted her scarf, and buttoned the next higher button on her blouse. Smoothing the wrinkles in her skirt she took a deep breath and closed the door behind her.
“Gentlemen,” she smiled, looking each of them directly in the eye. Walking to the head of the long table, she laid her briefcase in front of her. Clicking open the two latches, she removed her documents. She raised her head to look at them, although this time she did not smile.