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"Unacceptable," he said before I could apologize "Completely unacceptable behavior"

"Give the my hands over the fence

Without another word, he scooped the arms I tossed them onto ot into my car, dirty hands and all, and sped off to work

The parking lot showed no sign of the farmers’ market, and without the stark white tents and colorful people, it looked a little dreary Still, I could park within a few yards of the door That was a plus

9:08 am The conference room door was shut, and I heard the low sound of one voice, fe Frank were alive, he’d have shoved a cup of coffee in lad I’d decided to show up

If Jesse were alive, I wouldn’t have been late

Since my first day at Giacomo,Frank actually believed in annual reviews Frank understood that I was both responsible and artistic, a combination he felt was rare He’d tried to balance it out with the other erounded souls, and Byron, Seth, and Rhiannon, while not the most reliable people, were idea factories) "But you’re the whole enchilada, kiddo," Big Frank frequently told reat deal of work to giveFrank anized, well-run operation I made every deadline he set for me Until Jesse died

I’d fallen apart like a sloppily sewn scarf, a thread here, a thread there, until the unraveling got to be so noticeable that Big Frank picked up a needle and did sos you don’t want to let slide, and let the rest sort itself out," he said gently after one particularly rough day "When soets jostled because of the e spot for a while Sooner or later, you’ll find where you fit again"

That keptFrank who left a hole, and I found myself surrounded by emptiness

I slipped into the conference room as quietly as possible, but every head swiveled in my direction, disapproval etched on each face Glynnis, standing in front of her ad, let whatever was tu from hershade of crin of disrespect," Lukas began, his gaze never shifting from the front of the room, "it’s an affront to the creative process Any interruption in the flow can have disastrous consequences Petra addresses this in chapter 6"

I took a seat quickly "I’ issues at the house"

"Glynnis," he said, ignoring irl looked terrified I felt horrible then, and had to give this one to Petra--it did suck to be interrupted I smiled broadly at her "Sorry, Glynnis I’d really like to hear about your ad It looks great"

I wasn’t entirely sure it did--I’d forgotten lasses--but the compliment seemed to work Glynnis nodded and directed everyone’s attention back to the whiteboard behind her She finished up, and after offering her soeneric compliments, Lukas called Jackie to the front

Jackie had dressed up, which for her meant her usual look dialed up a notch Creasediron marks in her hair She wore a button-up shirt with a pink tank underneath She looked fantastic Like a suburban, ed Lita Ford

Up went Jackie’s ad She’d used a stock photo, a cute, freckled kid about to stick his fingers into a jar of ja to get better

"Nice job," Itheir heads and attention from the ad to Lukas "What do we think?" he asked, and I could tell froht

"It’s cute," I said loudly "Appeals to both mothers and kids I can see bits of fruit in the jam, which makes it seem natural and wholesome"

Jackie flashed ue, which I was fairly certain was thesound in the world "I’ to ponder reed using that deraphic is dated and pointless? How many mothers stillja the people ould norely "Go on"

Rhiannon unwound her legs frohtened up "Well, I hate to use the word ‘hip’"