Chapter 12

Catherine "The conference room is ready Ma'am." I turn to my secretary and dear friend Melissa who spoke while opening my office door. "Thank you Melissa, and again please stop calling me Ma'am. We're friends." She lets out a small laugh and replies "Well since we're friends I can call you any way I want, I choose Ma'am." She then closes the door after giving me a wink. I laugh at our small banter, refocusing on the impending meeting. Breathe in. Breathe out. I walk out of my office and enter the conference room, proceeding to set-up my laptop. I move on to rearranging the needed documents, placing them beside my laptop. A few minutes later, I hear a knock on the door. I look up to see Melissa ushering in Stan, the owner's representative. "Good morning Stan." I stand and reach out my hand. "Good morning Catherine, you look as radiant as ever." He replies giving me a hand shake. "Of c