to
Amanda. Amanda sees through her camouflage.
"Are you alright Renee?"
"I'm great! Where's Nicholas. We came together. Is he
getting a ride?" Renee asks rigidly, with a forced smil e. Amanda retreats. She understands the need to be private.
"He's coming..." Amanda responds, and turns to
see Nicholas approaching them.
Nicholas is worried about the reception he will receive,
and sincerely regrets upsetting Renee. He enjoys working wi th her. She takes all his ideas seriously, and doesn't make
fun of his awkwardness, sense of style, and lack of awareness of pop culture.
She also gets his appreciation for comic books, and graphic novels. Renee has
never spoken to Nicholas in a snarky ton e,
as Amanda is prone to, from time to time. She serves as a sort of middle man
among the three, able to understand, and communicate both Amanda's, and
Nicholas' ideas to one another fluently.
"Um...um you guys want to pick up sandwiches on the
way back?" Nicholas nervously asks as he draws
closer to the ladies.
"Sure! Let's do it!" Amanda immediately agrees.
"Renee?" She asks, turning toward the temporarily mute
woman.
"Huh?...Sure! Sounds good." Renee confirms,
arising from her daydream. She is lost in thought
that if Ronald had truly been the boyfriend she thought he was, she would be
sharing this experience with him. "Ready?" Renee asks her teammates.
They awkwardly smile at one another, and exit the building.
Everyone is back at BYWINSTON and it i s buzzing with activity. Interior Designers, Event
Planners, Graphic Artists...everyone is off in their corners collaborating to
develop "the event of the century". It has been over four hours since
the presentation meeting at the Lampros offices. Melaine has assigned each department a team leader. She circles
around to each group checking in, and listening to their combined ideas. Amanda
is wisely assigned to lead the graphic artists. She is most senior after all. However, Renee works
alongside her with tw o other graphic artists, who
have been assigned to the project. Nicholas is tasked with putting together a
video production team. Their contemporary videos will play through out the
gala, with shortened versions used as television commercials.
The mood t hroughout the BYWINSTON
creative floor is; excitement. Although Lampros is not a new client,
reestablishing his brand overseas will serve to widen the base of the branding
firm. There are four short weeks to pull it all together. Using her arms, Renee
gent ly lifts herself up from her desk chair. She
looks out as far as she can see, beyond her fellow graphic artists on the
"creative floor". Wow. Look at them. They're like bees
happily making honey. Smiling, she sits back into her chair. Hmm...Still, no word from Colin? I wonder what he will think about all of this? Renee surrenders to thoughts of Colin.
She cringes as she reflects on the incident at the restaurant, and in the
office meeting room. Her shoulders relax somewhat when she begins to recall the
warm th she heard in his voice, the evening he stood
in front of her apartment building. I wonder what he's really like? Who is
the real Colin Winston? Renee's thoughts are abruptly interrupted.
"Whatcha got Wainwright?" Amanda says, hovering
over Renee's shou lders.
"Um...how does this look?" Renee says regaining
her focus. "I brightened up the color somewhat here..." Renee rattles
off detailed updates on her piece of the entire scheme. Amanda is
engrossed, and waves over the other two on their design team.
Meanwhile...
"He trust you?...HE TRUST YOU?" Travis hollers at Melaine, pacing back and
forth in her office. "You do hear how crazy that sounds, right Mel? The
Colin we both know doesn't miss an opportunity to lord his 'God Complex' over
us...So how come he's playing it cool all of a
sudden?" Travis expels. Melaine is calm, and not moved by Travis' nervous
outburst.
"I'm not sure Travis. Perhaps he's busy?" Melaine
tells him, but her focus is locked on to her computer