Ring of Truth (A Silver Script Novel Book 1) (15 page)

“You’re sure he was gone? What if he was just in the bathroom or something?” Carissa sighed. “Did you let yet another guy get away? Erin, this guy was cute. And you’ve done everything together since you met him.”

Erin flopped back on the couch. “I’m not the one pushing him away. He’s the one who disappeared without saying good-bye.”

“Fine. We’ll pretend you’re right for now. It’s a good thing I brought this.” She pulled out Erin’s favorite chocolate bar and tossed it to her.

“Just what I needed. Thank you.” Erin unwrapped it and took a bite. “So what does Matt think?”

“He thinks Jake is perfect for you.” Carissa pulled out another candy bar for herself.

Erin threw her pillow. “You know what I mean. What does he think about the job?”

Carissa laughed. “He’s fine with it. Although he did want to make sure we got time off for our honeymoon.”

“I don’t know. I hear your partner is pretty awful.” Erin took a bite of her chocolate.

“Since I’m over here, we should probably do some work. I thought of something we could do for another ad.”

Jake stared at the ceiling, not wanting to get out of bed. He was sure things were back to normal, but then Erin had left without saying good-bye. How he was going to face her today was beyond him.

He needed to work at the pound for a few hours or he’d lose the job, and he didn’t want to lose the steady paycheck. Even if it was less than what he needed.

After a quick breakfast, Jake grabbed his umbrella and headed outside. He nodded to his landlord as he walked past, and dodged a toy truck in the middle of the hallway. He opened his umbrella and stepped out into the rain. It took a few minutes to grab a taxi. He gave the directions to the studio and sat back.

Erin was already at the studio when Jake walked in. He went right to wardrobe to change into a suit and tie for the shot, wanting to avoid her for as long as possible. Unfortunately, that didn’t last long. Erin was sitting in a chair getting her makeup done—right next to where he needed to be.

“Hey.” He sat down.

“Hey.” She stood and started to walk away, but stopped. “This shouldn’t take too long. You’ll get your paycheck once we’re done here.”

“Thank you.” Jake ached to pull her into his arms, but since he was stuck in the chair getting his hair done, he just watched her walk away. Once they were done, Jake thanked them and walked over to the set. He was surprised to see Erin’s friend—Carissa?—at the shoot, but by the way she was holding the clipboard, and directing people where to go, he figured she belonged there.

“Oh, you’re ready,” she said. “Go pick up the ring from over there, and get in your place. We’ll get a few shots, and then change the scene a little.”

Jake nodded and walked over to the counter. There were a few rings to choose from, so he chose the ring that looked closest to what Erin would have liked. It was a small, round diamond that wouldn’t snag, not too flashy. He picked up the smaller box and walked over to where Erin stood.

“Ready to go?” Erin asked.

Jake held up the box. He was just going to play it cool and professional. “Yep. Let’s do it. How do you want me to stand?”

The photographer held up his camera. “Just act like you’re giving her the ring of her dreams, and we’ll do the rest.”

Jake got down on one knee and held out the opened box. Erin gasped and placed her hand on her heart, as she allowed him to put the ring on her finger. Then he stood and pulled her into a hug. Erin ran her fingers through his hair and laughed. He leaned in for a kiss, and everything would have been perfect if he didn’t have to hear the clicking of the camera through the entire thing. When Jake pulled away, Erin pulled off the ring and set it in the box, avoiding Jake’s eyes.

“Awesome. That was perfect. Wow. Okay, go find a coat while we get the fake snow and building backdrop set up.” Carissa ordered the set crew around while Jake went into the other room.

An assistant handed Jake a long trench coat and a fedora. He looked over to see Erin trying on a fur coat. “So, Carissa works with you?”

“She’s my partner as of last night. She’s pretty amazing, isn’t she?” Erin pulled off the coat and sorted through what was on the rack.

“She’s great.” Jake walked over and pulled a wool coat off the hanger and handed it to the assistant. “Here, this works better with her eyes, and makes a good winter coat.”

“Oh, thank you.” The assistant helped Erin into the coat. “Oh, I like this better. What do you think?”

Erin glanced in the mirror. “You’re right. Thank you.”

Jake tipped his hat. “Just trying to help, ma’am.”

Erin laughed. “Let’s go. I need to finish this up before lunch.”

“Sounds good to me.” Jake followed her out to the set. This time they were going to advertise a bracelet. They acted out a few scenarios while the photographer circled them, clicking away. He wanted to kiss her again, but settled for caressing her cheek and twirling her in the air.

After the shoot was over, Jake took his jacket back to the rack and grabbed his own belongings. Erin waited for him out by Carissa and her boss.

“Here you go. Thank you for helping us out.” Erin handed him an envelope. “This is for the commercials. We’ll send the check for today as soon as it goes through payroll.”

“Thank you for letting me be a part of it.” Jake wanted to say more, but stopped himself. He shook their hands and left the studio.

Since the pound wasn’t too far away from the studio, he decided to walk. The bank was on the way, and he didn’t want the check to sit in his bag the whole day. When he pulled out the check to sign it, he stopped in shock. He was expecting one or two hundred dollars at the most, but there were a couple of extra zeroes. He checked the receipt to make sure it was correct, and his jaw dropped. His pay was what they’d agreed on, but there was a hefty bonus added to it. That meant rent would be paid, and he’d have more to save up.

Once the check was deposited, he headed to the pound. He was met with the familiar barking when he walked inside. Mr. Dayley sat at the front desk working on the computer.

“Sorry I’m so late. The shoot ran long.” Jake took his bag and jacket to the back office and checked on the animals. Several new dogs and cats had arrived in the last few days. When he went back to the front, Mr. Dayley was helping a mother and her son. When he took them back to look at the animals, Jake took over at the desk and continued entering the bills into the program on the computer.

When the customers had left with a terrier on a leash, Mr. Dayley turned to Jake. “So how was the shoot?”

“It was great. I’ll have the other one starting tomorrow evening. That shouldn’t take nearly as long. I hope.” He had a lot of time to make up for after missing the last couple days.

Mr. Dayley brushed away his concern. “We both know that’s why you’re here. I’m just glad to have some help when you can make it.”

“Put me to work, then. What needs to be done?”

“I’ll make a list.” He wrote a few things down and handed it to Jake, just as another family came in.

Jake left the customers to Mr. Dayley and went to grab the mop to clean the back room and do the rest of the errands. Once the cages were done, he went to the back to get some more food for the animals. He checked on each one, enjoying the quiet monotony of the job. This was the only time he ever admitted that he missed his ranch.

Erin pulled out the ad mockups for the car campaign, and took them to Debra’s office. Carissa had been over at Erin’s until late the night before so they could have everything ready to go to print. The photographer had shot some amazing pictures, and it was fun putting them together with all the small details for the magazines.

When she got to the office, Nate sat in one of the chairs. He smirked at her as she handed off the prints and sat next to him.

Debra studied each of the ads before setting them down on the desk. “I want to thank you both for getting this done so quickly. I worried about their timeframe, but I shouldn’t have doubted either of you. Nate, you have a meeting with the toy company in thirty minutes. I want you to go prepare. Erin, I want you to stick around for a minute.”

The smug expression on Nate’s face turned to curiosity. “My presentation is all done. Is there anything else you need?”

Erin rolled her eyes at his obvious attempt to know what was happening in the office.

“I need you to look over them again. Now, please leave. And tell Sydney I need some coffee.” Debra waited for Nate to leave before turning back to Erin. “I got back some of the samples of photos for the jewelry ads. I couldn’t be more thrilled, and Mr. Smith agrees with me.”

She pulled out a folder and handed it to Erin. The photos turned out better than she could have expected. Jake had definitely been right about what jacket she should wear. Her mind immediately began adding the wording on the ad as she moved to the next one.

“Your commercials turned out well, and are being prepared to send on to the television stations, but they’ll come to you for final approval.” Debra clasped her hands together as she studied Erin. “You should be pleased with your work.”

“Thanks. I’m glad we went with this photographer. He’s amazing.” Erin held up the photo of Jake proposing to her. She still remembered the surprise when he pulled out the exact ring she’d been eyeing moments before. Her heart had been pounding, and it wasn’t hard to show her emotion in the photos.

“He’s very good at what he does, but it was all you two. We’ll have to remember this for future commercials.” Debra took the folder that Erin handed her. “I just sent you a few clients to go through and decide what you want to work on next.”

Whoa. That never happened. Everything was usually assigned beforehand. Erin’s eyes widened. “Thank you. I’ll get back to you after lunch.”

Debra smiled. “That’s perfect.”

Carissa was sitting at her desk when Erin got back to her office. She stood and followed Erin into the room, closing the door behind her.

“So? What did she think?” Carissa asked.

Erin grinned. “She loved it. All of it. And check this out.” She went to her desk and pulled up the email from Debra.

Carissa came around the desk and peeked over Erin’s shoulder. “Whoa. Those are some pretty big names.”

“No kidding. And I get to choose which one to work on.” Erin scanned through the names of the businesses and what they were asking for. “Let’s see, toy commercials, winter fashion, chocolates. Anything jump out at you?”

Carissa pointed to the fashion shoot. “This one could be fun. We haven’t done anything like this for a while, and I know this designer. He’s fantastic.”

“Great. We’ll ask for this one. And maybe the chocolate ads. Nate is over a toy company account, so I’d prefer to stay away. Why don’t you look at the chocolate company while I study the clothing designer? Then we can decide which one to work on.”

“Yes, Miss boss lady. I’ll be in my office if you need me.” Carissa closed the door behind her.

Erin pulled up all the information she could find on the company and studied past advertisements, comparing them to the new line that would be coming out in the next few weeks. Carissa was right. This designer was good. Erin pulled out a few of the new designs and started on a few mockups to get some ideas. It was perfect.

She typed a quick email to Debra before turning off her computer monitor.  With Carissa helping, it was possible they could do both projects, but it depended on what Carissa had found on the chocolate company.

She knocked on Carissa’s door. “Hey, I’m starved. Are you ready to go?”

“I’ll grab my jacket.” Carissa went back to her desk, and Erin followed not long after.

They left the office building and Erin purposely walked the other direction from the restaurant they’d eaten at before. The fact that Jake could be there was enough to keep her away. It hurt too much. Although, now that she thought about it, he was probably filming the soda commercial.

They stopped at a small cafe that Carissa had been dying to try since it opened. They ordered their sandwiches and ran through a few ideas for the accounts Erin would hopefully work on.

Erin filled Carissa in on everything she’d learned about the designer, then Carissa talked about her wedding. Erin pushed away the rest of her food, no longer hungry.

“Oh, hey, I need to run by and finalize my invitations. See you back at the office?” Carissa picked up her purse.

“Sounds good. I’ll see you there.” Erin waved and headed back to the office. When she checked her messages, she saw that Debra had approved both accounts. Erin cheered silently and went back to the mockups for the designer.

Erin’s phone rang, and she grumbled when she realized it was her parents. They knew they weren’t supposed to call during work, but her mom never listened.

She turned the speaker on and kept researching. “Hey, Mom. What’s up?”

“It’s your dad.” Her mom’s voice shook.

Erin grabbed her phone and turned the speaker off, her heart beating rapidly. “What’s wrong with Dad?”

“He was onsite at one of the farms he was advertising for, and one of the stacks of hay fell right on top of him.” She paused. “Sweetie, it’s bad.”