Bella slept lightly waking earlier than needed and getting up to shower change and go over her plans once again. She had stayed up late making a list so nothing could be left to chance. After letting her excitement and enthusiasm cloud her judgement yesterday, she was determined to show Kurt and everyone at the company just how she earned her degree and the love of a man like Mel.
She had a quick breakfast with Rob, who laughed at her eagerness to get to the office early, and wished her luck as she left. Andrew also arrived early and startled her by appearing before her desk with fresh orange juice and a croissant.
"I figured you probably ate early, and would need the added energy," he smiled.
"No coffee?" Bella raised her eyebrows.
"You, Miss Biancotti don't drink coffee or tea or hot drinks at all, so I am told," he said easily, confident in his knowledge. Bella looked at him critically. His confident stance, the way he looked her in the eyes, his seeming ease with which he spoke once again made her wonder what this would be Dominant was doing working as a personal assistant.
"Thank you for the extra sustenance," she smiled, "We are going to need it," she laughed and tapped the files on her desk. "I am glad you're here early, this is what I need first..."
An hour later when Dorothea arrived, a small table had been set up near Bella's Desk with an extra computer and phone line. For being new in the company, Andrew seemed to know which people to ask to get what he needed in a hurry. Either that or he dragged people into doing the things he needed with bull-headed stubbornness, Bella thought as he showed Dorothea through to her temporary desk.
Getting up Bella hugged the older woman and looked at her seriously, "I am sorry I didn't listen to you properly yesterday, but while you're here even in a part time capacity you will have a desk. You're an important member of this team even if you only come in once or twice a week but..." she paused as Dorothea had started to laugh softly. "I am just sorry I didn't ask what you wanted," Bella finished feeling unsure of herself.
"My sweet girl," Dorothea said happily, "I want to be here for the fun ride you are about to go on, I had planned to stay this first month to make sure your new assistant could do everything you needed." She eyed Andrew critically, "and let's face it, he needs all the help he can get," she said in a loud whisper making Bella laugh.
"Andrew and I have made a start but here is what I need, ASAP..." Bella began to fill Dorothea in on her need for a clear plan and costs for the interior and small foyer of her office and what Andrew had started on. As she finished detailing what she needed to present this plan to Kurt, the interior designer walked into her office.
Natalie Fuller was young and cutting edge in her designs but was more used to designing store fixtures rather than business offices. Eager to expand her own fledgling business she had jumped at the chance for an early morning meeting and had come straight in.
Dividing the tasks and working as a team within three hours Bella had a complete plan for her office along with most of the costs subject to availability of certain pieces. It was presented more as a quote for the work to be done rather than a final analysis of costs and Bella felt that they had over quoted rather than under quoted. She hoped that Kurt would see the difficulty of costing certain pieces. What she wanted were not things that could easily be found in a catalogue but rather would need to be custom made.
Unless Kurt agreed to her overall vision though, she would not be able to put together the actual costs and that's all she wanted for the moment. The rest of the morning went by in a blur of activity for Bella, then she met with Rhys Muldoon for lunch. He had taken more than a passing interest in her business idea and was willing to become a business mentor to her, in addition to Kurt who had no real interest in the field of precious metals and gems.
The company was a corporation, with their fingers in many businesses including mining which had always been Mel's special area of expertise. His demise had seen Rhys step in to take up the slack so to speak and allowed Kurt and the other executives to concentrate on their own portfolios and increased responsibility. The team of four men had, with Kurt's leadership, weathered the storm of public and private backlash after the death of the company director.
In addition to his interest in the material's she wanted to work with, the idea of fetish jewellery appealed to him greatly, and he went through her plan with a fine tooth comb poking holes in many areas of it and questioning her closely on why she had certain elements of her plan at all. By the end of a long afternoon meeting Bella had a starting point, or in actual fact several starting points and she felt a small amount of confidence moving ahead under the watchful eye of both Kurt and Rhys.
Kurt had approved her office design under the proviso that he be kept informed should the quoted budget blow out at any stage of development. Feeling good but treading warily after bottoming out so dreadfully after her high from yesterday, she went back to her office. Andrew was just finishing throwing dust sheets over the desks. She looked at him curiously.
"Natalie and I found a crew that would work through the nights so we can still be here during the day," he said, "I assumed at the very least they would be able to start the painting."
"That's wonderful," Bella enthused, "Just let me call Natalie before you shut me down for the night," she had promised the young, enthusiastic designer a phone call before the close of business. "You go Andrew I will be fine," she smiled and waved as Natalie's voice sounded in her ear. It was over an hour later after sitting back down at her desk that she finally looked up again as Kurt walked into her office chuckling.
"You haven't wasted any time," he pointed over his shoulder with his thumb at the painters who had begun removing the horrible beige paint from her walls with an undercoat.
"Andrew is good, very organised," she smiled.
"Come on, it's late, I'll buy you dinner," he said, "Dianne is visiting a friend who is town this evening."
"Oh," Bella hesitated, she had planned on taking home her interior plan and going over it one more time, with the new knowledge she had from her meeting with Rhys. Not that she would have to change much, but she just wanted to get the vision firmly in her mind before starting on something she couldn't easily undo.
"You have to eat," he said seriously, "I can see you're tired so how about take away, I will ring ahead and get Jake to make us a couple of steak sandwiches and we can eat at your place," Kurt suggested but Bella knew the tone of his voice meant that it was the best compromise she was going to get.
