Page 7 of Wife By Accident

The man shot Olivia a sympathetic look as she turned away. The rest of the morning was the same — every time Olivia started talking to a client, either Mr. Marley, Juan, or Gabe would jump in. She got more and more frustrated as the morning wore on. When they took a lunch break, and Marley insisted that she spend her “break” updating the spreadsheet of who had stopped by the table, Olivia came very close to just walking out.

As afternoon began, though, the conference became more crowded. Soon, more people were coming to the table than her male coworkers could handle, and Olivia finally got to show off her skills. She demoed the products, made recommendations, chatted, and handed out plenty of business cards. Olivia’s passion was photography, but she was pretty good at this, too.

Towards late afternoon, a casually-dressed middle-aged woman with short blond hair wandered over. Seeing that her coworkers were otherwise engaged, Olivia smiled and greeted her.

“Hi, I’m Olivia Keller. How can I help you?”

“I’m Elizabeth Pierce,” the other woman said. Olivia’s jaw almost dropped.

“The Elizabeth Pierce of Pierce Photography?”

“That’s the one,” Elizabeth smiled. “I take it you’ve heard of me.”

“I have. And wow, I love your work. The underwater shots you took of orcas in the wild were just breathtaking. I’ve always wanted to go on one of your photography trips.”

Pierce Photography was well-known both for Elizabeth herself, who was a wildlife photographer and whose work featured in many famous books and documentaries, and for its photography expeditions, where Elizabeth trained people to take wildlife pictures. Many of those people went on to become professional wildlife or nature photographers themselves.

“Thank you,” Elizabeth smiled. “Can you show me some of your products that might be useful to me?”

“Absolutely.”

Olivia jumped into the demoing and showed off a number of cameras and accessories that might help. After a while, Elizabeth nodded.

“I like what I’m seeing. Are you in town tonight? I’d love to arrange a dinner and talk more about how we can collaborate. It’ll be worth your while — I need to restock a lot of my equipment, and I always make recommendations to my students as well.”

“That would be wonderful.” They exchanged cards and Elizabeth left, with Olivia beaming in her wake.

“You should have shown her the Optic 710,” Marley said suddenly. Olivia frowned and glanced over her shoulder to where he’d appeared out of nowhere, rather like a ghost in a horror movie.

“She was looking for cameras that capture movement well — the Optic 710 isn’t known for that,” Olivia explained.

“No, but the 710 is an expensive camera with lots of expensive accessories.” Marley narrowed his eyes. “Don’t forget that we’re salespeople, not assistants. We need clients to spend money, or we won’t get our commissions.”

“Understood. But Elizabeth did give me her card for a dinner. I imagine we’ll get a chance to talk to her more then.”

If Olivia had expected praise, she’d have been disappointed. Marley just nodded. “Good. And make sure you show higher-end products next time.”

The rest of the afternoon flew by. Olivia was busy constantly, talking to people and showing off the products. When the rush finally petered out in the early evening, she was exhausted and her feet ached. She shouldn’t have worn heels today.

“I’m impressed,” Gabe said, looking at the business cards Olivia had collected. “That’s a lot of leads.”

“Thanks,” Olivia grinned. “Even Elizabeth Pierce came by.” She showed him her card.

“No way!” Gabe shook his head. “I’m jealous. I wish I could’ve talked to her. Good for you, though.”

“Thanks.”

“Well,” Marley stepped between them and looked at his watch, “it’s five now. Olivia, can you get everything packed up? The rest of us need to get freshened up for client dinners.”

“I have a dinner lined up, too,” Olivia said. “Elizabeth Pierce wanted to meet to talk more about our products. If we all clean up together, we can all be done in time.”

“You did tell me about Pierce. It was a good lead. That’s why I’m sending in our best for a dinner at a nice steakhouse with her and a few other potential clients.” Marley winked.

Olivia’s eyes narrowed. “You don’t mean…”

“That Gabe, Juan, and myself will be closing the deal?” Marley nodded. “I do mean that. This can’t be a surprise, Olivia. Junior employees like yourself bring leads to their superiors all the time. You got lucky, but we need the real talent to close the deal.”

Olivia’s vision went red. She couldn’t believe Marley had stooped this low. If he closed the deal, he would get the commission and the acclaim, even though it had been Olivia’s lead.