Page 99 of Too Good to Be True

Fighting to maintain her composure, she said, “I don’t have an extra training packet.”

“No problem. I’ll just follow along on Nick’s,” Britney said, smiling sweetly.

What an act! Britney wanted people to believe she was sweet and innocent, but Stacy wasn’t that gullible. She’d been around longer than most of the people in this room, except for Gladys, who boasted a full head of gray hair. Stacy had no idea how old Gladys was, but Jenna probably would have suggested a dye job.

Stacy noticed that Nick’s jaw was clenched, and she knew that he wasn’t pleased by the interruption either. Immature as it might seem, his reaction gave her a secret thrill.

The show must go on, she thought as she began her presentation.

“The purpose of this class is to review some common grammar and punctuation rules and to improve your written communication skills. The packets are for you to keep and take notes on. Feel free to ask questions as we go along.”

A hand went up.

“Yes?”

“How long is this going to take?”

Most everyone chuckled, but Stacy wasn’t amused, especially since the question had come from someone who didn’t know how to use spellcheck! “I’ve allotted an hour, but it could take more or less time depending on how many questions there are.” She looked pointedly at the questioner in response to his bad attitude. There’s always one bad apple in every class.

Nick cleared his throat, and when she glanced at him, he gave her a brief nod of support. She wanted to kiss him, although that would obviously have to wait.

“The first topic we’re going to discuss is the proper use of commas.”

There were a few groans, which she ignored. “On page two, you’ll see some examples of proper and improper uses of commas. Since commas can change the meaning of a sentence, it’s important to use them correctly.”

And so it went. She went through her presentation, delivering the material smoothly and stopping to answer questions as needed. She paused frequently so the employees could jot down notes. As usual, Nick was writing furiously, though he probably didn’t need to. Maybe he was trying to distract himself from Britney, who seemed determined to engage him in conversation rather than listening to the presentation.

Stacy tried to ignore Britney’s antics, but it was difficult. At one point, she looked over and saw Britney leaning so far over Nick’s paper that her boob was grazing his arm. She saw red and struggled to contain herself.

A minute later, when Britney giggled loudly enough to be disruptive, Stacy just about lost it. She stopped talking in mid-sentence and glared at Britney until she met her gaze. The room went silent, and all Stacy could hear was the blood pounding in her ears.

The phrase Do you have something to share with the rest of the class? came to mind, but it would probably only make matters worse.

Britney spoke before Stacy had a chance to. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt. Please continue.”

Stacy had no choice but to accept the apology and continue her presentation. She gave Britney a brief nod and finished her discussion on apostrophes. Avoiding eye contact with Britney, she went through the rest of the slides, hoping there wouldn’t be too many questions. Most of the attendees were as anxious to get this over with as she was, and there were no further interruptions.

At the end, a few people clapped, while others rushed from the room like it was on fire. A few lagged behind, including Eric, Nick, and Britney.

“Thanks a lot for doing this. It was really helpful,” Eric said.

“Yeah. I’m going to pay a lot more attention to my commas now,” Britney said.

Stacy doubted that. She’d been more interested in rubbing her boobs on Nick and giggling like an infatuated teenager than improving her grammar.

Nick remained quiet, but he was gazing at Stacy intently like he was trying to communicate telepathically.

When the three of them turned to leave, she started to shut down her laptop. Then she heard a loud thunk, and she snapped her head up. Nick had dropped his binder, and some papers were scattered on the floor. Eric and Britney bent down to help, but Nick waved them away.

“I’ve got it. You two go ahead.”

He took his time putting the binder back together, and then he stood up and softly closed the door.

Her eyes went wide. “What are you doing?”

“I dropped it on purpose so we could talk.”

She shook her head. “You shouldn’t have done that.”