The Infamous Ellen James(27)

I woke up to the alarm I'd thankfully remembered to set last night and realized I'd been unknowingly pushing snooze for over an hour. I now had less than thirty minutes to shower, get dressed, and be ready to present downstairs in the conference room.

Shit!

I rushed through my shower so quickly that I nearly fell face first on the white tile floor. I hurriedly got dressed in my black pencil skirt, white button-up blouse, and favorite pair of black heels. These heels dressed up any outfit and seemed to add a little bit of sexy to my very professional attire. I decided to leave my auburn locks down and slightly wavy. My makeup was kept to a minimum because I honestly had no time for details. Mascara, blush, and lip gloss were the best I could do. All I could say is thank god I wasn't hungover. I grabbed my purse, laptop, notes, and cell phone before quickly walking out of my hotel room toward the elevators.

I managed to make it to the conference room with just enough time to set my laptop up to the projection screen and get myself settled in. I nervously ran my sweaty palms down the length of skirt and silently hoped I wasn't visibly showing pit stains. I was literally sweating like a whore in church. Why was it so fucking hot in there? Was Nashville supposed to be this hot in May? I checked the thermostat on the wall behind the projection screen and dropped that baby down as far as it could go. The last thing I needed was an audience of mostly men focusing in on my sweaty pit stains. I swiftly checked my email and saw that Amy had sent back the slides, stating she'd made a few minor changes and that I should review them before presenting.

Well, fuck.

I didn't have time to review each and every slide. I was sure whatever she'd decided to change was fine and I probably wouldn't even notice. Amy is a huge stickler for grammar and spelling, and I had a feeling that was what the minor changes entailed.

I was sitting in one of the cushy black office chairs while everyone filed in, taking their seats around the overwhelmingly huge conference table that was in the center of the room. Everything was set up and ready to go, and I was just anxious to get this whole ordeal over with.

I was so nervous that I could barely remember anyone's name upon introduction. My mind was just kind of on autopilot. Luckily, I'd managed to snag business cards of almost everyone, which I would kindly hand to my manager Shirley when I got back to Charlotte. A few minutes after nine a.m. I decided to start my presentation, feeling I'd given everyone more than enough time to arrive.

As I cleared my throat and began to introduce myself, I noticed a ridiculously attractive, dark-haired gentleman stroll in and take a seat. My mind was foggy from nerves, but it wasn't too foggy that I couldn't notice the sexy piece of ass that had just strolled in. After mouthing "sorry" in my direction, he gave me a wink and a smile. I just smiled back and continued on with my introduction.

About fifteen minutes into the presentation, I felt like things were going smoothly. The physicians and hospital board officials seemed excited about Regency's new state-of-the-art facilities and recent changes to the emergency department staffing protocols. Their positive reactions towards my presentation gave me a small boost of confidence. I found myself engaging my audience more as I sauntered around the room and continued discussing the positive aspects of my hospital's staffing protocols, policies, and procedures. Yeah, I knew it was extremely boring crap. I knew from the slides that I was nearing the end of my presentation, and the butterflies in my stomach were slowly dissipating as I got closer to the finish line.

I was facing my audience as I turned to the next slide and noticed several small smirks cross their faces as they glanced up to the projection screen. I just brushed it off and continued on discussing projected cost savings in relation to our newest policies and changes. As I looked up at the screen before turning to the next slide, I finally became aware of why several physicians and hospital board officials were no longer making eye contact with me and mostly just gawking at the current slide with amused grins on their faces. The slide that was up on the projection screen, which seemed like it was the size of a giant billboard, was a picture of me from a Halloween party last year.

Unfortunately, the theme of the party had been sex toys. I'd been dressed in boy shorts, a lace camisole top, high heels, and a strap-on with a twelve-inch rubber cock attached to it. Right now, I was screaming, "Screw You, Amy!” in my head. I was pretty sure I was frozen in complete mortification for a good thirty seconds because I was in absolute shock. Hell, shock didn't even begin to describe the emotion that had turned me into a statue. I was literally frozen in place. An entire room of prestigious trauma surgeons and hospital board officials were currently staring at a picture of me scantily clad with a giant dildo strapped to my waist.