Denise picked up the device off the desk, where Larry left it. "We need to show Mr. McMillan this," she said.
"Since when have you referred to him like that?" Larry asked.
"Since ... um, now. He's my boss. It would be inappropriate to call him by his first name."
"Maybe you could show him during your meeting," Samantha said.
"That's what I was thinking." She checked her watch. "It's in the next few minutes. I better hurry." She checked herself in the mirror before she left. She didn't try to straighten her unkempt hair. She found that she didn't care as much about her appearance as she did before. She didn't care if people thought she was ugly. Her real friends would like her for her mind, not her body.
Three minutes later, she walked across the room outside of the CEO's office. Seth Brady, one of the other two department heads, stood in the open doorway.
"Denise? What happened to you?" He almost couldn't believe it was her.
"I'll tell you inside," she said, pulling him into the office and closing the door.
A few seconds later, the secretary and the other people working outside the CEO's office heard a high-pitched noise. They didn't know where it was coming from, and since it only lasted a few seconds, they never bothered to check.
