“Thisisyourbaby.And it’s beautiful. I want to help you nurture it.” Ryder ignored the thundering in his chest, the adrenaline screaming under his skin, and sported a consequential smile, his gaze locked on his client’s. “With your vision, you could sweep into the fashion world with the boldly elegant style of your footwear.”
Smiling wide, she took a sip of the cosmopolitan and asked over the delicate glass, “You really think so?”
“Hell yeah,” he said meaningfully. “Let me show you some of the ideas we’ve put together for you.” Right on time, he pulled out his tablet, the bookmarked file ready, and showed her the high contrast, jewel-toned mockups his crew had put together. He described the unique, empowered women, from the wallflower dancing the night away in the sparkling, air-comfort heels to her own rhythm on her own time, to the group of friends at the beach, wiggling their rainbow toenails together in her line of summer sandals.
“Wow. That’s so much better than what we were coming up with.”
“This is what I do, and I’m damn good at it.” He raised his glass and downed the last of his cranberry and tonic before going in for the kill. “Now it’s up to you how much you want from us. We can do some basic uptraining for your marketing team, we can run the entire campaign for you, or—and this is my recommendation based on your five-year plan—a hybrid model where we bring in your team and involve them in updating your promos and long-term image, we launch the new branding together, then we step back, and you can call us anytime.”
Nodding, flipping through his designs one more time, she let out a protracted breath. “I’m tempted, but I’m waiting for the sticker shock.”
He took the tablet and tapped over to the stylized summary, then swiped through a few variations of what they could offer. “It’s in our best interest for you to soar, so we want to work within your budget.”
She tapped her fingernails on her teeth as she played with the options.
While the numbers bounced in her mind, dollar signs flashing, he threw in a few more, timing it the moment she seemed to be settling on the one below his goal. “Of course, we can never guarantee a return on investment, but I’ve been at this for almost ten years, and I have consistently delivered a logarithmic increase to my clients’ profit margins for at least the six-to-twelve-month period after launch, and when you invest in a cohesive branding strategy and have an uptrained team, it sticks.”
She hesitated, flipping back and forth between plans.
“Take some time to run the numbers with your team. I’ll send over the mockups.” He tapped his coaster on the table and relaxed his posture. “Your company has immense potential and delivers a quality, promising product, or, honestly, I would never have accepted this meeting.” He flipped back to the mockups for her to play with and leaned back in his chair.
“I love your ideas. Like,lovethem,” Moira said, smiling at the glitz of the mockups. Smiling wider, she tapped the screen one last time before leaning back. “Tomorrow, I’ll let you know which plan we’re going with?”
He nodded and slipped the tablet back into his bag while she stood and gathered her purse. “Absolutely. Tweak whatever you need so this works for you.” Here is where some of his colleagues would push, the last second upsell. That was a perfect way to make someone run. He meant every word he’d said. He could absolutely take her company to the next level. “I won’t try to upsell you on anything you don’t need, I won’t bullshit you, and I don’t want you to sign until you’re ready. I want you invested and comfortable.”
“You know, I requested you because a friend of mine is over at Sonora Seltzer, and she can’t believe the impact you had, how great you are to work with.” She smiled shyly over her drink. “I love what I do, and I know marketing is our weakness. Thank you, for being upfront about everything.”
“Of course.”
She rose from the table and secured her purse on her shoulder. After a quiet, bolstering breath, she smiled easily and said, “I’ll let you know.”
Alone at the table, he motioned to the server that he was ready for the check. In the chic club with matte black walls, ceiling, and floor, with glossy black tables and pink glowing lanterns hanging low, he rubbed a hand over his face and wished to hell he was at home in his bed.
Sliding the credit card across, he asked for a glass of water. The server appeared a few moments later and he gulped it down as he stood. Sauntering out of the club into the dark night, he walked down the block in the roasting Los Angeles night.
He clicked open the car and ducked in, crashing his head into the steering wheel while the air conditioner blasted over his clammy skin. The glowing blue clock light on the dash flashed almost ten at night.Fuck. These hours were starting to take a toll.
He fired up the engine and took off, skirting through traffic and finally coming to a screeching halt at the rental lot. After tossing the keys to the attendant, he hooked his garment bag over his shoulder and took off at a sprint toward his gate.
Five minutes to spare, and he was the last one on. Thank fucking hell. He trudged down the jetway and dropped into his seat, ignoring his neighbor’s chattiness and leaned deeply into his seat. Within seconds, his eyes sealed shut and he felt his head nodding forward.
The short flight was just long enough for the week to catch up with him, but not enough to bank an even halfway restful nap. Nudging him gently awake, the flight attendant asked if he needed anything. Jerking up, he glanced around to see the plane was nearly empty. He shook his head, grabbed his bag, and took off.
Sky Harbor was as familiar as his neighborhood, and he navigated in and out until he reached his car. Clicking it on, he climbed in the Cayenne and the engine instantly revved its agreement. Traffic was light, as anyone with half a mind was already asleep, and he wound through the Phoenix grid, finally turning into his cookie cutter neighborhood, crisp adobe homes neatly aligned.
He pulled into the driveway and into the garage, clicking it closed as he climbed out. Down the narrow hallway, his shoes tapped over the slick Saltillo tile. He grabbed the banister as he hooked around the corner, and dragged up the stairs.
Even crashed in his own bed, sleep didn’t grant him another wink. Giving up at ten minutes to five, he pulled on some shorts and knocked out half an hour in the home gym before washing it away with a shower and an oversized cup of dense black coffee.
Meeting after meeting from eight until four. Moira had called with her decision, inspiring his first genuine smile in hours. No upsell needed, she’d seen what he could do. She’d gone above his goal. He gave the go ahead to his team to start right away, while enthusiasm for the project was high.
After nailing down his latest project, he delved into… the rest of it. The bits that he didn’t have time for. He could stare at the mountain of emails and leave some for the morning, but he refilled his coffee and hunkered down to get it all done tonight, so he could actually chill for the weekend. Maybe.
Without looking up from his computer, he caught up with a few of his regular contracts and recommended some tweaks to their ad campaign for one, time for an update for their summer sales events for another.
A throat cleared at his door.
Ryder jerked his head up and lifted his mouth into a smile. “Hey, Dev.”
