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I was already two steps ahead of him, swiping over to my email. The world seemed to shift on its axis. This…this changed everything. Buildings already owned by the network. Plans and funds for not only equipment but the staff, as well as a small scholarship account. My throat constricted as Mara and I both pressed our hands to our lips in tandem.
Sucking down a breath, I reminded myself not to get excited until it was a done deal, but holy mother fucking shit.
“Do I keep the hiring process?”
Without missing a beat, Chris said, “Yes. I weeded out anyone who wouldn’t budge on that. It’s a school first. Mind you, they get a say because we can’t have a Debby Downer or Bertha the Curmudgeon tanking ratings, but you get an ultimate sign off.”
“Who determines scholarships?”
“Joint venture. But you get to field the first round and let them pick from the finalists based on camera tests and interviews. They want to pull some characters in, keep people engaged.”
“What happens if the show gets canceled? Do we lose all of it?”
“This is why you’re the CEO. First, there’s no way you’d get canceled. I can already see the way you’d spin spotlights for female-owned businesses and then past students. The first few years, the funds are minimal as the school gets going—they’ll document any necessary renovations, and setup, and then they ramp up once you have students prepping for graduation. That’s when filming would start. The alternative would be poaching business students from major universities and dropping them into their senior years. But I told them you wouldn’t like the first subjects being students who were primed by other educators. You’d want to highlight women who got the complete experience. Should something happen to the show, yes, we’d lose the allotted annual funding, but the building, the gear, that all stays.”
Nodding, I blew out a heavy breath. This is what we’d been praying for. I just…never expected it to come in this form. It was that initial startup that was killing us. That was the thing about manifesting. It rarely arrived like you imagined it would. All I could do was send my intention into the universe and trust it would deliver what was meant for me.
This…this was so much more than I dared to ask for.
“Why aren’t you more excited? Did you get down to the funding part of the proposal? The five-year plan?”
“What? No, not yet. Did you run this by Max?”
“Or risk getting his eyes plucked out? Of course he did,” Max’s voice was suddenly on the line. Throwing a hand up as if to say what the fuck is this, I glanced to Mara, finding a mirror of my bewilderment.
“Wait, are you two together?”
“No, Elly, my sweet summer child. He just patched me in. I went through the fine print last night.”
“You know I have an agent for that, right?”
“And yet, you asked for me,” he pointed out with no small bit of satisfaction.
“You did,” Mara agreed, smirking. “Literally, just now.”
“Okay, and you approve?” I pressed, somehow earning laughs from both men on this impromptu conference call.
“In spades, baby. This is it, El. This is that big break we’ve been waiting for. Hurry up and read through it, so we can all be on the same page.”
I shook my head, puffing air into my cheeks before admitting, “I’m still trying to wrap my brain around this whole thing.”
“Well, don’t think too long,” Chris cut in. “This is fucking brilliant, El. Not the thing you hem and haw about, you know? They’re going to want an answer?—”
I scrolled until I saw the numbers at the bottom, my heart a full throttle race horse as I blew out a long phew. Twice. Twice what I’d applied for—not just here, but total. Which meant…we didn’t need the grant if we took this. I could tell Johanna I withdrew, and at least based on the responses today, and our scores prior, that would leave Broderick in the lead. I adored Pierce and Cheyenne, but I loved Broderick more. My heart galloped harder. If Broderick could take this home to help the island’s kids, and Mara and I got our funding…
Holy shit. My eyes locked on Mara’s as she gave a decisive nod and mouthed ‘fuck yeah.’
“Sure that’s not a misprint, Chris? That is a lot of zeroes behind that nine.”
SIXTEEN
BRODERICK
Too eager to sit still, I slowly paced the full circuit of the back of the ballroom, swishing the ice in my drink against the glass and watching the crowd as they all mingled. I’d never been much for mingling. But knowing there was no way Pierce’s presentation earned him enough points to bypass El had me buzzing with anticipation as Johanna stepped on the stage. Dramatic music and a rapid dimming of lights silencing the crowd in a heartbeat.
She’d pushed back when I’d finally wrangled her into a meeting today, immensely displeased with my decision—swore I was miraculously in the lead—and was not shy about vocalizing it. But I watched with bated breath now, my focus rotating from where El was mingling with a group of people, to the woman holding the future in her hands.
I recognized Pierce, Cheyenne, and Mara, even in the dim lighting, but some twisted sense of hope bloomed in my chest when I realized El’s head was still on a swivel. Was she…was she looking for me? It was stupid, but I hoped she was. Because I sure as shit kept my eyes on her.
