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Paige swooped in out of nowhere for a quick hug. “Oh Ally, I’m so glad I caught you! Best of luck, I know you’re going to be brilliant!” Then her gaze caught on something else, and she was off again: “Martin, I told you and I told you, that shade of mauve is completely period-inappropriate—”
I spotted Martha over by the bar and gave her a wave. She gave me a friendly wave back before zeroing in on a hot guy and moving in for the kill. The guy didn’t look like he minded being her metaphorical prey one little bit.
And then I saw the Douchebros, palling around with what looked like most of the board.
Well, not everything could be all roses.
“Nice outfit, Ally,” Chad sneered. “Did you spend half as much time on your rebranding as your make-up?”
Hunter growled, and not in the sexy way. I held up a hand in a barely perceptible signal, restraining him.
I could see the Douchebros jockeying each other, eager to see my reaction. They wanted me to explode, to look emotional and unstable in front of the board members.
Instead, I gave Chad a look as blank as a wiped whiteboard. “I don’t get it. Why is that funny? Explain it to me.”
Chad sniggered. “You know.”
“I do not,” I said in my best robot monotone. “Explain why that joke is funny. Spell it out.”
“Uh, er…” Chad floundered, seeming to realize for the first time that over half of the board members surrounding him were women. “Uh…”
One of the board members, Ms. Standish, interrupted with a tight smile. “While he’s searching for words, perhaps we could have some, Miss Bartlett. I was most intrigued by some of your propositions when we last spoke, and my own nonprofit is looking to revamp our ad campaign strategy, perhaps you and your company…”
She guided me away, still expounding on her plans, leaving the Douchebros with mouths agape.
Victory was sweet.
#
An hour later, I was on top of the world. Ms. Standish had all but signed a contract after our conversation, and now Hunter was about to take the stage and officially introduce the real reason we were all gathered here today. I was going to enjoy this much more than the original plan where Chuck did the introductory remarks; in addition to having a boatload less charisma, he also was significantly less easy on the eyes.
“Ladies and gentlemen, honored guests.” The microphone made Hunter’s sweet molasses voice boom across to us over the still night air. “It is my honor to present to you the first page of the first chapter of this company. Normally, when people say something needs no introduction, they use that as an excuse to go on introducing it for forty minutes.”
Polite chuckles drifted across the grounds.
“But when I say that this piece needs no introduction—” Somehow, in that huge crowd, Hunter’s eyes found mine, and held them. “I mean it. Ladies and gentlemen, just watch the damn film.”
Genuine laughter this time, quickly hushed as the audience turned their attentive gazing to the wide screen behind him. I gazed too, somehow certain that between the last time I had viewed the reel and now, some terrible flaw had crept in.
It opened with the shot of a sun rising, the grizzled voice of an old man saying, “First time I drank Knox bourbon? Well, I reckon they don’t make history books go back that far. But damn me if that taste ain’t the same…goes down smooth, like the tears of an angel…”
And then I knew it would be just perfect.
#
The crowd applauded heavily at the film’s conclusion, and I scanned them quickly, looking for allies and enemies. The Douchebros were the only ones not applauding at all, but besides them I’d estimate at least eighty percent of the audience was enthusiastic in their response.
We’d done it. We’d really done it. We’d shown everyone what we could do.
“Thank you!” Hunter called out over the cheers. “Thank you, everyone, for that wonderful show of support. Of course, I couldn’t have done it without Allison Bartlett, a vital proponent of this new branding strategy and an advertising genius!”
Had I thought I felt good before? It was nothing compared to how good I felt now.
I flashed a smile up at him and kept scanning the crowd. Happy face, happy face, intrigued face, intrigued happy face, concern—concern?
My stomach dropped.
Oh no.
The concerned face belonged to a board member. And it was right next to a lot of other concerned faces that also belonged to, you guessed it: board members.
The group was clumped around Ms. Standish who I had been talking to earlier. I couldn’t hear what they were saying; even if it hadn’t been so loud, it looked like they were whispering. Their gestures were urgent but abbreviated, as if they were trying to keep them from being seen.
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