I don’t believe it.
“You mean they ran them wrong?” Stations get mixed up all the time.
“No, he means I accidentally sent them the wrong commercialsandthe wrong spot codes. The station ran the wrong commercials for the wrong products at the wrong times. The client agreed to pay a premium for these spots on those particular days and now it’s all…” Holly throws a hand in the air.
Empty. It’s all empty because the client didn’t get their spots, and it’s not the station’s fault.
It’s our fault.
I need to speak to Meg, but she’s not at her desk.
Dammit. Where the hell is Meg?
Rebecca appears at the end of the hallway, her smile from last Wednesday nonexistent. “Loren? Can I speak with you in the conference room, please?”
I find my best friend sitting at the conference room table, a coffee cup clasped between her hands. When she sees me, she offers a wan smile.
Rebecca drops onto the chair next to her.
The only other free chair happens to be right next to the freaking CEO of the whole company, old handlebar himself.
Not even a full month in and the year of Loren has officially come to an end.
“You heard about the spots?” Rebecca asks as I sink into the leather chair.
“The team just told me.”
“What I don’t understand is how something like this could happen,” the CEO mutters. His name is Fergal and he insists we call him that if we ever interact with him, which, thankfully, doesn’t happen often because he’s intimidating as hell.
He tries to pretend he’s one of us, dressing in trendy jeans and acting like a “hi, how are ya” boss, but at the end of the day, he’s still a CEO who drives a ridiculous sports car that costs more than I’ll ever make.
Rebecca sits up straighter.
Meg grimaces.
And the CEO is staring at me as if he wants me to answer, but I was hoping the question was rhetorical.
How could something like this happen?
“Human error?” That makes the most sense.
Fergal’s mustache twitches. “Is that a question?”
“No. No, it’s not.” Articulate your thoughts, Loren. Youdeservedthis promotion. Earned a seat at this table.
Except I didn’t.
I’m a fraud.
I’ve only been here a few months and whatever Rebecca saw in me, she was clearly mistaken. I don’t even know what the hell is going on.
GET IT TOGETHER!
Panicking isn’t going to save you.
“Which spots were they?”
Meg slides a stack of papers to me from across the table. “Newman Systems. They make?—”
