That’s when the fucking magic happened. She started pulling apart marketing plans and layouts. I
clenched my hands and resisted the urge to barge in. They worked really fucking hard on that. The
campaigns were good. Really good even. But in Maya’s hands, they went from really good to
astronomically amazing.
Unable to resist any longer, I stand and inch closer, examining the explosion of color on the table.
She took something that was sleek and polished and breathed chaotic life into it. Everything about her
at this moment seems different. Bigger. Bolder. Her voice is stronger, more in command. She’s
decisive and has everyone around her lit up in a way I’ve never seen them.
I might as well be invisible. No one’s paying a bit of attention to me. It’s a weird relief but also a
little maddening. Everyone sees me. Everyone pays attention to me. They always have. I’ve made
sure of it. At first, it was to deflect attention from Jonas. Now, though, I enjoy being flirted with. I like
women’s eyes on me. And I really fucking like being admired. I didn’t have that before, and it sure
fucking beats being looked down on.
I drift back to the corner of the room to wait. At five, things break up, and my staff packs up and
moves toward the elevators. I get some smiles and teasing winks as they leave, which I, of course,
return. Maya stands motionless in the middle of the room, watching them leave. Soon, it’s only the
two of us left.
“They’re a really talented group,” she says.
“Yeah, they are. I handpicked every one of them. Most of them have been with me for years.”
“It shows in their work.”
Something about the way she says that sets me on edge. I sit on the edge of a desk and cross my
arms over my chest. “Why does that not sound like a good thing?”
She shrugs one shoulder. “It’s not a good or a bad thing. It’s just that they’re all trying to please
you, so they give you what they think you want. They’re maybe sacrificing innovation as a result.”
“We’re pretty fucking innovative,” I just barely contain my snarl. “We’ve had to be. We were a
bunch of punk kids. We’ve been turning this industry on its head for a decade.”
She nods, looking thoughtful as she weaves through the desks toward me, stopping feet from me.
“Much of what you do here is innovative…for what it is. But you’re missing a big part of the picture.”
“What exactly am I missing?” I challenge her. There’s not much heat in it though, because I think I
know what’s missing. I can see it in the jumble of ads behind her on the desk.
