Page 46 of Scoring Chance

Tanner’s big, blue eyes gaze back at me from my desk, his lips curled slightly with a smile trying to cut through the frustration. He has beautiful lips—full, soft. And that permanent five o’clock shadow is giving him major sex appeal.

I still haven’t unpacked those feelings that’ve been coming up since marrying Tanner. Too many knots to tug on there.

“Enough mushy family talk. Let’s get down to business. How can we win this Silq pitch? We need to talk through ideas.” I pull a chair up to the coffee table, while Lisa joins Craig on the couch. “What’ve you got?”

As soon as I say that, I jump out of my chair. I can’t brainstorm sitting down, never could. Motion is how I do my best thinking.

“Silq is animal friendly and vegan friendly. We can push that angle. You’re not putting dangerous chemicals on your face,” Craig says.

“That’s not unique. Green is overdone.” I wheel over a markerboard and jot down “green.” Who knows what it could trigger in the future. “They’ll be hearing that from the other agencies. We need to offer something more emotional. Makeup is personal.”

I write “personal” and “emotional,” then underline both.

“I’m all for being eco-friendly, but I will gladly put toxic shit on my face if it’ll make me look younger and sexier.” I love having Lisa in the room because she never shies away from honesty. She was working at a call center before deciding to go to night school. I took a chance on her, and it’s paid off.

“Makeup is about being sexy,” Craig offers.

“Not for everyone,” Lisa rebuts. “Women of all ages wear makeup. We’re forced by society, but we also like it. It’s our special armor. It’s something passed down from mothers to daughters.”

Lena and Lulu pop into my mind, causing my heart to dip. They won’t get to experience that tradition with their mother, and I hate the unfairness of that.

“Let’s try a different tack,” I say, still adding it to the board because there’s no such thing as a bad idea. “Something more universal. Makeup allows you to feel beautiful.”

“Or conceal.”

Lisa and I both turn to Craig as a big light bulb flashes over his floppy hair.

“What?” Craig asks. “My girlfriend uses concealer to cover up breakouts. She’s had me use it before, and that shit works.”

“We use makeup to conceal. To cover up…” I add it to the board. The idea hangs in the air, our minds working to build it out.

“To put our best face forward,” Lisa says, as the wheels spin in all of our heads.

We were hitting something here. Something bold and honest that Silq might actually bite on. If we landed this, I’d have Stan’s vote for sure.

I was mid-sentence when the door swung open and Kyle walked in like he owned the place.

Which he didn’t. Yet.

I flip the board to hide our brainstorm.

“Morning! I’m making a Starbucks run if you want anything.” The more friendly Kyle’s tone, the more suspicious I get.

“You’ve never asked for our Starbucks orders before,” I tell him.

“I’m being nice. Don’t be so paranoid.”

“I’m good,” Lisa says.

“Me, too,” says Craig. The three of us trade a look, confirming we have each other’s backs.

“Thanks for the offer, Kyle. If I were you, I wouldn’t get an Americano. You don’t want to have diarrhea in the office again. We weren’t able to use that bathroom for a week.”

“I got food poisoning from that kale salad, and it was very scary!” He sidles into my office. Were this caveman times, I’d pick him up and launch him into the hall. But I must be classy. He walks right up to my family picture. “Is this your new family?”

“Those are my husband and stepchildren, yes.” I stabilize my breath as he continues studying the picture.

“How’s it been? Big change, huh? Going from zero to four?”