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“Morning, Ace! How’s it going?”
“Time will tell.”
“That bad, huh?” Tyler finished his doughnut, licked his fingers and reached for another. “You talk to London?”
“Nope. Left messages. So far she hasn’t returned my calls.” Ace poured cream into a cup of hazelnut-flavored coffee. “It’s all good.”
Tyler studied him over the coffee cup’s rim. “If you say so. What about your time off? Do anything exciting?”
“I’ve had enough excitement over the past four weeks to last a lifetime. I chilled, mostly. Spent time with the folks. Met some friends in Las Vegas. What about you?”
“Tahiti, baby, and let me tell you—those folk know how to relax. Phillip fell in love with the island, threatened to relocate.”
Mira walked by the break room, doubled back and stuck her head in the door. “I was headed to the conference room. Is the meeting still happening there or should I come in here and pull up a chair?”
“Good morning to you, too, Mira,” Ace replied.
“Come on, boys. Vacation’s over. The quicker we get this day over, the faster the week will go.”
They followed her to the conference room and settled around the table. Though the three were equal partners, Ace was the unofficial head of the team, reflected in how both Tyler and Mira waited for him to begin.
“First of all, I want to thank you guys for stepping up, going over and above to make sure this launch was successful. It went way beyond that. I don’t think any of us expected to get the exposure, press, accolades and everything that’s happened in the past four weeks. I just started wading through emails and one after another presents offers for advertising and articles—I even saw one with a reality-show proposal attached.”
“Not a chance,” Tyler said with a groan.
“Not so fast,” Mira countered. “For all of their antics, reality television is a multibillion-dollar industry, and the fastest-growing genre on TV.” Mira drank from her bottle of water. “I actually think we should entertain the idea. London has an interest in expanding into television. She has that Kardashian quality—people want a peek into her life. I think she’d be perfect.”
Ace shifted in his seat. “Speaking of London, I guess I need to share a little more about what happened in France. I didn’t want to talk about it on the plane ride home, partly because I’d hoped that by now it would have sorted itself out. But it hasn’t, and since my personal actions might impact the business, you guys need to be aware.
“Back in Milan, London’s father personally tasked me with ensuring her safety for the duration of the European tour. I tried to do that, with the best of intentions. But London’s willfulness is well-known. I don’t know how I forgot. But I did. London wasn’t on the plane with us because we had a huge fight.”
“What about?”
“The reason isn’t important right now. I bring it up for two reasons. One, because as of now London may or may not want to continue as the face of Her. And two, for us, that might be a good thing.”
Tyler’s feigned cough turned to laughter. “You’re pulling our legs, right?”
“That wasn’t a joke.”
Mira sat back in her chair. “London was the best thing that ever could have happened for the line. The launch wouldn’t have been the same without her.”
“I won’t disagree with that.”
“I knew you were smart.”
“Ace, come on man. Give us one good reason we’d spend two seconds discussing London not being the face for OTB Her.”
“I’ll give you several. First, for all the benefit she brings to the table—and the benefits are immense—she also comes with liabilities. The crazed stalker or crazed fan or whoever is sending gifts all over the world. The kidnapping attempt. Not only are we putting her in danger with this added exposure, but we’re setting ourselves up for possible harm, as well.
“What happened in Milan was terrifying and could have yielded a much more tragic result. I care for London, and had something happened to her while doing business for us, we all would have been personally devastated. But had something happened and her family held us responsible somehow, such a move could be catastrophic to the company, as well. The OTB Her line could go down as fast as it went up. The men’s line and every idea we have in the pipeline would be affected.”
