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I couldn’t stop the corner of my mouth from curling up. It was nice seeing the people in my company feel excited again. Life needed to be breathed back into my company. Taking this new approach could inspire everyone. I was certainly motivated.
“Me too. I think this is the right move,” I replied, sharing a smile with her as the room grew silent.
“She’s something special,” Brittany suddenly said.
I met her gaze, immediately knowing that she was talking about Madison. I felt wary but I didn’t sense any judgment from her. She was just making a comment, and it was one that I fully agreed with.
“Yeah, she is,” I said, unable to shake my grin. I wasn’t nervous about Brittany knowing about my feelings for Madison. She wouldn’t say anything to anyone. I trusted her.
Brittany smiled and checked the time on her phone. “I believe we have a meeting soon,” she reminded me.
I took in a deep breath and nodded, preparing myself to break the news to everyone. It would be unfortunate for Sara, but she could learn something from this experience. Every day at this company was a chance to learn something new.
“Let’s go,” I said, following her out of my office to head to the conference room. Before we went inside, I paused and gently took her arm. “Thank you for not saying anything.”
Brittany’s face softened as she turned to face me. “I know you care enough about your business to not let anything get in the way of your success. I admire you for that,” she told me. “But treat her right too. You won’t find another like her.”
“I will,” I promised. Whether Brittany admitted it or not, she was the mother figure of this company. She cared for everyone, and I was lucky to have her around. Everything would’ve fallen apart by now without her.
Brittany patted my arm before leading me into the conference room where the rest of the marketing department and the interns were already waiting. She took her seat next to mine, smiling at Sara and Madison, who looked nervous and excited to hear the results.
I remained standing at the head of the table, nodding to the people that filled every seat at the long conference table. My eyes threatened to linger on Madison, but I forced them to move around the entire room. If Brittany had figured out that I had feelings for Madison, then other people could figure it out if they paid close enough attention.
“Thank you for joining me this morning. As you know, I had Madison and Sara draft up ideas for a new marketing approach. Brittany and I have gone over the ideas and picked what we think is best for the company moving forward,” I announced, feeling everyone’s eyes on me.
Sara sat up straight in her seat, pushing her hair behind her shoulders with a confident smile on her red-tinted lips. I was about to ruin the smile on her face.
“Congratulations, Madison. You came up with a spectacular idea. Once the rest of the marketing team is briefed, they’ll work with you and Brittany to put it into action,” I said, finally looking straight at her with a mild smile. I wanted to sweep her into my arms and properly congratulate her, but I planted myself to the spot as everyone in the room but Sara clapped for Madison.
“Wow, thank you so much,” Madison said as she glanced around at everyone with a mixed expression of pride and shyness. “I can’t wait to work on this with all of you.”
It was hard to hide the pride that I felt for her as I watched everyone congratulate her for her hard work. She deserved all of the praise, and I couldn’t wait to celebrate with her later. For now, I had to act like a neutral figure.
“Alright, let’s get to work, everyone,” I said, wanting to get started. We had a lot of work to do, and I wanted to see change as soon as possible before Brandon pulled even farther ahead.
As everyone stood up to head back to their offices, Madison turned to Sara with a polite look on her face.
Instead of looking back at her, Sara stood up abruptly and pushed her way out of the conference room, looking as pissed off as I expected her to be.
I kept myself from rolling my eyes at her childish behavior. I wouldn’t have wanted to see her reaction if her idea had been chosen. She certainly would’ve rubbed it in Madison’s face. I turned to Brittany, who had an equally disappointed look on her face.
“Can you get Madison started on another assignment?” I asked. She only had so much time left for her internship, and I wanted her to have the chance to work on her own idea for at least a little bit before she left.
