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His expression softens. It’s the first hint of anything other than a powerful businessman that I’ve seen. “I’m sorry.”
“Thank you. So am I. I think they’d be proud of what my sisters and I have accomplished, though.”
“I’m sure they would be.” He leans back in his chair, staring at me, and flips a pen between his fingers. There’s a slight pause, short enough not to be completely awkward, but long enough to make me self-conscious.
“I think you would be a perfect fit for the Teamology initiative. Spark House sounds amazing and like somewhere I’d love to visit.” He turns to Mitchell and Tish, who I’ve actually forgotten are still in the room with us since Jackson took over the meeting. “Can you look at my calendar and come up with a few dates that might work for an event at Spark House? I’m thinking about the charity auction that’s coming up.”
“Isn’t that supposed to be in New York?”
He waves the comment away. “We’ll host another one. There can never be enough charity auctions as far as I’m concerned. Wouldn’t you agree, Ms. Spark?”
“Absolutely.” I’d pretty much agree to anything at this point, in part because I’d like my anxiety level to come down from a ten to something more reasonable, like a five, but also because hosting a Holt Media event seems like a great idea.
I don’t know what to make of what’s just happened, considering I didn’t even get halfway through my presentation. And I’m thinking neither do Mitchell and Tish, based on their slack-jawed expressions.
“Wonderful.” Jackson gathers up the folder of information, tapping the pages on the table, straightening them out. “Ms. Spark, would you happen to have a few minutes to spare?”
“Of course.” I’m still reeling from this entire thing, and I’m a little bit afraid I’ve just gotten in bed with a lion.
“Excellent.” He rolls his chair back and pushes to a stand. “Why don’t you come to my office and we can talk there.” His gaze is still fixed on me when he says, “Mitchell, please forward all of Ms. Spark’s contact information. And I’d like three to six prospective dates for the charity auction. Ms. Spark, do you happen to have a calendar of available dates that you’d be able to share with Mitchell to help facilitate that?”
“Absolutely. I’ll share the link to our online calendar right now.” I quickly pull it up on my tablet and send it to Mitchell.
“Perfect. I’d like those dates in the next twenty minutes so we can get this underway.”
Mitchell pushes to a stand. “Sir, should we discuss—”
“We’ll have time to talk on the flight back to New York this evening.”
Jackson steps in to help me pack up my things. I say a quick thank-you to both Tish and Mitchell, who still look bewildered, and follow Jackson out of the conference room, feeling very much the same way.
5
HOW PERFECTLY PERFECT
JACKSON
I’m fairly certain my team thinks I’ve lost my mind. It’s understandable. I don’t generally blow off meetings with CEOs of multimillion-dollar companies to sit in on ones for sponsorship liaising. But when I realized who was presenting, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity.
I saw the moment recognition registered. A look of sheer panic crossed her face, but she recovered quickly. And she certainly held her own in an unprecedented situation. So while I’m sure my team is wondering what the hell I’m doing—and in some ways, so am I—I definitely think Spark House is a good fit. I need to give whoever it was who sourced them out a raise or a bonus of some kind.
London is quiet on the walk down the hall to my temporary office.
“We’re in the process of securing office space in Colorado, which is why we’re set up here for the time being,” I tell her.
“Are you relocating from New York?”
“We’re expanding, and Colorado is very green-focused.” I open the door to the makeshift office I’ve been using for the past several days and usher her inside. “We’re striving to have our space be as efficient as possible, so there are some necessary modifications before we can move in.”
“But your home base is New York, correct?”
“That’s right. For now.” As much as I enjoy the city, I do love the mountains and I’ve found myself wanting to escape the fast pace and trade it in for something less hectic. “Although we have several offices set up around the United States.”
“Chicago, Seattle, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Las Vegas are a few of the biggest ones. You employ more than twenty thousand people across the country,” London says.
“You’ve done your research.”
“It’s impressive how much you’ve accomplished at such a young age.”
“I’m thirty-five. I’m not that young.”
“Most thirty-five-year-olds aren’t usually running massive corporations that they’ve built from the ground up. It’s certainly something to be proud of.”
“What if I just got lucky?” I pull out a chair and motion for her to take a seat.
