AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Emery’s lips tighten just a little, and he leans back again. “You earned it. Now, go do some work because I’m going to need you to come back into the office this afternoon to go over your requests. And other things.”
I blink. “Other things?”
He smirks. “I told you to dress a certain way, and there’s a reason for it.”
Instantly, that little tickle of fear and excitement wash through me. It’s not as overwhelming as normal since I’m still riding a high from the bonus. I still have to pause for a moment to take a breath.
Then I nod to him, acknowledging that I understand what he means. “I’ll be here.”
I stand up and walk back to the door. Em’s eyes don’t leave my backside, and even as I walk across the idea room to where Brandon is standing, I can feel Em’s eyes on me. I wish I knew what he was planning.
“You didn’t believe it was true, either?” Brandon asks as I get closer to him.
I chuckle and give him a smile. I guess I wasn’t the only one surprised at the number in the email. “Have you ever gotten a bonus that big?” I ask.
The way he shakes his head incredulously tells me exactly how surprised he is. “I’m just thankful that I got put on your team. I might have wanted to murder you the first few days, but it was worth it. I learned a lot, and that’s not even talking about the bonus.”
“I’m glad you were there, too, even though you were obnoxious those first few days. I needed your market knowledge as much as you needed my ChitChat knowledge. It was a team effort for sure.”
He smirks. “Right. Well, if Emery ever asks if you have a preferred person to stick on your team, don’t hesitate to throw my name in the hat. I love easy money, and working with you is about as easy as it gets.”
I want to huff, to tell him that nothing about that campaign was easy. We got lucky that I burned my ass, which is where the idea came from. Instead, I smile and say, “Is advertising supposed to be hard? I thought everyone just came and played on their phone.”
He laughs and I join him, even though he has no idea how hard that campaign was. All he saw was the process of turning a great idea into ads. I spent damn near every moment of that week thinking about it. And fighting everyone around me on how to do it.
But Emery isn’t the only one who can pretend to be fantastic at everything. Now that I know his secret, that he works harder than anyone I’ve ever met, I can appreciate the façade he shows the world.
And I guess it’s rubbing off on me. I don’t know how I feel about that, but it makes sense. There’s a reason that Emery acts the way he does, and though I don’t think I’ll ever go as far as him, hiding a little of the effort does make me look more valuable.
“Anyway, I’ve got to get some work done. I start the big Organo-cleanz campaign on Sunday, and I still don’t have everything set up yet.”
Brandon gets serious then. “I heard Emery is promising a million sales on that contract. On a brand new product? Are you sure you’re ready for something that intense?”
I give him a smile. “It was my idea. I expect ten million sales in six months.”
Brandon’s jaw nearly falls to the floor, and I pat his shoulder. “When I write the book on ChitChat advertising, I’ll be sure to sign yours.”
He laughs a little as he shakes his head. “I didn’t expect this from you, Madison. I guess no one really understood why you got hired to begin with, but we’re all figuring it out now. Don’t forget us little people when you become the next Emery Brooks.”
I can’t believe that Brandon, someone with twelve years of experience who’s worked at Aspire for four of them, just said I could be the next Emery Brooks. “I think I’ve still got a lot to learn before then, but I appreciate the vote of confidence.”
I turn to go, but I can’t stop thinking about what Brandon said. If ChitChat and other social media like it are the next big advertising sphere, and I really am setting the bar for it, could I really be the next Emery?
Will I have to be like him? Even this little taste of arrogance and pretending leaves a bitter taste in my mouth.
I decided a long time ago that I was done pretending for other people’s admiration. I don’t wear poofy dresses, and I don’t wear a fake smile. That part of my life is over.
Chapter 37
Emery
“I just saw that you promised a million sales to Organo-cleanz,” Noah says from across the table. “A million fucking sales? How is that even possible without a national TV ad that would cost them a hundred times as much?”
I grin as the waiter brings me a bowl of tiramisu. “Madison says she can do it for ten thousand dollars.”
Noah blinks, disbelief written all over his face. “And you believed her? An intern with a single campaign under her belt gets to decide what’s possible and not possible?”
“You’ve seen the Bronze Goddess numbers. She wasn’t even sure about that. She kept telling me she might be completely wrong. But she laughed in my face when I gave her this campaign. She told me exactly how she’s going to sell it two minutes after she saw the product documentation, and she said she could do ten times that number of sales. One million was what she expected would be the absolute worst result.”
