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“The floor is yours, Ms. Packer, time to unwrap your best pieces.”
You’d like that, wouldn’t you, Nic, to unwrap me. Well, not happening, no matter how much I might have fantasized about it. I’m so done with these male chauvinist pigs today. You might have served the first ball, Mr. Darby, but I plan on winning this, game, set, and match. Just watch this.
He sits back in his chair like he is the damn King of England, I find his stillness unnerving. I’m partway through what our process would be with a complete rebrand and how we would handle every step of the process for them. His associate, Mr. Taylor, asks a few questions, but Nic is just sitting there with the blank face, like a canvas that doesn’t have one spot of paint on it yet. No story to tell and not giving away a thing.
Keep pushing through, believe in yourself.
“I think you will agree that the name Darby Hotels is old, outdated, and it’s a bit boring in today’s world. What worked in the 1960s is not going to take you into the current world of tourism. So, we have come up with a concept of modernizing the name of the chain, along the lines of the way everything is shortened with social media and the younger generations loving acronyms. To do this, we need to take away your family name, as it no longer brings you value in your branding. We want it to be known world-wide and something that stands out aside from the family name but is still associated with it in some small way.” The anticipation in the room is like we are waiting to hear the meaning of life. To be honest, I wish I’d had more time to work on my ideas, but with such a short turnaround, I had to go with the idea that seemed the strongest by the end of Sunday to give me time to pull it all together before today’s meeting.
“Please remember that this is the very early stages of our thoughts and proposals. There will be a lot of refining and design work to be done before anything is finalized. But this is a concept that we firmly believe has some merit and a strong direction to go forward with erasing the old.”
Taking a breath, I start my final pitch and hope to God I have done enough to get this new account over the line.
“The new name will be a simple one that will roll off people’s tongues,” I say, placing the concept board on the desk in front of them both. “Welcome to‘The D’formerly known as The Darby Hotel.” Holding my breath, the silence in the room is not a good start.
The waiting is killing me as Nic looks at his colleague, with a storm raging in his eyes.
He stands and walks around his desk so he is close enough I could almost touch him. My skin is tingling as he leans down so his face is level with mine. His alluring scent is tantalizing me, while giving me that same comfort I’ve been sleeping with the last few nights, from his smell that was on the blanket he left me warmly wrapped in.
But as the words start leaving his mouth and slashing the air in the room like a sword, the comfort is ripped from me as quickly as it came.
“If you think I’m paying your company a hundred thousand pounds to rename my hotel The Big D, you are out of your mind. What the hell were you thinking about while developing this?” Anger is now creeping into his voice, his body radiating annoyance as he strides away from me. “Can you imagine the ridicule I would get? ‘Where are you staying when you travel? Oh, I’m staying at the Big D.’ That might be the first letter in my surname, but it is also a letter that carries so much more weight. I’m surprised you didn’t also come up with calling it The G. The jokes that would roll off people’s tongue when they ask for directions to find the spot where The G is.” His rant is totally out of control. What is wrong with him?
I don’t know if I’m about to burst into tears at him tearing my proposal to shreds or if the rage that is also building is about to let loose.
It doesn’t take long for the tears to be pushed aside, and I let him have it.
“The G, something I’m sure you are frequently being questioned by women about. Doubt you know where to find it or what to do with it, if you got to that point. As for your absolutely disgusting critique, what the hell is wrong with you, Mr. Darby! Is that all you had on your mind the whole time I was talking, your dick? Really! In a professional business meeting and you stoop to this. I could have had that conversation with you on Friday night, and you probably would have got a laugh from me. But here, in your office, I expected so much more respect and a working discussion on your likes and dislikes.” I’m also up out of my chair and find myself going toe to toe with him.
“Likes? There is nothing to like. The disrespect to my father and grandfather’s name is enough for me to tell you to get out and take your childish ideas with you. Is this the best you have, Ms. Packer? I pictured you having more to give me.”
“Oh, I’ll give you plenty, Mr. Darby. You have no idea the pressure I have been under to get you a whole proposal in four days, including one of those days which I couldn’t work even if I tried, because I was so confused and freaked by how I got home from a night out or what the strange man did with me in the hours I don’t remember. I started this job on Friday, got this dumped in my lap, and wasn’t here for the brief of what you wanted. My new boss is unreachable, and I’m just supposed to read the mind of a client I had no idea was you. I don’t know your hotels well, and of course, being as high-handed and demanding as you are, you demanded this brief in an unrealistic timeframe, just because you can. And against all my better judgment, I’m about to tell you to stick this contract where the sun doesn’t shine, but I can’t afford to lose this job, so I won’t. Unlike you, sitting up here and having all your little minions running around at your beck and call across Europe, I have to work for a living, and the way you just reacted, it looks like I’ll be searching the job ads again because I have just lost a major contract in my first week. So, to be honest, I don’t have anything more to give you, because you have just managed to strip any confidence I had left after the last asshole I battled in the workplace. And to be honest, for the last three days I’ve been secretly hoping to see you again, a thought I totally regret now. The mystery man is no longer someone I want to find out more about. He’s about to become nothing more than a bad memory.”
All of a sudden, it’s like a switch has been flipped in my head, and I slap my hand over my mouth to stop another word from escaping. I can’t believe what I have done. What kind of hold does this man have over me? Every time I am near him, all I seem to do is yell at him for being a dick to me.
I can see the steam almost pouring off his head. His eyebrow has this twitch thing happening which scares me that he is about to unleash on me more than he already has, and truth be told, I probably deserve it. Mr. Taylor is just sitting there with his eyes flitting between us, probably unsure what to even say. Because not one part of this meeting has been professional since the moment I uttered the words, “name it The D.”
“Lucy!” Nic screams out while I’m still glaring at him in shock.
His fists are clenched at his sides and his mouth is in a rigid straight line. With his feet slightly apart, he is standing in such a defensive pose. I feel like I’m about to be removed from the office and quickly escorted from the building.
The door opens quickly, and his rather-worried-looking secretary comes in, ready for her instructions.
Before he says the words, I move and start packing away my information that is on his desk. I’d rather keep my dignity and walk out on my terms than be thrown out by security for being a raving lunatic.
“The private jet that is on standby for Australia, change it and have it ready to fly to Rome tomorrow, then we will need it for the next week. Ms. Packer here will be accompanying me on the trip. That will be all.”
Sliding my laptop into my bag, all of a sudden in my head, I compute what he just said.
“Wait, what? What do you mean I will be going with you? I’m not getting in another car with you, let alone a fucking private jet!”
“This just became a non-negotiable part of the contract. You claim you don’t know my hotels. Well, now you will. My driver will pick you up at eight am tomorrow morning. I suggest you give Lucy your correct address on the way out because we both know that the bed I carried you to was not your own. I will give you a week to re-present this proposal to me, and then we will forget today ever happened. I will clear it with your company that you will be traveling with me as part of the contract negotiations, and you will be compensated well for your time. See you tomorrow and don’t be late!”
“Do I need to come to be the referee for the week?” His friend’s voice breaks the quiet of the intense stare-off we are having, with a bit of comedy. Instead, it just brings more yelling.
“No!” we both look at him and scream at the same time.
“Flynn, please see Ms. Packer out and have her details passed on to Lucy. Good day, Ms. Packer, I look forward to our week together. I’m sure it’s going to be a joy for the both of us.” Then he stalks straight past me and out the door, slamming it on his way out. I’m left standing in his office with Mr. Taylor, absolutely gobsmacked.
