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Lainee skipped over to her desk. Giddy. Jamie and Stephen swiveled their chairs towards me. Their eyes were trained on me. We had all been waiting for the news, and they had not been spared of the anxious anticipation.
“Nathaniel just informed me that we have officially landed Project Porcelain!”
“OMG!” Jamie bounced with the excitement of a child with a new toy. Her dark, straightened hair moved up and down with her. “OMG! I’ve never researched a cosmetics campaign. What does that even really entail? What kind of studies am I looking for? I need to expand my research repertoire. I have so many new things to learn!”
“Jamie, take a breath,” I chuckled. She was an avid learner and researched everything to a depth that would put moles to shame. “We’ll have plenty of time for research. Here’s the plan, or at least an idea of how we’ll handle this. Tomorrow, we’ll review our current projects and deadlines to determine how to mold our workload into something manageable. We will shift much of our attention to this project over the next twelve weeks, but we still need to ensure none of our other clients get left behind. Once we have a plan for that, we’ll work on integrating the California team into our typical process.”
“Wait,” Stephen groaned. “The California team is coming?”
I nodded, much to his dismay. He was our resident pessimist.
“Do I have to share a desk with Desha again?” he asked. He crossed his arms and shook his head. His jacket sleeves rose slightly to reveal the artwork etched on his skin. “She likes to move my stuff around, and I don’t like it. I think she does it on purpose now, just to annoy me.”
Stephen came with us from the California branch, where we were so short on space for a year that many of us had to share a desk or a communal area. Then, Desha visited while she and Stephen attended a conference on graphic design. We didn’t have the office we have now, so they also had to share a desk temporarily.
“There won’t be any desk sharing this time,” I assured him. “IT is moving to the other side of the floor by accounting. We’ll have a few empty cubes that the California team will take.”
The typewriter noise that my phone made alerted me to a text from Connor, interrupting Stephen’s next complaint. I pulled it out and took a quick look.
Connor:See me before you leave.
Me:Be there in 5!
I slid my phone back into my pocket and returned to my team. I reiterated that one of Amelia’s stipulations in awarding us the contract was that they retain heavy involvement in everything for the first phase of the campaign. For twelve weeks, Connor had graciously accepted to welcome them into our office. They intended to be here three days a week to ensure we could easily meet our contract's terms.
When I was done talking, they packed up their stuff, and I crossed the silent floor to Connor’s office on the opposite corner. He was sitting inside, his back turned to the door, staring at the people walking on the street beneath us.
Connor Phillips was the founder and CEO of Capital Media. His entire career had been marketing, and he was successful enough to go out alone. He founded Capital Media a little over five years ago and hired me straight out of college. From the beginning, his interest in my career afforded me more opportunities than I could ever thank him for.
My knock caught his attention as I entered his picture-clad, award-filled office.
“Nathaniel called as he boarded,” he turned around. “Congratulations, Blake!”
“Thank you. It’s been tough, but it paid off.”
“I’ll get right to it since I’m ready to go home, and I’m sure you are as well. I wanted to discuss a few things with you before the craziness of all of this starts.”
His light eyes studied me. His body shifted in his chair. His spine straightened, his throat cleared, and his smile disappeared. My hands were suddenly clammy.
“As you know, your…California counterpart…and part of his team will be here for the duration of Project Porcelain. You will be the head account manager and in charge, but teamwork will be essential for this to work.”
He weighed his following words carefully. “I’m not oblivious to how things between you and Erik ended when I brought you out here, so I want to ensure that your tumultuous personal history will not pose an issue. More specifically, I want you to promise me that it will not be because, as we all know, Blake never breaks a promise.”
I swallowed hard. This discomfort was something I would have to face once Erik arrived and for the next twelve weeks. But I thought I would have more time before I had to think about it.
“I promise that my past relationship with Erik will not be a problem,” I did my best to assure him confidently. My voice came out more stable than I expected. I almost believed myself. “We are professionals and have demonstrated that we can work together effectively. It’s been three years, Connor. What happened is firmly in the past.”
“Great,” Connor smiled. “You continue to prove that my confidence in you is well-placed, Blake.”
“I’m happy to know that you think that of me. I certainly try to be dependable.”
“I’m going to let you in on a secret, Blake. Not many people know this because it has yet to be announced, but Capital Media is going to be expanding.”
“That’s incredible!” I couldn’t hide my excitement. “We could definitely use more people, especially as the workload increases.”
“Within the next two years, we will be opening two new regional offices, one to focus on the South and one on the Midwest. I want you to oversee all of them. If this project kicks off to a good start, then I will be bringing you on board the expansion as my National Account Management Director.”
I was speechless. My jaw dropped slightly as I stared at him.
