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Erik thoroughly presented his research. The kind of experience he was pitching had seldom been done with cosmetics in this way before, but there was no reason why it couldn’t be. It would appeal to a younger demographic and would not be a bad idea for the older crowd without social media.
We debated the ideas, and Erik’s presentation was clearly better. It was the kind of idea I would have expected me to pitch. However, I had been so focused on helping Lainee juggle the projects we offloaded on her that my thinking capacity for this had been stretched. I was happy that Erik had come up with a good idea and angry at myself for not giving this more attention.
Almost everyone seemed to agree that Erik’s idea was the way to go, except for Parker and the more conservative side of Amanda. I stayed quieter than I should have during the debate. It ate away at me that I didn’t just encourage using Erik’s idea, but my pride wouldn’t let me.
Parker claimed that implementing the mailed samples idea that was proven to work with older generations would help increase market share with them. That was a particular struggle for their brand. Social media had been incredible for the younger clientele but somewhat excluded older women from the narrative.
The looks around the room did not agree, but Amelia cracked under Parker’s skillful pressure. He was used to getting people reduced jail sentences and sparing them from prison time, so persuasion was one of his well-honed skills. She gave Parker’s defense the benefit of the doubt and decided to go with it. Nick was surprised, and Erik was miffed.
My only contribution was that if the mailed sample didn’t reach the desired result, the pop-up experience during the second phase was always a possibility.
As they walked out of the room, I felt ashamed. I didn’t earn Amelia’s decision based on my ideas. The conversation mulled over loudly in my brain, making me angry at Parker for defending me like that. I didn’t deserve it, and we both knew it. He had broken one of our rules, and I had let it happen.
Parker and I had plans to get a drink after work at our usual booth in the back of The Boathouse. We never walked there together, so I had time to think as I walked.
The more I thought about it, the more I regretted giving a pitch. I should have told Amelia it wasn’t my best week and had Erik pitch his alone. Pride got the better of me. I know she would have understood.
I debated whether I should admit to Amelia that Erik’s idea would be the best course of action. I had never had an idea shut down before since I typically didn’t present them unless I was fully confident about them. I had also never withdrawn an idea before. This was new territory for me. Apparently, most of what I had done over the last two months was proving to be new territory.
I perused the menu for no reason since I already knew what I wanted. Parker slipped into my side of the booth. We had become same side of the booth people. My leg bounced up and down, slightly shaking our bench. Anger was not a feeling I usually had around or about him, so I didn’t know how to handle it.
“All right, what’s wrong?” he moved his hand up and down my leg, dragging his fingertips over the fabric of my pants.
“I’m mad at you.”
He almost spit out his drink. “What? Why?”
“You broke a rule!”
The sweet caressing stopped, and he clutched my thigh. It stopped my leg from bouncing. “What are you talking about?”
“You treated me differently at work. You went to bat for me with Amelia today.”
“Oh…” His eyes darkened. “Look, I think it’s a good idea, so technically, no. I didn’t break any rules.”
“It’s a decent idea at best, Parker. We both know it wasn’t the better idea of the two.”
He didn’t bother denying it. I turned slightly away from him. Parker let me stew in silence for a few minutes. The air was tense and heavy, but his grip on my thigh never eased.
“Okay, I’m sorry. But I wouldn’t have defended your idea if I didn’t think it would work. It might not be the better of the two, but it’s not a bad idea.”
“That’s not the point, Parker. You let your relationship with me affect how you behaved with Amelia and strongarmed her into choosing my idea.”
“I trust you, and the research supports that it would work within the demographic that it tries to target. I didn’t defend your idea because you let me kiss you on the weekends. I defended your idea because it wasn’t bad. Also, I don’t like Erik, but that’s more of a personal issue.”
“There you go, see! You’re letting your personal feelings interfere at work. The only reason you don’t like Erik is because of me. I’m mad at you. You forced Amelia into it.”
“You’re cute when you’re mad, but I don’t like it when it’s me you’re mad at.”
I rolled my eyes at him and looked away. His comment elicited a smile, and I didn’t want him to think I wasn’t mad anymore. Although it was getting harder to stay mad the more his expression was apologetic.
“Do you want me to tell Amelia I changed my mind?” he asked. “I can backtrack, and we can pivot. I will do whatever I need to if it means that you’ll stop glaring at me. Is that what you want?”
I shook my head. I was not going to condone him going to Amelia on my behalf. I had to tell Amelia that we should follow Erik’s plan myself.
“I don’t support your idea because I like your pretty face,” his fingers gripped my chin and turned my face to look at him. “I support whatever you do because you’re incredible at what you do, princess. I admit I overstepped. I didn’t mean to break a rule. I’m sorry.”
I stared at his eyes, trying not to break into a smile.
