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Other recent PWE promotions include Human Resources Director Warren Kellner and Media Planning Director Regina Belvedere.
The memo also stated that all staffers were expected in the boardroom on Monday morning at 9:00 A.M. sharp to welcome Lloyd Cooper.
Adrienne took out her compact to check her hair and lipstick. She added a little blush and practiced a smile for the new president before putting the compact away. She wondered what PWE Multicultural meant.
Sherry Ingles breezed in. Her sleek black hair was pulled into a professional bun that rested on the nape of her neck. Her beige Ann Taylor dress fit perfectly. Her matching handbag and slip-on flats completed the ensemble.
“Good morning.”
“Hi, Sherry. How was your weekend?”
Sherry sighed dramatically as she sat down and removed the protective cover from her keyboard. “Horrible. My ex-husband came to see Jason and we argued the whole time.”
Sherry opened a paper bag and started munching on a roll. “What about you? Did you see Mel?”
Adrienne was tempted to tell Sherry that it was none of her business. Instead, she lied. “Yes.”
Adrienne glanced at her watch, noticed some handwritten notes from her supervisor, and turned away from Sherry before she could ask any more personal questions.
Sherry was the company gossip, and Adrienne didn’t want her business all over the office. She searched through her computer disks until she found a report she had started typing the week before. As Adrienne typed her supervisor’s revisions, she realized that her forehead was creased with worry. She and Mel had decided to give their marriage another chance, but what if it didn’t work out? What if she could not forgive him for falling asleep with a lit cigarette in his hand? What if he could not forgive her for going to the beauty salon? What if he never returned to the sweet, charming man she had once known?
Before the fire, he was kind, caring, and very romantic. He wrote love notes to her and came home with cards, stuffed animals, flowers, and candy for no reason at all. It wasn’t possible that such a loving man could disappear forever. The real Mel must be hidden, simply tormented by what had happened to them.
She was only halfway through the report when Sherry tapped her on the shoulder. “It’s time to go,” she said. Adrienne stood up and stretched, hoping that the meeting wouldn’t take too long. She sighed and followed Sherry out of the bull pen. Dozens of people clogged the corridor, and the elevators were packed. She and Sherry had to let several go by.
The boardroom table had been pushed into a corner, and rows of folding chairs filled the room. There was a podium in front and a microphone. The CEO, John Elliott, was just winding up his introductory speech as Adrienne and Sherry slipped into two seats in the front row.
“Let’s welcome Lloyd Cooper!”
A black man! Adrienne was shocked. Parton and Webster had only one African-American executive, and she worked in Human Resources.
Adrienne studied her new boss carefully as he stepped up to the podium. He was about six feet tall with close-cropped black hair, velvety smooth dark-brown skin, broad shoulders, and a neatly trimmed mustache. He used his hands a lot as he began a well-crafted speech.
“Hello, everyone. I know it’s early in the day, so I won’t take up too much of your time. Actually, time is what I’d like to talk about. The time has come for Parton, Webster and Elliott to establish itself as a leader in the field of ethnic marketing. The African-American population now totals 34.5 million and will reach 45.1 million in the next two decades. There are more than 7.6 million Hispanic households in this country, and those numbers are increasing five times faster than any other group. The 1990 census counted 6,908,638 Asians, which is a 99-percent increase over the 1980 census count of 3,466,847.”
Adrienne frowned.
There was something familiar about his voice and gestures. His eyes swept the front row and landed on her. His eyes widened, and he stammered briefly but quickly regained his composure.
Sherry whispered in Adrienne’s ear, “Do you know him?” Adrienne shook her head, puzzled. He moved away from center stage and continued his speech, not looking in her direction again.
“The combined buying power of all three groups currently exceeds 550 billion dollars per year, and that is a conservative estimate.” He paused for a moment to let the full impact of his words sink in. “Of course, PWE has always serviced those clients who wished to target one or more of these markets, but it is now time for us to take a giant leap forward. PWE Multicultural is that giant leap. It will be a full-service boutique designed to successfully influence consumer purchasing decisions in a highly innovative yet cost-effe
ctive manner.” He took a deep breath and gave his audience a disarming grin. Adrienne noticed that his two front teeth had a gap between them. It was a feature that she had always found sexy on a man.
“If my history is any indication of what is to come, I guarantee you that there will be some mistakes before our new venture is running smoothly.”
He gestured, and the lights went off. Someone started the video machine. Lloyd Cooper was funny and got quite a few laughs when he critiqued his own bad reel of TV commercials, which he had tried to get on the air early in his career. Adrienne could feel the goodwill swelling in the room. A man who started off by showing how many mistakes he’d made was a decent human being at heart.
The meeting ended with the staffers giving their new boss a heartfelt round of applause. He stepped down from the podium as the lights came back on, and their eyes met again. Adrienne felt a small charge under his gaze. He was the first to look away, a slight smile playing around his mouth. Again Sherry noticed his reaction to Adrienne.
The crowd surged toward the corridor. Adrienne allowed herself to get swept up with Sherry and a group of people from unit 10, who gossiped freely as they headed back to the elevators.
“He’s cute,” said a chirpy blonde.
“I think he’s gay,” said Sherry.
“What an awful thing to say,” said Adrienne.
