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“Good morning dogs and dames, let’s jump right into it.”
Lila and I side-eyed each other, still amazed Don could come up with yet another sleazy way to address the group.
“These two hardly need an introduction, but I’ll go ahead with it. Please give it up for the players of Pulse, the pounders of women, Mr. Nathan Shaw and Mr. Benjamin Mead!”
Lila and I mimed gagging discreetly while Liam smirked at us. Meanwhile, Don’s biggest suck ups at the company broke out into a raucous round of applause.
Ben glanced at Nathan with raised eyebrows and wide eyes before taking a tentative step forward.
“Eh that was quite the introduction. Thank you, Don?” He said it like a question. A few more seconds of scattered applause and whistling before Ben cleared his throat and continued. “As I’m sure you all read in the merger memo, I’m Ben, the CEO of Pulse. I’ll be taking on all of marketing, media, and image conversations as far as this integration goes. Nathan, our COO”—he gestured for Nathan to join him—“will be taking control of the technical aspects of the integration of our two applications.”
“Hello,” he said in that deep, almost stern, voice. “I’ll be setting up meetings with product and engineering to go over the integration timeline. We’ve got a strict deadline to meet.” With that he took a step back and motioned for Ben to continue.
“What an inspirational speech,” I hissed.
Liam leaned in. “I’ve heard he’s pretty uptight.”
“If he looks like that he can be as uptight with me as he wants to be,” Lila whispered.
I stifled my laughter with my hand, but to my horror, Nathan’s eyes jerked toward our table and locked with mine.
“Something funny?” he asked. Every head turned in the direction of his stare, and I fought to keep the redness off my cheeks.
“Sorry about that,” said Liam. “I dropped my phone on my foot.”
Nathan scowled and gave me a quick onceover before returning his gaze back to the group.
I blew out a shaky breath and smiled at Liam. “Thank you,” I mouthed.
Lila pinched my side and leaned over to whisper in my ear. “He totally wants you.”
I shushed her and tried to focus on the rest of the meeting.
Hours—andthree cups of coffee—later, I finally pulled my head away from my laptop. I had exactly two minutes to make it to the meeting with Nathan and the other managers of product.
After the two incidents this morning, I was more determined than ever to make a solid impression. He had to know that my track record at this company was unmatched. People relied on me. Everyone knew me for getting things done. I wasn’t the meeting disrupter—constantly putting my foot in my mouth—that he had seen thus far.
I pulled out the small mirror I kept in my desk to check my reflection. My light brown hair hung in loose wild curls and my smattering of freckles were in full force. I knew I should haveworn more sunscreen this weekend. Smoothing my blouse, I grabbed my laptop and stepped away from my desk.
A few feet from the hallway that led me to the conference room, I felt a gentle tap on my arm. I whipped my head around to see Ben looking at me expectantly.
“Charlie, right?” he asked, sticking out his hand.
“That’s me,” I said, smiling and returning his handshake.
“Great to meet you. Don just pointed you out. He had some great things to say about you.”
“All appropriate, I hope,” I replied.
“Um, well…” Ben looked at his shoes, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck before meeting my gaze again. “He did say you were the best of the best.”
At least he was good for something.
“We’re all excited you’re here,” I said, only a partial lie. A lot of the guys looked up to Ben and Nathan as if they were some sort of demigods. The rest were more concerned about what a merger could do to job security. Sure, we were needed for the integration, but what about after that? Yet another reason I should be more focused on my own ventures, but the riskiness of it still weighed heavily on me.
“How are you settling into Denver?” I asked, hoping I could at least charm Ben since I’d already dug a hole with Nathan.
“Oh, it’s great.” He smiled. “My wife and I got a condo in the Highlands area.”
