Logos, slogans, and branding, oh, my. She had none of those, yet. She said
an internal thank you that she'd left Penny the Toothy Cow out of her logo suggestions at the last minute.
Madsen jutted out his chin as he nodded, thinking. “Well, at this point, this is
probably still our best bet. We can't negate the edge we may still have with Ms. Brady having lived in the town of the client.” He turned to her. “Is there any way you might be able to exploit that further? Maybe meet with more of the town folk? Connect with them, let Wells know you're still one of them, so to speak?”
Still one of them?
She swallowed. “Absolutely. I've already been quite successful in that
regard.” A flash of Peter's smiling blue eyes crossed her mind, and she blinked.
“With Mr. Wells, the owner. We've developed a very good rapport.” That part was true. The genial owner of Nitrovex seemed to have taken a fatherly shine to
her.
“Very well,” Madsen said. The other members began shuffling their papers
together, closing laptops, indicating the meeting was almost over. “Get back to Nitrovex soon. Meet with the grandson, this Corey Steele, if you can. I don't have to remind you that there are other companies bidding on this job, most of
them bigger than us.”
“Yes, understood,” she said, her neck sweating.
Madsen shut his own laptop and stood. “We'll expect a more complete report
at the end of next week, this time with some logo and slogan examples.”
It wasn't a question; it was a command.
“Absolutely,” she said.
The members left. All but Danni, who came around the long oval table.
“Looks like you got a second chance,” she said.
Kate smiled weakly, stacking her papers. “Yes, thank you.”
“Don't thank me. I was just about to blow the whistle on your little song and
dance.”
A cold fist gripped Kate's stomach. “Well, I, uh, know it wasn't the best proposal I've ever done.”
Danni's expression was neutral. “We've all had to fluff up the edges of a concept at one time or another. But flocculating solvents? That's a new one.”
“I'll do better next week. Full report, branding, everything.”
Danni nodded. “You'd better, or I won't be able to run interference for you.”
She sat on the table edge. “You sure you're up for this, Kate? It's a big job, your first major account.”
Kate's back stiffened as a little courage returned. “I am. I know I am. I've already got a few new ideas I didn't present today.”
“Good. As long as they're better than your happy cow, there.” She pointed at
Kate's laptop screen, where half the face of her toothy cow logo was peeking out
from under another window.
She felt her face burn. “Oh, they will be.”
Danni stood. “I expect you to work on this through the weekend.”
She left Kate alone with just the hum of the fluorescent lights overhead and
her thumping heartbeat. She blew out some air slowly, sweating as if she'd just
gotten done with a workout.
For the first time since working at Garman, she wondered if it was worth it.
The missed vacations, the extra hours. But, all jobs had their boring parts, right?
Like grading papers. That was just what work was.
She felt a twinge of envy for Peter. She bet he got to go home at night, see
