Page 36 of Talk About… History

She opened the door fully and I stepped inside, giving the alphas and betas around the table a smile. They were all older men, eyeing me skeptically, but I didn’t let it affect me. Instead, I claimed a spot and started to set up.

“Welcome, Avery. You know me, but this is our town council. Treasurer Samuels, Secretary Banks, and Councilmen Davidson, Klein, and Cooper.”

“Thank you for having me,” I said with a slight bow of respect. “I’ve prepared some materials for you and brought my laptop so I could show the extent of what I’ve created.”

“Mary will get you hooked up to the projector. We’re all too old to see a small screen.” One of the men laughed, losing the intimidating façade they had. Some of them relaxed with him, though I still had some skeptics.

Mary, who had taken up post at the door, moved forward and wordlessly hooked everything up for me.

Then all eyes were back on me.

“Alright, Avery Whitaker, tell us why we should budget this in,” one of my skeptics said, his tone a bit harsh. I held back the wince that was almost involuntary when an alpha tried to be an asshole.

“Well, to start my name is Avery Whitaker.” Banks let out a small noise but was silenced by a glare from Mayor Adams. “I moved away to go to college and I have a dual degree in business and marketing. I’ve included my resume in this packet of information I’m passing out to you. I thought background would be important before diving into the full presentation.”

I passed out what I’d compiled, a separate packet of my resume and a few projects I’d worked on along with some statistics. It was something I’d compiled years ago after quitting, assuming it was only temporary.

“Very impressive,” Mayor Adams said. “Now tell us about what you plan for Rockwood Valley.”

“Well, sir, I want to use this new age of technology to our advantage. And I understand trusting blindly would be a bad choice, so I chose a business to showcase so you could see what I am capable of. If given the opportunity, I would work my way through the small businesses here in town, including our ranchers and farmers nearby, and show the world that we have plenty to offer.”

“Which business did you choose?” Samuels asked, leaning forward while curiosity filled his gaze. I focused on him with my smile still in place.

“Cohen’s Creations. He is fairly new and I thought it would be a nice one to start with,” I explained, handing out the rest of the portfolio, showcasing the pictures and a print off of his faux profile on the mock website page I’d created.

Once they were in hand I pulled up the webpage on my screen as well.

“This is what someone would see when they clicked on the business list and pulled his shop up. It would showcase some of the stills I showed you as well as some of what he has to offer. Outside of this, I would like to create a PackVlog page for Rockwood Valley, and I would showcase some of the shorter videos to gain traction. Then, if they wanted the full, edited interview, they would click the linked website and go here.”

I scrolled down to show them where to click. They didn’t comment as I went through a few of my favorite shorts then started the long video, letting the intro play before I paused it and turned back to the group.

“That is what I accomplished in a week, I think in several months I could effectively showcase some of our amazing hidden gems and bring life back to Rockwood Valley, and in turn, revenue.”

Mayor Adams’s smile was wide and he let out a booming laugh and clapped his hands.

“I had faith in you, Avery, but you blew me away with this. The care you took to create the website, that frankly is worlds better than our current one, and edited the video to bite size and longer pieces, is above and beyond.”

“Thank you, sir,” I grinned back.

My attention shifted to Banks, who looked like he sucked on a lemon. His shrewd eyes were no longer skeptical, but almost annoyed.

“If you could gather your things and wait for us in the lounge across the hall, we’d like to discuss everything we saw,” Mayor Adams said before he could say anything.

“Of course, and I’d like to thank you for the opportunity,” I said as I did as he asked, packing my things up and heading out of the room. Mary was still in the doorway and closed it behind us.

“For the record, that was impressive. Don’t mind the old crabby ones, they’ll come around,” she said before leading me to the lounge. It was just a stiff couch, a few tables and chairs, and a row of vending machines.

I put my things on the closest table and let out a breath. My phone had vibrated on and off in my pocket but I refused to check it, afraid I’d lose my composure that I was clinging to right now.

This felt so pivotal, a turning point in my life, the first step of taking back my life.

The minutes dragged by and Mary tried small talk but gave up when I couldn’t keep the conversation going. I appreciated her kindness in this moment but I just needed to know their verdict.

Finally, the door opened and Mayor Adams slipped out. His face was set in a neutral mask until he stopped in front of me.

“Let me just say how impressed we all are, even if a few were skeptical, we can all admit that everything looked so clean and modern. If we want to thrive, we have to embrace new things, and we have voted in a majority vote to offer you a position here. We have some logistics to discuss and sign off of, but we will be in touch. Once you accept, as I truly hope you will, then we can move forward and change this town for the better.”

Coming from anyone else it would seem like a cheesy speech, but Mayor Adams was practically beaming with pride.

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