Page 14 of The Enemies With Benefits Deal

If Grayson hadn’t insisted on bickering with me at the bar, we wouldn’t be here right now.

He was the one who started the war between us in college, too.

Though I already know I don’t have the energy to keep up the back-and-forth this time, I’m sure that he’ll back down long before then.

He wants to save the business too, even if he’s having a hard time seeing that I’m attempting to do the same thing.

Victoria sighs. “We’ll take your idea into consideration, Grayson. Now, Jade, if you would like to show us your proposal?”

I stand up, smoothing down my skirt. “If we don’t know our history, we’re doomed to repeat it. It’s an old saying, and one that still rings true today.”

As I point to the first presentation board, I take my time to look at the people surrounding me. They all lean forward a little, pens poised over the notepads in front of them.

The only one who wants nothing to do with what’s happening right now is Grayson.

I move to the second board, showing off the start of the company. “The issue we’re having is that people keep looking at the situation like it needs to be solved with the creation of a new company.”

“It does.” Grayson grits his teeth together, hand curling into a fist where it rests on top of the desk. “The newspaper is one company. Anything else we do is an entirely new creation.”

The next board shows off pictures of the staff from the first year of the company to the current one. “These are the faces that built the business, but they’re not the only ones loyal to it.”

Grayson taps his pen on the desk, the noise growing faster and louder with every passing second. “I don’t see what that has to do with anything.”

“It has to do with everything. If you want to make a profit in this company again, you need to be loyal to the people who built you.” I pull the board out of the way, revealing the final one with pictures of current subscribers on it. “Some of these people have been getting the newspaper delivered to their doors every morning for decades.”

Leo lights up, the corners of his mouth creasing as he takes a look at what I’m assuming are familiar faces.

“All right.” Grayson gets up and comes over to me, looking down at the pictures. “So there are subscribers. There will be more. Idon’t see why this group is the one we want to focus on. I think your plan is a little misplaced.”

Right now, I would like to make him a little misplaced. Perhaps on the other side of the world so he can get out of my way and let me do my job.

Leo gestures at Grayson to sit back down. “No. I like this. Keep talking, Jade. What else do you have?”

“I went to previous and current employees, asking what they loved and missed about the business. After I was done talking to them, I started going around to subscribers, asking them the same thing.”

Grayson rolls his eyes as he sits back down. “That’s what we’ve been paying you to do for the last week? How is talking to the people about what they miss going to make a difference? If they really missed anything, they would be working harder to keep this company going.”

I keep my expression as even as I can, looking at the other people in the room and ignoring him. “Their answers were varied, and I’ve sent the answers to everyone here so you can review for yourself, but what it all boiled down to was that people are missing the connection they used to get.”

“Connection.” Leo snaps his fingers, pointing at me. “You’ve got something there. I like what I’ve seen here, Jade. It’s clear that you understand the business I built, but what’s the plan for moving forward?”

Smiling, I flip to the last board. “We’re going to expand on what the paper is. We’re going to start featuring more articles written by your average people. Go back to the days of having a write-inadvice column as well. And then, we’re going to put all of it on our own app.”

“That simple?” Grayson scoffs and leans back in his chair, crossing his arms. “It can’t be easy, even if you seem to think it is. We’ve tried an app.”

“No.” I point to the picture of what their website and old app looked like. “You had things that weren’t connecting with people because they’re impersonal and, to be frank, poorly designed.”

Victoria smiles slightly. “All right, so, what’s your first step?”

I clasp my hands together in front of me. “We’re going to start with building out an advice column again. It’s going to take time for people to write in their questions, but we can source some from the staff to begin.”

Leo nods and stands up. “Very good. Get started right away and have Grayson work with you.”

The high of having the better presentation crashes and burns, even as I do my best to keep a smile on my face. “Absolutely.”

This is going to be miserable. I can already see the future unfolding in front of me, and I know that Grayson’s going to do everything he can to hurt my project.

Men like him never change.

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