Page 8 of Meeting Up with the Consultant

Emmy puts her hands on her hips, and I nod my head in acknowledgment. Anyone who spends even a second of time with Kensie, with any of the executive department, will see these guys bleed this company. That’s part of the appeal of being here. The main reason I want my consult to rocket the business even higher. This team deserves it after all their hard work and sacrifice.

“Okay, listen. I’m going to let you in on a little secret. If you say anything to anyone about me telling you, I’ll deny it and roast you so bad all that will be left of you is charred remains.” Emmy lifts her eyebrow, and I’m slightly terrified.

I swallow. “Got it.”

“Kensie didn’t have it easy growing up. She was kind of a dork. Actually, she was a huge dork.” Emmy’s mouth lifts on one side before she presses it into submission. “Ascent is the first place she feels like she belongs. It’s kind of a repeating trait, I guess, because it’s the first place I’ve belonged, too. Ascent isn’t just a business, it’s our family. And we protect what is ours with ferocity.”

“I love that about this place.” I lift my hand to motion between us. “I don’t want to hurt Ascent. Far from it.”

“I know that. It’s the only reason why I’m telling you this.” Emmy rolls her eyes like I just said something ridiculous. “Wyatt and I talked, and I talked to Saylor and Liz and all agree that everything you’ve suggested so far has been spot on. Kensie, she’s a little more reserved in her thoughts. Went on and on about how she’s gonna try, but if you keep blasting her designs out of the water she’ll have to do our next meeting via MeetSpace… from prison. Get my drift?”

“Yeah, I get it.” Guilt coats my tongue and makes it dry.

I hadn’t meant to come off as blasting her stuff. Maybe it was nerves from being stuck next to her on the airplane, or just wanting to impress, but I definitely came on stronger than I should’ve during that flight.

“Has Kensie told you about the thing she set up with Sunny Rebel on her upcoming Denali climb?” Emmy has a look of pity on her face, you know the one where they aren’t sure if they should hug you or whack you over the head.

“No, we didn’t get to that.” Because I’d just picked apart her website like an insensitive idiot.

“Ask her about it. I think you’ll be surprised.” Emmy shoos me out the door. “Go get ‘em, tiger. I have work to do.”

I leave with a salute and a smile that quickly fades to a grimace. How am I going to make this better with Kensie? Going into these situations, I know I’m going to make people angry. Most companies aren’t in the position that Ascent is, leaning out over a precipice of mass increase if they get things right. Most companies are balancing along the edge of destruction, and I’m called in as a last-ditch rescue attempt.

Obviously, what Kensie has been doing is working, otherwise, Ascent wouldn’t be as much of a success as it is. I need to keep that firmly in mind when I talk to her and keep my ideas to myself until they are fully formed, which is normally my style. I just have too much tied to this success. If I’m going to get anywhere with Kensie, I need to put that aside and not think so much about making my mark on this team. If I prove my worth to Brad or not, it doesn’t matter one bit if I make the people working here, mainly Kensie, not want me around.

I peek into her office. She’s peering at her computer, her face scrunched in concentration. I can’t picture her being a dork. It’s just not possible. She’s too vibrant, too beautiful. In school, she would’ve made my hands sweat and my voice squeak. Shoot. She still does that. I wipe my palms on my pants and knock on the doorjamb.

She looks up with a smile on her face just like that first time we met on the plane. And just like that time, her face falls. Not quite into the look of horror and embarrassment as before, but in a more shuttered expression. It’s like all her light and joy were shining from her face. One look at me, and she snapped the blinds close. I guess I deserve that with my heavy-handed approach. Hopefully, I can turn things between us for the better.

6

-Kensie-

“You ready for me?” Harding leans against the doorjamb, his hands shoved into his pockets like he doesn’t have a care in the world.

Part of me wants to tell him that I’m not ready for him and never will be. The other part, a bigger part, if I’m being honest, wants to yank him by the arm and demand he gives me all his marketing mojo. It pinches—like a prom dress that’s too tight it leaves marks—not that I actually know what that feels like. I stayed home and readPride and Prejudiceduring my senior prom. But, I’ve seen all the teen romcoms and know it must hurt as much as admitting that Harding was right in his initial assessment of our website.

I’m willing to admit that the site needed to be tweaked. Even went so far as to implement the suggestions he stated about the layout and placements. That still doesn’t mean that I want to roll over and expose my belly in submission just yet. His approach left much to be desired in my willingness to be completely open.

“Sure. Pull up a chair.” I sigh a bit too heavily, even to my ears, and motion to the chair pushed up against the wall.

“Actually, I was wondering if you’d like to take a walk? Maybe get some of this Alaskan fresh air while we chat.” Harding motions out the window to the trail that leads into the forest.

It’s one of the many great things about working here. With the warehouse set on the outskirts of town, the property is huge and butts up right to the wilderness. I’m always taking hikes or biking through the trees and up the mountain during lunch breaks. We even have a yurt set up in a peaceful meadow a mile out if any of us need to get away to focus.

“Okay.” What I’d rather do is just get to it, kind of like you rip a Band-Aid off, but if Harding wants to take the slow and painful way, at least I’ll be in the woods.

We walk in silence along the path. The air is still crisp with winter just leaving and spring not taking a solid hold on the weather yet. In fact, there’s a possibility it’ll snow within the next few days. The chill of the breeze that whips down the path and pulls at my hair certainly indicates it will. While the quiet between us isn’t strained, the longer he doesn’t talk, the more my dread of what he’ll suggest next heightens. The more my doubt of everything I’ve done for Ascent climbs.

I’m just about to open my mouth when he finally speaks. “I know we haven’t talked much since the plane, about business that is, but I want to apologize for the way I handled that. I still stand by what I said, but I definitely could’ve approached it better. I guess… well, that is… I guess I was just nervous. Being next to you threw me out of sync.”

What in the world did that mean? My heart does this little tap dance in my chest, and I mentally signal it to tone it down. He probably just means that meeting on the plane instead of the office threw him out of sync. It has to be that because there is no way dorky me makes Hottie Harding anything out of the ordinary.

“No, you were right.” I don’t want to concede too quickly, but it goes back to that whole Band-Aid analogy. Better just rip it off and get on with it. “I’ve already put your suggestions up on the website and have seen a higher click-thru rate.”

“Good, I’m glad, but I still could’ve gone about it better, and I’m sorry for that.” He shoves his hands in his coat pockets like he’s truly repentant.

“Apology accepted.” I bump him on the shoulder with mine. “So, what do you have for my department now?”

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