Page 174 of Vegas Heat

And then we pan back to the family sitting in the crowd, popcorn flying everywhere as they all stand up and high-five since their favorite player on their favorite team scored a grand slam. And a possible tagline at the end?Bringing the Heat to Vegas.

I like it as a first idea. It hits on all the major tenets that the successful ads Joanie sent me have. It feels a little predictable, but part of marketing is using what has traditionally worked in an innovative way. So I have a good idea, but I need to figure out how to inject something fresh and new into it.

And that’s what the rest of the week is for. Well thatandshenanigans with Cooper. Cooper also closes on his house with afinal move-in date scheduled for Saturday with all his furniture scheduled to be delivered before then. I’m thankful he isn’t moving this week because all my free time has been dedicated either to homework or to my ad campaign.

By Friday, I’ve figured it out.

It was a busy week since Kaylee asked if I could meet her on Tuesday and Thursday mornings at Tight Fit to get to know the fitness club a little better as we continue to work on marketing ideas, but the kickboxing class and the circuit training we did together were excellent stress relievers as I worked hard on my storyboards. Not only did I grow closer to Kaylee as we talked about the gym, SFK, my internship, and our boys, but I’m also damn proud of my idea.

It’s an innovative approach on a traditional marketing plan, and it’s almost time for my presentation.

Justin goes first, and his campaign is good. He uses dogs running around the bases in his video since we all know that animals sell products.

Mackenzie focuses on the players as she clearly thinks their level of sexiness will win her the challenge.

Chase, Dylan, and Brian’s campaigns are ordinary, too, and Chloe is my biggest competition with a campaign that shows friends at home watching the game versus friends at the stadium watching the game. Her tagline says,Heating up Vegas in person or at home.

And then there’s mine.

It starts with a video of a mom taking a video of her little boy playing a little league game, and then we pan to the little boy as he grows up into a professional ballplayer. It’s a dual timeline as the family with the little boy goes to the game and runs around the SFK area before he watches eagerly from the stands. He morphs into the player on the field, hitting a grand slam for histeam’s win. The tagline at the end says,The Vegas Heat Makes your Family’s Dreams Come True.

Joanie wipes a tear from her eye when I’m finished presenting, and I can’t help but wonder whether she wants kids…maybe even with my father. Isn’t he a little old to be having kids at this point when he has a twenty-one-year-old daughter? What if Joanie and I got pregnant at the same time?

That would be weird.

I push the thought away as everyone in the room claps for my campaign.

“The judges will now vote for their favorite campaign,” she says, and she nods toward the ten judges which include Cooper, Danny, Rush, Nick, Caitlin, Zelda, and four others from Baseball Operations. She doesn’t vote this time, and she has all the judges put their votes into a bowl. She pulls them out one by one and reads the name on the paper.

The votes begin with two votes for Chloe, and then Joanie reads the rest. It’s a clean sweep for Gabby.

Holy shit.

That’s me.

It’s my second winning competition, and neither my father nor Joanie were able to swing the votes this time.

I won fair and square.

But Mackenzie doesn’t seem to think so.

Once the congratulations die down and our guest judges head out, Mackenzie confronts Joanie. “Can we puh-leezhave a blind comp next week so the golden child over there doesn’t constantly have an unfair advantage because of her last name?”

“My last name is Grant,” I point out, doing my very best to sound sincere and leave all the smugness out of my tone. I’m sure I fail.

“Whatever,” she practically hisses at me.

“I’m sorry you feel the competitions haven’t been fair,” Joanie says to her. She lifts a shoulder. “But maybe you just need to step up your game.” She says it sweetly even though the words are anything but sweet.

Mackenzie fumes at the words but knows better than to reply. Still, I fear she’ll find some way to cause trouble for me.

“You’re all released to your assignments for the afternoon. Gabby, I won’t be needing anything if you’d like to find Cooper and continue shadowing him.”

I nod. “Thank you.”

The interns all disperse toward their assigned departments, and I head down toward the weight room. I find Nick in there with Rush, but Cooper is missing, and so is Danny.

“Have either of you seen Cooper?” I ask Rush and Nick.

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