Page 7 of Embracing Love

The takeover was no longer looking so promising. Just under a year ago, the small and just-about-surviving European sportswear company had welcomed the acquisition by the larger and wealthier Flight US sports company.

But with the acquisition had come change. Too much of it and he increasingly felt squeezed by many of the decisions which were now made by his boss in the US—decisions that he would normally make.

Everything, from their branding, to the way they worked, to how they did business had changed requiring him to seek the permission and say-so from his American parent company.

They were slowly being swallowed up by the US company and were being forced to adopt all of their systems and procedures.

Gabriel wasn’t so sure he liked it. Having a healthier P&L sheet and Flight’s stronger product line did not come without a price. And that price now meant he had to tow the line with the Americans.

He already had an ad agency they used and it was one they had been working with very successfully for a long time. Spiral, co-founded by his sometime girlfriend, had always been capable of creating whatever type of ad work they needed.

Surely it made sense to go with a Parisian based ad agency? Someone who was familiar with the European market? People were different; the US audience were likely to be not so similar to the Parisian audience. Running shoes were running shoes, but each market had its own subtle tastes and flavors, their likes and dislikes.

Spiral had been more than adequate for their needs. Just as Vanessa Delorme had been for his needs.

What could an American company do for his company that a French company couldn’t? Not only did he have Russell and the Zimmerman people breathing down his neck, he also now had Vanessa, feisty and fierce demanding to know what had happened to the business he’d promised her.

She scratched his back and he scratched hers. Sometimes she scratched a little too much, but he could cope. It was on and off. More off than on. Which suited him perfectly. A man had his needs after all, and sometimes, he wasn’t so sure that Vanessa didn’t have the balls of a man. She wasn’t into emotional security or needed any reassurance that they had a future together. They didn’t. He would never walk down that road again.

He rubbed his hand across his face, blinked a few times, and forced himself to call the American. It was the end of the day, she’d hopefully have left.

Instead, she answered with a soft, ‘Hello, Tanya Braun speaking.’ His insides clenched.

“Gabriel Valois.” He said and from the sound of silence at her end, it appeared that he had caught her off guard.

“Mr. Valois, what can I do for you?”

“You left our meeting,” he began.

“You seemed busy in conversation.”

“It was an urgent call.”

“Of course it was, and therefore I deemed it appropriate to accord you some privacy." He imagined her wearing that same miserable look on her face that she’d worn when sitting opposite him.

“I didn’t think walking out of a meeting was considered professional etiquette in your country.”

“It’s about as professional as taking a personal call in the middle of a business meeting.” The tightness in her voice told him he’d hit the right buttons: she was pissed off.

He decided that she was as opinionated as that red-headed American he’d been trying to avoid meeting last week. He sensed that she was waiting for an apology which made him even more determined to withhold it.

“I’m free now—if you want to come by now.”

Frozen silence jammed the line, and he hazarded a guess at her expression. He heard her short sigh. “It’s the end of the day, and as much as I would like to spend time discussing the Flight campaign with you, I think it might be better to postpone our meeting until tomorrow. I’m free around two o’clock. Would that suit you?” she suggested.

"Two o'clock works," he growled. Maybe he wasn’t so sorry for firing off that reply to Russell’s email, where he’d mentioned Tanya had walked out of the meeting.

“Did you look through the brochure, by any chance?"

He had, and he’d been suitably impressed. That other woman had also given him some glossy designs to look at. He knew Russell prized this agency highly and after seeing some of their work at close hand, he could see why.

But he wasn’t about to tell Tanya Braun that.

"I did."

“I’m glad you liked it. It is a very impressive advertising campaign."

“I never said I liked it.” He said slowly, slightly intrigued at her daring.

“Tomorrow at two then, Mr. Valois. I look forward to it.”

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