Page 40 of Misfortune and Mr. Right

“I did. I went before sunrise since we have this meeting. You?”

“I ran.”

“Did you miss me?” His smirk is barely visible, but to the trained eye.

“Hardly.”

We step out of the elevator at the same time, effectively lodging the entire side of my body between Logan and the doorway. He looks down at me and mouths,Ladies first. I nearly roll my eyes as I squeeze out ahead of him. Logan stands still like the monolith he actually is, inside and out. I make a break for the cubbies, where I stash my purse.

“The group from Untethered is in the conference room,” Charlie tells me. “They’re like gods and goddesses. In spandex. Or Lycra. Something synthetic that would make me look like the Michelin man. But on them?” He makes the sign of a chef’s kiss in the air. “Perfection.” He moves in closer and lowers his voice to a near whisper. “Between you and me, they make me crave donuts. Why is that?”

I chuckle. “I don’t know. But let’s get through this presentation, and I’ll treat you to some baked goods at lunch.”

“Oooh. You are my favorite content specialist. Have I told you that lately?”

I smile at Charlie. “I think you told me last week.”

Logan walks over to Charlie and me and, in a very terse tone, says, “They’re waiting.”

Logan strides past us toward the conference room.

Charlie makes his hand like a mouth and mocks, “Meh, meh, meh, blah, blah, blah.”

I’m glad I’m not the only one.

The conference room is full of super-humans. I’m a competitive runner, training daily. I eat well. These people have never even said the word cheese. Not even when posing for a photo.

Darwin is already in the room when Logan enters, Charlie and me close on his heels.

The big screen at the front of the room displays the current Untethered logo. It’s good. But it could be better. Thoughts of Logan Alexander slip away as I focus on my job. The logo uses crisscrossed barbells as the Ts in Untethered. They’re cute, but the message is that you need to work out. Which is fine but perhaps not engaging for people who may not be initially drawn to barbells. My mind whirls with options.

“... and this is Olivia Pennington,” Darwin says.

I guess I got lost in my creative spiral and missed the start of introductions.

“Hi!” I say to the team seated around the table.

I take my seat across from the Untethered executives.

“It’s great to meet you all,” I say, making eye contact with each member of the Untethered team. I was just thinking about your logo. But we can get into that in a bit. I’m eager …we’reeager to hear your vision and plans for Untethered.”

We spend the next two hours gaining an understanding of their brand and exploring their target audience. We discuss content ideas, and Logan gathers information about their current digital strategies and platforms. He is good, I have to give him that. He asks for their analytics, gives them some creative options to consider, and discusses trends that might be beneficial for them to optimize as they expand their reach.

At the end of our meeting, the team from Untethered leaves with smiles, and we have a signed contract to officially serve as their marketing agency.

Darwin pulls Charlie, Logan, and me aside. “You three are a dream team. You answered every question with creative and professional responses. I’m so excited to see what you’ll do for Untethered. Good work.”

He pats Logan on the back after his speech, as if Logan has an extra stake in the game.

I try not to let it affect me. I wouldn’t want Darwin to pat me on the back. That would just be weird. But still. I don’t want him patting Logan on the back either.

Darwin walks away, and Logan turns to me. “Impressive work, Pennington. I like your vision for the logo. You were spot on about the need to rebrand. I’m glad they’re open to the concept.”

I stare at him and blink slowly.

My brain searches for a hole in his compliment.

I can’t find one.

---