Page 14 of My CEO Neighbor
Monica tried to imagine the kind of family dynamic that would make Ted feel like a screwup despite running his own company."Do they know how hard you're working?"
"They know I'm not married, don't have kids, and my company hasn't gone public yet.According to my father's metrics, that makes me zero for three on adult achievements."
The admission hit Monica harder than it should have.She understood the pressure of family expectations, the weight of feeling like you were disappointing people who were supposed to love you unconditionally.
"Those are your father's metrics, not yours."
"What are my metrics?What am I supposed to measure success by?"
The question hung in the darkness between them, vulnerable and raw.Monica wished she could see Ted's face, read his expression, but maybe the darkness made this easier for both of them.
"What made you start the company?"she asked.
"I wanted to solve a problem that actually mattered.Data integration sounds boring, but it's not to me.It's about helping businesses work more efficiently, communicate better, waste less time on manual processes."Ted's voice gained energy as he talked, and Monica found herself drawn to the passion there, the way he came alive when he talked about things he cared about."The current solutions are clunky and expensive, designed by engineers who've never actually worked in the environments they're trying to serve.I thought we could do better."
"And have you?Done better?"
"Our software is better.Our user experience is better.Our customer satisfaction scores are better."Ted paused."But none of that matters if we can't scale, and we can't scale without funding."
"Why does it have to be this specific funding?Are there other investors?"
"Dexter Capital isn't just money.They're validation.They're the difference between being a promising startup and being a serious player.If Gavin Dexter invests in us, other investors will follow.If he doesn't..."Ted trailed off.
"If he doesn't, you find another way."
"There might not be another way."
Monica felt a strange urge to comfort him, to reach across the darkness and touch his hand or his shoulder or any part of him that would convey that he wasn't alone in this small, dark space.The urge was so strong it scared her—when was the last time she'd wanted to comfort a man?When was the last time she'd wanted to touch anyone?
Instead, she shifted position, accidentally bumping his knee with hers.The contact sent heat shooting up her leg, and she realized how starved for touch she'd been.
"Sorry," she murmured, but she didn't move away.
Neither did he.
"Can I ask you something?"Ted's voice was closer now, like he'd leaned forward."Why did you really leave marketing?I mean, beyond the panic attacks.What was the final straw?"
Monica was quiet for a long moment, remembering."I was working on a campaign for a weight loss supplement that didn't work.The clinical trials were inconclusive, the ingredients were basically expensive caffeine, but my job was to find ways to market it to women who hated their bodies enough to spend sixty dollars on false hope."
"That's rough."
"I wrote headlines about 'transforming your life' and 'becoming the woman you're meant to be' for a product that would maybe help someone lose water weight for two weeks.And I was good at it.I was so good at convincing people to want things that wouldn't actually help them."
"So you quit."
"So I had a panic attack in the middle of a client presentation and locked myself in the bathroom for forty-five minutes."Monica's laugh was shaky."Not my most professional moment."
"What did you do after that?"
"Took a yoga class.It was supposed to be stress relief, but for the first time in months, I felt quiet.Like my brain could actually rest."Monica shifted, her knee still touching Ted's, and she was hyperaware of that point of contact."It sounds stupid, but I realized I'd forgotten what it felt like to be present in my own body."
"It doesn't sound stupid."
"It doesn't?"
"No.It sounds..."Ted paused, and Monica heard him take a slow breath, the kind she'd been teaching him."It sounds like you found a solution that worked for you."
Not being able to see Ted's face made his voice more intimate, made every word feel deliberate and important.
