Page 84 of Falling for the CEO

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The next morning, Iwoke up to an email from Joe with excellent news. He had tracked down the writers behind The Digital Owl. It turned out to be three young writers: Juliet, Diego, and Jenna.

I set up a call for you with them at ten o'clock.

Joe

That still left me four hours. I’d woken up because Ben was fussing around. He went right back to sleep after I gave him his bottle. I walked from his room straight to the master bedroom to get some clothes.

Penny was still asleep. I couldn't help myself and leaned over, kissing her neck.

She shifted on the mattress. "Mm-hmm? It's morning already?"

"Yeah, but you can go back to sleep. I've got a call at ten, and I want to prep for it.”

“What time is it?”

“Six.”

"Okay, bye," she mumbled, making me chuckle.

After dressing, I checked on Ben. He was still asleep. Next, I went into my office.

Joe had sent me info about the writers. They called themselves investigative journalists. I managed to read a few of their pieces until ten o’clock when the call started via Zoom.

"Hi, Mr. Whitley," Diego said.

"We're big fans," Juliet added.

"Glad to hear that,” I replied.

Jenna nodded. "We always read the articles of the competition."

I laughed. "I do the same."

"And despite being a huge conglomerate, your team produces excellent content."

"Look, I will be honest with you three. The reason I wanted to set up this call is that I need to add more writers to my team to do the type of writing you do. Smart, in-depth, well researched. We have a biography section that’s been neglected lately. I’d love to have you on our team.”

"Oh, we love writing biographies," Jenna said.

"I know, I saw a few on your website, and you have interesting angles."

Juliet cleared her throat. "But we're not looking to work for someone else."

"We're happy running our own company," Diego said.

"Tell me more about your plans for the company. Maybe we could collaborate?"

"Well, we do want to expand," Diego said. "We just don't have the funds right now.”

This was exactly what I was hoping to hear.

I rolled my shoulders, looking at each of them before saying, "Then I have a proposition for you. As you know, Whitley Publishing has many brands under its umbrella. We have fifteen publications."

"Yes, we know that," Jenna said.

"What if The Digital Owl becomes one of them? You'd still work for yourselves, but you’d have my money to expand with."

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