Page 13 of Catalyst

A snort escapes me before I can stop it, which makes Matthew grin. He points his finger at me. “You agree.”

I shake my head in an attempt to deny his charge, but it falls flat.

Adam runs his fingers through his hair. How I would love a chance to do that for him. “No, you’re right, Matthew. That was awful. The whole campaign looks identical to the one from a few years back, only this one has men in tight pants.”

“Those are called skinny jeans. They’re all the rage among hipsters,” I tell him.

Adam narrows his eyes at me. He doesn’t seem to appreciate my helpful information. “We need to fix this, but I’ve lost all confidence in Linda and her team.”

The three of us are quiet as we take in the horrendous images in front of us. Suddenly, my brain starts working. “I have what may be an insane idea…” I open up my drawing app on my tablet and pull up one of the sketches I’ve been working on for the last few weeks.

It’s a little red fox wearing a baseball hat a size too big and holding a bat the same size as him. He’s adorable in his attempt to be a baseball player like his older brother, who is playing in a game behind him.

“So, don’t be mad, but I downloaded this drawing app I love on my tablet and have been playing around with some scenes. Could we use this in a campaign? I’m thinking something like, ‘We were there when they were first learning. We’ll still be here when they’re teaching their kids.’ We can tweak the words, but what do you think?” I hand over my tablet, laser-focused on Adam’s face, waiting for some indication he’s pissed at me.

“Holy shit, Ellie Beans. This is amazing. How long did it take you to do this?” Matthew asks.

“A couple of days. I’ve got several more I’ve been working on.”

Adam finally looks up at me, a look in his eyes I can’t quite name. I want it to be pride, but that’s probably wishful thinking. “This is exactly what I’ve been looking for. We’ve been in business for over ten years. The kids we started with have grown up, and now it’s time to look at the next generation. This is going to appeal to the masses.”

I grin, pride welling up in my belly. “I can do some more renderings. I’ve got a ton of different ideas for scenes. Some I was thinking could be parents with their kids, sports teams during practice, siblings playing together.”

Adam nods his head. “Get on it. Set up a meeting for next week to show me what you’ve finished.”

For the first time since I started working for Adam, I feel like he is actually seeing me. Like he’s finally realizing there’s more to me than my smiling face and silly notes.

I’m going to do whatever it takes to keep that look on his face.

CHAPTER7

Adam

I sittwo tumblers down on my bar cart, the glass clinking against the black marble. Pouring a healthy measure of whiskey into each glass, I carry them into the living room, where Matthew is working on his tie.

“How are you still so miserable at that?” I tease, handing him his drink.

Matthew rolls his eyes as he takes a sip. “I have never seen the point of wearing something that could kill me. Tighten it just a little too tight and BOOM! Lights out.”

“I don’t think it works quite like that.” Setting my drink down, I help him get his tie situated. Matthew mutters a thank-you, adjusting the knot at his throat to his liking—a little off-center from where I placed it, of course. In keeping with our traditional social event ritual, we’re getting ready for the Jett Hill Foundation fundraiser at my house while having a drink and wondering why the hell we’re forced to go to these ridiculous events.

Sure, raising money for charity is great, but I have never believed a five grand per plate dinner is the way to go about it. It’s purely a way for the wealthy to feel better about how much money they have.

Having to schmooze with my fellow businessmen only makes the evening worse. Matthew is the more outgoing one of the two of us, and even he hates these things. They’re usually filled with people who pretend to be of importance because they can afford the ticket price. It’s ridiculous.

Tessa says I should attend because it looks good for the company. To a certain extent, she’s right. People would expect me to be seen raising money for other charities, along with my own. I’d rather host a soccer tournament or a community event to involve the people who need the money the most. Since I’m not the one planning these events, though, I do the song and dance, wishing other people knew there were better ways to raise money besides hosting a flashy event for the elite.

“Hey, who did you end up inviting as your date?” Matthew asks.

“Uh, I don’t remember.” I pull out my phone to see if Ellie put it on my calendar when it hits me. “Oh, fuck.”

“What?”

“I was supposed to set something up and completely forgot.” I run my hands through my hair, distressed by the fact that I let something on my to-do list slip right through my fingers.

“Why didn’t you have Ellie do it for you?”

I frown at Matthew. “You seriously have to ask? I was not about to ask her to schedule a date for me.”

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