Page 28 of Strictly Business

“Yes. That’s our thinking too,” Mr Hislop says with a smile, and I feel my panic melt away. At least now if I get in trouble with Wyatt, it’s not because I pissed the client off. “So, if we can go ahead with the billboard campaign on the site you suggested by the vets place on Sycamore Street, the print ads in the animal magazine you mentioned, and then outside of that, let’s put the TV stuff on hold and add that extra money to our online budget.”

“Yes, of course,” I respond. “I can have legal make a few changes to the contract we had drawn up to reflect our discussion and get them over to you today. Once you are happy and have signed them, send them back over, and we can get started straight away.”

“Perfect. Thank you so much Ms West,” he says.

“Oh, none of that,” I smile. “If we’re going to be working together, please, call me Serena.”

The man stands up and extends his hand and smiles.

“Then in that case, I’m John,” he replies.

We shake hands and say our goodbyes and the Hislop executives leave the room. I finally relax all the way when I see the beaming smile on Wyatt’s face.

“Good job,” he says.

“Thank you,” I reply, returning his smile. “I hope I didn’t overstep the mark with the TV ad stuff, but we hadn’t discussed where you sit with it, and I didn’t want to lie to him.”

“No, not at all. Some people come to us because they want someone to do the designing and what not and they know what they want and that’s great. Some people, like Mr Hislop, come to us because we have the expertise and if they do ask you for your advice, then I would always want you to be honest about what would suit them as a company. Even if it means they spend less money, I would rather them be happy and spend less money over a longer period of time than blow their budget and then be annoyed because they got no traction,” Wyatt said. “They are more likely to stick with us if they are getting results.”

“That’s exactly how I would look at it, but some people are just about making as much as they can as quickly as they can regardless of what’s best for the client,” I say.

“Oh yes, without a doubt,” Wyatt says. “But not us. Congratulations on your first client account.”

“You mean I get to keep Hislop’s?” I ask.

“Of course. That work is all you,” Wyatt says. “Now about your party …”

“Party?” I say before he can go any further.

“Yes, your party to celebrate you landing your first client,” Wyatt says.

“Oh, that won’t be necessary,” I say.

I don’t really like being the center of attention at the best of times, let alone here with the boss I’ve slept with and his personal assistant who is like a bomb waiting to go off and take me down.

“Of course, it will be necessary,” Wyatt says, waving his hand as though to wave away my objections. “It’s tradition here. When an associate lands their first client, we have a little celebration. I’ll have Ruth organize it.”

I knew I couldn’t argue the point anymore now that he had said that it was something he did for every associate and so I smile.

“Sounds great, thank you,” I say.

CHAPTER21

Serena

I’ve been down to legal and had the necessary changes made to the contract for the Hislop deal and I’ve scanned the documents and sent them over. I’m just waiting for them to come back to me. In the meantime, I’m working on the tweaks of where they will be spending their budget, pushing the TV campaign to the back burner and spending more money on targeted social ads and influencer marketing.

I look up when there’s a tap on my open office door. I see it’s Ruth and although my heart sinks, I smile warmly and invite her in.

“I hear congratulations are in order,” she says.

“Ah, I’m just doing my job,” I say.

“All the same, it’s not often an associate gets their own client this quickly. Well done,” she says.

I know how painful that must have been for her and so I smile and thank her.

“Wyatt has asked me to organize your party,” Ruth says. “Do you have any dietary requirements? Allergies? Anything like that?”

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