Page 3 of Strictly Business

“Good,” I say with a smile. “Now I don’t mean to sound rude, but I’m kind of pushed for time so we’ll have to get straight into it.”

“Of course,” Serena agrees with a smile. “And for the record, I don’t think that’s rude.”

“So, you graduated from Harvard, right?” I ask.

Serena nods.

“Yes,” she says. “With a degree in business management and marketing.”

“And did that involve any sort of on-the-job training?” I ask.

“Yes, but …” Serena says but then she shakes her head. “Nothing.”

“Come on,” I say. “Spill it.”

It’s obvious by her facial expression that she wants to say more but she’s not sure how I’m going to take it.

“I don’t want to sound pretentious,” she says. “But I found the places Harvard sent us to for our placements weren’t that great. Like, don’t get me wrong, they were huge advertising agencies, and they would be good places to work, but as far as training went, they were too busy to really show us anything and all we really did was sit around watching them or doing shit jobs like filing and making endless cups of coffee.”

She pushes an orange-colored file folder across the desk and smiles shyly.

“I took it upon myself to do some intern work at smaller firms through the holidays and I found those much more useful. I was even given some small projects of my own to work on,” she says.

I pick up the folder and flick through the sheets inside of it. It’s good. Better than I expected if I’m honest. I know Craig said he’d seen Serena’s stuff and it was good, but he’s biased and I’m not. But in this case, we agree.

“This is really good,” I say.

Serena blushes slightly and smiles and I can’t help but notice how cute she is when her cheeks flush pink. I wonder if her cheeks would be that color post orgasm. I push that thought firmly away and focus on the file. I come across a story board for a TV ad for a soft drinks company and I frown as I try to place why it is familiar and then it hits me. It’s an actual TV ad that gets shown now and again currently.

“Did you come up with all of this?” I ask Serena, nodding down at the story board.

“Not the branding or the logo,” she says. “But I came up with the story and the script for the actual commercial. I have done branding for other companies though.”

I nod. I see that. I flick through the rest of the sheets in the folder, but it’s just out of curiosity really at this point. I have already seen enough to know that Serena is a good hire. The only thing is, the only opening I have right now is for someone to be my associate and I’m too busy to do much with her today. I don’t want her to think my firm is like one of those faceless firms that Harvard sent her to though where interns are largely ignored and don’t learn anything.

I think for a minute, and I decide to take a measured risk. I lean down and open my third drawer down on my desk and pull out a thin file which I place on the desk. I close my drawer and smile at Serena.

“I think I’ve seen enough to know that you won’t need hand holding a lot. Don’t worry, I still plan on mentoring you and helping you to develop your skills. But today I am in back-to-back meetings and I’m not sure the next few days are any better. So, I’m going to give you the sort of chance most associates would only be able to dream of, but I think you can handle it,” I say.

“Ok,” Serena says when I pause to gauge her reaction.

She’s leaning forward, engaged, and interested in what I’m saying. I like that and so I carry on.

“I’m going to give you Hislop’s stuff to work on. They are a brand-new start up and right now, they are selling a very niche kind of dog food. In time, they hope to branch out to other dog foods and then maybe to foods for other animals, but they aren’t trying to run before they can walk, so right now, we’re focusing on this one thing. They need a brand – logo, ethos, billboard campaigns, social media campaigns and a TV ad. Do you think you can handle all of that?” I ask.

Serena’s face breaks into a wide smile and I notice how much it lights up her eyes, how the green sparkles and how pretty she looks. I tell myself not to think like that, but how can I not? It’s like saying there’s a red box; don’t notice that it’s red though.

“Yes,” she says. “I really do.”

“Good,” I say.

I push the folder towards her, and she picks it up and scans over the information sheets inside. She smiles again, her excitement at having her own project clear to see on her face. She looks back up from the folder and smiles at me.

“I can definitely do this,” she says. “I promise I won’t let you down.”

I nod and return her smile.

“I’m sure you won’t,” I say. I glance at my watch and then I look back at Serena. “I really wanted to be able to spend more time with you on your first day, but I have to head out really soon. I will have Ruth show you around. You’ve met Ruth, right? My personal assistant?”

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