Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 78304 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 392(@200wpm)___ 313(@250wpm)___ 261(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78304 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 392(@200wpm)___ 313(@250wpm)___ 261(@300wpm)
“Good job,” Samuel says, smiling at his daughter. “Does anyone have any questions?”
When nobody speaks up, he says, “Julian, you’re up.”
I stand and walk over to the head of the table, pulling my slideshow up. Unlike Anastasia, who supplied every team member with a portfolio of info, including a bunch of data she had run—which was overkill—I don’t need any of that shit because I’ve got this on my own.
No, my idea isn’t family friendly, but it will get the deal signed. Because what Anastasia didn’t uncover in her research is that while Ronan might be a family man, he’s also a businessman.
“Ronan Flynn is a musician, and one of his recent investments involves a club called Craic. He’s recently opened one in Houston and is planning to open another in Vegas next month. He’s put a lot of money into this investment, and he spends a lot of his time there. I think we keep it simple. We ask for a meeting at his club and lay our collab idea on the table for him, explaining that it will be mutually beneficial since we’ll supply our products for his clubs at a lower premium.”
Before anyone can say anything, Anastasia speaks up. “That’s it? That’s your idea? Go clubbing with the guy?”
“Not clubbing,” I say dryly, annoyed at the way she’s mocking my idea. “We have the meeting at his club. It’s the perfect way to create the ambience. What better place to discuss a liquor collab than at a club that serves liquor?”
“Oh my God.” She snorts. “How have you managed to keep this business running all these years? Trying to secure a potential client isn’t an excuse to party.”
“It’s better than your idea,” I argue. “A luncheon? This isn’t the Housewives of Houston. He’s not a trophy wife, looking to have tea in the garden and gossip about the latest cheating scandal. He’s a businessman, and businessmen have business meetings all over, including at a club.”
“Seriously?” Anastasia screeches, but before she can continue, her dad steps in between us.
“Obviously, we have two people who are passionate about their ideas,” Samuel says with a chuckle. “Let’s take a break, and we’ll reconvene after lunch.”
Everyone shuffles out of the room, no doubt happy to get the hell out of here and away from the tension.
“You are so sexist!” Anastasia shouts once it’s only the three of us.
“I didn’t mean it like that,” I say, recognizing my poor word choice despite my intent not being wrong. “But you can’t deny that men and women are different. Most men don’t do luncheons and tea. Women do. Men prefer sporting events and dinners. That’s not me being sexist. It’s me being a smart businessperson. I research them and focus on how to hook them in. You’re so busy focusing on the familial aspect that you’re not thinking clearly.”
“Okay, okay,” Samuel says. “You both make good points, but I think in this case, we’re going to go with the luncheon idea. I can invite Selene, and we’ll show Ronan what it means to be part of the Kingston family.” He glances at Anastasia and adds, “The new and improved family.”
She smiles softly, and it takes everything in me not to chuck my laptop across the room because what the fuck?!
“This is a liquor company,” I point out. “Clubs and liquor go hand in hand.”
“That doesn’t mean we have to be unprofessional,” Anastasia adds.
“We’ve held many meetings at clubs and restaurants.”
“I know,” Samuel says, “but in this case, I think it’s best if we give Anastasia’s idea a try. If it doesn’t work—”
“Then it’s done,” I finish. “Because we all know you only have one shot to draw in a client.” I step back and raise my hands. “But, hey, you do what you feel is best. It’s your company.”
I turn around and stalk out of the room, and as I leave, I hear Samuel calling my name, but I’m too pissed off to answer him. Instead of going back to my office, I go to Ryder’s.
“That was something,” he says when I walk into his office without knocking and slam the door behind me.
“That was fucking bullshit. Samuel’s so busy trying to kiss his daughter’s ass that he’s not thinking straight.”
“I take it, he chose her idea over yours?”
“Of course he did,” I say, dropping into the visitor seat across from him. “And he’s making a mistake. A guy like Ronan isn’t the luncheon type.”
Ryder pours us each two fingers of scotch and slides one my way. “So, what’s the plan?”
“What do you mean?” I down my drink in one gulp and slam it on the desk.
“You’ve been handling shit for years, Julian. You know what you’re doing. Are you going to let Kingston lose a profitable deal because Samuel’s gone soft?”
Am I? A part of me wants to sit back and watch Anastasia fail. It’s not that her idea is bad, but it’s not right for this client. She’s still thinking like she’s in London. Maybe luncheons are how they do things there, but here, we handle it differently.