Page 90 of Hello Quarterback

I looked at him with a placid smile. “I’m curious if you’d have asked that question of your male counterparts?”

Step one—point out that his issues with me were foundationally flawed. Done.

Thomas cleared his throat. “My male counterparts aren’t CEOs of a billion-dollar company taking on a time-intensive project that won’t pay off for over a year.”

Step two...

“As you mentioned, I’m CEO, and it’s important to be aware of the numbers, via the CFO.” I gave a pointed look at Thomas. “Can you let me know how our numbers have tracked in the last quarter, since I began seeing my ‘high-profile’ partner?”

He mumbled something.

“What was that?”

“Up 4.3 percent.”

“Thank you,” I said. Then I turned to the CMO. “Nick, can you share the search volume of ‘Griffen Industries’ the last quarter?”

The CMO shuffled through a manila folder, then pulled out a paper. He adjusted his spectacles and said, “Search volume has increased six hundred and fifty percent over the previous quarter.” He shuffled through more papers and pulled out a new one. “Our social media mentions have also increased by fifteen hundred percent, and sentiment is ninety-two percent positive.”

“Thanks, Nick,” I said, pacing over the carpeted boardroom floor at the head of the table. Then I spoke to our head project manager. “I thought this question might come up, and I believe in transparency, so, Penny, can you share my on-time completed task percentage, as well as the percentage of tasks that had due dates moved back?”

Penny nodded, reaching for her clipboard. “Eighty-five percent on-time task completion, which is seven percent higher than the company average, and twelve percent of tasks had due dates moved to a future date, two percent lower than company average.”

“Thank you, Penny.”

She nodded, making her brassy bangs wobble.

Thomas began to speak, but I held up a finger. “I’m not done.”

His face turned a light shade of red.

But his fire just fueled my own.

I wasdoneplaying games with my life to earn respect that should have been there all along. Tallie may be brilliant, but so was I. And my team had just shown indisputable data to prove that fact.

So I gave what might be the most important speech of my career. “Before I was CEO, I worked under Gage Griffen, the founder of this company. For years, I spentwell oversixty hours a week with him, getting the best education of my life.

“I learned how someone of his caliber thinks, acts, and makes decisions. And one thing I learned is that if people are doubting your vision, that’s when you need to push harder. Because you have a vision not many people can see, which means you are seeing anopportunity.

“I have a vision for Andersen Avenue that can improve the community around usandGriffen Industries’ bottom line. The question for all of you, as leaders within this company, is: Are you going to let go of an incredible opportunity because it’s different than what we’ve seen before, because it’s wearing a dress instead of a suit?”

Shantel said, “I move we put this to a vote.”

Nick said, “I’ll second that.”

My heart ran wild, but I steadied myself by placing my hands flat on the conference room table.

This was the moment of truth.

51

FORD

Over the next several days,I kept typing and deleting messages to her, not sure what to say. She never reached out. Never texted or called. And even without words, I’d gotten her message loud and clear: The next step was mine to make.

At least, I thought it was, until I got an email from Tallie on Saturday afternoon detailing everything I was supposed to do for our fake relationship. She also left a note at the bottom of the email that had my jaw dropping.

Andersen Avenue has been successfully acquired, somoving forward, there will be no need for you to make additional office visits. We will adjust future outings accordingly.

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