Page 23 of The Butterfly Effect
I couldn’t deny that I continue to be impressed by the way the woman could command the attention of a group. The amount of energy she had radiated off her in the form of hand gestures, and her full-body movements for emphasis were contagious. She attracted attention from anyone within earshot, including from Sandra’s office and the other small desk clumps around her.
Her team worked with smiles on their faces, talking and occasionally pausing as they all broke into laughter. Julianna leaned over Grant’s desk, grabbing his pen and drawing something on the pad in front of him. He threw his hands up when she was done and high fived her excitedly as a wide grin pulled at her lips. It was a beautiful grin, one stretching from ear to ear and making her eyes light up. I ached to see her smile like that again.
Standing up from my desk, I walked out of my office and over to their desks. She stiffened when I stepped behind her, and Katie eyed me with only half-hidden suspicion. “It looks like you all are celebrating over here. I imagine regarding the Great Lakes Brewing account we hope to finalize tomorrow. Care to fill me in?” I looked at Julianna, and she slightly narrowed her eyes. The blush that had faded came back onto her cheeks when she faced me, and I smirked.
When she struggled to get her thoughts out, Grant helped her. “We believe we nailed down some final details for their strategy. There had to be a good way for us to relate their mission to their customers, and Jules figured it out.”
All four members of the team looked proud, but Julianna was glowing. I raised one eyebrow in question, hoping she’d finally enlighten me. “Great Lakes Brewing is adamant about being the go-to beer for those family days at the lake, the barbeques full of games, and the weekends camping. They strive to be the beer everyone buys because they know most people like it, right? So… they need to be the first beer that comes to mind, and that means…catchy slogans!”
The passion she had for what she did was undeniable, demonstrated by the way her voice continued to get higher in pitch and a bit faster when she explained. When I had started, Sandra was dedicated to getting me to doubt Julianna, but I have come to assume it was because she was intimidated by the woman. The one who shuts up a room of powerful men in an instant. The one who seems to have unlimited friends in the office, earning the respect of most of her coworkers. The one who seemed to invade my thoughts lately.
“Please enlighten me. What are these slogans?” I crossed my arms and tried not to look too pleased, but her excitement couldn’t be contained.
She picked up her notepad and handed it to me before stepping back and crossing her arms. The rest of her team smiled with her, like they would all go home and excitedly tell their families and friends about the good day they’d had. On the notepad were several slogan ideas written in her handwriting.
Stop drinking crappy beer. Drink better beer.
Drink local and drink a lot of it.
Don’t just buy beer—buy the lifestyle.
Go ahead. The time is always right for beer.
When you’re done having fun, we’re just getting started.
The last one made me chuckle out loud, and the nerves that had been on her face when I was reading disappeared. I didn’t want to admit how much I liked them or how much I assumed the client was going to love them.
Julianna and her team looked at me expectantly. “You can give these to the client tomorrow.” I couldn’t hold back another chuckle.
She looked satisfied and took the notebook back from me, turning to her team and shrugging. “I told you guys we fuckingnailed it.” She sang the last two words.
Katie and Sasha high fived, and with the way Grant beamed, you’d think they had won an award. Their excitement was amusing. Over the years, my father, brother, and I had landed many deals, but not once had I danced around in a celebration like this team was over a simple idea.
I raised an eyebrow at her. “Tomorrow, maybe don’t say youfuckingnailed it. It wouldn’t be veryprofessional,hmm?” I winked at her, watching the scarlet color in her neck darken. “I’ll let you all get back to it.”
Her mouth dropped open before she quickly shut it and bit the inside of her lips. She shuffled her weight from one foot to the other and stared at me. Her eyes burned with annoyance at my throwing her own words back at her. I didn’t give her much of a chance to respond before nodding to the group and returning to my office, closing the door behind me.
This meeting is important,so I should be more focused on the contracts in front of me than I am on William’s leg sitting dangerously close to mine. My head kept humming with the way he’d taunted me yesterday, hinting that I wasn’t professional when he finger-fucked me while I was on the phone with this exact client. It helps to know this is the last meeting I’ll have to sit in with Roger, and now Richard, who kept looking at me like we were both thinking of the same cheeky inside joke. As soon as this contract was signed, another team would implement our strategy with their marketing department and we’d become just a resource.
Richard cleared his throat, drawing my attention to him. “I have to say, I’m impressed, young lady. We look forward to doing business with you, and I’m still not above trying to poach you for my own team.” He winked at me, and William stiffened his arms next to me. Sandra, who was sitting in on this meeting by her own invitation, scoffed and shot me a slight glare.
“Thank you. We look forward to a successful implementation, but as I said previously, I’m not looking to change my career at this time.” He laughed when I responded, as if convinced he’d change my mind. William watched for my reaction, so I left it at that.
William stood up from the table. “Well, we look forward to receiving these back from you once you have the chance to review. Should you need anything, you know where to reach us.” He was short, still professional, but not leaving any room for questions or friendly small talk.
Mimicking his actions, the rest of the table stood up and started to file out of the room one by one. Roger paused before the door, turning to me. “I’d like to have a word with you, Jules.” He was stern, and my stomach sank. Had he been able to tell what had happened while on the phone the day before?
“I don’t really have the time…” I started, moving to step around him and out the door.
He put his arm out in front of me, stopping me as he wrapped his hand around my upper arm. William growled quietly by the door, glaring at Roger’s grip. “I think you’re going to make time.”
I swallowed, trying and failing to come up with an excuse for why I couldn’t possibly make the time to stay in the room. Sandra rolled her eyes before stepping out of the room, mumbling under her breath, “Should’ve known she was fucking him too.” I whipped around to face the door, tempted to chase after her and tell her off.
Admitting defeat, I shrugged. “Fine. William?” I said, as if to tell him to leave. He glared at me, his deep-brown eyes dark and menacing. He hesitated, but when the door closed behind him, it was just Roger and me left.
I was sick to my stomach, and there was a ghostly throbbing in my wrist. The bruises he had left there a week earlier had faded quite a bit, but they could still be seen if I rolled up my sleeves. I crossed my arms in front of me and waited in silence for Roger to speak.
“Look, I don’t get why you’re being so frigid, but I think you’re going to give me a chance and let me take you out.” He had a side-smirk on his face, proud of himself for figuring out how to get his way.
