Page 12 of City of Sin (Men of Manhattan 1)

I sat down. "Mr. Ellington, I'm sorry, I know that was out of line. But I think my idea..."

He held up his hand to silence me. "What do you think Sword Body Wash cares about?"

"Their brand. About being sexy."

"There's only one thing that any company cares about. Making money."

That wasn't true. Sword Body Wash cared about their brand. Their brand was everything to them. It's what made them money. I stayed silent. Anything else I said would just make it worse.

"And you have to spend money in order to make money. They gave us a budget of five million dollars. They don't want a cheap guerilla marketing ploy in the park. Especially when the Knicks cheerleaders aren't even wearing those short skirts because it's freaking ten degrees outside. That's not sexy. That's not going to make them money."

"Mr. Ellington, if you could just hear me out..."

"I did hear you out. And why the hell are you pitching ideas in the middle of my meeting? You're my secretary. You don't know the first thing about advertising."

"I majored in marketing with a minor in advertising. I do know..."

"You have no experience. A minor in advertising means nothing. I hired you to answer my phone and fetch me coffee. And whatever else I want. You need to have thick skin to be in advertising. Just do your job and don't worry your pretty little head about anything else."

What the hell? I stood up. "I don't want to just be your secretary forever."

"And you won't always just be my secretary. You're due for a promotion very soon. But I need to know that I can trust you. I don't need anyone working beneath me that I can't trust." His eyes wandered down my body.

"I should probably get back to my work, Mr. Ellington."

"Joe. Please call me Joe."

No. I turned around and retreated out of his office. Had I imagined that? He hit on me all the time. But had he seriously just implied that I was being promoted to sucking his cock? I must have imagined it. Even if I had, I still felt belittled. It didn't seem like Mr. Ellington thought I had what it took to work in advertising. And I didn't understand why, because my idea was good. It was so much better than Jenkins' stupid pitch.

I walked into the break room and got a cup of coffee. Ever since Mr. Ellington had hired me, he had flirted with me. Even when I had my engagement ring on. Had he really just hired me with the thought that I'd eventually have sex with him? That was preposterous. And disgusting. I started to wonder what had happened to his last secretary.

When I walked back to my desk there was a huge stack of papers and a note.

Bridget,

All these files need to be input into the computer. Type them up and email me before you leave today.

-Joe

Seriously? This was like a million pieces of paper. I sighed and turned on my computer. I guess I'd have to cancel my date tonight.

Chapter 5

Bee

"I'm so, so sorry," Kendra said. "For what it's worth, your idea was a lot better than Jenkins'."

"Thanks." I took a bite of my peanut butter and jelly sandwich. "Can I run something by you real quick?"

"Of course."

"I think if I'm ever going to make it in advertising I need to get some experience. There's probably a better shot of me getting something in one of the small agencies back home. Even if it's unpaid or something. Don't you think?"

"Back home?"

"Yeah. I'm thinking I might move back to Wilmington for awhile. Just until I figure some stuff out."

"Wait, what?" Kendra put her sandwich down on her desk. "You're not serious? Just because of the meeting? Whatever, people will forget about it tomorrow. And like I said, it was a good idea. Mr. Ellington will notice you eventually. You just need to give it more time."

---