City of Sin - Chapter 4
Bee
I pulled on a pencil skirt and my nicest blouse.
Kendra was right. I needed to pitch my ideas at the meeting today if I ever wanted Mr. Ellington to really listen to me.
Looking nice gave me a boost of confidence.
I slid on a pair of stilettos. Normally I'd wear flats to work.
Especially when it was so cold outside. But today I almost wanted the extra height.
As if being taller somehow made what I had to say in the meeting more believable.
I looked down at the dress on my bed that I had picked out for my date later.
It was sophisticated. When I met Patrick in college, I had been wearing cutoff jean shorts and a tank top.
I didn't want to attract another guy like him.
Sophisticated was good. I bit my lip. Or maybe I just didn't even want Mason to like me. I was sabotaging myself.
I tried to dismiss the thought as I grabbed my winter jacket and pulled it on.
My date wasn't until eight. I'd have time to come back and pick out another outfit if I wanted.
I rushed out of my apartment and down the stairs.
The elevator had been broken for months.
I wasn't sure if it was ever going to be fixed.
But I had tackled these stairs in heels before.
The rush of cold air when I opened the door chilled me to the bone.
It didn't matter what my mom said. Delaware never seemed this cold.
Maybe the wind was stronger, pushing through all the sky rise buildings.
I stared at the ground as I made my way to the subway.
If I couldn't see any homeless people, I couldn't give them the rest of my money.
My mom wouldn't just abandon the idea of visiting me soon.
And if she wanted to visit, I needed to save up to buy a couch.
I would have tried to get a roommate, but that didn't exactly work in a studio apartment.
Besides, the idea of getting a roommate I didn't know freaked me out too much.
And the idea of moving into a different apartment freaked me out even more.
My small apartment was the closest thing I had to a home right now. Even without Patrick in it.
I got onto the A train. I thought it would be fun to people watch on the subway.
But it wasn't. There was no one as depressing as someone on the subway going to work.
Everyone looked so sad and tired. It was like everyone in the city was depressed and in serious need of uppers.
I couldn't judge them though. I had become one of them.
I'm sure anyone who looked at me could see the sadness in my eyes.
I wasn't even sure who I was anymore. But whoever I had become was the kind of person who would pitch her ideas unasked at a meeting.
And I was going to finally get noticed. I just wanted one stupid thing in this stupid city to go my way for once.
The subway screeched to a stop and I squeezed past the people pushing their way on.
I walked up the stairs back into the cold wind and looked back down at the ground.
If I got a promotion and a raise, I could start giving money to homeless people again.
Out of the corner of my eye I saw a man sitting on the curb outside of my office building.
He was wearing tethered clothes, hugging his knees to his chest, shivering.
I can't. I grabbed a few dollars out of my purse and placed it into his hand.
"Thank you." He looked up at me.
"You're welcome." I smiled and walked into the warmth of my office. Maybe being able to give money to homeless people and not feeling like I was going to starve if I did, was a good motivator for the meeting today. I stepped onto the elevator. Right before the doors closed, Kendra walked in.
"Hey, Bee. Has your maybe turned into a yes yet?"
"Actually, I can't tonight."
"No." She grabbed my elbow. "Come on. Hanging out with me is so much more fun than watching T.V. and you know it."
I laughed. "Yes, it is. But I actually have a date tonight." I smiled and looked away from her.
"Shut up."
I looked back at her and shrugged.
"Are you serious?"
"Why do you seem so surprised?"
"I don't know. It just seemed like you had kind of given up. You were one cat away from becoming a crazy cat lady."
"Psh. Crazy cat ladies have like a whole bunch of cats. I have none. And I'm not crazy."
Kendra shrugged. "Okay, give me all the details. What's his name? Where did you meet? Is he sexy? He must be sexy if he's getting your mind off Patrick."
I stepped off the elevator without answering her.
"Bee! You have to tell me."
"His name is Mason."
"That's a really sexy name."
"It is kind of sexy I guess."
"So...is he sexy?"
"I don't know."
"Why aren't you telling me?"
"Because I really don't know."
"What do you mean? Were you at one of those weird new places where they turn off all the lights and you just talk to people?"
"What are you talking about? No. I've just never met him. It's a blind date."
"A blind date? You never told me you were ready to date again. I have like a million guys to set you up with."
"I don't want to date your rejects, Kendra."
"Well, whose reject is this?"
"No ones. He works with Marie and Carter."
"Did he date Marie?"
"No. I don't think so anyway. I feel like she would have mentioned that. No actually. Definitely not. He's friends with Carter. I feel like they wouldn't be friends if Mason had dated his wife."
"Fair enough. What else did they tell you about him?"
"That he's a successful businessman. And that he's handsome. That's really all I know."
"A successful businessman, huh? I thought you swore off all the suits in this city."
"I didn't really mean that." I had meant that. The men here sucked. Or maybe it was just men in general. Maybe I should have just sworn off all men.
"So what made you suddenly decide that you're ready to get back out there again?" Kendra asked.
I pulled off my jacket and draped it over the back of my chair. "Nothing in particular."
She stared at me skeptically.
"Patrick's dating someone else." I looked down at my desk.
"I'm sorry, Bee."
"There's nothing to be sorry for. We're broken up. Of course he's dating someone else."
"Still. Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. I think I needed to hear that he had completely moved on. I just needed a push. I'm done thinking about that asshole. And I should be dating someone else too."
"Absolutely." Kendra patted my shoulder. "Fuck him."
I smiled at her. That wasn't the first time she had said that. Probably closer to the hundredth. "And I'm taking your advice. I'm going to pitch one of my ideas at the meeting today."
"What happened to you overnight? I like this new kick ass Bee. I better get to my cubicle before Mr. Ellington gets mad at you before you've even done anything wrong. I'll see you in the meeting."
I turned my computer on as Kendra walked away. Kick Ass Bee. I'm not sure anyone had ever described me that way ever. But I liked it. Today was going to be the day that I turned everything around.
***
"Jenkins, work on getting that into effect. I'll contact the V.P. of Sword Body Wash. But I'm sure this will be a go," Mr. Ellington said.
I jotted the decision down in my notebook, even though it wasn't a good idea.
Any company could sponsor a segment on a news station.
And this one wasn't even local. Layla's Predictions was only broadcast in Miami.
Yes, it had tons of viewers because Layla was hot and they made her do all sorts of random stuff.
But Miami wasn't even half the size of New York.
"Great work this week team. This account is our focus for the first quarter of the year.
And we'll need some more ideas for the campaign just in case the V.P.
wants to go in a different direction. We can't afford to lose this account.
We'll have another meeting next Wednesday. I'll want to hear more than one pitch."
"Mr. Ellington?" I said. My heart was beating out of my chest.
"Did you need Jenkins to repeat the pitch, Bridget?"
"No. I um..." I let me voice trail off. You can do this. "I actually have an idea on how to promote Sword Body Wash."
"We're going with Jenkins' idea." He looked away from me.
"Which isn't a good idea. No offense, Jenkins."
Jenkins lowered his eyebrows slightly.
"Layla's Predictions is only aired in Miami.
And Sword Body Wash specifically said they wanted to grow their brand in New York.
That's why they came to us. Because they knew we can do local guerilla style campaigns.
The Knicks cheerleaders always perform in Central Park before game nights to help sell tickets.
What if we joined up with them? Have an actor spray himself with Sword Body Spray and get the cheerleaders to chase him through Central Park?
Everyone would see it. No one would know if it was real or not.
News stations would inadvertently pick it up.
It would be huge. And ridiculously cheap.
That's the kind of thing that gets people's attention these days. "
Jenkins laughed. "What would you know about what gets a man's attention?"
"Excuse me?" He didn't know about Patrick cheating on me. Had someone told him? Had someone told the whole office? I could feel my face turning red.
"Because you're not a man. Men want to look at a hot girl on T.V. doing silly stuff. Layla's Predictions is the perfect platform for a sponsorship by Sword."
Oh. I was flustered by his previous comment. I took a deep breath. "But it's not what they asked for. They want something in New York."
"And do you have connections to the Knicks?" Mr. Ellington said. "To get all of this set up?"
"No, but I..."
"Or maybe you know one of the cheerleaders?" Jenkins said.
"No. But we can easily..."
"This meeting is over. Let's talk in my office, Bridget." Mr. Ellington walked out of the conference room. He looked pissed.
Shit. I had thought it was a really good idea. I looked over at Kendra.
"I'm sorry," she mouthed silently.
I suddenly felt nauseous. What if I had just lost my job? What was I going to do? Damn it. I quickly walked out of the conference room and over to Mr. Ellington's office. The door was open. I walked in and stood in front of his desk. He didn't look up at me.
"Mr. Ellington?"
He finally looked up. "Close the door, Bridget."
God, this is going to be bad. I closed the door and walked back up to his desk.
"Sit down," he said. He didn't sound mad. I thought he'd be yelling at me by now.
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.