45. Chapter 45
forty-five
I t wasn’t often La Fée du Livre ’s small office was filled with every member of staff on a Sunday. But today, they all sat around the large glass table, just as they had when Chloé had first informed them of Shutler Fitch’s planned takeover.
Cécile shrugged when asked what was going on. “ Je ne sais pas. ”
Muted conversations died down as Chloé stepped into the room, holding the hand of a woman most had heard about, but none had yet met.
“ Bonjour , thank you all for coming,” Chloé said in French. Monroe understood enough to smile politely at the group.
“What’s happening?” someone asked.
Monroe sat down and opened her laptop. She brought up the short PowerPoint they’d put together the night before and connected it to the larger screen on the wall.
Then Chloé began to speak.
“I make no promises,” she said, “but…we believe there may be a way to keep La Fée du Livre alive. It will take hard work from all of us. It may mean reduced earnings for a while. It might not work at all. But I want to try. I want to give it our best shot.”
She smiled at the group. “My partner, Monroe…”
Monroe looked up at the sound of her name, meeting a roomful of curious eyes.
“…is a brilliant accountant, and she believes it may be possible—at least worth attempting—to open our doors to genres we’ve previously steered away from.”
“What does this mean?” came from a few voices at once, more murmurs rippling through the group.
Chloé raised a hand. “It appears there’s room in the market for what we do, alongside more mainstream genres—Romance, Crime, Fantasy—and we must embrace change if we are to survive—”
“Oh, finally,” Robert interjected. “I’ve said this before and no one listened.”
Chloé turned to him. “Robert, maybe I’ve been too focused on creating a perfect world of words. In future, we must all be willing to listen to each other’s opinions.”
He gave a small nod of acknowledgement.
“So,” Chloé continued, “I’ll be speaking with the bank about refinancing. But in the meantime, I need to know—who among us knows these genres best?”
Five hands went up.
“Will we still keep our niche?” someone asked.
“ Oui. That doesn’t change,” Chloé replied. “We’re not abandoning anything—we’re simply adding. We’ll take advantage of the market.”
“I read romance,” one woman admitted, a little shyly, “and sometimes fantasy.”
“I love a good murder,” said Pascal, grinning as Cécile nodded in agreement. “We’ll learn what we need to learn. Books are books. Marketing just needs to shift slightly.”
“So…are we all on board to give it a go?” Chloé asked.
Heads nodded around the table.
“Yes. What else can we do?” came the general response.
With nothing further from anyone, Chloé said, “Then let’s get to work.” Her grin widening. “I want marketing ready to go, updates on the website, a newsletter out—whatever we need. If you’ve got an idea, share it. We’re going to need all-hands-on deck.”