Chapter 2
CHAPTER TWO
Joshua
I glanced up at the bleak, gray London sky and mentally checked what month we were in.
Summers were never guaranteed in England but today felt like November, not June.
Hartford certainly hadn’t brought Middle East heat back with her when she’d landed earlier today.
I turned onto Piccadilly and tried to search my brain for memories of Hartford.
I remembered her braces, long gangly limbs, and hair pulled back into a bun.
Her whole family used to complain she had her head in the clouds.
Other than that, there were an awful lot of blanks.
She’d always been around; I just couldn’t recall many specifics.
A detail floated to the surface—a nickname.
Something to do with fairies or ballet .
. . That’s right, she’d been a ballet dancer.
A far cry from the intense but undeniably beautiful doctor I’d picked up from the airport today.
I shook my head—I couldn’t think about her now. I had other things to focus on.
I pulled up the collar on my jacket to stop the cold air burrowing down my back.
I should have brought a coat for the short walk to the restaurant where I was meeting my biggest client.
As marketing director of GCVB, Eric was one of the most powerful people in luxury goods, which meant he got to pick the restaurant.
The one he’d chosen was popular and had all the right number of stars for Eric.
I thought it was a little pretentious, even for my tastes.
At least the steak was fantastic. I ducked down a side alley and the red-cloaked doorman greeted me. I headed in.
I was five minutes early and Eric wouldn’t be here yet. He liked to be fashionably late.
“Good afternoon, Mr. Luca.” The blonde hostess tilted her head as she greeted me. “Your guest is already seated. Can I show you to your table?”
Hairs at the back of my neck stood up despite now being in the warm. I stared at her, processing what she’d said. Why was Eric early? That never happened.
The hostess showed me to a table in the corner, where Eric was seated in his crisp white shirt, his sleeves rolled up and his suit jacket draped casually on the back of his chair. Not only was he early—he’d been here long enough already to settle in.
“Good to see you,” I said, shaking Eric’s manicured hand and then taking a seat.
“Joshua. I’m having the sweetbreads and then the steak.
What about you?” Eric’s English was almost perfect, but his French accent was always evident in a restaurant.
Perhaps because he was usually a relaxed diner, chatting with the wait staff about menu options.
He liked to discuss wine with the sommelier.
Not today. Today, Eric had already ordered, and his French accent was nowhere to be heard.
“Excellent choices, Eric. I’ll have the same.” I wasn’t going to waste time looking at the menu when I could be focusing on what Eric was here to tell me. Because he definitely had something to say.
“We haven’t had lunch for a while,” he said. “Things have been busy back at Head Office.”
“If you’re going to be busy, no better place than Paris.”
Luca Brands specialized in helping luxury brands, and the biggest luxury brand business was GCVB.
We were responsible for the branding and marketing for all thirty brands the GCVB group owned, which ranged from skincare and perfume, to champagne and eleven of the top design houses.
GCVB wasn’t just Luca Brands’ biggest client—they contributed around forty percent of our revenue.
“How long have we worked together now?” He took a sip of the wine the sommelier had placed in front of him. “Six or seven years?”
“Seven years next month.” I leaned back, stretching out my legs, trying to give off the impression that this was just an ordinary lunch between us. But we both knew it wasn’t.
“And I like your work. You know I do.” He didn’t have to add the “but” for me to hear it.
“I’m pleased. Your business is our business.”
He wasn’t listening. He was acting like he was too interested in the bread basket between us. More likely he was focused on what he was going to say next. “Yes, yes. And in all that time, Luca Brands has never wanted to expand outside the luxury space?”
I took a breath in, considering whether to answer the question. “What makes you ask?”
His gaze lifted to mine and revealed one of his mischievous grins—the kind that said, I know something you don’t know.
“Well,” he said, drawing out the word. “You know how GCVB like to buy new companies?”
Since Luca Brands started working with GCVB, they had done acquisition after acquisition.
After each new company had been brought into the group, Eric would force a pitch process for all brand and marketing agencies in the new group along with Luca Brands.
Whoever won the pitch was appointed exclusively across the newly enlarged group.
We’d comfortably won each pitch. So far.
“As you know, GCVB dominate in luxury brands. Recently we’ve felt that we’ve acquired every business we were interested in the space. So . . .”
He was enjoying this. I couldn’t tell whether or not he was just excited about the new acquisition or he enjoyed trying to make me squirm.
“So we’re dipping our toe into pharmaceuticals.”
It was like he’d dropped a turd on the table. His revelation was both unexpected and unwelcome. “Really?” It seemed like a stretch of strategy, not to mention an industry Luca Brands had absolutely no experience in.
“Yes. High margins. Growth sector. At first glance, it looks like it wouldn’t be a natural industry for us to expand into, but our shareholders want growth and the CEO has a background in pharma.
It makes sense.” Eric popped a hunk of bread into his mouth and chewed.
When he swallowed, he asked, “So what is Luca Brands experience in the pharma industry?”
Eric could be a dick. He knew we didn’t have pharma experience.
Luca Brands was a specialist agency and we kept our edge by not having too many competing priorities.
“You want one brand and marketing agency to cover the newly enlarged group? Or will you keep specialists in each division?” I wanted to cut to the chase.
“So many agencies cover all industries these days.”
“That’s true,” I replied. “But we’re not a one-size-fits-no-one kind of agency. We’re specialized. Focused. And we’re the best at what we do.”
Eric nodded vigorously as he cut into his sweetbreads. “I’ve always appreciated your work. Which is why I’m inviting you to pitch for the enlarged group, despite Luca Brands’ lack of experience.”
That sounded like he didn’t think we had a hope of success. I tried to keep my voice even and my face neutral. “You’re not concerned you’re going to have to compromise on the quality of the work no matter who you appoint?” I asked.
“No.” His tone was decisive, like he knew this was going to be an accusation he’d have to contend with. “I’m confident that whoever wins the work will be as good at luxury as they are at pharma and vice versa.”
I nodded.
“You look worried.” Eric delivered another lupine grin before taking a sip of the expensive wine I was paying for. Meanwhile, he held the future of my business in his hands.
“Do I?” My poker face was on point. I didn’t look worried. Eric just hoped I was worried. “If you’re not concerned, I’m not concerned. After all, you’ve worked as marketing director in luxury brands for twenty years. If you can handle pharma, so can we.”
Truth was, I knew that when I walked away from lunch today, I’d have thousands of concerns I didn’t have before I’d arrived at this restaurant.
If Luca Brands lost GCVB as a client, we’d lose nearly half our business—not to mention our dominance in the luxury brands space.
Everything I’d built could be lost, and hundreds of jobs and livelihoods would be ruined.
Eric raised his glass. “It’s a growth opportunity. Isn’t that what they say?”
I raised my glass in return. “No doubt, we’ll both rise to the challenge.”
Fuck. I wanted to ditch lunch, get back to the office and start strategizing. The first thing I was going to have to do was recruit some pharma talent. I needed people who knew the industry. Great people. I started mentally flicking through my contacts. Who did I know?
“I shouldn’t be telling you, but the pitch won’t be a normal presentation of credentials. I’m going to ask you to create a specific campaign for a very exciting new drug Merdon is going to be releasing.”
My heart was pounding like I was sprinting between bits of bad news. “GCVB already purchased the company?”
“Yes. It will be announced today. Merdon. They have lots of great ideas to democratize the distribution of drugs.”
What the hell did that mean? “Democratize?”
He shrugged like what he was saying was obvious. “Particularly in the US market, where pharma companies charge astronomical fees until patents run out.”
I nodded ambiguously. I had little clue what he was talking about. The US pharmaceuticals market was as far outside my expertise as a market could be.
“Merdon’s strategy is to target hugely overpriced drugs, still under patent, and re-engineer them so they can be produced at an affordable price.
Then they distribute them over the counter where possible.
They cut out the middleman—the greedy doctors who take a huge slice of the profits.
They get medicines to the people who need them for a much lower price. Isn’t that wonderful?”
The way he explained it sounded impressive.
Although I don’t think I’d ever heard the word affordable from Eric’s lips before.
It just seemed like such an odd decision by GCVB to enter an industry that was so very different to luxury goods.
But I wasn’t GCVB’s CEO and shareholders.
My job was to deal with the reality I was faced with rather than question it.
“A lot of the work will be aimed toward the US, but Luca Brands have a great track record on that front. Whoever wins this pitch will be helping people, Joshua. So instead of just focusing on making the world stylish and beautiful, this is Luca Brands’ opportunity to do something with real meaning.
” It was the first time he’d tried to sell the idea to me, and it gave me a glimmer of hope that he wanted us to succeed.
“Sounds interesting,” I said, the sentiment genuine. I enjoyed my work. I loved the luxury industry and the creativity that surrounded it, but I liked to stretch myself and set bigger goals. “I like the idea of being able to do good—bring medicines to those who need them most.”
“Exactly,” Eric said. “It’s good to see you’re not totally turned off by the idea of doing something outside your wheelhouse.”
“Our wheelhouse is unique, quality brands and marketing services. And we’d be delighted to help you with Merdon along with the entire GCVB portfolio. Who else is pitching?” I’d be a fool not to ask about my competition.
Eric grinned. “There’s you, two incumbent agencies at Merdon, and I’m going to invite two fresh agencies to pitch as well. You know, just to keep you sharp, Joshua.”
I smiled as good-naturedly as I could manage. I was going to have to be more than sharp to land an account in an industry where I had exactly no experience. But there wasn’t an alternative. I had to win this pitch or watch my business and employees suffer. Losing wasn’t an option.