Chapter 5
SHELBY
Shelby could feel the pressure mounting in every muscle and the tiny veins in her neck. They were squeezed so tight it felt like they might burst at any moment.
One long, deep breath in.
Hold it.
Exhale slowly.
She talked herself through the centering technique her therapist had taught her.
It didn’t work.
Nothing did.
She sighed, taking in the dreary Seattle skyline.
Downtown and the Puget Sound were covered in a never-ending bank of dark clouds.
The pervasive, unrelenting rain matched her mood.
Growing up in the Pacific Northwest had made her impervious to the gloom.
Tug on a sturdy raincoat and a pair of boots and hit the trails—no problem.
A cozy coffee shop on a stormy day—what a dream.
But now everything felt overbearing, like the layer of granite clouds was squeezing the very air from her chest and blanketing her body in an unshakable doom.
She hadn’t always been this way.
She used to be fun.
She used to love her job, travel, and all the perks that came with it.
And then her world had come crashing down. Her parents’ divorce. Her dad bankrupted the family, leaving her mom alone and with nothing. Their life savings gone. Her childhood home was in danger of being repossessed. Her sister’s college tuition was looming. The creditors were calling nonstop.
Now it was up to her.
If she couldn’t come up with enough money soon, her mom would be homeless, and her sister would have to drop out of school and get a job just to afford rent and groceries.
She refused to take her foot off the gas.
She’d been slowly climbing the ranks at Voyager, and she had no intention of stopping now.
She was just a few steps away from being named the youngest president in company history.
She wanted that promotion, and she needed the pay raise that came with it.
Then she had her sights set on eventually running the company and maybe even starting her own.
And now she was stuck going to Half Moon Bay, some tiny coastal town in Northern California, because her bosses had eaten up Jim’s latest pitch like it was Halloween candy.
He was a sweet guy. Under different circumstances, Shelby might have enjoyed working with him.
No, that wasn’t fair. She did enjoy working with him.
But they were at polar opposite points in their career.
Jim was in his early fifties. He claimed that he was content in his current role and not looking for a promotion.
Well, at least that’s what he kept saying, but Shelby wasn’t as convinced.
He was a long way from retirement, and who didn’t want more seniority?
Shelby couldn’t help shake the feeling that he was making a secret ploy behind her back to get the promotion himself.
She scowled as she reached for her hot cocoa and spiced glaze donut, a splurge on her way into the office this morning. She needed sustenance in the form of sugar today.
Shelby had grand visions for her trajectory.
First, and most importantly, land the promotion that came with a significant pay raise and bonus next week.
She’d already interviewed for the new role and was one of two final candidates.
Nadine Hendricks, the head of brand strategy, wanted to use her next assignment as testing grounds, her words, not Shelby’s.
Nadine called it a working interview. She wanted hard numbers and stats and a unique campaign designed to draw in a slightly older demographic than most of Shelby’s other influencer partners.
No problem. She could do that. She had to do that.
After she secured the promotion, her goal was to make VP.
Then leverage that to run the company or negotiate a CEO position elsewhere.
She’d been building strong relationships with their advertising partners.
It was not out of the realm of possibility that by the time she turned thirty, she’d be running a major corporation.
But for the moment, she had to focus on step one. Get the gig. That would take care of her financial worries.
Wipe out her student debt.
Allow her mom to keep the house.
Put the ugliness of her dad’s mistakes behind her for good.
She blew out a long breath and rested her chin in her hands, staring at the storm clouds outside.
When everything in the broader world that she couldn’t control felt like it was closing in and suffocating her, she could tap into the most recent trick her therapist had suggested—focus small. Control what you can control.
“Stretch out your arm with me, Shelby,” her therapist had suggested last week in her calming office with its pretty pale green walls, potted plants, and soft lighting. “I want you to consider everything within your arm’s reach. That’s your sphere of influence. That’s what you can control.”
Shelby had been taking her therapist’s advice almost literally.
There was one person within her arm’s reach—Jim Cole.
She could control how much leverage he had on this assignment, and if it were up to her, that would be very little.
They had very different visions for Miranda Brown’s campaign.
Jim was sold on showcasing Miranda as accident-prone with the perfect touch of comic charm, which he was convinced would resonate with their target audience.
Shelby disagreed. Her goal was to present a polished, professional version of their new influencer and highlight the stunning coast of Half Moon Bay.
The picturesque town was incredibly photogenic.
She’d scoured the internet and was already mesmerized by the golden glow of autumnal sunlight shimmering on the aqua waters and the charming shops downtown.
No, they didn’t need to resort to gimmicks.
This trip could cement her future at Voyager Travel, and she wasn’t going to let Jim get in her way.