Chapter Nine
Tessa parked at the river and walked the last few blocks to Roll with It the next morning. She’d taken special note of the laughter Hallie and Eloise shared while waiting for her coffee. The attraction Hallie had for the whimsical redhead seemed mutual.
Tessa enjoyed her coffee, the sunshine, and the birdsongs as she made her way to Hello, Marketing. Main character energy, day two.
Any hope for a better day than yesterday ended with her elevator ride.
Millie cringed at the sight of her as the silver doors parted. “You’re just getting here?” she whispered. “I was sure I’d missed you somehow.”
Tessa looked at the massive hot-pink-and-white clock above the reception desk. “It’s two minutes after eight.”
“You’re usually here before him.”
“Before who?”
“Millie,” Xavier shouted. His deep baritone bellowed down the white tile hallway, arriving a moment before he appeared.
“Him,” Millie mouthed. “Yes?” she called, turning a smile in her ex-husband’s direction.
“Oh.” He stopped short, eyes fixed on Tessa. “There you are. I was just going to ask Millie to call you.”
“Is everything okay?” Tessa asked.
The noncommittal sound that left his throat put her on edge. Was there an accident? An ill or injured employee? She looked to Millie for help.
“Why don’t you join me in my office?” He turned and strode away without additional comment.
Millie wrinkled her nose. “Sorry.”
“What’s going on?” Tessa mouthed, moving slowly passed Millie’s desk.
Millie seemed to deflate as she returned to her chair. “Good luck” was all she said.
A dozen sets of curious eyes trailed her and Xavier as they cut through the workspace to the row of offices along the back wall.
Xavier’s PA, Josephine, appeared concerned as they passed her desk, positioned just outside his open door.
“Close the door,” Xavier said, taking a seat behind his broad glass-and-metal desk.
Tessa obeyed and sat in the white leather chair across from him.
“Is there something you’d like to talk to me about?” he asked, folding his hands on the desktop and fixing her with a pointed stare.
“I don’t think so,” she said. She set her bag on the floor at her feet and gripped her coffee as if it was a shield or life raft. “I should probably ask you the same question.”
Dissatisfaction rolled from him in waves. What could possibly have gone wrong by 8:00 a.m.? More importantly, what did it have to do with her?
Was this because she spoke up in the meeting yesterday? Or because she went out for lunch without telling him she was meeting a client?
“You’ve been different since the gala,” he said. “We’ve all noticed.”
Tessa’s chest tightened. She felt like a middle school student sent to the principal instead of the high-achieving adult she was. “Different in what way?” she asked.
“I believe you’re angry Peyton got the promotion,” he said.
“If I’m right, that would mean you are angry with me, but you’re choosing to take it out on him.
Either you don’t understand how things work here, despite your years with the company, or you do understand, and you don’t care.
In which case, your antagonistic behavior toward Peyton might be cause to sit down with HR. ”
Tessa’s jaw locked. “Excuse me?” The flimsy response was the best she could muster as a thousand angry words piled on her tongue.
“As your boss,” he said calmly, as if she might’ve forgotten his role, “I need you to know I see the changes in you, and they aren’t going unnoted.
You have every right to do as you please, within reason, while on the clock or representing this company.
Change your clothes, your hair, your disposition, fine.
But I have to think about what’s best for this place as a whole. ”
Tessa bristled as his words grew more pointed.
“I want to nip this thing with you and Peyton in the bud before your behavior begins to negatively impact Hello, Marketing’s bottom line.”
“Wait.” She puzzled. “What?”
“When I asked Peyton to make a team for the Lilacs and Lace pitch, he did as I asked. He thought through the objective carefully, understanding that the people here are our greatest resource, and he approached each staffer individually to ask for their help.”
There it was, she realized. Peyton tattled.
She’d fully anticipated going to battle with him again over this before he left her alone on the matter, but she hadn’t expected him to run straight to Xavier.
“We need you on this pitch team, Tessa,” Xavier said. “And Peyton’s wise enough to know it, so he approached you for that purpose, and according to him, you said no. You told him you’re too busy, but I made it clear in the meeting that this pitch is our top priority.”
“I just signed a new account,” she said, her rioting nerves eradicating any bravado.
“The returning client I mentioned. The one who asked for me?” She waited for some sign Xavier cared or remembered that she’d told him this yesterday.
“He worked with us several years back when he opened a bookstore.”
Xavier frowned. “Tessa, a bookstore is hardly priority over—”
“He sold that business,” she interrupted.
“And he’s invested in two dozen more local shops since.
He wants me to help him recreate the success he had with the bookstore for each of those new businesses.
I think my focus is best served there. Working with him.
” Not to mention it was an excellent opportunity for her to test her chops on a variety of businesses and concepts.
This was big. Maybe not national, Lilacs and Lace big, but still.
Surely her boss could see that. She wanted him to be proud of her. Why wasn’t he proud?
Xavier sat back in his seat. Deep lines formed across his forehead and gathered at the edges of his eyes and mouth. His tan reminded her of the mornings he’d spent on a golf course with the other male employees, while she’d been buried in work and email.
He wasn’t proud, because he didn’t even see her.
She’d thought of Xavier as a friend and mentor until a few days ago.
She thought he saw her as a mentee. Someone with potential and talent that he could help her harness and grow.
When he’d previously passed her over, she’d told herself it was because the men who received the promotions were older, or had been in the field longer, while she was still getting her start.
Peyton wasn’t older or more experienced.
And frankly, he wasn’t good at the job. He was good at networking.
An excellent salesperson. A company asset, sure, but not in advertising.
She wasn’t even certain his degree was in a related field.
She jokingly called him a frat boy, but did he have a degree?
Pressure welled in her chest as she returned Xavier’s stare. Was he ever in her corner? Rooting for her to rise up and work at his side? Or did he consider her just an overeager coffee fetcher and receptacle for accounts not quite worthy of his attention? A try hard.
“I’ll take a look at your new contract,” he said. “As for Peyton, he hasn’t been here as long as you have. He doesn’t have the experience to handle something of this magnitude on his own, and he needs your talent on this. I need you on this.”
Yet he’d handed the pitch directly to Peyton.
Her brows furrowed. She wanted to ask when he’d ever assigned a female agent to an account selling products specifically made for men. She didn’t bother, because she knew the answer. Never.
“Do you understand?” he asked.
Tessa clenched her jaw. It sounded like an ultimatum, and she would not comply with that. She hated bullies, and it broke her heart that Xavier had become one.
Why wasn’t there an all-female marketing firm? Tessa would walk out of Xavier’s office and apply immediately, if one existed. Working with women who understood the female experience, surrounded by feminine energy and strength? That was the dream. No male gaze, judgment, or resentment? Sign her up.
Alas, there was only this.
Xavier’s desk phone rang, and he glanced at the screen. “I think we’re done here,” he said, lifting the receiver. “Send me the details on your new contract, then meet with Peyton about the L and L pitch.” He pressed the phone to his ear, effectively dismissing her.
Tessa left the room with tears in her eyes and rage in her core.
“Psst!” The sound shot into her thoughts as she passed the ladies’ room.
Nina waved from the slightly opened door. “Psst!”
Tessa changed course, and a hand of hot-pink fingernails snatched her arm as she drew near.
Millie pulled her inside, closed the door, and pressed her back to it. Before her stood Nina, Josephine, and Cindy, a new intern. The older women wore expressions of immediacy. Cindy looked as if she’d been caught in a crossfire.
“What’s happening?” Tessa asked.
“I just came in to use the bathroom,” Cindy said.
Millie opened the door and motioned for her to leave. She smashed a finger to her lips as Cindy left.
“There,” Millie said, her back to the closed door once more. “What did Xavier say? Did he fire you?”
Tessa felt her eyes bulge. “No! Why would he fire me?” Surely saying no to the L and L pitch team wasn’t grounds for dismissal. Right?
Nina crossed her arms. “We don’t know what’s going on with him lately. He’s making terrible business decisions all over the place. Passing you up for the promotion. Giving the L and L account to Peyton. Is he kidding?”
Josephine nodded. “The way he kept asking about you this morning, then when he went to reception to collect you the minute you entered the building—” Her eyes widened. “I knew it was going to be bad,” she whispered.
“He didn’t collect me,” Tessa said. “He was looking for me when I walked off the elevator. It was a case of good timing. That’s all.”
“Was it?” Millie asked. “What did he want?”
“He wants me to help Peyton on the Lilacs and Lace pitch.”
The women gasped.
“The nerve!” Josephine said.
Tessa nodded.