Chapter Eighteen
Xavier stood before her, large fingers splayed over narrow hips. His gray tailored suit was wrinkled, and his tie hung askew. His face appeared strained and uncharacteristically gaunt. Also visibly red. “Tessa,” he said, voice low and barely contained. “Are you coming with me?”
He’d turned back for her when she hadn’t followed.
She checked the time once more, feeling the weight of her laptop bag on one shoulder and car keys on her fingertips. It wasn’t quite five. Not officially quitting time, yet she’d been about to board the elevator. So close, she thought. So very close.
Millie’s warning returned to mind, and she decided to improvise, despite her mounting fear and the tension crashing off him in waves.
“I’m running downtown to check on a new client and the campaign I just finished for Olive My Heart.”
Xavier shook his head. “No.”
“No?” Her face contorted, and she worked to smooth her features.
Relax, she commanded internally. You haven’t done anything wrong. He can be upset, and he can direct his frustration at you, but that still doesn’t make anything your fault.
“Not tonight,” he said. “Tonight we have work to do.”
Tessa bit the insides of her cheeks, recalling the shouting he’d done in Peyton’s office. “I’ve just finished up here for the day.”
The muscle in Xavier’s jaw tensed and jumped. “You were assigned to the Lilacs and Lace account.”
“I wasn’t assigned to that account.”
His eyes widened, then narrowed. “We spoke about this,” he said, face reddening further. “In my office. You said you understood. Yet you haven’t done anything to help Peyton all week. I can’t be expected to come in here every day and babysit you. You’re supposed to do your job.”
Tessa guffawed. She definitely hadn’t agreed to help with the L and L account.
The opposite, actually. Unless he was rewriting history, in which case he should probably go back and hire someone qualified for Peyton’s current position.
“I’ve been busy all week,” she said. “I’m managing a number of fall campaigns for current clients, and I have the new one I told you about.
Everything is preliminary for him, and that takes time. ”
Xavier pulled his head back as if he’d just recalled the fact she landed a big account. “I told you to send me what you had on that account,” he snapped, doubly irritated. “You didn’t do that either. Why would you directly disobey an order?”
Her mouth opened, and heat coursed through her limbs. “Disobey?”
Since when was this that kind of office?
“You know what I mean,” he said. “You’ve been here long enough to understand how things work. I make the decisions because I’m your boss. I have the final say. Every time. Because this is my company.”
She blanched, horrified at the version of Xavier standing before her.
Arrogant and mean. An authoritarian instead of a leader, mentor, or partner with the same goals in mind.
“I know all of that,” she said softly. “But you’ve always given us independence and creative freedom.
I don’t want to work on the Lilacs and Lace account.
I have a full plate already, and for the record, I’m working hard every day for this company. Like I always have.”
“Not like you always have,” he said.
She blinked. “Excuse me?” Was he suggesting she somehow let him down by not working double time every week? By not doing her job plus the work of anyone else who fell behind or messed up? Was he serious?
“The Lilacs and Lace team is meeting to finalize this pitch before we lose it. Peyton tapped you for this project, and that means you’re on it. We’re staying until this is done.” He turned and walked away.
Tessa stared after him, speechless.
“Let’s go!” he barked without looking back. “All hands on deck.”
She looked longingly at the elevator.
The bulk of employees would leave in a matter of minutes.
Not long ago, this was her favorite part of the workday, the moment she really dug in.
She regularly moved mountains in the silence of the evenings.
And when she finally boarded the elevator a few hours later, she left feeling exhausted but proud of all she’d accomplished.
At the moment, however, she only felt defeated.
She’d worked hard the last two weeks to rewire her thoughts. She’d just started to see progress. Now, Xavier wanted to set her back. Demanding she stay.
Telling her she had to work late. Had to join a team she’d declined twice already.
Hello, Marketing was never this type of company.
Agents had the freedom to choose their projects and serve their clients as they saw best. Xavier used to brag about the positive climate and culture he’d created. He was proud of it, as he should be.
None of his current behavior made any sense.
The whole thing felt icky, like an abuse of power, and definitely not like the company she’d loved working for.
The way he’d looked at her, spoken to her—
She couldn’t stay now, but she couldn’t walk away either, not without at least telling him first. “Ugh!” she growled, willing herself not to stomp a foot in frustration, then she followed Xavier to the conference room.
Nearly every seat at the large oval table was filled by the team members Peyton had selected.
An open laptop sat before each person; their phones, notebooks, and pens were at the ready as well.
Each looked as uncomfortable as she felt, no doubt realizing Xavier was furious with them and their lack of progress.
Peyton appeared slightly miserable until he locked eyes with her, then the corner of his mouth rose into a smirk. His scapegoat had arrived.
Tessa took the last available seat and checked the time again, then she did some mental math. She couldn’t stay for a meeting. She had a friend who needed her support far more than this group needed her input. If she left in the next few minutes, she might still get to the ball on time.
“All right,” Xavier began. “We need to make real progress on this and quickly. What do we have so far?”
The team sat silently, and Tessa’s frustration turned to concern. The group of men and the one token woman, who was an intern who’d never handled her own account, looked completely lost. As a whole, the team was young, new, and relatively inexperienced. No wonder things weren’t going well.
“Come on,” Xavier coaxed, clapping his palms together roughly. “You’ve had enough time to prepare multiple pitch concepts on this. Let’s hear what we’ve got.”
Peyton shifted in the seat beside him. “We’re revamping the initial idea of an all-pink color scheme.”
Jenny, the young woman across the table nodded. “Not all women like pink.”
“My girls like teal,” Robert, an older agent said. “But my wife really likes pink.” His gaze swept to Peyton on the latter statement.
“Okay,” Xavier said slowly. “What’s the new color palette?”
“Purple,” Peyton said. “Like lilacs. From the company’s namesake.”
Jenny met Tessa’s eyes for a prolonged moment before looking away.
Xavier ran a hand through his thick dark hair. “Okay, what else?”
“Lace,” Peyton said confidently. “We have sample fonts with lace as the inspiration and some packaging prototypes that lean into the visual. A faux lace overlay,” he continued. “Printed on the boxes, used as frames on website imagery . . .” He trailed off when Xavier didn’t appear excited.
Instead, Xavier looked to Tessa. “Thoughts?”
“Will the lace be purple?” she joked.
Xavier rubbed his right eyebrow, then his temple. “We’re asking for your help,” he said. “Not your condescension.”
Her cheeks heated at the scolding, and her stomach knotted with embarrassment.
She probably should have kept her comment to herself, but she’d hoped to lighten the mood.
No one could be creative under this level of tension.
What was wrong with him? He’d taught her that when she was new and too focused on getting things perfect.
Xavier had told her to step back. Breathe. Smile. Then try again.
Also, was he serious with his question? He wanted her thoughts on lilac-colored branding and lace fonts for a company called Lilacs and Lace? Had all these people really spent days coming up with that? Could they have given the project less thought?
“It’s just so on the nose,” she said, finally. She shifted her attention to the newer interns and softened her tone. “Branding should encapsulate the company motto, values, and audience, not just represent the name.”
“How would you suggest we do that?” Xavier demanded, thankfully directing the question to the other team members.
Peyton typed on his laptop, then paused. “We can use unshaven models in the ads.”
“What?” Xavier turned echoing Tessa’s thoughts. “Why?”
Peyton’s expression twisted as he looked from his screen to Xavier. “Empowering feminism?”
Tessa’s thoughts slowed as his words registered.
She’d added several nonsensical lines on empowering feminism in the file she suspected Peyton stole from.
She’d added free bleeding during monthly cycles and abstinence as well.
She assumed he’d see how ridiculous the notions were and realize she knew he was using her ideas.
More importantly, he’d realize that she was mocking him and that he’d never get another piece of her intellectual property for free.
Jenny raised, then dropped a hand on the conference table. “How is that useful right now?”
The others squirmed but remained silent.
Xavier waited, eyes fixed on Peyton.
Peyton looked nervously at Tessa, then at their boss. “Because women don’t have to shave if they don’t want to?”
“Yes,” Xavier said. “And?”
Tessa forced her gritted teeth to part before she cracked a molar. So Peyton had been stealing her ideas. She’d spent months thinking she wasn’t being creative enough. That her ideas were so commonplace that others in the office always had the same ones.
Not others, though. Peyton.
Peyton widened his eyes. “L and L is all about female empowerment.”