Page 8 of The Hang Up
The man cleared his throat and looked at Holly. “This meeting is confidential, correct?”
“That’s right, Rex,” she said, not batting an eyelash. “All our meetings are confidential. Is there something you wanted to share?”
Rex pushed his laptop shut and regarded them with a stern expression. “Look, let’s not beat around the bush here. Urban Trax has been bleeding money for the last three quarters, and our stock took a major hit after the whole embezzling scandal.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Holly said.
Miriam folded her hands on the table and looked a little like she might want to hit someone.
Jason could relate.
Rex kept talking. “The board of directors is poised to eliminate two hundred jobs within the next quarter unless we can turn things around. Perhaps now isn’t the time to be screwing around with experimental rebranding.”
Jason opened his mouth to tell the guy to pull his head out of his ass, but Miriam spoke first. “With all due respect, sir, that’s precisely the time to do a major rebrand. The company needs fresh blood, fresh ideas, a fresh approach to business. A signal to your consumers that you’re ready to play ball.”
She looked at Jason, who had to admit Miriam’s way of telling the guy to pull his head out of his ass was probably more effective than his would have been.
Beside her, Holly spoke. “It’s what we’ve been urging Urban Trax to consider,” she said. “A thorough rebrand, as opposed to slightly new spins on old ideas.”
“Nowthatsounds like a plan.” Jason tamped down his anger over hearing this goddamn layoff idea for the first time in a marketing meeting instead of in a private briefing in his own office. Rex Rutherford was either clueless or a total prick. Probably both, which could be a dangerous combination.
Jason picked up his pen to jot the first words in his new notebook.
Figure out how to beat corporate assholes at their own game.
Not the most professional note in the world, but a good thing to have on his to-do list as a new CEO.
He flipped the notebook closed and turned back to Miriam and laid his hands flat on the table. “You still have the original concepts you worked up for Urban Trax? The ones that represent a dirtier, edgier approach you’re talking about?”
“Absolutely.”
“Well then, let’s see what you’ve got.”
Miriam licked her lips. “I’d be happy to show you.”
* * *
It was wellafter five o’clock, but Miriam and Holly sat hunched at their laptops in the conference room, debriefing over a dish of gummy penises left behind by a client specializing in adult-themed treats.
Holly frowned at her screen as she nibbled the tip of a green gummy dick. “If we shift the Sunstone Lemonade account to Curtis and put Erica in charge of hiring the voice talent for those Visit Portland radio spots?—”
“And maybe we could fast-track things on hiring that new account rep,” Miriam mused. She scrolled through her too-full calendar. She really needed to budget time for things like peeing and sleeping. “Also, we should probably put Sierra or Brandon on the production team for the Rosewood Pianos account.” She grabbed a strawberry-flavored gummy dick, popped it in her mouth, and chewed as she moved her cursor over the page.
“Right.” Holly glanced up from her laptop. “If we do all that and shuffle the Anderson marketing plan to next month, we might be able to devote the time they need to this new direction on the Urban Trax project.”
“You mean the newolddirection? The one we should have gone with in the first place?”
“At least they’re considering taking our advice this time,” Holly said.
“Yeah, thanks to Jason.” Saying his name sent a shiver of pleasure through her body, but she ordered herself to stay focused on work. She started to reach for another gummy dick, but folded her hands on the table instead. “I still can’t believe Urban Trax is in that much financial trouble.”
“It makes sense, though, doesn’t it?” Holly said. “I mean with the embezzling thing and with the way they were already in a downslide before they came to us.”
“Yeah, but to have to lay off that many people?”
Holly shrugged and grabbed another piece of candy. “I don’t think they remembered to brief the new CEO before today’s meeting. Did you see the look on his face when Rex Rutherford mentioned the layoff?”
“Yeah,” Miriam mused, remembering Jason Sanders’s stunned expression. “It wasn’t much different from how he looked when my cat barged in on him naked.”
