Page 11 of Game Plan
“So can’t you just go back to her friend’s apartment and ask for April’s number there?” Emily asked, now that her laughter was under control and the tears had stopped.
“Ordinarily, yes. But she’s not out. To anyone.” Jade said, suddenly feeling very serious.
“Ah,” Emily realized the situation, “not like you to make moves on a newbie though, Jae. I thought you’d said never again after the last one, and that was two years ago?”
“It doesn’t matter, Em. She’s different. I don’t know how to describe it. I mean,” Jade paused, unsure if she should continue or not. “It was her first kiss last night. She’s never kissed anyone before, but the moment our lips touched, it felt like I’d been kissing her my whole life.”
“Damn,” was all Emily could say, eyes wide and eyebrows raised.
“Yeah, I know.” Jade admitted.
Chapter 10
April
The meeting room was stuffy. Was it really so hard to turn the air-con on in this place? Even the ice-cold water she had been handed from a fridge ten minutes ago had left large condensation puddles on the table where it now stood. Sad and warm.
“As you can see, the campaign will run over the course of a five-month period to start. The drink will focus on electrolyte replacements for mid to high level athletes. We want to zone in on college athletes and those looking to turn pro.” The middle aged, over-weight man, who had introduced himself as the Head of Marketing at the start of the meeting, said.
April usually didn’t mind attending these meetings. Sponsorships were important, regardless of what level you competed at. Without them, it became harder to focus on training when you spent time focusing on the cost of your nutritionist, and the cost of booking extra time on the courts with high performance players to train against.
It had been a week since April had met Jade, and she’d kicked herself constantly for not getting the woman’s number before they parted ways. It had been her first date; she was allowed to make rookie mistakes. But that one? After such an incredible night?
“Urgh,” April let out a groan at her stupidity.
“Excuse me?” Kevin Murray, the marketing guy, asked her.
April panicked as she realized that she groaned out loud, and he probably thought it was intended for him. She cleared her throat and reached for her lukewarm, condensation coated, bottle of water.
“Apologies, frog in my throat,” April managed to say after she gulped down half the bottle, desperately avoiding the disapproving look she knew was on her dad’s face.
“Oh, of course. As I was saying, the terms of the contract would have your image on promotional posters in sports departments of colleges and in high-end sports facilities across the country. As you are aware, our brand has various products available to the general public, but this is the first time we’re attempting to drill down and focus on such a specific target group.” Kevin said. He was about to continue until her dad spoke up.
“Why are you limiting your target market to such a niche group? Surely it makes better business sense to go after a wider range of potential buyers. Cast a wider net, so to speak.” Roland Walker really did think he knew everything about, well, everything.
April loved her dad, truly, from the depths of her heart she did. But she didn’t like ‘Roland Walker’ all that much right now.
“Very astute Mr. Walker,” Kevin said, clicking the discreet controller in his hand to change the screen to the next slide in his presentation, “That’s why after the initial five-month period, we’re going to expand the product to a wider market. Think of it as a soft launch at first. The product is unique; we want to ensure that it lands just right.”
“That makes sense to me,” April added. Trying to focus on the presentation, which was hard when the wrappers on the two flavors of the drink were orange and green. Reminding her of Jade’s hair and eyes.Get it together, April!
Kevin’s face lit up, and he continued to talk about the drink at length, the science behind how it works, what makes it different from their competitors. Then, came an interesting twist she wasn’t expecting.
“We are considering the possibility of taking on two faces for the drink. We’ll associate one with each of the flavors. This is still only a possibility, and we’re meeting with a few different athletes from various sports to find the right fit for the drink. But to be honest, Miss Walker, your current profile and recent tournament wins has put you at the forefront of our marketing plans.” Kevin ended his pitch with confidence. But not as much as Jade had last week though.C’mon April, focus.
“That would certainly make for interesting contract terms,” her dad said to Kevin, and the two men laughed in agreement at the comment.
After a further 15 minutes of ego rubbing from Kevin to ‘Roland Walker, world class champion tennis player’ rather than to herself, the intended face of this product, they shook hands and left the room.
That’s when hell froze over and the Southern Belle with Bite entered the building as they made it past the reception desk. Suzie Gibbons. April’s rival for the past decade.
“April! How are you doin’ darlin’?” Suzie drawled at April. “Taking a break from the tour, I see? Too exhausted from our last match in Madrid that you needed a longer recovery time?”
“Not at all, Suzie, the win actually did me the world of good.” April gave Suzie her best smile. She could see the claws slowly come out one by one on her opponent’s freshly manicured nails.
“Now, now, darlin’, no need to make a scene.” Suzie’s manager, Clive Montgomery, said. “Remember, eyes on the prize, Sugar, eyes on the prize. Our meeting is about to start, and we don’t want to be late. That’s not the kind of impression we want to make.”
April noticed the way Clive handled Suzie, probably wanting to avoid a repeat of the last time they were pitted against each other for a sponsorship. Like today, they had been given back-to-back appointment slots, and Suzie had arrived a few minutes early, hearing laughter coming from the meeting room ahead of her own. When April had walked out of the room that day, Suzie’s face looked like she was sucking lemons. The catty comment Suzie made when passing April carried louder than she’d probably intended, too. In hindsight, it went in April’s favor as the fitness watch company’s team saw a side of Suzie they weren’t expecting alongside April’s cheery personality.
