Page 15 of Worth the Fall
Before another thought could enter my head, I was asleep.
~~~
I woke up drenched in sweat and shaking, rolling out of bed and landing flat on my butt. My heart was still racing. My dream was coming back to me in flashes, and I pushed it away before it could make me scream again.
The room was boiling, another reason for me to be covered in sweat. The radiator was on, pumping outhotair. I fiddled with it until it finally turned off.
Who puts a radiator in Arizona?
This assignment was messing with me too much. I needed to regain control. Throwing on my leggings and tank top, I rushed outside. It was almost as warm as it was in my room, despite it being just after five.
I found a small path around a park, much like mine in Chicago, except with cacti instead of the lake, and ran for an hour.
The ringing in my ears had finally subsided. The onlysound now was thethump, thump, thump, of my tennis shoes hitting the pavement, followed by the predictable rhythm of my breathing. By the time I had made it back to the hotel, I finally felt a little bit more like myself.
I took a quick cold shower, very un-Allegra-like, and took my time dressing and getting ready. I didn’t have any meetings or rodeos today, so the time was mine to write my first impression proposal and get ready to travel to Florida tomorrow.
Usually, there were three rodeos in a weekend at each place, and I would have to attend, but I had caught the last one in Arizona.
This next one, I would make it with enough time to hire a photographer, schedule a long meeting with the board, and have my date with Harrison.
This was just the first location. This was the worst part.
I packed my briefcase and locked the door behind me. There was no way I was going to spend the day locked in the tiny windowless room. I was going to find a cafe or coffee shop.
Luckily, there was a cute little diner on the corner with big windows and only a few people. I made my way in and found an empty booth in the back. A waitress in a blue dress followed me and barely waited until I sat down to ask for my order.
I doubted they had anything like the green smoothie I made myself every morning, and just asked for a small salad and water.
[First Impressions and Strategic Update]
Where could I even start? I knew Mr. Sterling was sitting at his desk, ready to send me an email asking for this any minute.
[The “social media engagement gap” is directly related to a lack of professionals. We need to immediately develop an Athlete Endorsement Strategy, focusing on high-performing, high-profile riders. The crowds recognize the cowboys’ names; let’s get them to recognize the sponsor they will wear.]
The waitress brought my food and smiled as she left. The diner was adorable. Red booths, checkered floor, a juke box, I felt like I had been transported back to the fifties.
I cracked my knuckles and wrote a few more pages. I wrote about the board, the overall rodeo experience, and some closing thoughts. I proofread it so many times that the words weren’t making sense anymore.
Holding my breath, I clicked send, and it was on its way to Mr. Sterling.
He was bound to call as soon as he finished it.
The door to the diner dinged as someone walked in. I opened a new file on my laptop and started writing the script for our sponsorship at the next rodeo.
I was not going to let Agri-Corp get embarrassed like that again.
“Well, hey there!”
I looked over my laptop and saw Dennis Nash’s huge smile staring back at me. “Mr. Nash, good morning!”
“Please call me Dennis. Allegra, is that right?”
I nodded and closed my computer. “That was a stunning show last night.”
He sat down across from me without waiting for an invitation. “Man, I swear I’ve seen a million, and each one makes me excited.” He slid a muffin toward me and took a biteof his own.
I glanced at the muffin. “For me?”
