Page 94 of Broken
As Prescott filled a mug, Artemis said, “I’ve got to run. Yes, I’ll make sure you have it. Yes, today. I promise.” He hung up, and the wistful look in his eyes faded.
His cheeks were rosy, like he’d been exercising, but Prescott doubted his uncle had been working out.
“Are you attending the board meeting at eleven?” Artemis asked on his way out.
“I’ll be there, but I haven’t looked at the agenda.” Prescott sipped the hot drink.
In the doorway, Artemis turned back. “I’m pitching TopCon’s rebranding proposal.”
“Is TopCon the woman I met?”
Artemis’s face split into a smile. “Yes, she’s the one.”
“I wanted to tell you that my sis—”
“Sorry, I’m short on time. We’ll talk later.” Artemis rushed out.
With mug in hand, Prescott returned to his office and spent the next hour playing catch up. At eleven o’clock, he entered the executive conference room. Not only was the table full, the second row of chairs hugging the wall were filled. Prescott took his place at the head. His uncle was already seated at the other end.
As the meeting began, Prescott’s phone buzzed with a call from Z. Prescott left the conference room. “I’m at work and can’t talk.”
“I’ve got a job for tonight.”
“Tonight? Seriously, there’s no way—”
“We’ve located the Piranha.”
The Piranha had been on Z’s Most Wanted List for a while.
“Where?” Prescott asked.
“Near Baltimore.”
“Send me the deets.” He hung up and returned to the conference room.
His uncle was explaining why he was recommending TopCon to rebrand their image on a line of creams, lotions, and gels for sensitive skin. The products had been in the red for so long, another C-level exec had suggested the line be eliminated altogether.
“With the rebranding, along with our three-punch marketing strategy, I’m confident this will give the dying brand new life,” Artemis said.
“Artemis, why aren’t we using our in-house marketing team for this skincare line?” asked a board member.
“We need a fresh, new perspective when re-branding this image,” Artemis explained. “If the same group looks at the same products, we’ll get the same results. TopCon’s team is offering something different.”
“How much?” another board member asked.
“One point five million,” Artemis replied.
The board had seven days to review the suggestions before a final decision was required. Artemis closed his presentation, and the meeting moved on to the next agenda item.
Prescott pulled up the daycare app. Once it downloaded, he signed in. After toggling around, he found Miss Nancy’s classroom. A few more clicks and he found Ethan. He was sitting with Dylan and three other children at a table. They were all eating lunch. Dylan said something and Ethan started laughing, then Dylan laughed. While Ethan could have been crying thirty seconds ago, Prescott had captured a happy moment.
Gratitude and relief coursed through him. If anyone could manage through a challenge, it was him.
I’ve got this, one day at a time.
Leaving the app open, he returned his attention to the next presentation. In truth, there were certain aspects of corporate America that drove him insane. Meetings topped that list. While some of them were necessary, he considered most of them a total time suck.
His thoughts jumped to Jacqueline. Was she working? Was she reviewing the case history of the deceased Ops? It had been three days since he’d seen her, in person, and he missed the hell out of her.
