by Shea Balik
It was what he’d heard in his own mother’s voice when he’d called to tell her about the job. First she’d said his new boss made up the job to get into Tim’s pants. Then when he assured her the man was happily married and in his sixties, she told Tim he needed to be honest with Mr. Sullivan and tell him that there was no way Tim was creative or responsible enough to take the job. Sign twirler was much more appropriate for his skill set.
Tim really should have known better than to call her in the first place. His only saving grace had been that Tim had been in too good a mood to let even his mother bring him down.
“Honestly? I’m still not sure how it all happened,” Tim said with a chuckle. He couldn’t ever remember a time when he’d happy and carefree enough to just laugh, especially when he was with guy he liked. Usually, Tim was tense and waiting for the guy to tell him he wasn’t enough and they needed to stop seeing each other.
But with Nick, Tim didn’t feel that pressure. Oh, it was there, but instead of consuming him, it was just a niggling in the back of his mind. Something he was fairly sure all first dates encountered.
Instead of making him feel stupid and boring, Nick had a way of making everything Tim said feel important, or at least interesting. If Tim wasn’t careful, he’d find himself falling head over heels for Nick in a very short amount of time.
“When I arrived for the interview, Mr. Sullivan was cursing up a storm as he stared at a train track and village he’d put together in one of the four windows his store has.” Nick led Tim to a nearby bench that was empty.
Once they sat down, they unpacked their lunches. For Tim, it was turkey and white cheddar cheese with lettuce, pickles, and mayo. Nick had a BLT with a pickle spear on the side. They also were sharing an order of the deli’s special homemade potato chips.
Both of their stomachs growled when they opened that container. Laughing they each took a chip and moaned in delight at the salty goodness of the crispy chips.
“Damn,” Nick said as he picked up another chip and popped it in his mouth. “I’d forgotten just how much I love these.”
Tim couldn’t blame him. They were delicious. This was a special treat since Tim never had the extra money to indulge in something like this.
After they’d each taken a bite of their sandwiches, Nick asked, “Four windows for a toy store seems like a lot. How big is the store?”
Tim shrugged. “It’s on a corner, so there are two windows on each side. It really isn’t that large, but the owner isn’t interested in selling every toy known to man. He wants it to be a place where classic toys, like trains, are found.”
Tim wasn’t sure how many kids cared about old fashioned toys, but from what Tim saw of the inventory, there were some newer toys on the shelves, too.
“Anyway, the scene Mr. Sullivan had created was nice enough, but very…” His boss might not have been there but Tim still didn’t want to disparage the man who was giving him such a great opportunity. “Well… basic, I guess. There was nothing really to draw the eye other than the moving train.”
Tim still had no idea what had come over him when he offered to help. “I didn’t know anything about toy trains, or… well, toy anything. All I knew was having Mr. Sullivan upset when interviewing me might mean I wouldn’t get the job.”
Nick frowned at his words. “Yeah, but it wasn’t your fault. I mean, he couldn’t hold it against you for not liking what he’d put together.”
If only that was the way the world actually worked, but Tim knew better. Too often he didn’t get jobs not because of him, but other factors, like the boss being upset at the time. “Maybe, but it hasn’t stopped previous interviews from going wrong. I remember one time the owner was taking me into his office for an interview and we walked in on his wife and the head chef. Might not have been my fault but I still didn’t get the job.”
Nick chuckled at that. “Okay. You have a point. I would imagine every time he saw you, the guy would have been reminded of what happened, but in fairness, that’s an extreme case.”
True. But Tim’s bad luck tended to make situations that were out of his control happen whenever he was trying to get a job. “I still knew it would be better if I at least attempted to help, even if I had no clue what I was doing.”
No one had been more surprised to discover Tim had a knack for creating displays that were dynamic enough to draw a crowd around the window they were working on. “By the time I was done, there were at least thirty people standing outside the window staring in awe at what I’d done.”
Tim was beaming. He couldn’t help it. When Mr. Sullivan hugged him while thanking him effusively, Tim had nearly cried. “Then he offered me the job as display manager. I’ll be creating weekly displays for all four windows along with a minimum of four other displays for the inside of the store.”
Nick surprised him when he leaned over and hugged Tim. “Congratulations. I’m so happy for you. I was planning on walking around the lake for a bit after we eat, but I would love it if you’d show me that window display.”
His already huge grin lit up even further. “You really want to see it?” This time Tim did pinch himself. No way was any of this happening. Yet, the sting of his fingers pressing against the skin of his arm said it was.
“Of course, I want to see it. Maybe on our next date, we can take a walk around the lake.”
Tim blinked at Nick. Yep. This had to be a dream, pinch or no pinch. In less than twenty-four hours he’d been asked out by a hot guy, gotten a dream job that paid really well, gone out with the hot guy, who indicated he wanted a second date. Life just didn’t happen like this for Tim.
CHAPTER 6
“Please tell me you’re joking, and that you’ve got another proposal ready for me,” Mr. Givens demanded as he stormed into Nick’s office Monday morning.
Anger surged within Nick but he forced himself to tamp it down. This was Howard’s game. He put down the associate who came up with the pitch, letting the entire office know it would take Howard hours to fix it. Yet, when the client did accept their proposal, somehow it always ended up being the same one they’d given Howard in the beginning.
Since Nick was moving up in the company, he’d attended a few of the client meetings and knew, Howard never did come up with anything else. He just wanted the office to believe it was his idea, not the associate’s they were using.
Underhanded? Definitely. But they all put up with it for the sake of their jobs. What Howard didn’t know, was Nick had gotten a memo from the Marketing Manager, Jenny Bealls, that weekend. She’d asked for a copy to be placed on her desk that morning also.
“Really, Howard? Because I thought the proposal was brilliant,” Jenny said from where she stood in Nick’s office. Apparently, Howard hadn’t seen her when he’d entered. “But if you think you can do better, I look forward to hearing your pitch. Have it ready by eleven and I’ll decide which one will be used in the meeting.”
Then she turned to Nick. “If I chose yours, be ready to present it to the clients.”
“But…I…He…” Howard sputtered. In the end, he whined, “But I always give the presentations to the clients.”
Before Jenny turned away from Nick, she gave him a wink. “Yes, but that is going to change. It has come to my attention that we aren’t giving our associates enough credit for their work.” She crossed her arms in front of her and gave Howard a long stare. “You wouldn’t know anything about that, would you Howard?”
“What?” Howard’s face turned red. “I would never do anything so underhanded.”
How he could say the words without choking on the lie was astounding, although not that surprising. Nick wasn’t sure his boss had an honest bone in his body. If Jenny felt the need to get involved, she must have sensed the same thing.
“Good luck to both of you, gentlemen,” Jenny said as she left. “I expect you both in my office at eleven.”
Nick was certain by the sour look on Howard’s face he wanted to tell Jenny what she cou
ld do with her meeting, but she was his boss and as narcissistic as the man was, he clearly wasn’t willing to risk his job.
Howard glared at Nick before storming out of his office. Thank God for small miracles. For a minute there, Nick had feared his boss would demand he come up with a better proposal for Howard to give to Jenny.
“Lukas,” Howard yelled. “Get in my office, now.”
Now, that was funny. If Howard actually thought Lukas would come up with something better than what he had, he was going to be greatly disappointed. Nothing against Lukas, but the kid was still learning the ropes and usually ended up coming to Nick for inspiration.
Happy to have finally gotten recognition for his hard work, Nick pulled out his phone and shared it with the one person who had given him the idea to begin with, Tim.
My boss’s boss liked our concept. I might even get to present it to the clients myself. Thank you for letting me borrow from your beautiful design. Nick :)
Instantly he saw the dots on his screen indicating Tim was writing him back.
Glad I could help but that was all you. Tim :)
Nick didn’t even bother to hold back the smile that formed on his lips. He was too damn happy. Even if Howard somehow managed to come up with something better, Nick was proud of himself for this campaign.
After eating on Saturday, Tim led them to the toy store to show off his window display. The store wouldn’t be opening for another two weeks so they didn’t need to go inside to see what Tim had done.
A crowd was milling around the window when they’d arrived and when Nick had seen it, he could understand why. It was stunning. An old village lined part of the tracks, with its people doing various tasks. There was even a school house with children playing on the playground. Everyone was staged in a way that it actually looked like they were real and ready to take their next step, or push their legs to make the seesaw go up.
The moment was captured in a perfect picture for the world to see. Even the nearby forest on one side of the tracks seemed to be swaying with the passing train. Deer were in various stages of eating or glancing up at the train as if making sure to keep the rest of the herd safe.
The moment he’d laid eyes on it, Nick had been transported into the world Tim had created. It had also given him a great idea for the file his boss has given him Friday night. Nick had stayed up most of the night but hadn’t come up with a single good idea for a new RV company that had been hoping to remind people to slow down and see what’s out there.
For Nick, travel meant excitement and adventure. He didn’t just want to see the world, he wanted to experience it all. All he’d been able to come up with were things like rock climbing hiking mountains, parking at the beach to go surfing.
None of those things were what the client was trying to portray. At least, not from Nick’s perspective. Until he saw Tim’s model town, Nick hadn’t understood the appeal of going to a sleepy little town in the middle of nowhere.
Through Tim’s eyes, he now did.
So he took out the train, since they were trying to sell RVs, and put in a small campground in amongst the trees and had done several scenes for the commercial and print ads he’d finally managed to create.
Thanks to Tim.
Even if they don’t like it, I want to celebrate. Do you still have tonight off? I would like to take you for that walk around the lake.
The little dots appeared again letting him know Tim was responding. He hoped that meant it was good news.
I agreed to work on the second display window for Mr. Sullivan when I get off from the café. I don’t know how long it will take but I would like to spend time with you again.
Those displays gave Tim something to be proud of and Nick didn’t want to interfere. He had the feeling Tim hadn’t had many opportunities in his life to believe in himself. Nick hoped, one day, Tim would trust him enough to tell him why.
To him, Tim was an amazing man who deserved good things. With that in mind he started texting.
I will text you when I am done for the day. If you are finished, we’ll go for that walk. If not, we can plan it another day. Have fun with your window. :)
Good luck. I know you’ll be great. :)
Nick sure as hell hoped so. He was getting tired of Howard taking all the credit.
****
“As you can see,” Howard gestured to the screen where a series of four different scenes were featured. “We’ll start with a family at home, bored as they watch TV. Then we’ll segue into them deciding it’s time for some adventure by buying an RV at a Homeworld’s.”
Nick tried very hard not to roll his eyes as the next scene morphed on the screen to the family of four cliff diving in what looked like Hawaii. Why in the world Howard thought it would be a good idea for two kids who appeared to be around six and nine to be cliff diving, Nick couldn’t be sure. Nor did Howard explain how the same family got their RV to Hawaii, and then to what Nick was fairly certain was Devil’s Tower in Wyoming.
Again, no explanation was offered for how a six and nine-year-old were doing the climb. There was stunned silence as Howard finished his presentation with a scene of the family at the bottom of the Grand Canyon with their RV next to them.
Did the man know nothing about the outside world? Sure, he didn’t have kids, so maybe that would explain that he didn’t know why it was inappropriate to run an ad with such young kids doing dangerous things, but to drive an RV to the bottom of the Grand Canyon? Sure, it was technically, maybe possible, but not realistic or something these RV were made for.
“Uhm,” Jenny said. “I’m not quite sure what to say, Howard.”
Instead of listening to the hesitancy in Jenny’s voice, Howard, as usual, assumed she was about to praise him. “I know,” Howard said smugly as he sat down in one of the chairs around the table and kicked his feet up onto its surface. “It’s fantastic. The images alone will have people flocking to buy one of these babies just for a chance to go on the adventure of a lifetime.”
Jenny’s brows furrowed. “I’m not sure I would agree with you on that.”
“Wait.” Howard’s feet landed with a thud on the ground as he leaned forward in his seat and placed his hands flat on the table. “What are you saying? That commercial is gold. I admit it needs a little fine tuning in some areas but I didn’t have time to polish it.”
“Did you even read the file on what the client wanted?” Jenny asked as she tossed the file into the center of the table.
Howard smirked at her, like he knew better than she did what the client may or may not want. “Of course. But let’s face it.” He pointed at the screen where the last scene still showed. “That will sell RVs. Not some stupid sappy scenes of families around a campfire or going to small towns with nothing to do.”
Howard stood up and shoved the file back toward Jenny. “The client will salivate when they see this presentation. They’ll forget all about the tagline about taking home with you when they see the one I have.”
Howard pushed a button on the laptop that had been running the ad he’d created. The last scene faded away and a new tagline appeared in big bold letters. Adventure Awaits the Bold.
Silence descended as Jenny stared first at the screen, then at Howard before landing on Nick. There was zero doubt in Nick’s mind that his presentation was not only better, it was what the client wanted. As he’d learned many times in the past, those things didn’t always matter.
It wasn’t until Jenny said, “Nick, you will be giving the presentation. Be in the conference room in thirty minutes to help me set everything up.”
“What the fuck?” Howard yelled as Jenny stood to leave. “You can’t possibly pick his lame idea over mine. This is crap and I’m not going to stand for it.”
Jenny stood straight with her shoulders back and her eyes narrowed on Howard. “I suggest you think long and hard before you say anything else, Howard. Not only has the decision been made, but your lack of ability to understand what a client wants is for
cing me to re-evaluate your job here.”
When Howard didn’t say anything else, Jenny left. Not about to listen to what would most likely be a temper-tantrum from his boss, Nick followed closely behind.
Even though he had a lot to do to get ready, he couldn’t help but send off one quick text.
My proposal won!
No dots appeared on the screen indicating Tim had gotten the message. Nick tried not to be disappointed. Most likely Tim was busy at work. Something Nick should be doing if he was going to be ready for this meeting.
CHAPTER 7
If anyone had told Tim that designing windows with toys was a real job or that he’d be good at it, he would have laughed hysterically. Between not having much experience with toys, or decorating, Tim should have been a failure of epic proportions.
So he was speechless when he finished his second window and found people not only staring in awe outside, but actually clapping when he turned on the motion components. That his boss was doing the same as he stood next to him with tears in his eyes, made the moment even more surreal.
“I don’t know how you do it, but I swear I could be that little boy with his face lit up like he’s just accomplished the greatest of feats by getting his kite airborne.” Mr. Sullivan patted Tim’s shoulder. “You’ve given me a gift I will always remember, my son.”
My son.
Pride welled up within Tim so quickly he’d feared he might truly take flight, just like those kites that he managed to make appear as if they were floating in the display. Never before had anyone called him ‘son’ with so much affection and honor.
His mom had always made it sound like a swear word when she grudgingly admitted he or Ralph were her sons. His father… Well, those rare times he’d bothered to come home were usually followed instantly by Tim and Ralph being ordered to their rooms so they wouldn’t bother him after a long day.