by Regina Hart
The screeching silence coming over the phone line screamed, Wrong answer! She wouldn’t apologize for her cost-cutting measures. Once her business was on more solid ground she’d rent space in a cozy nearby office complex. Until then, she promoted her lack of an office as providing her clients with the convenience of her coming to them.
“You meet with clients in your home?” Tyler sounded as though her one-woman show had gone down even farther in his estimation.
“No, I meet with them in their offices, just as I met with you last week at Anderson Adventures.” Iris struggled to focus on Tyler’s words. His voice did wicked things to her insides.
The traffic light turned green. Iris pulled into the intersection and continued her drive home.
“I see.”
Iris frowned. “Did you ask me to call just so we could chat about office rentals? Is Anderson Adventures looking to expand?”
“Not at this time.” There was a tapping in the background as though Tyler was drumming his fingers on the glass surface of his desk. “Actually, Iris, I was calling to give you the contract for our product launch. How soon can you start?”
Did he just offer me the project he didn’t think I had a snowball’s chance in hell of contractually completing?
“I’m sorry, what did you say?”
“I said we want The Beharie Agency to handle the product launch for ‘Osiris’s Journey.’”
“What made you change your mind?” Iris pulled into a nearby parking lot. This discussion required her full attention.
Tyler hesitated as though he hadn’t anticipated her question. Had he thought she’d jump for joy, then sign the contract before he could change his mind? Anderson Adventures wasn’t the only one with a lot to lose.
“Your proposal was very strong and you spoke enthusiastically about the project.”
Iris parked in the first open space she found. “We discussed my proposal more than a week ago. At that time, you were adamant that, although my plan was strong, my solo practice didn’t inspire your confidence. What’s changed?”
She turned off her engine and stared through the windshield. She imagined Tyler, sitting at his desk, surrounded by his computer, minifridge and radio. What had happened to bring the gaming executive back to her?
“I’ve changed my mind.”
The lightbulb came on in Iris’s brain. “The larger company didn’t work out, did they? What happened? Did they charge too much money? They couldn’t commit to your launch schedule?”
“That’s not relevant. The fact of the matter is—”
“Come clean, Ty. If we’re going to be working together, we can’t have secrets between us.”
Another pause. “I’m not used to vendors being so...”
“Assertive?”
“I was going to say bold.”
Iris smiled. Did he think she’d be insulted? “You’ve never worked with me.”
Tyler gave her a noncommittal “hmm.” “The other company didn’t respond to my request for a proposal.”
Iris snapped her fingers. “Poor customer service. You know, I almost said that. Actually, I should have said that before guessing they’d asked for too much money. After all, Anderson Adventures is a multimillion-dollar company. You could probably afford to contract with two large consulting businesses.”
She’d love to know what company had been stupid enough to ignore a proposal request from Anderson Adventures.
Tyler sighed. “Iris? Do you want the contract?”
“I’m not comfortable working for a client who doubts my abilities.” She watched a squirrel race up the evergreen tree planted in front of her car. It scurried away, disappearing into the branches. “You won’t trust my opinions and you’ll second-guess my actions.”
Her last boss had made her justify every thought she had, every move she made—then had taken credit for her successes. She couldn’t work like that—no matter how badly she wanted this account.
“You’re launching an Anderson Adventures product. I have to approve your marketing strategy. I’m hiring your company but you’re representing mine.” Tyler’s tone was persuasive. It was as though, now that he’d set his mind to hiring her, he wasn’t going to take no for an answer.
“You’re hiring my expertise. If I tell you something will or won’t work, I need you to respect that.”
“As long as you’re willing to discuss your reasoning.”
Iris hesitated a moment more. The bottom line was she wanted this account. She still had her reservations because of his low expectation of her abilities. But she wanted the opportunity to prove to Tyler Anderson that what he’d considered second best had been the right choice all along.
“Fair enough. I’ll accept your offer. Thank you.”
“Good.” Tyler seemed relieved. “How soon can you start?”
Iris arched a brow at his anxious tone. “I take it you haven’t postponed your product launch?”
“No, we haven’t.”
Of course not. “Then I’ll see you at eight o’clock tomorrow morning.”
“Thank you, Iris.”
Had she actually gotten a smile out of the product developer? “Enjoy your afternoon, Ty.”
Iris disconnected the call, then restarted her car. Something told her she’d have an uphill battle with Anderson Adventures’ vice president of product development. Tyler didn’t appear to impress easily. But that’s what she’d have to do to ensure the success of this account and future client recommendations.
This was the opportunity she’d been working toward. She had until eight o’clock tomorrow morning to come up with a detailed plan for the product launch—and another to avoid being distracted by Tyler Anderson.
* * *
“Why do we need an internal launch?” Tyler sounded as if he needed more coffee.
Iris’s gaze moved from his irritated ebony eyes to the large silver-and-black mug beside her new client’s right hand. Should I suggest he get a refill? No, that would probably offend him.
She sat back on the cushioned chair at his conversation table and refocused on their Friday-morning meeting. “I’m sure details of ‘Osiris’s Journey’ have been kept from most—if not all—of your employees to prevent leaks.”
“That’s right. We don’t want the public—or our competitors—to hear about it in advance.”
“Most successful corporate campaigns grow from the inside out. Before you launch your latest game nationally, you should give your employees a sneak peek. It’s a morale booster.”
“Foster sends a companywide email before each release.” Tyler noted something on his electronic tablet. “But since I’m handling this launch, he’ll probably want the message to come from me. I’ll check with him.”
That was more than a lot of companies did but still not enough. “Your employees should know about more than just the game. Tell them how you’re going to launch it—key dates, media outlets, talking points. They’ll share that information with family, friends, members of their community organizations. It’s free word-of-mouth advertising.”
“We can put that in the email.” Tyler continued typing.
“With all due respect, Ty, an email’s not enough.” Iris watched his long, elegant fingers move across the tablet’s keyboard. The sight was distracting. She raised her eyes. “The majority of company emails aren’t read. If you want employees to receive your message, your best bet is talking with them face-to-face.”
They locked gazes. This was their first disagreement—and the first item on her agenda. If she had to debate each of the four topics with him, it was going to be a long meeting. She glanced at her coffee mug. I wonder if I should get a refill?
Tyler finally nodded. “Those are good points.”
“Thank you.” Iris wanted to pump her fist in vict
ory. She settled for handing him another sheet of paper from her manila project folder. “This is a draft schedule of your internal launch, including tasks. I’ve also emailed it to you. We can review it once we’re done with the other agenda items.”
“This is a lot of detail. When did you put this together?”
The admiration in Tyler’s tone made Iris pause. “Last night.”
“Thank you.” Those two words expressed more than gratitude. She heard respect, appreciation and relief.
“You’re welcome.”
Thankfully, they moved through the rest of the agenda at a much faster pace. At least until they came to the media interviews.
“Why do I have to do so many of them?” Surly best described Tyler’s tone.
“I’m going to pitch your release to these outlets—print, as well as broadcast and podcasts. That doesn’t mean all of these venues will agree to an interview.”
“Our previous marketing consultant just sent out press releases. We’ve never done pitches before.”
“That’s not a good enough reason not to do them now.” How much had their previous consultant charged to attach a release to an email and hit Send? Iris cringed just thinking about it.
“Don’t you think this is going overboard?” Tyler gestured toward her media proposal.
“Not at all.” Iris was firm. “Your three most recent product releases have been on the list of the top-ten most popular computer games for almost a year. Candidly, I think every media outlet all over the country will jump at the chance to interview you. We should do as many of them as we can.”
“I can’t be away from the office for weeks at a time.” Tyler looked harassed. “We’re working on other games.”
“We’ll only do what your schedule will allow. Some of these can be done over the phone.” Iris checked that item off of their agenda. “You showed me some of the features of ‘Osiris’s Journey.’ I’m not familiar with computer games but I was impressed by yours.”
“Thank you.”
“But it’s not what I expected.” Iris’s eyebrows knitted. “Why did you create the game?”
Tyler seemed deep in thought as he sipped his coffee. “We designed ‘Osiris’s Journey’ to introduce teens and preteens to Egyptian mythology.”
“Osiris is considered the king of the afterlife.”
Tyler nodded. “For example, he’s credited with the harvest and renewal of crops, the flooding of the Nile, the rising and setting of the sun. The game is a series of battles between Osiris and his brother, Seth, who murdered him and cut his body into fourteen pieces. Seth is the god of storms and the desert.”
“It looks like an exciting game. I’m glad that you included Osiris’s wife, Isis, as well.”
“Isis is critical to Osiris’s story.” Tyler’s deep voice quickened with enthusiasm. “After Seth cut Osiris’s body into fourteen pieces, Isis searched their kingdom until she found each one. Then she used her magic to put him back together and bring him back to life.”
“I’m familiar with their mythology. It’s such a bittersweet love story. She was really devoted to him.” What would it be like to have someone love her that much? Sometimes she wondered whether she’d ever find love, true love.
Iris set the thought aside and moved on to the next agenda item, social media. “I couldn’t find Anderson Adventures on Facebook or Twitter. Do you have those accounts?”
“No.” Tyler looked as though she’d asked if he’d ever traveled off planet.
Iris’s eyebrows knitted in confusion. “You sell computer games. Your audience is on the internet. Anderson Adventures needs to get on the social media bandwagon—Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram—”
“Slow down.” Tyler held up a hand. “We don’t have the staff to maintain those sites.”
“I can get us started for now.” Iris watched him lower his hand. “We’ll discuss your hiring college interns to maintain the sites once I’m gone.”
“All right.” But he didn’t sound happy about it.
“You’re a computer gaming company.” Iris swallowed back her growing agitation. “It’s critically important for you to be active on social media. Your customers are there.”
“We’ve never had a marketing consultant tell us any of this before.” Tyler stared down at the meeting agenda as though it was a death warrant. “This partnership is going to change the company in ways I’d never imagined.”
“That’s a good thing.” Iris surrendered to her indignation. “Your previous marketing consultants should have set up your social media platforms. They should have given you a plan on how to run it. What were you paying them for?”
Tyler was silent for several rapid heartbeats. His ebony eyes searched each of her features as though he was looking for something. “You’re right. I’m glad you’re here, Iris.”
A slow blush warmed her cheeks. Iris’s unsteady gaze dropped. He was glad she was here for the product launch. She knew that’s what he’d meant. Then why did she want him to mean something more?
* * *
Tyler’s caller identification screen displayed Kimball & Associates’ phone number. So, his former marketing consulting firm had decided to return his messages. It was after five o’clock on Friday afternoon, more than a week after the proposal deadline.
Where had they been this morning, before he’d signed the contract with Iris—and barely survived their first project meeting? Better yet, where had they been a week ago, when he’d called to ask for their proposal? He swallowed a sigh and picked up the phone.
“Tyler Anderson.” His voice was tight.
“Ty! It’s Pete Kimball. How are you?”
“Fine, Pete. How can I help you?”
Peter must have keyed into Tyler’s cool tone. He pumped up the energy and enthusiasm in his voice as though hoping to break through the ice. “Hey, thank you for giving us an opportunity to submit a proposal for your launch. I’m getting ready to send it over to you now.”
Tyler rubbed his eyes. “It’s March twentieth. The deadline was more than a week ago.”
“I know, Ty. We’ve just been so lousy busy around here lately.”
“Is that the reason you didn’t return my messages? I left several.”
“Yeah, it’s just been crazy. I’m really sorry about that.”
“I’m sorry, too, Pete.” Tyler went back to the summary he was drafting on the latest test results for “Osiris’s Journey.” They were dismal. And he was running out of time. “There’s no point in your submitting a proposal. I’ve already awarded the contract.”
“You have?” Peter sounded stunned.
What had he expected, that Anderson Adventures would sit and wait forever for their proposal?
“Yes and we’ve signed a contract.” Tyler typed in the date and time of the next game test and recommendations for improvements. “As I explained in my request for your proposal, we’re on a very tight time frame for the launch. That’s one of the reasons I left so many messages for you.” Pity you never responded to any of them.
“I see.”
“Goodbye, Pete.”
“Wait! Do you mind if I ask who won the contract?”
Tyler hesitated but didn’t see any harm in telling Peter he was working with Iris. “The Beharie Agency.”
“Iris Beharie?” Peter sounded as though Tyler had contracted with an alien life form.
“Do you know her?”
“Yes, I do.” The consultant’s tone was grim. “Listen, Ty. There’s something you should know about her.”
Chapter 4
Standing at her stove Friday evening, Iris wasn’t especially curious when her front doorbell chimed a little after six o’clock. It couldn’t be anyone she knew. Family and friends pulled in behind her garage and
knocked at her back door. She turned off the fire beneath the boiling pot of water—the spaghetti would have to wait—then padded in stocking feet out of her kitchen and across her living room. Iris rose up on her toes to check the peephole—and gasped.
What is Ty Anderson doing at my door?
She grabbed the knot of hair she’d clipped to the top of her head. Horrified, she looked at her oversized sweatshirt and faded red tights with the name of Cleveland’s professional basketball team written on the legs.
Oh, my word! I can’t let a client see me like this.
The doorbell rang again. Iris’s panicked, gaze leaped up the stairs. But if Tyler couldn’t wait one minute for her to answer his summons, there was no way Mr. Impatience would cool his heels while she pulled on a power suit.
Iris channeled her older sister, Rose. Assume control, project confidence. She pulled open her front door. “Ty. What a surprise. I believe I mentioned I never conduct client meetings in my home.”
“We need to talk.” His somber expression alarmed her.
Iris stepped aside, gesturing him in. “What’s wrong?”
Tyler crossed her threshold before turning to face her. “Why didn’t you tell me you were fired from RGB for unethical behavior?”
A hundred words flashed across Iris’s mind. Several of them were quite unprofessional. She kept a grip on her temper by channeling her inner Lily. Remain calm; get the facts.
Iris counted to twenty while she closed and locked her front door against the chill of the late-March evening. She faced Tyler, keeping her arms at her sides and her gaze level with his. “What makes you think RGB fired me?”
“My sources in the industry told me.”
His sources? The lightbulb clicked on. Pete Kimball, that nasty, little troll. Iris drew a deeper breath. How did Lily maintain her serenity?
“Your sources are incorrect.” She tilted her head. “Are you interested in the truth?”
“Of course.” Tyler crossed his arms over his broad chest.
Iris gave him a once-over. His teak wool overcoat masked his long, lean form. His ebony eyes burned with outrage and...betrayal? Did he think she’d broken his trust? She had too much personal integrity to do something like that. But of course Tyler wouldn’t know that because he didn’t know her.