Total pages in book: 114
Estimated words: 108636 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 543(@200wpm)___ 435(@250wpm)___ 362(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 108636 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 543(@200wpm)___ 435(@250wpm)___ 362(@300wpm)
She nods. “I’ll get with Luke this afternoon.”
I roll through the rest of my team, asking for updates from Harry, Eddie, and Madeline as I go, each member assigned to different tasks related to our Midnight campaign.
When I ask Madeline about the progress she’s made with our Public Relations team in the viability of getting specific influencers and celebrities to join our campaign, I can’t stop myself from silently wondering how her lunch with Seth McKenzie went the other day.
Did she talk a little too much about our campaign? Spill the beans on the direction we’ve chosen to go? And, if yes, will that affect our pitch, come end of December?
As much as I’ve enjoyed the messages with my Mystery Woman, I could do without the mental unrest. I don’t want to have doubts influence my decisions with my team. It’s a weak take as a commander and not at all how my father taught me to do business.
I need to be able to be confident and decisive, and looking over my shoulder for the next double agent would affect my ability to do that positively.
“Oh, Beau,” Eddie chimes in. “Alice just sent me a rough cut for the commercial.”
All right, Beau. Time to tune out the noise.
“Let’s see it.”
He turns the screen of his laptop to show everyone at the table, and with one click of his finger, the screen comes to life.
A dark night sky with moon and stars is the only thing in frame until an attractive woman with long, dark hair and smoky eye makeup steps onto the screen. “There’s no curfew at Midnight,” she whispers, a little smile on her lips.
The screen flashes to a handsome man in a suit as he fixes his cuff links and then looks directly into the camera. “There are no rules,” he says before the woman is back in the frame next to him.
She lifts her finger to her lips and smirks. “Shh… Don’t tell anyone.” The Midnight logo appears on the screen behind them and pulls forward, fading them out into the background as they embrace each other.
It’s alluring and intriguing and exudes a tangible scale of wealth—all things that sell.
“What do you think?” I ask, looking around the room while I try to gauge everyone’s reaction.
“I think I love it,” Eddie comments with a big smile.
“Me too,” Laura agrees. “But I can’t decide if we need to give the viewer a little more of an idea of what Midnight is about, or if the ambiguity is the point.”
“We’re on the same page, Laura.” I nod. “Let’s consider showing this to a few selective focus groups after we get the final cut. I’d love to get some objective feedback on it. Open feedback, of course, but let’s also lob a specific follow-up question about the ambiguity after we get their initial thoughts.”
“I’ll work on getting that set up,” Madeline offers, and I give her a thumbs-up.
“Perfect. Let’s also add a question that weighs the favorability of how exclusive it feels. Is that selling, or do we need it to feel more relatable?”
“Will do.” Madeline jots notes on her pad and nods.
I glance down at the Rolex on my wrist and see I have about forty minutes until my next meeting—a teleconference with the CEO of Dalencia Fashion. It’s not much time, but it’s going to have to be enough to grab a bite to eat and go through all of the unanswered emails my assistant Natalie has already forwarded to my inbox.
“All right, I think we can close up shop for the day.” I shut my laptop, grabbing it and my files from the table. “Thanks for all your hard work on this. Any questions before we regroup next week?”
“I think you covered everything,” Harry remarks cheekily as Eddie pretends to bow.
“Our fearless leader has it all covered,” Laura adds, and I actually laugh.
“I wish it were as glamorous as it sounds.”
“Oh, we know it’s not glamorous.” Madeline snorts. “That’s why we let you do it.”
I nod, chuckling. The five of them file out to their offices, and I follow, a running list of questions I have for Natalie swirling through my mind.
Wednesday meeting with Voltare timing? Are we still golfing with the Walman’s execs next week? Has she heard from Accounting on the budget numbers for the rest of the quarter with Wellness Pro?
It’s a fucking mess of shit, and I’d be lying if I said my brain didn’t feel like a ping-pong tournament at all times.
As I pass by Hillary Smith’s office, I offer a smile and she waves, and my mind immediately bounces in yet another direction.
ElizaBeth, my Midnight Mystery Messenger.
With the nature of my job, I spend a large part of my day outside the walls of my office, talking to staff. I jump between floors and offices and get on the phone more times than I can count. But ever since I started chatting with my Mystery Woman, every single bit of it has become dual purpose. I do my job, and I do PI work at the same time.