The Dating Plan(82)
Nausea roiled in Daisy’s belly. She should have been here. Instead, she’d used her post-concussion medical leave to wallow in self-pity when her friends needed her the most. “Why didn’t anyone call me?”
“We thought you knew because you and Liam . . .” She trailed off when Daisy shook her head.
“We ended our arrangement.”
“I’m so sorry.” She leaned over to give Daisy a hug. “I know you said it wasn’t real, but when I saw you two together, I kind of thought it was.”
So did I.
An hour later, Tyler called her to his office. Slumped in his chair, back to rumpled shirts, missing ties, and unkempt hair, he looked even worse than she’d felt at the end of her MCU movie marathon.
“You heard?”
“Yes. I’m so sorry, Tyler.” She fisted her skirt in her lap. “I had hoped it would work out with Evolution.”
“They said we weren’t a good fit.” He swallowed hard, his face flushing. For a moment, Daisy thought he was going to burst into tears. “It wasn’t just the product. They were looking for something more cutting-edge.”
“Were they talking about the branding?”
Tyler nodded. “I watched Mia and Zoe’s branding pitch. It was fantastic. I could see the boxes on the shelves, the ads, the website. It was Organicare. It was our original vision. I couldn’t believe that Brad rejected it.” He scraped a hand over his face. “I called Liam, and he told me Brad was the only expert he could find who was even interested in working with our products. He agreed that Brad’s ideas weren’t in line with current market trends and he had no problem if we wanted to cut him loose, but . . .” He shook his head. “Brad had three times the experience of the most senior members of our team, a big name in the industry, and so many successful campaigns—”
“But not with this kind of product,” Daisy pointed out. “And not in this political climate. That’s probably why he had the time for us in the first place. He was out of touch and no one wanted to hire him.”
“I was just too afraid to let him go.” Tyler buried his head in his hands. “Too afraid to go with Zoe and Mia’s ideas instead of his. I’ve made so many mistakes. I was afraid to make one more, even though my gut was telling me that Brad’s ideas wouldn’t resonate with our target market.”
“You did what you thought was best for the company,” Daisy said softly. “Everyone knows that.”
“I failed them.” His shoulders heaved and he let out a ragged sob. “I failed our team, our company, the customers who loved our products, and all the girls we could have helped through our outreach program. I was afraid to trust my instincts. I was afraid to take a chance, and now everything is gone.”
* * *
? ? ?
“CONGRATULATIONS. Welcome to the partnership.”
Liam felt like he’d been waiting a lifetime to hear those words. As he shook hands with the managing partners, Eric Davis and Kevin Mah, he imagined his dad looking down on him, and gave a mental finger to the old man who had never thought he’d amount to anything.
“We were impressed with your work,” Eric said. “You have the largest portfolio of any senior associate, great industry contacts, and a history of sound investment decisions. Finding and working up companies like Organicare is exactly the kind of initiative that has made you so valuable to the company. If we hadn’t just shut down our consumer products portfolio, they would have been worth another look, even with their branding redesign disaster.”
Kevin handed him a folder. “That’s the partnership agreement. You don’t have the same academic qualifications as the other partners, but we were willing to bend the rules because of your value to the company. Take a look through the documentation, and come back to us with any questions. We’ll need your answer by the end of the week. It means a permanent relocation to New York. I trust that’s not a problem.”
“Of course not.” It was what he’d always dreamed about. Making it to the top. Proving to everyone who had ever thought he was nothing that he was worthy. His sense of elation was somewhat diminished by the reminder that he would always be less and not equal because he had no letters after his name, but he couldn’t have everything. Life didn’t work that way.
“We’ll need you in San Francisco until we find someone to run the West Coast office,” Eric said. “Then you’ll be back here making the day-to-day decisions that keep the business running smoothly. As a junior partner, you’ll be handling the largest share of the admin, but after a few years, you’ll be back to spending most of your time out in the field. There will be a buy-in, of course . . .”
Between his savings and his inheritance he had more than enough for the buy-in. There were benefits to not owning property or having any expenses other than his bike and the gear to go with it. But he’d never really considered the admin side of partnership. He wouldn’t be out looking for new opportunities, meeting new people, or helping start-ups grow. For the first few years, he would be in an office behind a desk fighting to keep his portfolio alive. But he’d be a partner. In New York. It was what he’d always wanted.
* * *
? ? ?
UNICORNS sucked.