Back to our Heroine's Viewpoint

You make it to the meeting with plenty of time to spare, making use of the time to ensure the audiovisual equipment is properly set up. Diana joins you before too long, and you chat about your plans for the new customer and the weekend.

About ten minutes before the meeting proper is to begin, two more people enter the conference room, one of whom you recognize. Lorelei is walking rather gingerly, taking mincing steps as she enters the room which you’re sure are not due entirely to the height of her heels. Despite her evident discomfort she smiles warmly as she recognizes you. “Ah, Jenna!” she says, making her way towards you. “Let me introduce Alex, CEO of Fourtone and creator of the product line we’re here to discuss. Alex, this is Jenna; marketer extraordinaire and shooter of troubles large and small”.

The youthful looking man at Lorelei’s side smiles and extends his hand as the introductions are made. “Jenna. Pleasure to meet you” he says, the firmness of his grip incongruous with the softness of his skin. “And you must be…” he continues, looking to Diana and pausing.

“Diana”, Diana steps in, shaking Alex’s hand as well. “Pleasure to meet you. I’ll be working with Jenna on this file on the back end. I’m looking forward to it, this will be an exciting product to represent! Though I do wish we could have gotten a medical line as well…”

“Imagine how I feel,” Alex responds with a rueful laugh, “Selling all the rights to medical applications was an easy decision from a rational perspective, but…”

The four of you chat amiably, and despite Diana’s initial nerves at meeting a client, as four young professionals in the same city you find much of common interest. Everything seems to be going very well – until you see Alex check his watch and frown.

You cringe inwardly, doubly so after you check your phone and find no response to the texts you had sent Chris a few minutes before. All your preparation to ensure things went off without a hitch, and now your own supervisor…

“Has there been a change of plans?” Alex asks, “I thought one more person was supposed to join us”.

“There is,” you say quickly, “I’ve sent him a text. Chris can get caught up in meetings sometimes, he’s got a pretty full schedule…”

“Ah. Well. As he’s the only one unfamiliar with the product, Let’s give him five more minutes,” Alex says. The conversation resumes, but there’s a tension present that wasn’t there before. Five minutes later – on the dot as far as you can tell – Lorelei touches Alex’s arm, eliciting a nod from the man. “Well, why don’t we just get started?” he says irritably. “We can skip my own presentation of the product since you’re both – Ah! Mr. Turnbull, I presume. Good of you to join us”.

“Sorry I’m late!” Chris exclaims, reading the room and going client-facing in an instant. “Meeting ran over, you know how it is. I hope you weren’t waiting for me?.. You were. Again, my apologies. An old client wanting some reassurances...”

Alex quirks an eyebrow. “I understand you deal with much larger accounts than ours,” he says coolly, “But a heads up in such cases is customary. May I ask, if it had been Miz Cho holding us up, whether there would have been any consequences for her?”

“That would be entirely your call,” Chris says earnestly, “But it would take an earthquake for Jenna to be late for a client meeting. I’m that vice’s only representative on this team”.

“Well, that’s good to hear”, Alex says. “Do you have a favourite charity, Mr Turnbull?”

Chris brightens. “I do! I work a lot with Turning Tide’s Food and Shelter. And please, call me Chris”.

“Excellent organization,” Alex replies, his tone mellowing as the two shake hands. “Good to meet you Chris. Can I trust you to do something extra for them this weekend?”

“I’ll request an additional shift right after this meeting” he says, and like that, the tension passes. Alex takes the floor as the rest of you sit down, and he begins the basic product pitch from which you and Diana have been building the larger strategy.