Recruiting for the Company

As Mark laughed sympathetically, her driver pulled her door wide open for her, stepping backwards respectfully to give her space. Sighing, she grabbed her purse and her bags, then swung her legs out of the car to climb out.

“I’ll pick you up at half past six for your breakfast appointment,” the driver mouthed, smart enough not to blunder into his customer’s phone call. She acknowledged him with a look and a nod, wordlessly pushing the folded money into his hand before she walked past, knowing without looking that his eyes immediately dropped to her butt. She didn’t even let that bother her, instead flinching as thick, cold snowflakes hit her face. She accelerated her pace while making sure not to slip on the sludgy sidewalk. The cold Stockholm air immediately bit through her thin clothes and she felt her nipples screw up and harden in response.

“They really are running you ragged over there, huh?!” the Honest CEO gave her one more compassionate sentence before he obliged her request. “I am really sorry to do this, Jess, but I got a favor to ask…”

All the space between her molars disappeared. Of course. She entered the lobby – modern, shiny and fancy, yet missing all the charm some of the older hotels had – and made a beeline for the elevator, hoping that whatever came next, it wouldn’t keep her from that nice, big bathtub that awaited her in her suite.

“So, regarding that position as a head of advertising that we are trying to fill: we were made aware of a very intriguing opportunity. Are you familiar with Pierre Gane?”

“Can’t say I am…” She replied curtly, pressing the button and stepping back, watching on the small digital display as her elevator approached.

“He’s a rockstar in the advertising world. Forbes has called him the “Mozart of Marketing”. Used to be a pretty talented fashion photographer in France before he found his true calling in getting people to buy stuff. He has worked with a lot of the big companies in multiple different sectors. He is eccentric but inspired, always puts together a fresh, tight campaign and each and every time the company profits big.”

“Impressive…”

“That he is. And from what we hear, he split with the Japanese sushi producer he has been working with for the last couple of months and is back on the market. Jessica,” Mark’s short pause was fraught with meaning, “he could pull this ship around for us!”

The elevator dinged and the doors slid open smoothly. The corners of Jessica’s mouth tightened as she stepped into the cabin, then pressed the button to her floor. Things indeed hadn’t gone well for the company recently. Share values somehow seemed to find ways to drop lower and lower for months now - basically since Honest had gone public - and so far, nobody had come up with a good plan to combat that trend. An inspired new mind in a leadership position was something that she desperately needed.

The doors slid closed.

“Sounds good, Mark! Let’s talk about it tomorrow when I am on the plane!”

“Sorry to be that guy, Jess, but I’ll have to keep you from relaxing for a little bit longer.”

She felt the tension in her tired muscles intensify. “How so?”