LITMIR.BIZ

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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 victory. 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

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