"Country!" John possibly looked more pleased than she did. "I assume you reconsidered my offer? I know Mary sent you the numbers."
Jenna's excitement stalled out and puttered back to ground zero. His offer? Of course she'd assumed John would have one waiting for Country, but neither of them had mentioned anything to her. She stood from her chair and clasped her hands in front of her. "What offer?"
John waved her off. "Oh, nothing for you to be concerned about. Just looking to expand our presence at the desk."
Jenna's frown deepened. "Since I produce HEC, it seems like something I absolutely need to be concerned about."
Country's eyes were soft as he said, "I already declined, and I'm not here to negotiate. I'm just here to take McAllister to lunch."
Jenna's heart skittered like a rock over the surface of a pond. "I'll get my coat."
John scoffed. "Hold on. I don't think you have all the information." He took a step back and folded his arms over his chest. "If Jenna had checked her email, she would've seen that I'm considering rotating through our sportscasters. Possibly giving her a slot once a month." He waited for his words to land then poised for her reaction.
"You want to give me a spot at the sports desk?" Jenna asked. Translation: John had found another winning combination in the ratings. She and Country had brought in more viewers than him and Kessler that night, which meant she was again useful to him.
"That's right. Weren't you interested in sportscasting? I thought I remembered that from your interview."
Jenna's throat tightened. "I remember that, too, actually. You told me, and I quote, 'our demographic is loyal to the traditional sportscasters on the network.'"
John blustered, "Well, it's been three years. I never expected it to stay the same."
"John, I was very upfront about wanting the executive producer position after your retirement."
He paused, then glanced down at the floor. "And I'm still considering?—"
"Bull. I saw those emails between you, Owen, Kessler, and Archer. You were never intending to let me earn my place there." What was she doing? This was not part of the plan. She was supposed to fly under the radar until she had a sure thing. But the audacity of John walking into her office trying to manipulate her with ho-humming and flattery made her want to smash something.
John sighed. "Well, I think you may have misunderstood?—"
"I didn't misunderstand."
Country tapped his fingers on the doorframe, drawing Jenna's attention away from her Wild West standoff. "You know, there was one other reason I came here today. I was going to wait to talk with Jenna at lunch, but it seems applicable." He stood to his full height and stepped further into the room. "I'm not sure if you saw, John, but my TikTok account went over half a million followers over the weekend. You were right when you told me people were going to come calling, and I actually got an offer for sponsorship from CCM this morning."
Jenna's jaw dropped. "They want to buy sponsored posts?"
Country shook his head. "Polk's been jawing about doing a live broadcast. Streaming on YouTube during the games with commentary. I didn't take it seriously because I wasn't sure how we'd monetize, but he started sending out queries. CCM bit."
The wheels in Jenna's head churned. "YouTube doesn't take much to monetize views either. With your following, you'd probably reach the threshold within a week."
John's smile looked forced. "Well, congratulations. I don't see how that impacts my discussion with?—"
"I was getting there." Country cut him off, glancing down at the ring Jenna wore on her finger. "The sponsorship money is enough that we'd like to hire another member of our team. We need better analytics. Someone who has a vision for scaling and branding. That person would also need to be willing to appear on camera with me for live streams."
A flush rose to Jenna's cheeks. "You would trust someone with that? Your demographic might be loyal to their traditional sportscaster."
The corner of Country's mouth curled up. "It would definitely have to be the right person."
John ran a hand over his face. "Sounds like a volatile new venture. Most YouTube channels fail within a few months. Plus, Jenna's contract doesn't allow?—"
"I quit." Jenna broke her gaze from Country's and locked onto John.
He blinked. "What?"
"I said, I quit. Consider this my two weeks’ notice."
John's face turned from hot pink to an angry shade of puce. "If you'd check your damn emails, you'd see?—"
"I saw all I needed to see in your emails, John." Jenna grabbed her coat from the edge of the desk and strode toward Country. "Good luck finding a replacement." Country locked arms with her and together they marched down the hall to the elevator.
