The thought made my heart pound the way it had in the moment. I would’ve let him, but I couldn’t forget that Sebastian had considered me an enemy up until this point, and maybe stilldid.
“Hard at work, I see,” I heard from behind me. We all looked over at Vance in the doorway of theoffice.
“We’re practicing for our podcast,” Justinsaid.
“Podcast?” Vance looked to me. “Youridea?”
Sebastian made an exaggerated red slash on the spread in front ofhim.
“Not really,” I said.What? Dionne would have a fit if she heard me giving credit when I should take it. But it wasn’t as if I’d worked hard for it. All I’d done was smile and laugh enough to make my cheeks ache—and recognize that Sebastian and Justin’s back-and-forth was something special. “After listening to these two bicker for weeks, it was a natural connection tomake.”
“It was her idea,” Sebastian said, his eyesdown.
Vance nodded toward the hall. “George, can I see you in myoffice?”
“Oh. Sure.” I was sixteen and getting called to the principal for too many tardies. I shut my laptop and took a notebook and my phone. Sebastian watched me stand, his eyes jumping between his boss andme.
I followed Vance to the elevator. We usually met once a week, but this was the first time he’d come looking for me. “Is everything okay?” Iasked.
“Everything’s great.” We rode up a few floors, where he gestured me toward his office. “Can I get you anything?” he asked as we passed hisassistant.
“No, thank you. We just hadgyros.”
“Don’t feel as if you have to keep up with their greasy food habits,” he said as he sat at his desk. “Wouldn’t want you wasting as much time at the gym as Sebastian and Justin seemto.”
I took a chair in front of him and crossed my legs. For someone my height, it wouldn’t take much to get fat, Neal had said once in front of his family when I’d gone for a second helping of Christmas dinner. Vance was hedging a little too closely to unsolicited advice on my figure, so I moved us back on track. “How can I helpyou?”
“How do you feel things are going?” he asked, opening adrawer.
“Great.” I’d said as much in our last appointment. “I’m very happy with the team’sprogress.”
“And we’re very happy with you.” Vance took out aModern Man-stamped notepad and matching pen. “It’ll be a while before we have any firm numbers, these things take time, but don’t think we haven’t noticed the impact you’ve made these last severalweeks.”
“Thank you,” I said. “But I’m only doing myjob.”
“The online analytics are already showing results. Surprisingly, the female demographic is actuallygrowing.”
I opened my notebook. “My team at the agency has been working closely with the sales department on theirtargeting.”
He shifted in his seat. “And who would’ve thought something as simple as changing the name of the magazine would make such adifference?”
I had to admit, addingA Gentleman’s Guideunderneath the masthead was one of my better ideas, and perhaps the only thing Sebastian hadn’t fought me on. “It’s all about honing our image,” Isaid.
“The focus groups you’ve run were very positive too.” Vance doodled circles on the paper in front of him. “The board has noticed, and we all agree the magazine is headed in the rightdirection.”
“How would you describe the progress we’ve made?” I asked, takingnotes.
“StillModern Manbut more refined and with broader appeal. We’re starting to reach the men who think with their big head more than their littleone.”
Not exactly how I would’ve put it, but I looked forward to sharing a laugh over that with Dionne. “Anythingelse?”
“The ‘women who drone’ webisode is a great example. Strong, shareable content that’s supportive of women while appealing to bothgenders.”
“Glad you liked it,” I said. “A friend of mine posted footage while working on a film in Toronto, and people went wild over it. It was an easy leap to get her onboard.”
“That’s the thinking we need.” He leaned his elbows on his desk. “Look. At the end of the day, we’re abusiness.”
“Ofcourse.”
