“What should we have with them? Pancakes or oatmeal?” she asks, using the wall of the house to support her while she hops to the door.
“I say we go with oatmeal today, for a little variety.”
Once we’re inside, she has a seat at the kitchen table and puts her foot up. “Why don’t I cut up the fruit? It’s at least something I can do sitting down.”
“Sounds good.” I get out a paring knife and a cutting board, then set them on the table for her before going in search of a pot for the oatmeal. The entire thing feels very domestic and a lot nicer than it should. “I was thinking that we can use your unique and extensive knowledge to get off the island.”
“In what way?”
“Well, it would seem to me we’ve got a visibility issue, which for other stranded people would be a problem,” I say, throwing a grin her way. “But since I’m with a marketing genius, I figure we’ve got a leg up.”
She looks up at me. “As kind as that is, I’d say the biggest problem we have is that there’s no one to advertise to out here.”
“Not yet, maybe, but someone is bound to go by soon, either in a plane or on a yacht.”
“What makes you so sure?”
“Because we did.”
Paige stops slicing the star fruit. “Good point.”
I offer her a big smile. “So our job is to make sure we’re unmissable when they do.”
Her expression is one I can’t read. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say she looks a little disappointed. But that can’t be, because she’s desperate to get back to her real life. She nods a couple of times before answering. “You’re right. That’s exactly what we need to do.”
“It’s our best shot,” I tell her, setting the pot on the stove and turning it on. “Now, the way I see it, you’re the idea person and I’ll be in charge of execution, on account of your ankle.”
“So, I’m sort of the boss in this scenario,” she says, grinning over at me.
I lift one eyebrow. “I prefer partner, but if you need to believe you’re in charge, I won’t argue. Whatever gets that beautiful mind of yours working overtime.”
A few minutes later, we’re sitting down to coffee, oatmeal with some syrup to sweeten it up, and fresh tropical fruit. I found a pad of paper and a couple of pens in a drawer, and Paige is making a list of ideas in between bites. “Okay, so the first thing to do in any ad campaign is to figure out your target audience.”
“Okay,” I tell her, scooping up some oatmeal with my spoon. “Anyone who happens to pass by.”
“Yes, true, but to get their attention, we have to thinkabout what they will be doing when they pass by. What will they be looking for?”
“Us, hopefully,” I answer, popping the oatmeal in my mouth, wishing we had some milk for it.
She laughs, then says, “That’s our best-case scenario. If people are searching for us, we don’t have to do anything because they’ll be looking for your plane. But let’s say someone who has no idea we’re out here happens to be on a sight-seeing adventure on a seaplane or is lounging on their yacht. What will they be looking for?”
“Whales and dolphins.”
“Okay.” She writes that down, then says, “What else?”
“Umm, most of my clients comment on how blue the water is and how lush the terrain is on the islands.”
“All right,” she says, making more notes. “So something colorful would help to catch their eye.” Glancing up at me, she adds, “I know that’s not exactly a ground-breaking concept, but I’m thinking the difference between, say, using palm fronds to make a massive S.O.S. sign, and using some bright red palm fronds could make all the difference. Oh, and ads require plenty of white space to be noticed. So, using a large patch of sandy beach, for example, without having the sign too close to anything else.”
“Gotcha,” I answer, glad to see her so excited.
“Okay, so switching gears, one thing that humans are attracted to are other humans.”
“One would hope,” I say, then chuckle at my own joke.
Paige tries not to laugh, but does anyway. “Yes, one would. What I’m thinking is that since we can’t be on all sides of the island at the same time, we make it look like there are people in other areas.” She snaps her fingers. “Ooh, better yet, people in trouble! There’s nothing that stops traffic like a car accident.”
“Whoa, dark.”
