The most successful ad entrepreneur in the business just expressed belief in her. His confidence in her sparked a brainstorm. Wait, what event did he mention during his Lauder visit…
“What about the Effies?” The idea popped right from her mind to her lips, and it was too late to pull it back.
“You want to attend the Effies?” The space between his eyebrows scrunched.
She could feel heat rising in her cheeks. “Only if you have space, of course. I was just thinking, since the Effies measure marketing effectiveness, that maybe it’d be good to learn from the case studies.”
He raked his fingers through his wavy brown hair, then lifted his gaze to meet hers.
Christ, now I’m asking for too much.He’d just agreed to mentor her, after all. “I’m being too presumptuous.” She lifted both hands in apology.
“No, I’d actually like you to come.”
She released a puff of air.
“To be totally honest, my business partner, Dex, wanted me to bring someone for the event. So come… for the professional experience.”
“Count me in.” Her voice sang bright.
They stood. She cupped the book to her bosom. The slender volume felt like more than the sum of its pages. It represented his thoughtfulness towards her.
Phoenix stuffed generous bills into the tip jar and accompanied Orchid out into the night air.
“By the way, you may want to try this place.” He handed her a business card and bade her farewell.
“Thanks.” She fought the urge to peek over her shoulder as they parted ways. In her mind’s eye, he was back on the dance floor, busting a move to coax humor from her. When she looked down at the cardstock printed with pictograms, her jaw slacked. He’d given her a card for a Mandarin school.
He’d remembered.
Next up, a celebration text to Mandy. And dance class.
Afterwards, she’d be back to her one-bedroom, where she’d finish a single-serving of Thai leftovers straight from the icebox.
Her high from the evening wobbled like jelly knees after a double workout.
CHAPTER7
MIDTOWN MANDARIN
Orchid
Who hasn’t experienced that gap between how we feel on the inside and how others judge us from the outside? Orchid couldn’t change the hint of Asian in her silky strands, the smooth planes of her forehead, or the gentle sweep down to her button nose, all of this leading strangers to ask, “Where are you from?”
Her response was that she was from suburban New Jersey, although the pace and smells of New York City now ran through her veins.
If she went deeper, she sometimes felt she was forged from the painful markers of her life. Other times, she floated above it all, as if spun of steel from her Chinese warrior ancestors, and then merged with the beauty of fairy sprites.
Today, she wouldn’t have to face that rude question that suggested she wasother,foreign, orexotic. She was about to start her first lesson at Midtown Mandarin, a language school where everyone would have either some link to Chinese, or an interest in learning to speak it.
She was aware that Princeton had been launching an effective PR campaign to tout his qualifications. Even Orchid could rattle off his accomplishments. How not, since he’d been following the adage that says people need to hear the same thing up to seven times before it was firmly in their brain!We’re noticing!He had studied Chinese in college, had spent a semester abroad in Beijing. He’d also led creative campaigns as part of his volunteer work.
On the other hand, Orchid’s work managing brands and leading teams shone as her strengths. If she could add conversational Mandarin to those strengths, she’d have a real shot.
Phoenix was helping her to address the gap in creative experience. It was logical that her next investment in her future was expanding her language skills.
After he’d handed her the business card for Midtown Mandarin, she checked their website. It showcased young adult students enjoying goofy fun.
So, that’s how she’d found herself walking into her first trial class on a Wednesday night. Late, because work had been a tornado of new commitments, and they blended with the old ones that were already weighty enough. She’d already contacted them, and arranged to start with a slightly more advanced cohort. She needed to accelerate her progress.
