“Love you forever and ever,” I said, my face pressed into Mom’s peony-printed dress. Like Mom, I always kept my promises.
Tears welled, and then spilled. The ending she’d wanted and never dared to dream now elbowed out the nightmare of reality. Her cheeks damp, she pictured that snowy night as beautiful, her parents’ beater car as quirky.
Another thought struck her. Dr Todd’s insight.
She took a deep breath and texted him. “You were right. Icanget better.”
Three dots appeared. “Yes you can,” he responded.
Yes, I can.
Love you, Mommy.
CHAPTER11
DIVING IN DEEP
Orchid
Fueled by the feeling that work in China would bring her closer to her mother, Orchid had spent all of May working on the pro bono ad campaign. Her job was to write the briefing document, a document that seemed deceptively simple. A brief is meant to be short, yet the most common pitfalls are either jamming the document full of barely related detail, or writing a piece of prose that didn’t inspire.
On the surface, it didn’t seem difficult to deliver a few pages of insights. Yet, professional strategic planners spend years honing their skills to be able to decide which focus areas would result in breakthrough ad campaigns. Those outside of the ad world might not recognize the strategy needed to craft a compelling brief. However, Orchid knew that her client would recognize the difference between an inspired brief versus a pedestrian one. Joan would know. And she had to admit, she cared that Phoenix considered her work well-delivered.
An associate from Phoenix’s team had sent her research documents about the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) that some veterans suffered from serving in combat.
She attended video conferences with her client. “I’m a fainter,” she explained with a light tone, whenever they flipped past images of injured soldiers. Together with the creative team, their job was to help soldiers recognize when they might be suffering from PTSD, and encourage them to seek mental health support.
For weeks, she toiled over different messages, weighing which ones would most motivate the military personnel they aimed to support.Was it more compelling to depict the first step of awareness, or the assurance that the programs in place are effective?She shared her work-in-progress with her boss. Joan supported the assignment, and knew about the work she was doing. What Joan didn’t know was who initially recommended Orchid to this non-profit organization that combined media and creative talents to produce public service ads.
It was during a team meeting that Joan shared Orchid’s project. “She’s taken the initiative to address her development areas,” Joan said. “Not only is she taking a Mandarin class, but she’s also working on a non-profit campaign.”
Orchid inwardly groaned when she saw Mr. Princeton’s startled reaction. The privileged go-getter would probably have his family buy him his own agency, so he could run ten campaigns to her one.
After the meeting, her friend Violet caught up to her in the hall. “I like your hair,” she said.
Orchid smoothed her newly dark mane, chemically returned to its natural hue. “Thanks. You’ve gone the opposite direction.”
Violet laughed, and twirled an amethyst-dyed curl. “Have to match the name!” Then she switched topics. “By the way, I was impressed back there. I’m going to double down my money on you.”
Orchid slowed her pace to look at her friend. They were alone in the hallway that led towards the ladies’ room. “What do you mean, double down on me?”
“You know, for the pool. To see who’s going to get the China assignment.”
“There’s a pool?”
“Oops, I thought you knew.”
“Why aren’t you betting on yourself?”
“Oh c’mon. Everyone knows it’s between you and Princeton. He’d been leading. But now, with this inside scoop, I think you have a shot.”
“Oh, crap,” said Orchid. “As if my own internal pressures aren’t bad enough! Now, I have to worry about my friends losing money over me.”
“Don’t worry, not all your friends are betting on you.”
Orchid nearly choked on the realization of how visible her failure would be. “Just great. What are you betting on, who gets the assignment?”
“Yeah, plus when Joan’s going to announce it.”
