“This is a big deal for us, perhaps even more so now than it was before,” said Meredith. “They are announcing to the world that they have more confidence in us than in DigiMark. So hopefully it goes without saying, I need everyone’s best on this.” She threw intense, pointed gazes around the table, finally landing on me. “The soft opening of Chef Torres’s restaurant is only five weeks away—so we don’t have a lot of time. We need to hit the ground running with this, right away. I’m most likely going to need to pull some of you off other accounts to work on this.”
The room buzzed with energy. Meredith clapped her hands to call for silence.
“The Torres team will be here in the office for a meeting Monday, and they want to see a proposed schedule of promotions leading up to the soft opening. I want to see each of our account managers for a meeting in five minutes so we can determine who to pull and how to make up for those holes to ensure our current clients continue to get exemplary service from us.”
Back at my desk, my head was swimming. Of course, it wasn’t ideal that I had so much going on in my personal life. But Sam’s words echoed in my mind—You need to be perfect going forward. Don’t give her any reason to doubt you.
I wanted to believe it was meant to be, that I should get a second chance at a promotion I deserved, but another part of me dreaded it. What would Madison do this time to try to ruin it for me? Or, perhaps even worse, what would I do to screw it up entirely on my own, proving once and for all that I just wasn’t cut out for success? Was I really as irresponsible as Madison wanted everyone to believe? I buried my face in my hands as anxious thoughts washed over me.
No. Snap out of it, Savannah. It’s time to take charge.I forced myself to sit up straight and take a deep breath. I had Robert in my corner now—and the police. Everything was going to be fine as long as I didn’t self-sabotage.
I pulled out my notebook to start putting together my ideas for the Torres pitch. I was confident I could come up with something that would help create a massive buzz in time for the restaurant’s opening. If Meredith didn’t pull me off the Sampson account on her own, I would approach her myself and show her my ideas. I would make it clear she would be making a big mistake by not at least including me on the team, if not tapping me to run it.
Time to get my life in order.
By the time I left the office around six, I was mentally exhausted, but in a good way. Nothing sounded more appealing than relaxing on the couch with a mug of hot tea and some mindless TV.
Just as my teapot started to whistle, my intercom buzzed.
“It’s Max,” came the voice through the speaker.
Another unannounced visit?
Irritation needled at the back of my brain as I poured hot water over my tea bag, waiting for him to walk through the door.What is it this time?
When he did appear, the look on his face was sad, almost pleading. I eyed him warily. “What are you doing here?”
“I wanted to check in on you and … talk.” He sounded hesitant—almost nervous.
I dunked my tea bag several times, avoiding his eyes. “Okay.”
“Is it true?” he asked.
“Is what true?” I could already tell I wasn’t going to like where this was going.
“Did you meet with a lawyer?”
My heart thumped. “How did you know that?” I was pretty sure Robert hadn’t sent the certified letter yet. Did she have me followed again?
“So it is true?”
I would have thought he’d look angry, but he looked hurt—which, it turned out, pissed me off even more.If you’re surprised by this, it’s because you haven’t been listening to me!I wanted to scream. Instead, I worked hard to keep my voice calm.
“Yes. It is.”
“Why would you do that, Savannah?”
I couldn’t help it—a sarcastic chuckle escaped my lips. “Really? You have no idea why I could possibly feel the need to consult a lawyer?”
“Are you trying to keep my child away from me? I thought we were going to keep this friendly. Be good co-parents together?” He looked scared.
“Max, that is all I’ve wanted since the day I found out I was pregnant. But you and Madison have made that impossible.”
“What do you mean? Why?”
I laughed again. “You can’t seriously be asking me this after everything Madison has done.”
Max winced. “I know you two have had your difficulties, but—”
