CHAPTER 14
Jackie sat in the boardroom for a weekly cross-team check-in meeting. With the merger looming, these meetings were becoming unnecessarily long and boring. She was grateful she couldn’t talk, because while she absolutely abhorred these meetings, it was never a good idea to say as much. And yet…what was the point of all this? It was as if Patrick and the founders didn’t trust the agents to do their jobs. She’d always kept her reports short and sweet—a minimum of two to three lines—then sat. She didn’t need to brownnose like Donny, who was now presenting a detailed PowerPoint with distracting graphics that said a whole bunch of nothing.
Jackie felt her phone buzz in her pocket. She pulled it out discreetly, peering at it under the table.
ANTONIO:Is this dude always this full of himself?
Jackie looked up to see Antonio pretending to be interested in the presentation.
JACKIE:Always. Aren’t you enthralled?
ANTONIO:If he kissed Patrick’s ass any harder, his breath would smell like
Jackie snorted loudly.Whoops.
Donny folded his arms across his chest. “Jackie, has your voice come back, finally? Do you have something you want to add?”
Jackie shook her head no. She motioned for Donny to continue.
“As I was saying, I—”
“Actually,” Patrick interrupted. “Donny, I think we’ve heard enough. Jackie, what’s the latest on Mo Williams?” He nodded toward her phone. “I’ll give you a second to type it out on your app thingy.”
Jackie’s eyes widened in surprise. She wasn’t prepared to discuss Mo at the moment.
Antonio cleared his throat. “Actually, Jackie and I have a lead on Mo. We’re heading to sign him tomorrow.”
Jackie cut her eyes at Antonio, who just gave her a slight smile.
Donny chuckled. “Mo Williams? You sure about that? He’s a mess. Didn’t he smash the doors of the hotel he was staying at because they didn’t give him a complimentary cookie?” He turned and looked at Jackie. “Then again, maybe he and Jackie have some things in common.”
Jackie knew he only made that quip in front of her because she couldn’t respond as fast as usual. She took out her phone and typed.
“The next time I choose to smash something, it might just be your pretty little Lambo. Don’t duck with me.”
Jackie sighed. Honeysuckle really needed to make this app useful for an adult.
Donny cowered in his seat. “Jeesh, I was just kidding.”
Andy Martin, a founding partner at AMW, held up a hand. “Okay, you all. Let’s regroup. We have more to discuss. As you know, this merger comes with some restructuring. Things have been going well, but we feel as if we need to divide our offices and client pool a bit more evenly. So, some of you will be moving to our Los Angeles office.”
Jackie was surprised at that news. She’d assumed the merger meant both offices would be headquartered in Atlanta. She had no idea some of the agents would be moving to LA. She damn sure didn’t want to move to LA. Her life was rooted in Atlanta, with her family and her friends. Jackie’s eyes flicked up to Antonio’s, but for once, he avoided looking at her. She wasn’t sure what that was about.
The rest of the meeting was a blur, as Andy discussed potential new clients and areas in which the company wanted to expand representation. As Jackie was preparing to leave, Antonio stopped her.
