Page 31 of The Perfect Secret
“No,” he said. “I like it. And I like the sound of girlfriend too.”
He sat with her snuggled against him awkwardly at the table, the rest of their food untouched, feeling more comfortable than he had in a long time. For now, he was safe. But in the back of his mind, worry niggled. His safety net was wearing thin.
Chapter Nine
Hannah hummed to herself as she arrived at work on Monday. Not only had she spent a wonderful weekend with Dan, and gone shopping with her grandmother, she’d thought of the perfect idea for her client. She waved to the receptionist as she entered and made a beeline for Aviva’s office.
“Lunch today?” she asked, sticking her head around the doorway.
Aviva looked up. “Wow, you look cheery.”
Hannah nodded. “I had a great weekend.”
As Hannah walked down the hall to her office, Aviva yelled after her. “Thanks for keeping me in suspense!”
She stopped at Jim’s office. “Good morning. Did you want to meet later?”
Five minutes before her scheduled meeting with Jim, she grabbed her files and walked to his office.
Jim waved her to a seat. “So, I looked over your rebranding ideas from last week and I think our best bet might be to partner with another brand. It will give them the benefit of another brand’s expertise and—”
“Jim, I’m sorry to interrupt, but I thought of a new idea yesterday.”
Jim leaned forward and steepled his fingers.
“When I was trying to find something to make the CEO stand out from everyone else, there was one thing that struck me…his philanthropy. Now, most CEOs make some sort of donation to charity, but if you look at his figures, his percentage is huge.” She handed Jim the financials and watched his eyebrows rise. “Someone like him will possess a social conscience and wouldwant their business to reflect it as well. What if we suggestedcause marketingto him—his company could partner with a charity, donate a percentage of their profits to the charity and sponsor a fundraiser? It makes them look good and it associates the corporation with whatever cause they’re passionate about. It makes them look less like a cold, uncaring corporation and more like a world citizen.”
“I love the idea and I think they will too. Can you draft a proposal?”
Hannah’s heartbeat sped up. “Sure, what do you want me to include?”
He walked over and leaned against the desk. “Hannah, I want you to handle all of it. I’ll provide you any support you need; I’ll be your sounding board, whatever. But I want this to be your baby. You created it; you should get to run it. Okay with you?”
She gripped the arms of her chair. “Absolutely.”
“Great. Let’s talk to the client this afternoon.” He looked at his watch. “Say, four o’clock?”
Hannah checked her schedule. “I should be able to put something together by then.”
She left his office, positive she was floating, and started toward Aviva’s to share her good news. But halfway there she stopped. She wanted to tell Aviva, and she would at lunch. But at this moment, the first person she wanted to tell was Dan. Sometime within the past three weeks, he’d become important. Releasing a breath, she raced to her office, shut the door, and dialed Dan. He answered on the third ring.
“Guess what,” she said, heart pounding, breath coming in gasps.
“You’re having an asthma attack?”
“Funny guy. My boss made me lead on a project I created.” She told him the entire story, filling him in on the problems andher solution involving pairing with a charity to take advantage of the company’s already huge charitable donations.
“That’s terrific, Hannah.”
“Listen, I’ve got to go and put everything together for my meeting. I wanted to tell someone and you were the first person I wanted to speak to.”
“Call me tonight and let me know how it went.”
Hannah dragged herself home that night past eight o’clock. After several hours of drafting a proposal, she showed it to Jim, who loved it, and hinted she was working her way toward promotion. The client loved it as well, and was running it up their food chain.
She’d spent the rest of the time drafting next steps and researching answers to their questions. There would be a full in-person meeting next week where she’d present the complete plan. Between the adrenaline high from her success and the hard work it entailed, she was beyond exhausted. Now, all she wanted was food, a long soak in the tub, and bed.
She unlocked the door, stepped over the threshold, and froze.