Chapter 4

Emily awoke Saturday morning to her phone ringing on the nightstand by her bed. "Hello," she answered with her voice still raspy from sleep.

"Finally, you answer. Good to know your phone actually does work." Of course it was Hanna. Her friend was a morning person.

"Hanna, I'm sorry I haven't had a chance to call you back yet. I've been very busy with a project at work," Emily replied hoping that would calm the blonde girl down. She and Hanna had been friends since 3rd grade when they were assigned seats next together in Mrs. Montgomery's class. Though they are different in many ways, Emily and Hanna have always been incredibly close.

"Well, how is it going then? Caleb and I were at the Grille Wednesday and we ran into your mom. She went on and on about your 'big shot' job," Hanna joked.

Emily was blessed with parents who were always very caring and proud of their daughter. "My new job is going well. It's stressful at times but nothing I can't handle. What's new with you?," Emily asked.

Hanna was working towards fulfilling her dream as a fashion designer. Emily knew she would make a terrific designer. In her bedroom growing up she had a life size mannequin tucked in the corner. She'd constantly pin designs she "just LOVED" to it and would plan her outfits accordingly. "I got an internship at Runway!," Hanna exclaimed excitedly.

"Wow, that's great Han! I'm so happy for you," Emily smiled into the phone while congratulating her friend.

"Oh, before I forget, guess who I ran into at the Brew- Samara. She say's 'hello' by the way," Hanna said nonchalantly. She knew Emily's ex was a sore subject but she needed to get it out there.

"Hanna…," Emily said in a warning tone. "You know things are over with Samara and I. It just wasn't meant to work out. Besides, I've met someone," Emily gushed. This automatically made her mind drift to the date last night with Paige.

Emily was excited to see where things might lead with Paige. If the first date was any indication she'd say that things were looking very positive. Hanna stayed on the line a little longer hearing all about Emily and Paige's first date and how that came about. Hanna thought the story was adorable. Soon Emily told her she needed to get going. There were a few things she wanted to get done at the office today while no one was there and she might as well get started now since she's up.

The next week was going by pretty quickly for both Paige and Emily. They each certainly had enough on their plates to keep them busy. They talked on the phone a few times throughout the week. Wednesday they managed to meet up for lunch. Neither one of them had been too interested in talking a lot about work. That was just what they did for a living and to them it wasn't an important part of getting to know the other. They only knew the basics: Emily had her MBA from UPENN in Marketing Management and Paige had her BA from Stanford in Economics. Emily worked for a marketing firm in Charleston and Paige owned a gym. In all honesty, Paige wasn't too keen on telling Emily much about her work but she would if the girl asked. Somehow those discussions always led back to her father and then she would be forced to talk about the global sensation of McCullers Enterprises. She could do without that.

Thursday morning Emily and her team were seated around a conference table at the Instinct office. Emily was pleased with the brand management team she had formed. The four of them were all very capable in their own right. Brian was a talented graphic artist; a graduate of SCAD (Savannah College of Art and Design). Harrison had risen through the ranks of Instinct and is now one of their lead creative guru's. And finally, rounding out the team was Natalie. She could write copy and spin anything into an angle. Simply put: she had the gift of reading people and knew how to turn a phrase- all desirable qualities in the marketing world.

Emily's responsibility as team leader was to develop the concept and deliver a package that the CEO of Energetic could not refuse. The way Emily saw it, Energetic was a good company. Growing pains had hurt them though. Energetic is, after all, an athletic footwear company. That's to say they were until they hitched a ride on the bandwagon and started marketing lifestyle shoes. The product line wasn't resonating with their core customer base and sales started to slip. This made them easy pickings for a buyout. Emily heard that is exactly what happened about two months ago. Some company came in, saw the opportunity, and plucked Energetic out of the abyss they were headed into.

Now the CEO of Energetic, Emily assumes by proxy of whatever company bought them out, wants to take Energetic back to their roots. Emily was determined to deliver. She and her team were putting together a campaign that when launched, would make Energetic a major player in the athletic footwear industry. She and her team ended up staying late Thursday night refining the graphics, sharpening the copy, and rehearsing the pitch.

Friday morning came early. Emily was eager to start her day. It had been a good morning so far. One of her favorite songs was playing from her iPod when her alarm went off. She had a great run. Traffic was light. She was definitely on point today. This presentation was going to be awesome. Emily called for a meeting with her team at 8:00am. They would quickly review and then head over to the Energetic office.

Paige walked into the office of Energetic at 8:45am. Just as she was being greeted by their CEO her phone chirped, signaling a text message. It was Emily. Wish me luck, I'm getting ready to head into a HUGE meeting. If all goes wrong at least I have our date to look forward to tomorrow night. Paige smiled knowing that Emily was also looking forward to their date. Good luck, Em. I know you'll do great! I'm getting ready to sit through what will probably be a long, boring meeting myself. Paige hit send just before the conference room door was opening and the brand management team from Instinct walked in. Paige's eyes locked with the beautiful brown eyes belonging to the girl who walked in last as the other girl looked up from putting her phone away. Emily? What is she doing here, Paige thought. Then it hit her, oh my God, she's presenting to us.

If Paige was shocked to see Emily, that had nothing on how Emily felt. She was winded. What is she doing here? This didn't make any sense at all, Emily tried to reason. Then it hit her, oh my God, I'm the boring meeting she has to sit through. The room suddenly got hot and the air seemed thick. She could faintly hear someone talking. Energetic's CEO, Derek Washington, was making introductions. Well, Emily had one person covered already. Derek went around the room introducing the Energetic executive team and the ownerships board of directors. Then he got to Paige and the man sitting next to her. "Emily and team, please meet Nick and Paige McCullers. They are majority owners of Energetic under the McCullers Enterprises conglomerate," Derek explained. Paige and her dad! Emily could not believe this was happening.

Paige's face had gone as white as a sheet. Emily's on the other hand was fireball red. They both tried to compose themselves as best they could. Emily, the always give it 100% professional, put on her game face. It was time to knock this presentation out of the park regardless of who was sitting in those seats.

The presentation went well all things considered. Emily was exceptionally proud of the work her team had done. She knew there would be nothing stopping Energetic from wanting to move forward with their campaign. As they wrapped up the meeting Derek made plans to sign the contracts officially hiring Instinct for the new Energetic brand management campaign. Everyone began filing out of the conference room except for Paige. Emily noticed this and asked her team to head back to the office. She explained that she'd be back soon.

As soon as everyone left the room Paige got up and shut the door. "Emily, before you ask, I had no idea it was you coming to present today, "Paige exclaimed.

"Paige, you told me you own a gym! What is going on?" Emily said trying to keep her voice low.

"I do own a gym, several in fact, but I also have part ownership of McCullers Enterprises. There really was no choice when it came to my dad," Paige stated simply.

Emily was dumbfounded. Now that the presentation was completed she was allowing the reality of this situation to come forward through the recesses of her mind. "Why don't we just talk about this more over dinner tomorrow night. Let it sink in," Paige said trying to smooth over the delicate situation they were facing.

"Are you serious right now? We can't go to dinner tomorrow night. We can't date!," Emily was both hurt and frustrated. "One of your companies just hired ME to work for them. It would be an extreme conflict of interest for us to be romantically involved," Emily tried to explain.

"No, it doesn't have to be that way, Emily. I don't work at either of these companies. I only have interest in McCullers Enterprises," Paige said now trying any angle she could to keep Emily.

"Right, Paige. You are essentially my boss! Don't you see that? There is no way for US to work under the circumstances we now are in," Emily said with sadness in her voice.

Emily had to leave before she started to cry. She wasn't much of a crier and never at work. However, this abrupt situation had her close to the brink. Though it pained her to say it she knew she had to. "I'll see you at the next project status meeting, Paige. Please don't contact me before then unless it's work related," Emily said with her voice breaking on the last two words.

"Emily please…" was all she heard Paige get out before the conference room door shut and she was walking towards the elevator.