Zero Forks - Cat Johnson Page 0,39

stand and make what could be a career changing presentation. My hands were shaking. My heart still pounding. But I didn’t have much choice.

“Are you ready?” Kim asked.

“Um, yup. I’m ready.” I stood and carried my laptop and notes to the head of the table.

I could still present what I’d prepared so I turned my computer to face Kim and Rockland and pushed to play the video I’d put together about the girls in the coffee shop.

Thank God I hadn’t included any of the phrases in the media materials. I talked over the footage about the new take on the book club. Where modern women recommend and discuss what they’re streaming rather than what they’re reading. And how MOD is like your best friend, giving you trusted recommendations based on your likes because it knows you. Knows you as well as your best friends do.

Mr. Rockland shaking his head had my pulse racing again as I braced myself for the criticism.

“None of this feels cutting edge enough. I want modern. I want to be blown away. I want our ad to be the one people remember and talk about the day after the Super Bowl.”

I blew out a breath. He didn’t want just the gold standard. He wanted platinum. And I should be able to give it to him, with or without Jerry on the team. But dammit I was coming up empty.

My creative well was dry. The only ideas I had were bronze, at best.

Maybe this was burnout.

Before this week, when I’d picked up Stewie, I’d been doing nothing but work. If I wasn’t in the office, I was working at home. I didn’t go out. Didn’t socialize. And the couple of hours a night when I tried to unwind before bed, all I did was watch Hulu or Netflix.

Hell, I’d even watched the Hallmark Christmas movie marathon . . . in July.

The breakup had sucked the life out of me and even though I told myself I was getting better. Getting over it. I still had no desire to go anywhere. To do anything. And by all evidence it was costing me. In creativity. In ideas.

I needed to get out. Do something.

Look how just stepping foot in the coffee shop had given me an idea immediately. A wrong idea, but an idea, nonetheless. I needed more of those moments.

“I’ll get right on it.” Determined I made that proclamation to my boss. But then I remembered it wasn’t just me on this team and added. “We’ll get something groundbreaking to you. I promise.”

Rockland nodded. “You’d better. The client is expecting it.”

For what our company charged, I had no doubt that was true. I nodded. “Yes, sir.”

With that, the big boss left, followed by Kim, who shot me a sympathetic glance on her way past.

That left me and Jerry. Alone.

“Thanks a lot for promising him that.” Jerry scowled. “How exactly do you plan to come up with something Super Bowl worthy? Huh? How?”

The bastard was annoyed with me? After he’d stolen my idea? My blood pressure began rising yet again. But rather than let him bait me into a confrontation, I decided he wasn’t worth the fight.

I gathered my things into my arms and said, “I’m leaving for the day.”

“What?”

“I can’t think here. I’m going out. I suggest you do the same. If there were good ideas inside these walls, we would have come up with them already. There aren’t. We need to go out and find them.”

“But we need to work together.”

“No, we really don’t.”

“Mr. Rock—”

Jerry was about to throw the boss into this. About how he’d told us to work together. But I had my excuse all ready. “If we brainstorm separately, we’ll come up with twice as many ideas.”

“I guess.” Jerry looked skeptical.

I didn’t care. I was heading out. Where exactly I was going to go, I wasn’t sure. As long as it was away from here.

But before I left . . . I turned. “Oh, and Jerry.”

“Yeah?”

“Don’t ever claim credit for another idea of mine again.”

“Easy, honey. We’re partners on this project. Right?” His smarmy smile had my eyes narrowing.

I returned a forced smile ripe with my hate. “I don’t care. Do it again and I swear you’ll regret it.”

His fake smile faded and the real Jerry peeked out. “Yeah, well your ideas suck anyway.”

He spun and strode down the hall.

Good. Let him keep thinking that. Maybe I should leave a few stinkers lying around for him to find and steal. That would teach him.

But he