who was droning on about the status of his merger down in Miami. He was the Chicken Little of the bunch, and Vanessa usually just tuned him out, knowing full well that no matter how dismal a picture he painted, he’d pull it off with great success as he always did.
Roland sat down and pushed the agenda between him and Vanessa.
“I’ve got one. Thank you.” She flipped open the folder Kendra had prepared for her. Glancing over it, she saw that she hadn’t missed much. Just some recaps on older projects.
Down the list toward the bottom were the discussions about the two latest acquisitions. The ones she’d already expressed interest in. Paris, because who wouldn’t want to work in Paris for a while, and the one in Leavenworth that included a hefty bonus. Which, come to think of it, could mean that the house she fell in love with this morning wouldn’t really be out of her budget after all.
She shifted in her seat, excited about how things were coming together. She patted her damp palms on a page in her notebook, determined to look calm.
The meeting would go on for at least another hour and a half. If she got the Paris project, she’d meet with the director immediately following this. If she was assigned Leavenworth, she’d owe Sally a phone call. It would be a long day for her and Kendra, but a good one either way.
No time for lunch today, Anna. I’ll do better tomorrow.
Each project was reviewed. If it wasn’t in green status, then a get-to-green plan was discussed before they moved to the next. One of the big acquisitions was an East Coast sporting-goods chain. They were in desperate need of warehouse space to accommodate a huge deal with Outdoor Sports Pro that could mean millions. Since she didn’t have any properties open to offer from her portfolio, she excused herself for a quick break.
When she got to her office, Kendra leapt up from behind her desk.
“How’s it going? Do you know which project we’re getting next?” Kendra had been her assistant for more than four years now. They were so in sync that Vanessa never worried about anything falling through the cracks.
“No. Not yet. There’s a big discussion going on about Gary’s East Coast sporting-goods megachain. They just landed some huge exclusive deal and need warehouse space ready by the beginning of the year.”
“That’ll slow down the meeting,” Kendra said.
“I know. Thought I’d use it to my advantage and grab a cup of coffee and check messages.”
Kendra handed her a stack of messages. “I put hash marks under the ones from Sally. That lady thinks you’re dodging her calls or something. I told her I’d have you call her as soon as you got out, but that your calendar is packed.”
“Hmm. Yeah, we had a difference of opinion on that house this morning.”
“I wondered. I take it the place was horrible.”
“No. Not horrible at all,” Vanessa said. “In fact, it was perfect.”
“Then what’s the problem?”
“It was over budget. I’ll tell you while we’re celebrating our new project later.”
Kendra clapped her hands together. “I can’t wait. I’ve already researched both locations.”
“That doesn’t surprise me. I have too. It’s going to be great.” Vanessa breezed out of her office and stepped back in the conference room. One of her coworkers, Micky Cooper, was pleading the case for a warehouse project to get moved to one in his portfolio in North Carolina. Something that had been on his books for a long time. It must not be making big profits lately, else why would he offer it up?
She took her seat.
“Porter’s has two huge warehouse spaces. Plus, the surrounding area has plenty of space for expansion. It’d be tight to do a shutdown and get ready by January first, but the right person could get it done.”
Vanessa politely smiled, rocking in her chair as she swung back around toward her boss, Edward Grayson. Yeah, it could be done, but Micky wasn’t the guy to do it. He was always running late on his projects. He was really much better on the front-end negotiations than the execution of things like this.
Edward’s bushy eyebrows wiggled like restless caterpillars. “You’re right, Micky.”
Micky gave a cocky nod and leaned back in his chair.
“Only this can’t slip. Not one day.” Edward’s glasses slid farther down his nose as he swiveled his gaze across the team sitting at his table today, and then his focus landed on Vanessa.
As in a disastrous game of