A Private Affair - A.C. Arthur Page 0,31
final one, she smoothed the stack and slipped them into a case.
“And now you’re brooding because you don’t like to be wrong.” RJ chuckled. “Come on, Riley. Just tell me that everything is okay and I’ll leave you alone. I can respect your privacy.”
Her head snapped around at those words. “Liar. You probably already called Mom and Dad to see if they’d heard from me. And then you would have found Major and Maurice in whichever woman’s bed they awoke in this morning to question them.”
He chuckled. “As a matter of fact, I called Major and Maurice first.”
Riley shook her head. The Gold twins were infamous for their identical dashing good looks and their prowess with almost every woman they encountered. They were also a part of the Babysit Riley Club, in which each of her brothers proudly held membership.
“That was so unnecessary. I was just a little late.” She’d been an hour and a half late because she’d been sleeping too soundly and too comfortably in Chaz’s arms.
“But you’re never late.”
That was true.
“I apologize.”
“No need to apologize, Ri. You’re entitled to some time for yourself. It’s just that we know you, and when something changes, we worry. But I’m glad to see you’re just fine and on top of things with this new bridal collection. Your reports are amazingly detailed and the plan you’ve mapped out for marketing is stellar. I believe we have a winner here.”
That sent happy vibes throughout her body. “I’m glad to hear that because I want to revisit the specialty shops idea again. I know Dad said he didn’t want to detract from our flagship stores in Manhattan, Beverly Hills and Paris, but I really think these smaller, more focused shops will hit a section of the market we’re missing.”
They’d had this discussion before at meetings with her father; his top two designers; Major, who was the technical developer; Maurice, who was in charge of public relations; and Janel Lindsey, the CFO. The same conversation had also been held during family dinners at their parents’ house. Each time, her idea for expansion on a smaller scale was shot down, regardless of her market research on the idea. The Gold brand was big; everything they did had to be big or they didn’t do it. That was what her father insisted.
“You know how Dad feels about that.”
“He’s wrong.” She knew she was being adamant, but she couldn’t help it. She was positive the idea could succeed. Riley hoped that with the successful launch of this couture bridal collection, she could convince her father that she really did know what she was doing.
“Well, let’s just take on one thing at a time. The projected sales numbers for the Golden Bride Collection look great and the campaign you’ve outlined is amazingly thorough. If the marketing department follows through with everything you’ve pitched here, we’re looking at a major victory for the company.” RJ seemed pretty excited by that thought.
Of course he was—more sales meant more accolades for him. Not that he needed them. As the firstborn he was going to slide into the CEO position at RGF the moment their father retired. Major and Maurice didn’t want that job. But Riley could see herself doing it. She’d also seen herself as a phenomenal chief executive of market research and she knew that she was ruling that position right now. So RJ could have the CEO spot, Riley planned to make her mark right here and right now.
“I have to call Sigmund again. I missed our call this morning. But I need to stress the importance of having enough stock to fill all the preorders. Once the show is over, stores are going to need dresses to sell.”
“Maurice will have all the online specs ready to go so ordering will be possible,” RJ added.
“I don’t want there to be a wait for delivery in the first few weeks of the launch. I want brides to see these dresses, fall in love with one and plunk down their cash to buy it. And I want them to have their dresses in hand well before their wedding dates so they have more time to adore it. Especially since they’ll only have it on for one day.”
RJ eased off the table and went to grab his notepad and empty coffee cup. “There’s my sister. For a while I was wondering why you were going so hard on this collection when I knew weddings were not your thing.”
Riley picked up her half-full