schools to see how many offered the activities Kayla wanted for our school, and we distributed information to the students during lunch. Once it was time for the election, I had a pretty good feeling she’d get a decent number of votes.”
Drew looked captivated by the story. “Did she?”
I nodded slowly. “Almost all of them. I think there were maybe twenty-something people who voted for Colin.”
“Shit.”
“I know. It was crazy. We were so excited, but we didn’t know how Colin and his friends were going to treat her. They were definitely pissed at first, but a few weeks later, when Kayla began the first fundraiser for our trip to a water park, Colin and his friends were fully on board.”
“See? You really are amazing. Getting a bunch of kids to vote for a less popular classmate in middle school is a miracle even Mother Teresa would’ve been impressed by.”
Drew was exaggerating again, but I appreciated the compliment.
“It definitely made me feel good. I was able to influence people’s thoughts, and it was a natural high that’s been hard to replicate. But they did need Kayla. They just didn’t know it until we showed them. So I guess that’s the real, extremely lengthy story behind why I’ve always loved the idea of marketing. It’s really helping everyone, not only the person or business you’re marketing. Because our class did get the field trip, and we got a dance and a moving-up party on the football field.”
“You still friends with Kayla?”
“I talk to her here and there,” I told him. “We didn’t stay super close through high school only because our interests began to change. She goes to school in Florida, but I see her when we go home for holidays and things like that. Our moms are good friends.”
“Does Kayla know why you went into marketing?”
Shaking my head, I said, “I never told her. I never told anyone, actually. Well, until I told you just now.”
“I feel special,” he said without a hint of sarcasm.
I knew the feeling. Drew made me feel special too.
Chapter Sixteen
S O P H I A
“I can’t believe we get to sit in on a meeting with Trey Daily. This is so cool,” Jake gushed as he rushed around, gathering his notepad, pen, phone, and whatever else he deemed necessary for a meeting he wouldn’t even be allowed to speak in.
“Yeah, for sure,” I replied, decidedly less enthused.
It wasn’t that this wouldn’t be a neat opportunity, but the attitudes of everyone in this office could sour a wet dream. I wondered if everyone in corporate marketing was as bloodsuckingly brutal as Carole and Jeff. I really hoped not.
Maybe I could open my own small firm and make a career out of helping the little guy. Like Drew and Brody. Making them successful felt much more satisfying than a guy who was already a millionaire, but maybe that was because I had a personal interest in them.
Or maybe I just hated this goddamn job.
I followed Jake to the boardroom, grabbing a seat along the wall where we’d been relegated to for these meetings. At least they’d given us chairs.
Carole and Jeff were whispering to one another, but it was obviously acrimonious. Their lips practically spit the words out as if they were venom that would kill the other.
A few minutes later, Tom Prescott, the chief marketing officer, led Trey Daily and two other men into the boardroom. I’d yet to catch a glimpse of Prescott before this moment. He likely only left his ivory tower for million-dollar clients.
Trey was even larger in person than he looked on the field. Not that I watched a lot of football, but I’d looked up some clips when I heard he’d be coming in. He was a beast on the field, but next to other behemoths, his size appeared almost small. But being at least six feet tall with biceps that looked like they’d been sculpted in stone, Trey Daily was anything but average.
His flawless dark skin contrasted starkly against the baby-blue polo he’d somehow stretched over himself. He smiled widely when Mr. Prescott introduced him to the team, and the way his perfect teeth lit up his face made him look charismatic and approachable.
This was a man who’d be easy to market. There wasn’t a man or woman alive who wouldn’t be drawn in by the prospect of getting to spend even a brief moment in his presence.
Trey introduced the two men with him as his assistant and the general manager