of the bar.
“It’s a pleasure to meet everyone,” Trey tacked on once all the introductions were done.
Well, the introductions that mattered. Jake and I had been ignored, but that was to be expected, and not only because these people were mostly self-absorbed twits but because interns were expected to blend in unless invited to stand out.
“Mr. Daily—” Jeff began.
“Trey, please,” Trey interrupted.
Jeff smiled kindly. The man was really a top-notch ass-kisser. “Trey. We’ve all looked over your business plans and are excited to help you put this project on the map. Your vision for your sports bar is unique, and we’re all thrilled to be part of your team.”
“My agent said you guys were the best, so…” He let a shrug finish the sentence for him.
I thought his traps were going to rip through his shirt.
“Let me run you through what we’ve come up with so far,” said Jeff. “And then you can let us know what you like and what you don’t.”
“We like your plan to open the bar so it coincides with the beginning of football season,” Carole said, “but will you have enough time to be part of the launch?”
This turned into a more contentious debate than her words implied. Some people thought it was smart for a sports bar owned by a football player to open at the start of the season, but others worried that all our effort would be for nothing if Trey wasn’t available to see the plans through.
“I’m putting all my spare energy into it now so when the season begins, I can shift gears. I’ve built a solid team at the bar. I trust them to run things and keep me informed of what they need from me. So other than coming in and giving out some high fives and photo ops, I don’t plan to be involved much with the daily operations. But I still want to make sure it’s my bar. I’ll hand over control of running it, but it still needs to look and feel like mine.”
Carole nodded. “Good to hear.” She sneaked a look at Jeff, who gave her a hard look before turning to Trey.
“We did want to ask, how attached are you to the name?”
“The name?” Trey looked surprised by the question.
Jeff cleared his throat. “Yes, as we were discussing how best to grow your brand, the issue we kept hitting is that the name is a bit…informal. It feels more like a one-time event than what we hope is a long-term business.”
Yikes.
I hadn’t overheard that they were going to suggest a name change—something that likely wasn’t going to go over well with the owner of a bar that was slated to open in under four months. Jeff must’ve either drawn the short straw when it came to bringing it up, or Carole had set him up to broach the issue.
With the look he’d given her, I guessed it was the latter.
“But we want Trey’s Tailgate to be informal. We’re attracting sports’ fans, not uptight executives.” Trey’s words were a total burn on everyone in the room, and if I hadn’t thought I’d be let go immediately, I would’ve applauded.
Jeff cleared his throat uncomfortably. “Yes, we understand that. But a tailgate conjures something in the mind that may not be appropriate for what you’re planning. Sure, it’s a sports bar, but it’s a pretty upscale one. You’ve managed to snag one of the best chefs in the city to come on board. We don’t want rowdy twenty-somethings thinking they can go there to get wasted and start trouble. That’s clearly not what you’re about.”
Trey looked begrudgingly thoughtful. “What did you have in mind?” he asked, his tone frosty but curious.
“What about The End Zone?” Carole suggested, excitement practically dripping from her tongue.
Trey scrunched up his face. “Too cliché.”
And Trey’s Tailgate wasn’t?
Not that I was rooting for Carole’s suggestion either because Trey was right—it was totally cliché. It was just odd he’d take issue with a football-themed name when that’s what he’d originally come up with himself.
“Okay, that’s fine. We have others,” Jeff quickly threw in. “What about The Gridiron?”
Trey didn’t like that one either, nor did he like the next however many the marketing team threw out.
“Maybe the fact we can’t come up with a better name proves the original one was best,” Trey’s assistant suggested.
Everyone at the table looked frustrated, and I watched Trey’s gaze sweep across everyone at the table. Then it settled on Jake and me.
“What do you guys think?” Trey asked.
I