The Weekend Proposition - Ella Jade Page 0,45
Spencer. “I wouldn’t pick up if I saw this.”
“She thinks it’s me.”
“Surely she knows that article means nothing,” his grandfather said. “Haven’t you called and discussed it with her? She knows you were never engaged. She’s your girlfriend.”
“We had a misunderstanding last night.” Spencer couldn’t explain the real reason Coda was upset with him. “I haven’t spoken to her this morning.”
“Coda never mentioned that you were seeing one another,” Vince said. “I had no idea until I saw the paper, but I should have put it together when you asked for what she had already designed. I thought it was a coincidence.”
“She told me to tell you. She said you would know what I meant. I thought maybe the two of you had discussed the logo before. I had no idea she had worked on it.” Spencer had asked her and she told him she hadn’t. She probably didn’t want to get Vince in trouble.
“I’ve tweaked her designs, because hers were raw, but the more I look at hers the more I realize they’re what the client wants. I didn’t want to present them to you until I had her permission. I figured we’d need to work out a contract with her. I was going to explain to you that I’d been mentoring her. I was pretty shocked to see that you two are dating.”
“Right.” Spencer studied her designs. How had he managed to screw everything up?
“We need to get that girl in here,” his grandfather said. “Spencer, I don’t care what you have to do, I want Coda on staff.”
“The waitress?” Pierce asked. “We don’t know her qualifications.”
“I’d say she’s much more than that.” Jack looked at his grandson. “She’s Spencer’s girlfriend and a pretty talented graphic artist. She went to NYU. I don’t care if she waits tables or cleans this office at night. She has a flair for agency work. I haven’t seen work like this from someone so green in a long time. She’s special, and we need her.” He looked at Spencer. “Why the hell didn’t you know anything about this?”
“We just started seeing one another,” Spencer admitted. “I’ve never seen her work.”
“Now you have, boy. Get her approval on these designs.”
“It’s not her approval I’m worried about,” Spencer mumbled. “We need to postpone the meeting.”
“The client is already on their way here,” Pierce said. “Get Coda in here and she can sit in on the meeting. If they like her work, we’ll offer her a job.”
“No,” Spencer said. “I’ll approach her and discuss her designs with her as a professional, but first I need to clean up your granddaughter’s mess and apologize.”
I need to apologize for so many things.
“Postpone the meeting.” Spencer looked at his brother. “Tell them we had a glitch but we will have the designs ready by the end of the day. If Coda agrees to work for us, we’ll present her logos tomorrow morning, and if not, we’ll have to let the Bradford account go.”
“Are you out of your mind?” Pierce asked. “In the forty years of this company’s history we have never lost a client. I’m not about to now because you can’t get your love life in order.”
“Maybe if you had stayed out of my love life in the first place we wouldn’t be in this predicament.” Spencer stood from the conference table. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a personal matter to deal with.”
“Jack, get him under control,” Pierce demanded.
“I can no more control him than you can manage Ava. We never should have tried to keep them together.” His grandfather walked out of the conference room with Spencer. “You do whatever you have to do to make things right with Coda.”
“I can’t force her to work for us.”
“I’m not talking about that.”
“You’re not?” The old man’s attitude surprised Spencer.
“She’s unique. I saw it in her eyes. She has a spark. But you know what I really noticed?”
“What’s that?”
“The passion in your eyes when you look at her. I’ve only seen you look that way one other time.”
“When I’m going after a national campaign?”
“When you sit in front of the piano.” He nodded. “Coda is your muse, Spencer. Whatever happened between the two of you can be fixed. Don’t lose her over a misunderstanding.”
“I don’t intend to.”
“That’s my boy.” He patted his grandson’s back. “Now go get her. I’ll handle the Bradford account.”
“Thank you.” He headed down the hall and to the elevators when his assistant stopped him. “Mr. Cannon.”
“It’ll have to wait, Lynn. I have