Trust in Advertising (6 page)

“Yes?” A stressed tone cut through Mrs. Dee’s voice.

“Sorry to bother you. It’s Lexi.”

“Oh God, the copier isn’t working.” Her rising voice reflected her panic.

“No, I got that to work, but there’s another problem.”

“Kill me now. What is it?”

Lexi heard papers shuffling on the other end of the phone. “Well, there are spelling errors, one in the brand name that’s particularly obvious.” Mrs. Dee cursed softly. “And then some of these slides are jumbled.” Lexi immediately froze. She’d never asked who actually made up the presentation. If it was Mrs.

Dee, then she’d basically just told her that she thought her presentation was terrible. Lexi tried damage control. “But then again, I have no idea what I’m talking about. I’ll just fix the errors and leave the prese—”

“That idiot!” Mrs. Dee snarled. “Lexi, dear, please fix the presentation however you think it flows best. I have a phone call I need to make to the person that dumped this pile of crap in my lap.” The line went dead.

Get to work, big mouth
, Lexi told herself as she quickly spell checked the remaining slides, and then shifted some others around to what she thought would make the presentation flow better from the client’s perspective. With only minutes to spare, she ran back to the supply room, printed out copies of the slides, and collated them into presentation bundles. She also printed out a condensed version of the entire slideshow before her revisions and one after so 30

Trust in Advertising

Mrs. Dee could quickly look between the two versions and decide which she wanted to go with.

As Lexi stuck her head through the door to the lounge, Mrs. Dee ran over and hugged her fiercely. “I cannot thank you enough for catching the mistakes and getting everything done so quickly.” Mrs. Dee beamed as Lexi handed her two different papers.

“The first one is the original, which I left on the flash drive as-is, after fixing the typos, of course. The second one is just what I thought might help make things flow better, but if you don—”

“This is fabulous! I love how you moved the history and other ads in the market to the beginning. And did you change the background, too?” Mrs. Dee’s eyes quickly scanned the sheets of papers as she took in all of the new images.

“Well, as I was reading it on my computer, the background was distracting so I thought simpler was better in this case, especially when the proposal is so flashy to begin with. Let the product stand out, not the background of the slide.”

Lexi tried to explain the reasons for the changes without casting a negative shadow on the other person’s work.

“Well, I’m sold. I’m going to use your slides. Give me one of these presentation packs for Mark. I want to leave it on his desk with a note so he can see what a high-quality presentation should look like. Well done, dear.” She shoved the last of the papers in her briefcase, slid the shoulder strap of her laptop case on her arm, and headed for the door. “Welcome to Hunter. I knew it would be a good idea to hire you.” With a wink, she disappeared out the door.

“Good luck!” Lexi called out after her. “I saved the new version as plan B.”

“Got it.” Mrs. Dee’s faint voice drifted down the hall.

With a proud smile, Lexi went back to the supply room, turned out the lights, and then headed back to her desk to leave for the night and meet up with Hope at Moon for a well deserved drink … or ten.

31

∙ 4 ∙

Lexi and Hope had spent the weekend shopping in an effort to beef up Lexi’s less than impressive wardrobe. When she stepped off the elevators onto the twenty-first floor of the Barrington Building in her brand new designer wrap dress, she looked and felt like a million bucks.

“Good morning, Sue.” Lexi gave a small wave to the receptionist as she passed by her desk.

“Good morning, Lexi. My, you look beautiful today.” Sue winked her approval.

“Thanks.” Lexi smiled. “Have a great day!”

Finally starting to feel comfortable at her new place of employment, Lexi made her way through the maze of desks and hallways until she reached her tiny alcove. Papers and files were already scattered haphazardly on the pale Formica surface of her desk. On top of that, she still had half of the workroom to inventory by that afternoon.

“I hate Mondays,” Lexi sighed as she sat down in her chair, the good mood she had been in moments ago faltering.

As she rummaged around her desk in search of a highlighter, Tim’s head popped out of his office. “Lexi, my office, ASAP.” His tone was extremely clipped, which seemed unusual for him

“Sure thing, let me just gr—”

“Now, Lexi,” Tim snapped, then he disappeared into his office.

Trust in Advertising

Oh, hell, what did I do now? Oh my God, that presentation from Friday! I
messed it up. I’m fired. Well, crap, it was fun while it lasted.
I’m so stupid.
Lexi continued chastising herself as she sulked into Tim’s office.

“Tim, I’m so sor—”

His hand flew up to stop her from talking. “I hate to say this, but you’ve been promoted.”

Lexi’s mouth fell open in complete and utter shock, then quickly snapped shut as her mind reeled from the news. “Ex-excuse me? I think I must have had a small seizure. What did you say?” She leaned closer to make sure she caught every word that came out of his mouth.

Tim leaned back in his chair and let out a frustrated sigh. “You got a promotion.”

“Me?”

“Yes, you are Lexi White, aren’t you?” Tim said dryly.

Breathe, and just find out how many more lunches you have to get per day.

“Sorry, Tim. This was just unexpected.”

“You can say that again.”

“What I mean is, how many more lunches do I have to get per day?” Lexi blurted out as she clutched her notebook, ready to jot down the names of the people she was now responsible for helping.

“One,” Tim said flatly.

Her head snapped up from her paper. “Only one more?”

Piece of cake. Wow, one extra person. That’s some promotion, Lexi. Way to
freak out over nothing.

Amused by the look of total confusion on Lexi’s face, Tim chuckled.

“You’ve been promoted to executive assistant, Lexi. You need to report to the twenty-third floor, now.”

The pen slipped out from between her fingers as Lexi stood there in a daze. “Executive assistant? There has to be a mistake.” She shook her head from side to side.

“No mistake, Lexi. I got the call this morning. I’d be lying if I said I was happy about this. We’re really going to miss you down here. And lucky me, I get to start the hiring process all over again and train another person.” Tim came out from behind his desk and placed the fallen pen back into Lexi’s hand.

“Good luck up there. That’s the big time.”

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Victoria Michaels

“I … wow … thank you, Tim, for everything. I feel like I’m leaving you in a lurch with the workroom,” Lexi sputtered.

“We’ll manage. Now go. Leigh is waiting upstairs to get you settled. She’s the executive secretary for the floor. If you need anything while you’re up there, she’s the person to ask.”

Lexi was still in a daze as she made her way back to her desk and gathered up the few personal belongings she’d managed to bring to work over the last week. Her hand grazed her cell phone, and she immediately snatched it out of her purse and called Hope.

“
Hola
, Chica!” Hope sang into the phone. “
Que pasa
?”

“Hope, I – I …”

“What’s wrong? Are you all right?”

“No, yes, I’m fine. I got … a promotion.” Lexi sank into her chair to steady herself as she uttered the still unbelievable words out loud.

“Lexi, that’s amazing! We’re going out and celebrating tonight. Did you get a raise too?” She clapped with excitement on the other end of the phone.

“Not sure about the raise. I don’t even have any idea why I got this promotion. What do I know about being an executive assistant? I think I’m going to throw up.” Lexi clutched her stomach and leaned toward her trashcan.

“Don’t you dare throw up, Alexandra White. Suck it up and get your butt to those executive offices. What better place to see what’s new in advertising than with the movers and shakers in the biz?”

“I know you’re right, but what do I know about dealing with executives?

Last week I worked in a record store, and before that, I was a waitress at an all-night diner.” Lexi’s head began to spin.

“You’re not running the company, just getting some lunches, making phone calls, scheduling meetings, and maybe picking up some dry cleaning. Breathe, Lexi.” As always, Hope had a way of cutting to the chase and putting things back into perspective.

Lexi took a deep breath, and brushed the hair out of her face. “You’re right.

I can do this. It’s not rocket science. Thanks for the pep talk, Hope. I have to go upstairs and figure out what I’m supposed to do now, and I’l ask about that raise.”

“Good girl! Let’s meet after work.”

“Will do.” Lexi snapped her phone shut and headed for the elevators.

“Congratulations, Lexi.” Sue looked up from behind her desk as Lexi nervously paced in front of the elevators.

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“Thanks. They weren’t kidding about promoting from within, were they?”

Lexi laughed, trying to make light of it, but the look on Sue’s face told a much different story.

“Um, no one has worked down here for a week then gone straight upstairs, dear. This is a first.”

When the elevator arrived, the bell rang, startling Lexi. She stumbled in, glancing back at Sue, who gave her a big smile and a wave. “Good luck, Lexi!”

she shouted as the doors closed.

When the elevator opened on the twenty-third floor, Lexi was once again in awe. Tim’s little tour on her first day had included a brief walk-through of the executive suites, but they had come up through one of the stairwells, not the main elevators. Seeing the office from the same perspective as a new client was truly impressive.

The walls were a deep, rich maroon color with beautiful crown molding throughout. The classically styled chairs were upholstered with a light pinstriped fabric that complimented the décor perfectly. Behind a huge mahogany desk sat a smiling woman with long, blond hair and hazel eyes. She appeared to be only a few years older than Lexi.

“Good morning. Welcome to Hunter Advertising. Can I help you?” She folded her hands on her desk and smiled politely.

“Good morning, I’m Lexi—er—Alexandra White from downstairs? I was told to come up—”

“Miss White, yes, good morning.” The woman jumped to her feet and came around the desk to shake Lexi’s hand. “I heard you were going to be working up here now. My name’s Leigh. It’s so nice to meet you. Can I get you something to drink? A cup of coffee or a bottle of water?”

“No, no, thank you.” Lexi blushed at the offer, feeling like she should be the one asking Leigh if she wanted coffee. “And please, call me Lexi.”

“Okay, Lexi, let me show you where you’ll be working.” Leigh took her by the elbow and gently directed her down the main hallway. After two quick rights, Leigh held her arm out indicating that they had reached their destination.

“Here we are.”

Lexi found herself at a modest desk with two arm chairs that matched the ones in the lobby sitting in front of it. On top of the desk sat a sleek, black flat-screen monitor with the Hunter Advertising screen saver swirling. Beside the monitor was a phone that looked like it could possibly launch the space shuttle 35

Victoria Michaels

with all the buttons on the thing. To the right of the desk was a huge wall of framed ads that Lexi presumed were Hunter designs and an ornate office door with a dark brown knob. Taking her purse off her arm, Lexi sat down in one of the armchairs and patiently waited.

Leigh chuckled behind her. “Lexi, what in the world are you doing?”

Blood flooded Lexi’s cheeks. “I was just waiting for someone to come out of that office and tell me what I’m supposed to do up here. Why? Oh gosh, am I not supposed to sit in these chairs?” Lexi flew to her feet and ran away from the chair like it had been covered in tacks.

As Lexi fidgeted nervously beside her, Leigh laughed. “No, I just meant you were sitting on the wrong side of the desk.” Lexi gave her an even more confused look. “It’s your desk.” Leigh spoke very slowly to make sure Lexi understood.

“Get out.” Lexi sighed as she ran her fingers gently over the shiny desktop.

She turned to Leigh. “Seriously?”

“Yep. Now, put your bag down so I can finish the tour. The bottom drawer locks; key’s in the top one.” Leigh sat down in one of the armchairs as Lexi tentatively lowered herself into the plush, black leather chair behind the desk.

Lexi locked her purse away and slipped the key deep into the pocket of her dress before following Leigh down the hall to resume the tour. The break room, copy room, and supply room were all pointed out to her in detail, since she would be spending a great deal of time in those areas. There were also a few introductions to the other assistants as she passed them in the hal , but many were gone since there was a big meeting that had all the executives out of the office for the day. After about half an hour, Leigh returned Lexi to her desk, and again took her place in one of the armchairs as Lexi sat timidly behind her new desk.

“So, what do you think?” Leigh’s eyes twinkled.

“This is all so amazing and overwhelming.” Lexi fidgeted with a pen that was sitting on the desk.

“You’ll do fine. Basically, all you have to do is follow directions, and you seem like a very sharp person, so you should be fine. I hope.” Leigh mumbled the last part under her breath.

“When do I meet my new boss?” Lexi asked, glancing at the office door and wondering who was sitting on the other side.

“Not for about a week. He’s on vacation right now, but he usually checks in daily. I’m sure you’ll have some contact with him tomorrow.” She leaned forward 36

Trust in Advertising

in her seat and spoke in a lower voice. “I should let you in on a few things about him. His family owns the company, and he’s a bit … difficult.”