Christa leaned forward across the table. “Are you interested in Paul?”
“Not officially. I just find him intriguing.”
“Hmm. I can’t recall the last time you found any man intriguing.”
It was annoying, but true. During the last few years, I’d rarely come across any men who’d piqued my interest. For some reason, since I’d met Paul, I found myself thinking about him more than I wanted to. “It’s just typical that I can’t go there,” I said, with a deep sigh.
“Why not?”
“Oh, come on! First of all, he’s my mentor and working with me on Grounded Marketing. Secondly, he’s got baggage. Divorced, two kids and a very successful business. Even if he was interested, I don’t see how he’d find the time.”
“They’re all excuses, if you ask me. You like him.”
“That’s my point. It doesn’t matter if I like him. It’s not going to happen.”
“So if he was interested, you’d tell him no?”
I opened my mouth, then closed it. I hadn’t actually allowed myself to contemplate it. “I’d tell him it wasn’t a good idea,” I said finally.
“And if he kissed you?”
Honestly, where was she going with this? I did not need to be thinking about the possibility of my business mentor kissing me. She was not helping.
“It’s not going to happen.”
“I seem to recall I was committed to six months man-free when Max happened,” she reminded me.
“I’m not you.”
Christa scrunched up the brown paper bag into a tight ball. “No, you’re not. But I’ve got you thinking, haven’t I?”
I scrunched up my paper bag too, then tossed it at her. “I have more self-control.”
Christa smirked. “That’s what you think.”
Chapter 9
I was addicted.
At least my addiction wasn’t life threatening. A person couldn’t die from running their own business, I reasoned. Although their social life definitely could, I thought, smiling.
I returned my gaze to my laptop with a sense of satisfaction. Who cared if it was almost six o’clock on a Saturday night and most single girls would be getting ready for a night out on the town? I was in my element.
I scanned the report and the list of website links I’d been working on for the last couple of hours. I felt like I’d hit the jackpot and I had Paul to thank. I saved the file and then attached it to an email titled: You truly are wise. Then I hit send.
Paul Nielsen was one smart man. I’d been doing some initial digging on the internet about the men and women we were pitching to at the bank. The information I’d discovered was going to completely change our pitch. My team would probably hate me come Monday, but once they saw the evidence, I was pretty sure they’d be as excited as I was.
My computer beeped to show a new email. It was from Paul.
From: Neilsen, Paul
Subject: You truly are wise
Madeleine.
Well done. Mia Moss is one very interesting lady. Perhaps you should become an investigative journalist …
Compliments aside, tell me you haven’t spent the entire day working on this?
Paul
Paul Neilsen
Director
NTRtain Media Pty Ltd
I grinned at his reply. Mia Moss was a senior marketing executive at the bank and it turned out she had a very interesting history. Now in her mid-thirties, she’d spent her twenties working for not-for-profit organizations and traveling the globe. Not that this was particularly noteworthy. It was her involvement in Greenpeace that left me spinning. She’d been involved in numerous protests and was at the center of an arrest ten years ago.
She appeared to have reformed since then, but it was obvious she was one of the major driving forces behind the bank’s new corporate governance plans. I had a feeling if we could present a pitch that appealed to Mia’s mindset, we’d have a good chance of winning the business.
I hit reply to Paul’s email.
To: Neilsen, Paul
Subject: You truly are
“Not officially. I just find him intriguing.”
“Hmm. I can’t recall the last time you found any man intriguing.”
It was annoying, but true. During the last few years, I’d rarely come across any men who’d piqued my interest. For some reason, since I’d met Paul, I found myself thinking about him more than I wanted to. “It’s just typical that I can’t go there,” I said, with a deep sigh.
“Why not?”
“Oh, come on! First of all, he’s my mentor and working with me on Grounded Marketing. Secondly, he’s got baggage. Divorced, two kids and a very successful business. Even if he was interested, I don’t see how he’d find the time.”
“They’re all excuses, if you ask me. You like him.”
“That’s my point. It doesn’t matter if I like him. It’s not going to happen.”
“So if he was interested, you’d tell him no?”
I opened my mouth, then closed it. I hadn’t actually allowed myself to contemplate it. “I’d tell him it wasn’t a good idea,” I said finally.
“And if he kissed you?”
Honestly, where was she going with this? I did not need to be thinking about the possibility of my business mentor kissing me. She was not helping.
“It’s not going to happen.”
“I seem to recall I was committed to six months man-free when Max happened,” she reminded me.
“I’m not you.”
Christa scrunched up the brown paper bag into a tight ball. “No, you’re not. But I’ve got you thinking, haven’t I?”
I scrunched up my paper bag too, then tossed it at her. “I have more self-control.”
Christa smirked. “That’s what you think.”
Chapter 9
I was addicted.
At least my addiction wasn’t life threatening. A person couldn’t die from running their own business, I reasoned. Although their social life definitely could, I thought, smiling.
I returned my gaze to my laptop with a sense of satisfaction. Who cared if it was almost six o’clock on a Saturday night and most single girls would be getting ready for a night out on the town? I was in my element.
I scanned the report and the list of website links I’d been working on for the last couple of hours. I felt like I’d hit the jackpot and I had Paul to thank. I saved the file and then attached it to an email titled: You truly are wise. Then I hit send.
Paul Nielsen was one smart man. I’d been doing some initial digging on the internet about the men and women we were pitching to at the bank. The information I’d discovered was going to completely change our pitch. My team would probably hate me come Monday, but once they saw the evidence, I was pretty sure they’d be as excited as I was.
My computer beeped to show a new email. It was from Paul.
From: Neilsen, Paul
Subject: You truly are wise
Madeleine.
Well done. Mia Moss is one very interesting lady. Perhaps you should become an investigative journalist …
Compliments aside, tell me you haven’t spent the entire day working on this?
Paul
Paul Neilsen
Director
NTRtain Media Pty Ltd
I grinned at his reply. Mia Moss was a senior marketing executive at the bank and it turned out she had a very interesting history. Now in her mid-thirties, she’d spent her twenties working for not-for-profit organizations and traveling the globe. Not that this was particularly noteworthy. It was her involvement in Greenpeace that left me spinning. She’d been involved in numerous protests and was at the center of an arrest ten years ago.
She appeared to have reformed since then, but it was obvious she was one of the major driving forces behind the bank’s new corporate governance plans. I had a feeling if we could present a pitch that appealed to Mia’s mindset, we’d have a good chance of winning the business.
I hit reply to Paul’s email.
To: Neilsen, Paul
Subject: You truly are
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