Undoubtedly Yours

Chapter 2

Hope

A few hours earlier...

Walking towards the building of NEXT ON, I take a moment to breathe and focus on the day ahead of me. If everything works out the way it is supposed to, I will be getting my own team to lead the project for Hoffman industries and if I have anything to do with it they will stay my client for a long, long time. After two months of relentless calls to their marketing department, Mr. Hoffman has finally agreed to a meeting. It was two months of torment, but hey, it paid off in the end.

As soon as I walk into my office, I see Mr. Scott Spencer, our team manager, standing by the window, apparently waiting for me. Scott is our team manager and is here to probably go over the game plan for the meeting today. Scott is about 45 years old, divorced and constantly looking for the next Mrs. Spencer. He has been a little flirty lately and I do not appreciate it at all. I have mastered the skill of avoiding his advances and ducking out of situations which require the two of us to work one on one. So far it has been working, and I pray to the gods above that he recognizes it and leaves me alone.

"Good Morning Mr. Spencer! I hope that your being here this early is a good sign. The meeting is still on, right?" greeting him, I try to ask him something about work right away to control the conversation. "Yes, yes, everything is fine. I just came here to see how you are doing. I remember being a nervous wreck about my first big presentation and I want you to know I am here if you need me." he says in a way that makes my skin crawl. Channelling my focus on the meeting today, I say, "You don't have anything to worry about. It's not like I have not presented before. It's just a bigger company this time. We have been preparing for this for the past month. Josh and Katie have been amazing additions to the team. Thank you for your support. I'll be sure to tell you if we need anything. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to get to both of them so I can make sure everything is in order for the big day."

I think he senses my reluctance to talk, so he nods and mumbles good luck before leaving my office and I breathe a sigh of relief. I gather everything that I need for the presentation today and head out to meet my team. When this project came along, I was handed my own team because it was the biggest company I have been handed over so far. I have one intern and one junior associate. Luckily, they are team players and are eager to learn. I get to them and we go over all the details and I address their concerns since this is going to be their first client meeting. By the time we are done, I see it's already 2:30pm. I tell them to take a break since the meeting is at 4 and head out to the cafe for lunch myself.

I joined NEXT ON as soon as I finished my MBA. I was hired as an intern at their Vancouver branch and have been working my way up since then. I have led some small projects in the last two years and if the meeting today is successful, Hoffman Industries will be my biggest client so far. Mr. Craig Charles started this company 6 years ago and ever since I have come on board, I have seen it grow tremendously. So much so that it is now running for one of the biggest PR companies there is. They have moved offices to Toronto recently and I moved to work here about a month ago. My manager at the time was amazing, but since she moved, I have got Scott as my manager. It has been quite a change but his experience does come in handy.

"Order 255. Ms. Williams, I think it is yours." I am brought back from my reminiscing when the cafe barista almost yells my name. Assuming he was calling the order for a while, I apologize and thank him for my order. He brushes me off and gets back to work. I walk over to an empty table and sit down to eat my sandwich with a berry smoothie that I have come to love. After finishing my lunch, as I am walking towards my office, I see Scott almost running towards my office. My first instinct is to groan when I see his face again, but stop when I look at his pale face. "What happened? Is everything okay?" I ask him.

"Mr. Hoffman is going to be here in 10 minutes. I am going downstairs to escort him. Please get everything ready" he says and I understand now why he looks pale. "Don't worry, everything is ready. The laptop needs to be connected and we will be ready. He is a bit early but I will make sure everything is under control" I try to reassure him. "Okay, that sounds like a plan. I will go now. I don't want him to wait" he says while looking at his watch. Nodding I tell him as he leaves, "I did ask Katie to set everything up in the conference room after lunch so that should help. Everything is going to be fine. I will see you in the conference room."

I go to my team and inform them about what is going on and as expected they start panicking. I try to calm them down and we go over the game plan quickly, reassuring them that we have got this. In fifteen minutes, everything is set and I am connecting the laptop to the projector which is not working. "Okay Josh, ask the reception to give you the spare wire for the projector. Katie, why don't you go and get a couple more water bottles? I am going to go and grab a couple of things quickly." By the time I get back, I see Scott walking out of the conference room.

"Is everything set?" he asks me. I just nod at him and tell him "Josh and Katie are on their way, why don't you go get Mr. Charles while I finish setting up." He nods and walks away. I get inside and Josh comes in handing me the wire. Knowing the clients are in the room I walk straight to the laptop. Connecting the wire and checking if everything is working, I say without looking, "Good evening gentlemen, I apologize that we are not set up already. Give us a couple of minutes and we will be ready for you."

I feel someone come up behind me and before I could turn I hear a deep voice, "Dean Hoffman, it's a pleasure to meet you." What the f**k!! Stunned, I turn around, confirming what I only suspected. Suddenly I feel like kicking myself for not listening to Katie when she asked me to Google him. Why is he here? Dean Hoffman or Daniel Campbell? What is going on? I look at him and realize that he knows I recognized him. Just then I see that Scott and Mr. Charles have walked in .Composing myself, I shake his extended hand and say, "Mr. Hoffman, it is a pleasure to have you here with us. My name is Hope Williams and I will be leading this presentation. Thank you for giving us a chance. Please have a seat, I am just about to start."

Dean, not Daniel, smiles and turns to call someone over. I see Mark Mathews from our college looking at us like he has seen an alien. Shaking his head, he comes over to introduce himself and I don't know if he has recognized me.

"Are we ready to start?" I hear Mr. Charles ask the room and I nod at him and feel Dean staring at me. Everybody grabs their seat and I go to start the presentation. I see Mark taking out notes and I switch to my professional mode and start the presentation. This, I can do.

"Good evening everyone, I would like to thank Hoffman industries for giving us a chance. Mr. Mathews has been kind enough to mail us your main concerns and we have addressed those mainly in the presentation today. We can definitely go over any questions or concerns after the presentation. Josh and Katie are a part of my team and will be joining in on this presentation if that is okay." I ask looking directly at the two men. The two look at each other and nod looking at me.

I turn around and, taking a deep breath, I start going over the presentation. Throughout the presentation, Mark asks me a lot of questions and I see Dean just sitting quietly looking like he is pondering over something. Once I am done, Mark thanks me for clarifying all his queries and then I train my eyes on Dean as I ask, "Mr. Hoffman, what do you think? What are your thoughts about working with us?" I see his eyes glinting and I know he is going to ask something that I am not going to like and, what do you know, he does not disappoint.