Room 1208 (5 page)

For the next two days she’d allowed herself to
wallow. During one of her first therapy sessions with Dr. Moira she’d learned
just how unhealthy it was to suppress her emotions. Sitting on the shower
floor, she’d thought back to the first time in therapy when she’d given a
primal scream, a scream that opened the doors to all the pain, sadness and
anger that had enchained her life until that point. That memory brought some
comfort. What had happened in Room 1208 was nothing in comparison to the
culmination of her life’s sorrows.

And what
had
happened that night, really?
She’d finally lost—no, given—her virginity to a man who couldn’t have treated
her in a more passionate, tender and considerate way. The experience had been
more beautiful and sensual than she could ever have imagined. That he’d treated
her with such care without knowing the gift she was giving him made the memory
even more special.

That was the memory she clung to. She wouldn’t
allow herself to feel guilty for being party to his betrayal of Rachel, whoever
she was. Despite that betrayal, he was the man who had unknowingly helped her
jump over the last hurdle that stood between her past and her present. And, for
that, she could only be grateful.

Dr. Moira had immediately sensed a change in
Maggie at their session following Maggie’s return from Chicago. “You’re ready,”
was all she’d said.

“Yes, I am.”

Ready to begin a new, exciting job with a
fast-paced, energetic advertising agency, ready to post her profile on an
online dating service, ready to begin making new friends, ready to fully
embrace the new Maggie. Oh, the old Maggie was still there, tucked in a special
place in her heart. Dr. Moira had taught her to love that Maggie, to forgive
her for things that were, ultimately, not her fault. That Maggie would always
be with her as she made her way through the world.

But sometimes…

Maggie rose from the sofa and walked upstairs to
her bedroom. She paused in front of the bureau, avoiding her own reflection in
the mirror above. Opening the top drawer, she reached to the back corner and
pulled out a rolled up ball of white lace underwear. Unraveling it, she pressed
it to her nose, smelling him, smelling the faint but still heady mixture of
their blended passion. This was the only tangible evidence she had of their
night together, the only piece she had of him.

Him
. Who was he? Where was he? In a
country of over three hundred million people the likelihood of ever seeing him
again was virtually impossible. She pushed the underwear back into the drawer.
She thought of Mike Brosky and his teasing grin. She thought of hot, wet kisses
and dark, secluded barrooms. An idea, the germ of which had been planted
earlier that day, began to grow and take shape. Feeling a creative glow, she
raced back to her notepad.

 “…and it concludes with
the tagline: For the James Bond in All of Us.”

There was a moment of silence before Rob laughed.
“Amusing, but no. What else do you have?”

John’s face turned slightly red, but he laughed
along with everyone else gathered around the conference table as he continued
reading through his ideas. It was nine o’clock the next morning, and the
creative teams were meeting for their first brainstorming session for the Jagz
campaign.

Maggie recalled shaking in her shoes at her first
such meeting at Pelham and Mason. The sensitive, eager-to-please girl inside of
her hadn’t expected her brilliant—or so she thought—ideas to be ridiculed. But
it’d taken just a few minutes to realize that teasing and laughter played a
major part in Tim and Rob’s creative process. All ideas, good and bad, were
noted on the whiteboard, but, unless the pitch was spot on, which was rare, no
one was safe from mockery.

Kayla interrupted John. “I thought it was a good
idea. Who doesn’t love James Bond?”

“That suave Daniel Craig look will definitely
have some appeal with both men and women,” Tim conceded. “I just think it’s
been done already.”

“It’s practically a cliché for a vodka ad,” Dan
agreed. “Shaken and not stirred and all that. We need something fresh.”

Kayla pursed her lips with annoyance. “Yeah? So,
what’s
your
big idea?”

Samantha shared a look with Maggie and Dan before
clearing her throat. “Looking at the current Jagz campaign, it’s easy to see
why they’re appealing to that young celebrity and celebrity wannabe demographic.”
She slid a ripped out magazine page to the center of the table. “We see a bunch
of twenty somethings partying in what appears to be a Vegas nightclub, VIP
velvet ropes, lots of tits and ass, flash and bling.”

“Cool,” Emily said from where she stood at the
whiteboard working on the mind map.

“Exactly,” Dan agreed. “But say you’re a business
man or woman, tired from a long day on the road or a slew of meetings, just
wanting to sit in a quiet, classy bar and have a drink—that one drink that’s
going to soothe your weary soul, mellow out your day, remind you that you
worked hard and deserve something special, maybe something unexpected.”

While he’d been speaking, Maggie had risen from
her chair to stand next to the covered easel the three of them had placed there
a few minutes before the meeting. Now she uncovered the first series of
sketches Dan and his design team had hurriedly put together earlier that
morning. She waited until everyone had a chance to view the storyboard then
said, “Jagz Vodka...Expect the Unexpected.”

The room was silent for what seemed to Maggie
like several minutes before Rob and Tim nodded at each other and Rob said,
“Ladies and gentlemen, I think we have a winner.”

“I’ve heard that slogan somewhere before,” Kayla
said, giving Rob a sweetly puzzled look.

“There’s no copyright on it,” Dan argued. “It’s a
quote that goes back to around five hundred years before Christ.”

“Herodotus?” John asked.

“Heraclitus.”

“Geez, who knew you were so wicked smart?”
Samantha gave Dan a teasing punch on the arm.

“It doesn’t matter how many times it may have
been used before or for what purpose,” Tim said, his mellow voice pulling everyone’s
attention to him as usual. “It’s the concept as a whole that works. It’s sexy
and sophisticated. I want to see the same story from the female perspective.
Give me two more storyboards around this and have it on my desk by noon.”

The next few days were a
whirlwind as the teams worked together to flesh out both the print and
television ads needed for the pitch. Maggie spent hours sifting through
headshots, searching for the man and the woman who were so pivotal to the ad’s
success or failure.
He
had to have dark hair and blue eyes. Ideally,
she
would have been a redhead, but Maggie settled on a brunette who had very expressive
and appealing features. Both actors ended up being perfect.

Maggie had just returned from the production
studio when Tim called her into his office. “Shut the door.”

She raised her eyebrows at his tone. It was
unusual for him to sound so agitated. “What’s up?”

He began pacing between his desk and the window,
hands on his hips. Finally he heaved a sigh. “There’s just no good way to say
this. Kayla’s coming to New York with me, Rob and Mike to give the pitch.”

Maggie pressed her lips together and began a slow
internal count to ten as Tim continued. “I know this is your brainchild,
Maggie. Hell, we wouldn’t even be in this position if Jason Armitage hadn’t
spotted that Goldfinch ad in the first place. I gunned for you, I truly did.
But Kayla is a pro at pitching. She and Rob play well off of each other.
And…well…” He scratched his head, looking even more uncomfortable.

“Just spit it out, Tim. I can take it.” Lord
knows she’d taken enough in her past thirty years to weather whatever he had to
say to her.

“Maggie, this is in no way a come-on. You know
you’re absolutely gorgeous. But you blush a lot and you can sometimes come
across as reserved and shy. That works well in some client-facing situations,
but not this one. Kayla is cool and unflappable in front of the client. I know
you’ll reach that point with more experience, but this campaign is just too
important. We can’t put you in front of this caliber of client just yet. Please
tell me you understand.”

He looked so upset and uncomfortable that Maggie
couldn’t help but give him an appeasing smile. “That's okay, Tim. I understand.”

“You’ll be getting full credit for this one,
Maggie. Once we have the client in the bag I’ll introduce you.”

Maggie was already backing towards the door.
“Sure, Tim. Uh, I need to get back to the print ad copy. Just let me know what
else you need from me for the pitch. I know you guys are going to knock it out
of the park!” And, with that, she spun on her heel and practically launched
herself out of his office before he could notice the tears pooling in her eyes.

 “That
bitch
. I
swear she’s doing Rob. The two of them have been pretty tight lately.”

“Yuck, seriously? That’s a visual I do
not
want in my head.”

Samantha handed Maggie another tissue. They’d
locked themselves in the ladies restroom. “This was your idea! You should be
there.”

“No, Tim’s right. I blush way too easily. We’re
trying to sell smooth, sophisticated and sexy. I’m none of those.”

“Hon, you are the sexiest woman in this building.
I would die to have that hair of yours. And your body? Come on! From your first
day at the agency you’ve had every guy staring at your backside with their
tongues hanging out of their mouths. And that’s just killing Kayla. She used to
be the hot stuff around here.”

Maggie laughed. “You’re just saying that to make
me feel better. And what about you, Miss Cover Girl? I’ve seen the way Dan
looks at you. Why don’t you just put him out of his misery once and for all?”

Samantha laughed with her. “And spoil all the
fun? Teasing him is the highlight of my day. Now, let’s get you cleaned up.
We’re going out to lunch. My treat.”

The following Wednesday
everyone in the agency waited anxiously for word from New York. Tim had
promised he’d call as soon as they’d finished up their meeting with Sean Bannister
and his team. As two o’clock came and went, the anxiety grew. The pitch had
been scheduled for one o’clock eastern. Given the one hour time difference,
they should’ve heard from Tim by now. They were all huddled around Emily’s desk
while she serenely filed her fingernails.

“Maybe they’re at a bar celebrating,” John
wondered.

“Maybe Tim dropped his cellphone in the toilet,”
someone else snickered. It wouldn’t be the first time.

“Maybe they were abducted by aliens.”

“Maybe—”

“Good
God
. Enough already!” Dan threw his
hands up in the air. “I could really use a bong hit right now.”

“I’ve got a pipe.”

“What the fuck, dude. You brought it into the
building?”

“Yeah, so? You don’t think Tim is burning one in
his office every night? That guy is way too mellow not to.”

“Don’t end a sentence with a preposition,” an
intern chimed.

“Okay. That guy is way too mellow not to,
smartass
.”

Maggie exchanged a look with Samantha. “Why do I
feel like I’m back in high school?” she whispered.

“Let’s go see if Rob left his liquor cabinet
unlocked,” Samantha whispered back.

Emily’s phone rang.

“Put it on speaker phone,” Dan ordered.

Emily rolled her eyes. “Pelham and Mason
Advertising Agency. How may I help you?”

Rob’s voice came through the line loud and clear,
no speaker phone needed. “Emily, put Maggie on the phone.”

Everyone gaped as Emily handed Maggie the phone.
Rob had not sounded pleased.

“This is Maggie.”

“Get your bag packed and head to the airport.
I’ve booked you on a five o’clock flight on Delta to La Guardia”

“
What
?”

“Sean Bannister specifically asked to meet the
person who came up with the concept. He won’t give us an answer one way or the
other until you’re here. I’ll tell you the rest when you get here. I’ll be waiting
for you in baggage claim.”

Rob apparently hadn’t
calmed down one iota while waiting for Maggie to arrive in New York. “Tim’s in
the car,” was all he said after greeting her in baggage claim. He took her
carry-on from her and strode ahead of her to the exit. A black limo slid up to
the curb almost immediately. Rob opened the rear door and guided her in ahead
of him.

Maggie raised her eyebrows in surprise at Tim who
was reclining in the luxurious interior. This didn’t look like a hired car. “It
belongs to Jagz,” Tim said, confirming her unspoken question as Rob slid in
next to her on the black leather seat.

“Why are they letting us use their car?” Maggie
asked.

“We tried to refuse, but Sean was insistent. We
would’ve been flying back this afternoon after the meeting if he hadn’t asked
us to stay another night. They even put us up in a hotel.”

“That doesn’t sound like something they’d do if
they weren’t seriously considering our ideas.”

Rob nodded. “You’d think so, right?” But he
looked completely baffled.

“What happened in the meeting?”

“We nailed that pitch. Kayla was brilliant,” Rob
said.

There was a tiny flicker of amusement in Tim’s
eyes as he caught Maggie’s gaze. There’d been something more in Rob’s tone than
just a boss praising his employee. Her mouth twitched and she had to glance
away.

“We could all see that Sean was completely buying
into the concept,” Rob continued. “He kept nodding his head and smiling. He had
us play the television spot three times.”

“Was it just him in the room?”

“Him, their marketing VP and their business
development VP,” Tim said.