Rory sat next to Skylar outside Brett Hemmerson’s conference room as they waited their turn to make a presentation.

They were number five out of six, with each agency given an hour.

They’d gotten there way ahead of time just in case any agency was a no-show. While that didn’t happen, their early arrival enabled them to see the discouraged looks they got from the guys of agency number three as they left the room. It told them their chances had improved.

Rory waited until agency number four entered the conference room and closed the door. “Skylar, you catch the look on the group that just left?”

“Yeah. Looked like they just had a prostate exam with an umbrella.”

“Thank you for that lovely mental image. In any event, I think there are now only five agencies in the running.”

“You’re right about that. So now we’ve got a three out of five shot at making the finals and getting our commercial produced.”

Rory turned and looked at the front door, then checked her watch.

“Rory, that’s the fourth time you’ve looked at the main office door. And we’ve got nearly an hour before it’s our turn.”

“Just nervous, that’s all.”

“Bullshit. You’re waiting for Will.”

She shrugged. “Fine. I was hoping he’d arrive before we went in for our presentation. I, uh, got him a little something for saving my cat.”

Skylar rolled her eyes. “You never learn. You’re only going to encourage him. I keep telling you that you need to be rude in order to keep him at bay. He’s going to think you like him.”

“Look, what he did was really nice. But I’m not getting involved with a guy who’s in some weird kinky relationship. This is simply saying thank you to a man who did something special. Skylar, if he wasn’t there I might have lost my cat. So cut me some slack here.”

Skylar threw up her hands. “Fine. But don’t be surprised if he shows up on your doorstep with his girlfriend and a feather duster.”

***

RORY CHECKED HER WATCH again.

Ten minutes until it was their turn.

The main office door opened. She whipped her head in the direction just as Will and Savannah entered the place and checked in with the receptionist.

Skylar leaned over and whispered in her ear. “What’s she doing here?”

“Beats me. Maybe her job is to flirt with Brett.”

“I think you have that part covered.”

“She would definitely have the advantage.”

“I think if that were the case she wouldn’t be dressed in a dark business suit that’s beyond conservative.”

Will and Savannah headed toward them. Will took the chair next to Rory. “Ladies, good afternoon.”

“Hi, Will.”

Savannah leaned over. “Nice to see you again, Rory.” She waved at Skylar. “Hi, I’m Savannah.”

Skylar nodded. “Skylar. I’m the artist.”

Rory reached into her purse and pulled out a small gift-wrapped box. “Will, I wanted to say thank you for taking such good care of Hemingway while I was gone.” She handed him the box, and looked at Savannah. “Savannah, I hope I’m not overstepping here.”

The redhead furrowed her brow. “I don’t think he minds a gift. He does love surprises.”

Will started to unwrap the box. “Rory, you didn’t have to do this.”

“Yeah, I did.”

He opened the box and smiled. “What cool cuff links. Thank you. These are really nice.”

“They’re old New York City subway tokens. I noticed you always wear cuff links so I thought you’d like them.”

“Thank you, Rory, they’re unique. In fact, I’m going to put them on right now.” He extended his arm out of his jacket, but then seemed to be having a problem removing the links he was already wearing.

“Here, let me,” said Savannah. She started to remove the links and looked at Rory. “He always has problems doing this himself. Half the time he ends up with them facing the wrong way.” Then she looked at Will. “Honestly, Will, what would you do if I wasn’t around to help you get dressed?”

Rory turned to Skylar, eyes wide. Skylar smiled and playfully batted her eyelashes, then mouthed “told you so.” Savannah finished putting on the links and Will extended his arms. “Those look great, Rory. Thank you so much. Nicest gift I’ve gotten in a while.”

“Glad you like them.”

“Perfect for New York, Will,” added Savannah, who then turned to Rory. “Oh, Rory, we really do need to have lunch soon.” She cocked her head at Will. “His birthday is coming up and perhaps we could brainstorm and come up with some things we could do to him.”

Rory’s eyes became saucers as she turned back to Skylar, who was busy biting her lower lip. She turned back just as Will was shaking his head. “Honestly, Rory, she’s always thinking up new ways to torture me. Maybe you could get her to tone things down. She’s been riding me pretty hard.”

Savannah patted him on the shoulder. “Sweetie, I’m looking to take things up a notch. You’d have no chance if we put our heads together. It’d be two against one.”

The door to the conference room thankfully opened.

Rory looked at Skylar. “Saved by the bell.”

Two women exited, shaking their heads and saying nothing as they walked by.

“And then there were four,” whispered Skylar.

A man came out of the conference room. “Callahan Agency?” Rory and Skylar stood up.

“Good luck,” said Will.

“Well, not too much,” added Savannah, with a laugh.

***

RORY SMILED AS THEY entered the large conference room, filled with a dozen executives seated at a long rectangular antique oak table.

And Brett sitting at the head.

He immediately locked eyes with her.

She placed her briefcase at the end of the table while Skylar started to set up her storyboards on the easel. Rory noted photos of cats filled just about every inch of wall space, which made her smile. “Good afternoon, everyone. I’m Rory Callahan and this is Skylar Jensen, our artist. I’d like to thank you for the opportunity to present what we think will be a winning campaign and slogan to take your cat food national. I’d like to present our slogan and some ideas for thirty second spots, and then be happy to take your questions. But before we start, I’d like to introduce you to my cat.”

Skylar pulled a sheet from the easel, revealing a cute photo of the tabby. A chorus of “awww” came from the group.

“This is Hemingway, and he’s my fur baby. He also has six toes, just like the cats in the Florida Keys at the famous writer’s house. Now for those of you who have a cat that loves you, I want you to consider this. Just about all of us will drive out of the way to save a nickel on a gallon of gas, and when grocery shopping for the family we might put something back on the shelf if it’s just too expensive. But when it comes to buying food for your cat, you don’t give price a second thought. Because your cat loves you unconditionally.”  She turned and looked at the photo. “And when I think of Hemingway, I don’t care about saving a few pennies. Because isn’t he worth the best? And that’s our slogan.”

***

WILL LOOKED AT THE clock and saw Rory had just about used up her hour when the door opened. She emerged with Skylar, both wearing big smiles.

Will stood up. “I take it like they liked your presentation.”

Rory nodded. “Yeah, it went well. But hey, you never know about these things. Anyway, good luck, Will. Maybe we’ll see you in the finals.”

“Maybe so.” Will and Savannah walked past them into the conference room. He found a group of people who all seemed upbeat.

They really liked her proposal.

Gotta bring the A-plus game.

He greeted them as Savannah set things up on the easel. “Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Will Prescott and this is my assistant Savannah Dale. And we’re here to help you sell so much cat food you will think every home in America has a cat.” That got a little laughter as Will opened his briefcase and pulled out several folders. “Here’s the research we’ve done. Obviously it is totally useless without a great slogan and campaign. But it’s something we’ve used to support our plan. And it’s like no research you’ve ever seen.” He put up his hand as some of the marketing people started to open the folders. “Whoa, don’t look at it yet. In a minute. Now, one of the things we wanted to do today was create something memorable for you and your customers. That said, we’re not going to bore you with the usual storyboards.”

Brett Hemmerson raised one finger. “But, Will, we need to see something visual.”

Will nodded. “And you will. Savannah had this great idea... why show you an artist’s version of what the commercial would look like when we can use real people? So instead of hiring an artist to show you something that’s going to get lost with all the other storyboards you’ve seen today, I gave Savannah the very tough assignment of hiring models so we could show you photos of how the spots might actually look with real people.”

Savannah stepped forward and turned on the Southern drawl. “Y’all, he’s a horrible boss. It was cruel and unusual punishment, having to audition shirtless men all day.”

Everyone laughed, especially the women in the room.

Will picked up the ball. “That said, before we get to the slogan, let’s talk about how our campaign would blow up a stereotype and create a whole new customer base for your cat food. And that stereotype is the ridiculous belief that men don’t like cats. Which is not true. Mister Hemmerson, you have four. I’ve had cats all my life. But it’s almost become ingrained in our society that cats are for women and dogs are for men. We need to teach America that it’s okay for men to love cats. In fact, men already love cats. Some of them just don’t know it yet. My best friend didn’t like cats until he married a woman who had two Siamese cats, and now he loves them. So we’re not only targeting current cat owners, but future ones as well. Okay, now I’d like you all to open the binders to look at our research.” He waited a beat as the group began to open the binders. “If you were expecting boring pie charts, graphs and demographics, sorry to disappoint you. What you’re seeing are ads for every major brand of cat food in America. And you will notice a common denominator. Every single campaign features a woman and a cat or a little girl and a cat. Guess what’s missing? Not one single campaign features a man or a boy. Trust me, we looked everywhere and couldn’t find one. Which tells us the other cat food companies have given up marketing to men because they think guys don’t like cats.” He waited as they all thumbed through the folder, most nodding their heads. “So, what does this mean for your company? A huge opportunity for us to help you stand out. Not only will you be known as a company that sells good, healthy cat food, you’ll also be known as the cat food with the hot guys in the commercials. We’re now in watercooler territory and we can help the spots go viral on the internet. Okay, Savannah, show ‘em the result of that cruel and unusual punishment I put you through.”

Savannah moved toward the easel. “I hope these are in focus. It was hard keeping the camera steady.” Another laugh from the group. She revealed the first photo, one of a shirtless fireman with a ginger kitten. Will noticed every woman in the room smiled. He nodded at Savannah and she went to the second photo, a bodybuilder with a Himalayan kitten. Then a hunky police officer bottle-feeding a tabby kitten. Then a soldier with a tortoiseshell kitten. She turned back to the group. “While the hunky guys grab your attention, that’s not really the point of the message. As a woman, I can tell you I’ve always found photos of men with newborn babies very sexy. A child can make the toughest man melt. And so can a cat. What could make a tough guy look like he has a soft heart more than showing his love for a helpless kitten? I think these pictures convey that message, and so will a television commercial.”

Everyone in the room was nodding.

Especially Brett Hemmerson.

“So, we get the attention of men who will get the message that even the most macho guys can love cats. And it gets the attention of women who love both hot guys and cats.” Everyone laughed again. “And maybe a woman who wants to soften up the man in her life will consider adopting a cat.”

“This is really unique,” said Brett Hemmerson. “I must say I’m impressed at your out-of-the-box thinking. So what’s the slogan?”

Savannah revealed the last poster featuring the slogan. Every jaw in the room dropped.

Hemmerson’s eyes widened. “Wow. This is really different than any cat food campaign that’s ever been done.”

Will looked at Savannah and smiled, then turned back to the group. “Well, I guess you like what we’ve showed you so far. I realize we were given an hour, but since we only have thirty seconds to get the attention of the customer I wanted to keep our proposal simple. You’ve got our slogan, you know what our campaign will be. Now if any of you have questions about our media buy strategy, how we use the internet or social media, fire away. The rest of the hour is yours.”

An hour and a half later, Will shook Brett Hemmerson’s hand, pretty certain he’d made the finals.

***

RORY TOOK THE LAST bite of tiramisu, savored it, grabbed her glass of wine and leaned back in her chair. “Excellent dinner.”

Skylar nodded. “Hey, we sure as hell earned a celebration today. I honestly don’t think it could have gone any better. You were at the top of your game.”

“Hey, we’re not in the finals yet.”

“Oh, come on, Rory. We saw two agencies leave that conference room and you could tell they knew they were out of the running. That leaves four agencies left and three spots. And you know damn well Brett loved our proposal. So did the marketing people.” She started to laugh. “We should have hung around to see Will Prescott’s reaction. Then we’d know for sure if there were only three left.”

“I guess.”

“Hey, I’m so excited about the proposal I forgot about the stuff his girlfriend said. How he can’t get dressed without her.”

“Yeah, she’s not exactly shy about over-sharing personal details. Damn, I’m almost afraid to check her social media.”

“It would probably melt your laptop. Then she asks you to lunch so you guys could team up and plan new ways to torture him! And he adds that she rides him pretty hard!”

“She obviously likes being on top.”

“Apparently she’s the dominant one in that relationship. Good God, they must have some weird basement lair with chains and whips. I’ll bet she has some leather dominatrix outfit and she ties him up, then bends him over her knee and gives him a spanking before she takes him. And now she wants you to team up with her to torture him?”

“Yeah, that was seriously creepy. I’ve never met a woman like that. What the hell do I say if she asks me to lunch?”

“I dunno, but you can’t get involved with those kinds of people. Meanwhile, even after I told you not to encourage him, you made it worse by giving him a present.”

“It seemed like a good idea at the time. And the right thing to do in light of him taking care of my cat.”

“Keep telling yourself that when his girlfriend gives you a collar to put on him.”

“Don’t worry, I’m going to avoid her.”

Suddenly Skylar sat up straight, eyes wide. “Oh my God!”

“What?”

“I just thought of something. When Will was cat sitting at your house... ”

“Yeah?”

“Our whole proposal was sitting on your desk, out in the open. And my storyboards...”

Rory realized what that meant. Her heart rate spiked. “You think Will snooped around and stole some of our ideas?”

“You think he spent every minute in your house just taking care of cats? The guy has no scruples. Of course he looked at our work.”

“Yeah, but even if he did see our stuff, he would have had to re-tool his own proposal. And he already submitted ideas to make the short list.”

“He could have stolen some of our ideas and added them to his own. He did have several days.”

Rory shook her head. “I don’t wanna think about it. And if he did, it’s too late to do anything.”

“I guess we’ll find out eventually. But now I’m worried. I’ve got an idea, Rory. You could ask Brett.”

“I’ve got a better idea. You know anyone who has one of those nanny-cams?”

***

WILL HELD HIS GLASS of wine across the dinner table at the restaurant. “Here’s to the best assistant in New York that any advertising guy could have.”

Savannah clinked his glass. “And to the best boss in the Big Apple. I cannot tell you how glad I am that you gave me a chance.”

“Hey, my agency... our agency... has really taken off since you got here. And you have made such a difference in me personally, Savannah... there’s no way that presentation today would have gone so smooth without you. Speaking of which, Mister Hemmerson certainly took a shine to you.”

Savannah smiled and her cheeks flushed a bit. “I, uh... yeah, he seemed nice.”

“Oh my God, the super cool always-in-control Savannah is blushing. Someone is definitely smitten.”

“Fine, you got me. He’s a very attractive man and we had a nice chat while you were talking with some of the marketing people. That doesn’t mean he’s attracted to me. He might simply be a charming businessman.”

“I’ll bet after this contest is over he gives you a call.”

“I wouldn’t complain. But right now I’d rather you win the contest.”

“Well, you have obviously forgotten something... I’d rather we win the contest. Look, Savannah, you did half the work on this, you came up with the incredible idea of using men to go along with my slogan... that’s why I’m splitting the prize if we win. We would have not have done so well today without your work on this. And everyone loved you at the presentation. So, you might go home with fifty grand.”

“That would soothe the pain of not getting asked out, I suppose. In any event, he said we’d get a call one way or another next week.”

“I feel pretty good about our chances. After all, they did keep us long after our hour was up.”

She suddenly turned serious. “Will, this has been bothering me. Did you notice something about Rory?”

He flashed a wicked grin. “I always notice something about Rory.”

“Very funny. I’m not talking about your current crush. It’s about the way she acted with me. I get the impression she doesn’t like me very much.”

“Why would you say that? She was very pleasant with you.”

“Just that when I was helping you with the cuff links she got this weird look, and then it happened again when I asked her to go to lunch. I simply wanted her to help plan your birthday and she got this look like I was crazy. She was turned facing her artist, but I saw enough of her face. Did she ever say anything to you about me?”

He shook his head. “No. You guys just met. I think you’re reading something into it that isn’t there. And don’t forget, she’s often pretty cold to me.”

“She wasn’t cold to you today.” Savannah pointed at his cuff links. “And she gave you a very nice gift.”

“Well, she probably felt obligated after I took care of her cat. And I did bail her out twice with rides.”

“Especially the one you gave her from your car to her couch.”

His face flushed a bit. “You would remind me of that. Again with the torture.”

“Anyway, she’s kind of a weird fish. On second thought, maybe she’s not right for you.”

“I don’t think I’ll ever know, Savannah. The odds of her ever going out with me are slim and none.”