The hundred thousand dollar prize should have been the only thing on Rory’s mind as she and Skylar arrived at the ad club luncheon where the winner would be announced.

But after her revealing conversation with Savannah, she needed to talk with Will.

She hadn’t slept a lot with so much to process.

Savannah wasn’t his girlfriend.

Will wasn’t into weird sex stuff.

His roommates were sick, orphaned or homeless cats.

And the big one.

Will had a major crush on her.

Not just a crush. Savannah has said major.

Throw out the first meeting where they got off on the wrong foot after what she considered a rude comment, and he was someone who checked off a lot of boxes.

Smart. Cute. Funny. Talented. A gentleman.

Loves cats.

Hemingway likes him.

She surveyed the room looking for Will, but didn’t see him.

“He’s obviously not here yet,” said Skylar.

“Damn, I wanted to talk to him before lunch.”

“You can talk to him after lunch.”

“I know, but I really need to clear things up. You know me, when I’ve got something hanging over my head, I want it gone as soon as possible.”

“Yeah, I hear ya. After what you learned yesterday, I suppose we both owe him an apology just for the way we talked about him.”

“He doesn’t need to know that stuff. I want to explain why I’ve sometimes been cold to him. Or downright rude. He didn’t deserve that, especially in light of how he took care of my cat. I need to apologize.”

“So that he’ll ask you out?”

Rory shook her head. “Savannah said that’s not going to happen. She really does have him well trained. I would have to take the initiative.”

“Well, you’re not shy. You have asked men out before, haven’t you?”

“A few times, but it always felt odd. It’s really very stressful because you don’t know if he’ll accept. The thought of being turned down is always in the back of your mind. I think every woman should do it once just to know what guys go through. I’m amazed more of them don’t drop dead from a heart attack during the process.”

“You ever been turned down?”

“Once. I’ll be honest, it hurt. I went around for a few days wondering what was wrong with me.”

“Well, in this case you have an advantage since Savannah told you he has a crush on you, so you wouldn’t have to worry about him turning you down.”

“True. Skylar, have you ever asked a man out?”

“Yeah, but only when I am absolutely sure there’s interest. So I haven’t been turned down. But I know what you mean... it would be demoralizing if a guy said no. Meanwhile, I don’t want you to forget that the cat food CEO is sweet on you.”

“I’m not thinking about him right now, Skylar. I need to do damage control. Bottom line, Will is a good guy and deserves to be treated well. Even if we never become anything more than just friends.”

***

FIVE MINUTES BEFORE the lunch started, Rory spotted Will and Savannah. She headed toward their table and saw him pulling out a chair for her.

Damn, I want a guy who will do that for me.

She arrived just as he was about to sit down. He turned and smiled. “Hey, Rory. Well, I guess this is the moment of truth. Hopefully one of us will be rich in an hour.”

“Yeah.” She took his arm and started to pull him aside. “Will, I really need to talk to you.”

“Sure. Hey, after lunch we’re all going over to my place. Oil wrestling in the back yard.” He flashed a wicked grin.

“Will, please—”

“Then a seminar on the proper use of fur-lined hand cuffs and how to install a stripper pole.”

“Okay, you don’t have to rub it in.”

“Hey, I’m just torturing you.”

She threw up her hands as she shook her head. “Go ahead, get it out of your system. I deserve it.”

He started to laugh. “I’m sorry, Rory, but it’s funny as hell. Lighten up.”

“You’re not mad about the way I treated you? I was cold, I was rude... and after you rescued me and saved my cat.”

“Mad? Of course not. Considering you thought I was running some sort of Caligula’s palace out of my house, your actions were understandable. It’s actually kind of flattering you thought I was such a babe magnet that I had hot and cold running women over at my place. The only females who have spent the night at my place are cats.”

“Will, please let me apologize.”

“No, because an apology is not necessary. Trust me, in time, you’re gonna look back on this and laugh.”

“I think it’ll be a while. Will, I wanted to ask you—”

She was interrupted by the ad club president tapping a glass with his spoon. “If everyone will take their seats, lunch is about to be served.”

He took her hands and gave them a squeeze. “Good luck, Rory. If I don’t win the contest, I sure as hell hope you do.”

“Same here, Will. Best of luck.”

***

RORY’S HEART SKIPPED a beat as Brett Hemmerson stepped to the podium in front of a large flat screen television. She reached over and grabbed Skylar’s hand. “Well, this is it.”

“Our spot is terrific, Rory. We’ve got a great shot.”

“I’m worried about Will’s entry.” She cocked her head at his table. “Look at him and Savannah. They look like they just had a bottle of wine and a massage.”

“It’s out of our hands, sweetie. Take a breath. We still have a great business if we don’t win.”

Brett smiled at the crowd. “Good afternoon, and it’s very nice to be with you again. I must say I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the entries for our contest, but alas, only one can be chosen. We have three finalists, and I’m going to show you the commercials they produced before we announce the winner.” He grabbed a remote and turned to the television. “First up, the Ward Agency.” He pointed the remote at the TV and the screen filled with a slate for a few seconds before the commercial started to roll.

Halfway through it Skylar leaned over and whispered in Rory’s ear. “This one isn’t going to win.”

“Yeah, it’s not exactly catchy.” She watched the spot end and saw the slogan. “That doesn’t inspire me to buy cat food.” The crowd politely applauded. Rory studied Brett’s face and noted he didn’t seem terribly impressed. “Check out the look on Brett. He’s not wild about that one.”

“You’re right. It’s us or Will.”

Brett turned back to the crowd. “Okay, our next entry is from The Callahan Agency.” He looked right at Rory for a brief moment, gave her a smile, and turned to the TV.

The spot began to roll, beginning with video of Madison’s orphaned kittens being bottle fed as Madison provided a voice-over. Rory heard a collective “awwww” from the crowd.

“Remember these little guys? They’re the orphaned fur babies who changed my life and so many others. And now they’re grown and living in their forever homes, one of which is mine. But we still want the best for those special members of our family, and that’s why Bumper... Socks... Gypsy... and Hemingway... all stay healthy and happy by eating Fur Baby cat food.”

The screen filled with shots of the four cats eating the food, then playing with their owners. Rory smiled as she saw herself typing on a laptop and being interrupted as Hemingway ran across the keyboard. She laughed, grabbed the cat and gave him a hug. Followed by a shot of Madison with Bumper.

“You know, it’s funny. We’ll drive out of the way to save a few cents on a gallon of gas... wait for those shoes we love to go on sale... but when it comes to our cats, money is no object.”

The spot ended with Rory’s new logo superimposed over a shot of the four kittens.

“Fur Baby cat food... isn’t your cat worth the best?”

The spot ended followed by loud applause. Rory couldn’t help but smile and nod as people looked in her direction.

“I think it’s a hit,” said Skylar.

“Yeah, but we’re not home free yet.”

Brett moved back to the podium. “Ah, you guys liked that one, huh? Always nice to see America’s most famous litter. And one of those cats belongs to the copywriter who wrote the spot. Okay, our final entry comes from Will Prescott and Savannah Dale.”

Rory leaned forward while maintaining a death grip on the arms of her chair. “Here goes.”

The screen filled with a shot of a gorgeous shirtless man wearing a policeman’s hat, the guy they’d met in the parking lot of the production house. She heard a reaction from the women in the crowd.

“My special girl is always there for me.”

Then a shot of a buffed hunk in fatigues from the waist down and a Navy cap.

“I can’t wait to see my girl when I’m off duty.”

Next, a seriously ripped fireman at the firehouse shot from the waist up with only suspenders showing.

“My girl? I wake up to her every morning when she licks my face.”

The camera pulled back, revealing the guy picking up a kitten that gave him a lick.

A huge “awwww” from the crowd.

Back to the cop. “When I get unconditional love, I return it the best way I know. With a lot of attention and Fur Baby cat food.”

The fireman. “Money is no object when it comes to keeping my girl happy and healthy.”

The Navy man. “Cats only need two things: lots of love and good food. That’s a formula for a long, healthy and happy life.”

The cop. “Real men love cats, and cats love Fur Baby.”

The spot ended a split screen of the men and their kittens as the logo flew in from the side.

Followed by thunderous applause.

Rory slumped down in her chair. “Annddd... we just lost.”

Skylar turned to her. “You don’t know that.”

“Oh, come on. That was fantastic. It was better than ours. And what kills me is their slogan is something I’ve actually said a few times.”

Brett stepped back to the podium as the applause died down. “I note you ladies especially enjoyed that last spot.” Everyone laughed. He pulled an envelope from his pocket. “Okay, time to announce the ad agency we’ve chosen to take us national. And the winner of the one hundred thousand dollar prize... Real Men Love Cats, by Will Prescott and Savannah Dale.”

Rory immediately got up and started to clap. The rest of the crowd quickly followed as Will and Savannah headed up to the podium. Brett shook their hands, then presented each with an envelope. They posed for a few photos. Will and Savannah headed back to their seats as Brett went back to the microphone.

“I wanted to thank all the agencies who participated, but I’m not done. Did you all catch the different logo in the spot from the Callahan Agency?” He pointed the remote at the TV and the logo filled the screen. “Well, Skylar Jensen’s artwork knocked our socks off, and we’d like to buy it. So Skylar, come on up and see if this offer is good enough. Uh-oh, I shouldn’t have said we loved it. Now she’s got all the negotiating power.” The crowd laughed.

Skylar looked at Rory, wide eyed, then headed up to the podium. Brett handed her an envelope. She opened it and her jaw dropped.

“I’m guessing I made a good offer,” said Brett, to a lot of laughs.

Skylar said, “Deal!”, shook his hand and headed back to her table, then handed the envelope to Rory. She opened it and her eyes went wide. “Whoa. Ten grand. And how long did it take you to design it?”

“Couple of hours. Not too shabby, huh?”

“Hey, that’s something nice in your Christmas stocking.” Brett wished everyone a Merry Christmas as did the ad club president, who ended the luncheon. Rory noted everyone was not  leaving but heading toward Will’s table. “Well, let’s get in the receiving line and congratulate him.”

***

SAVANNAH AND WILL WERE beaming as Rory waited her turn. She couldn’t help but replay their winning commercial in her head.

Damn, it was brilliant. And the slogan...

She reached Savannah first, and extended her hand. “Congratulations, Savannah. You guys did a great job.”

“Thank you, but your spot was excellent as well.”

“Not as good as yours. By the way, I saw Brett hand you an envelope. What was that all about?”

“Oh, my half of the prize money.”

“Huh?”

“After we did our presentation, Will told him to split the prize if we won. Can you believe it, Rory? I’m just his assistant and he gave me fifty thousand dollars!”

“Wow. That’s incredibly generous.”

“I told him that wasn’t fair but he insisted. Hey, I’m not gonna turn it down!”

“Well, you deserve it.”

“Next time I’m buying you lunch, Rory.”

“I’ll take you up on it, Savannah. If I don’t see you before the holiday, have a Merry Christmas.”

“You too. Hey, I hope everything is okay between you and Will. He wasn’t at all upset. He actually laughed about it.”

“Yeah, he told me. Thanks for smoothing things over for me.”

“I didn’t have to, Rory. I’m just happy you know the truth.”

Rory moved on toward Will, who was wrapping up a conversation with another ad man. He turned toward her and smiled as he took her hand. “Congratulations, Will. Your spot was fantastic.”

“Thanks, but so was yours.”

“Hey, when someone else does a better job, I admit it.”

“The contest was all subjective, Rory. You could have easily been chosen.”

“Maybe so, but I doubt it. By the way, I was really impressed that you split the prize money with Savannah.”

“Well, the slogan was mine, the concept was hers, and we worked on the copy together. I thought it was only fair. We never would have won without her.”

“That’s incredibly generous of you, Will. I don’t know too many people who would have done that.”

“Well, I owe her a lot, and it goes beyond advertising. She has been working overtime on another project, for which she hasn’t been paid. I’m sure you know what I’m talking about.”

Rory nodded and smiled. “Yeah. The results of that project are impressive. Listen, Will, I was wondering if I could pick your brain on a new client. I’ve got a spot almost done but I’m stuck for an ending. Need another pair of eyes.”

“Sure, you wanna send me what you’ve got? I’ll get Savannah to look at it too.”

“Well, I really need a man’s point of view. And Skylar’s got storyboards so I was hoping you could drop by after work tomorrow since you live in the neighborhood.”

“Sure, happy to help out.”

“Good. If you could come by around seven that would be great.”

“See you then.”

“And again, congratulations.” She let go of his hand and headed to the door where Skylar was already waiting and staring at her own check. “Got it spent already?”

“Of course. I’m starting by buying you dinner. So, you ask Will for a date?”

“No.”

“Then why don’t you go talk to cat food guy. It’s now safe to go out with him.”

“I need a favor from you first.”

“You want me to ask a guy out for you?”

“No. I need some storyboards for an account that doesn’t exist.”