The meeting started well, even though I got there a few minutes late. At the very least, I managed to avoid calling them junior marketers, and they didn’t bring it up.

I considered that a win.

When they asked where Devon was, I told them he had been called to an emergency meeting. There were some curious looks, but they didn’t ask many other questions.

A second win of the day. I was doing well.

For the next fifteen minutes, I listened as they put their proposal to me. For the first fourteen of those minutes, I struggled to concentrate on their words because all I could think was, I’m here in Devon’s place.

Devon, the CEO and founder of Pristine Group, who spent his days making multi-million dollar deals, working with some of the most powerful people in the country.

Of course, I knew that just being there was only a small part of the battle. The biggest was yet to come: Saying “no”. None of the junior marketers seemed like shrinking violets who would quietly accept that answer, especially if Devon wasn’t standing in front of them.

But the fact that he trusted me enough to be here gave me a little confidence that I could do this. Somehow.

“It’s all here in the numbers,” one of the guys droned on, aiming his pointer at a graph that looked a little, well, wrong. “The left bar shows the percentage of people who’ve heard of the product, and the right shows those who watch these timeslots. It’s really a no-brainer – we have to get our ad into those timeslots to reach these potential customers.”

“There’s something weird about your graph,” I said before my brain could engage. Why was I discussing this with them when I had specific instructions?

“What?”

I looked to my left at the girl who spoke, immediately remembering her as the ringleader who hated me the most from the first meeting. Judging by her tone, she wasn’t any happier with me now.

“The graph. The left bar is only five per cent different from the right, but it’s not even half the size. It’s an easy mistake to make, but that kind of graphing could get you into serious trouble if you used it in something like an advertisement because it’s considered fraudulent.”

The room erupted, and I wondered why I couldn’t keep my mouth shut. I also wondered when this problem of talking too much had suddenly arisen, because it wasn’t one I used to have.

“It’s not fraudulent,” the ringleader spat. “It’s a bar chart. That’s how they work.”

“It’s okay, I just thought it was strange. Go on, I’m listening.”

Now that I had started a major argument, I just wanted to slink away. The feeling of being calm and in control disappeared as soon as they all started arguing with me. Especially as the noise in the room increased unbearably.

The guy at the front – whose name I couldn’t remember – managed to calm everyone down, but I could tell he was as angry as they were. His eyes were firmly fixed to mine even as he pointed at the rest of the numbers, as though he wanted to say something less than professional.

When the presentation was over, I had to quickly figure out what to do. It had lasted nearly forty minutes, but I had spent most of the time thinking about anything other than what they told me, so I hadn’t come up with a plan.

I figured there was really only one option: Honesty. That required a deep breath, and for me to start talking before I lost my nerve. “Okay, well, thanks everyone. I mean, it was a really good presentation. Unfortunately, I have to tell you that you can’t have your budget increase. I’m sorry.”

The ringleader was, of course, the first to react. “What do you mean we can’t have it? You don’t get to make that choice. You’re just here to listen and take it to Devon.”

“I’m sorry if you got the wrong idea, guys, but I was told to come and tell you that you couldn’t have it. That’s straight from Devon.”

This eruption was no less powerful than the last, but this time, it made me angry rather than nervous. They seemed to ignore that I had no say in this.

“Calm down, everyone. Please. I don’t have a choice here. I was told to come in, listen and then tell you that there’s no room for a bigger budget.”

One of the girls stood up, placing both hands on the conference room table as though ready to leap at me. “You’re saying that we just went through that presentation but you were always going to say ‘no’. What the hell?”

Oh, shit. I’d just said that, hadn’t I?

I sat back as they yelled at each other and occasionally at me. One or two of them tried to calm things down, but the rest of them were determined to rant as though it might somehow change the answer I had been instructed to deliver. Their anger was understandable, but I was getting tired of it.

I was also constantly reminding myself that according to Devon, I was here in his place.

That meant I should act a little like him. At least, as much as I could.

With that decision made, I stood up from my chair and spoke as loudly as I could: “Enough!”

The room quietened, but not completely. “Look, the bottom line is that Devon Carell said you’re not getting a bigger budget. He told me to deliver that message.”

All eyes were glaring at me, but I continued. I wish I could say I did so confidently. “And quite frankly, I did plan to ask him if he would change his mind, but only if you guys convinced me. But you didn’t even come close to it. For one thing, that bar chart was a rookie mistake. And if I saw through it, do you really think Devon Carell would miss it?”

There were murmurs, but only the guy who finished the presentation spoke up. “It wasn’t done on purpose, Nicole. It was a mistake.”

“Well, I’ll believe you, but I don’t think Devon would. You’re pretty lucky, to be honest. And besides that, you didn’t actually convince me of anything. Sure, I know that there’s a market waiting to hear about the product you’re advertising, but I knew that already. Why didn’t you come up with something exciting?”

“Like what?” The snotty tone of the ringleader made me feel a little less guilty about being so mean.

“I’m not in marketing, so that’s not for me to decide. But something a little out of the box would probably grab his attention.”

My work was done there, and I was very ready to make my escape. There were a few whispered conversations as I gathered the papers they had given me, intent on going through them again. Who knows, maybe I had missed something and I could find a reason to suggest to Devon that they had a good idea.

Probably not, though. It seemed clear that Devon was right, and they really only cared about making a big TV ad for their CVs.

“Nicole,” the ringleader calling out as I left the room. “Wait up.”

I stopped in the doorway, and my heart raced as she walked over to me. It was silly, but I wondered if I could take her if she decided to fight me.

“Sorry,” she said, taking my arm and pulling me further from the room. “I didn’t mean to go off in there, or last time. I’m Jennifer, by the way.”

I nodded, not quite sure where she was going with this.

“But you have to understand, this is our internship. If we don’t succeed, we’re screwed for the rest of our careers. I know you get it because you’re in the same situation.”

Her words hit me hard, even though I suspected she was trying to manipulate me. “I know that, but it doesn’t mean I can just agree to take it to Devon. He’d be pretty upset with me if I took that idea to him because even I know it’s not good enough, and I’m not in marketing.”

“Look, just between us, most of them in that room only care about their CVs and references. But I’d love to be one of the few people who gets offered a job here after the internship. If I can work out something better, would you take that to him?”

I thought about it, trying to decide if that would be overstepping. I was also a little concerned by the news that few people were offered jobs after their internships.

I didn’t need another reminder that these were tough programs.

But it was hard to say no to her, especially since she seemed genuine. “If it’s good.”

“Okay, we’ll make something good. Can you meet again next week?”

“Of course,” I said, wondering whether I should be running this past Devon.

When she left me, I suddenly felt like I knew what I was doing. I hadn’t actually done anything, and I certainly hadn’t achieved anything other than delivering a message, but people had listened to me.

What’s more, they were making changes because of something I said.

I was flushing with pride all the way back to my office, and when I found Daniel sitting on the rickety old chair in the corner, I wanted to tell him everything.

If only I was confident I could do it without gushing like a schoolgirl.

“Afternoon,” he smiled, putting his phone down as I entered the office.

“Hi, Daniel. What brings you here?”

I dropped the papers on my desk, watching as Daniel tried to read them from where he was sitting. “They’re from that presentation.”

“Oh yeah, that’s right. How did it go?”

“Well, I guess it wasn’t great. For them, I mean.”

“You said no to the budget increase?”

“Yeah.”

He laughed. “You remember you were supposed to do that, right?”

“I know, I know. But it’s hard. I felt like a complete bitch.”

“Welcome to management,” he said, a hint of regret in his voice. Did he know what it felt like to be unprofessionally yelled at by an entire team of people? “Anyway, don’t worry about it. They’ll get over it pretty quickly. They have to.”

“I guess. It’s not like I had a choice. I couldn’t defy Devon, could I?”

“Well, not really. I mean, if they had presented something mind-blowing then you might have been right to at least take it to him, but I doubt they did. Did they?”

“No,” I sighed. “Nothing good.” I felt bad for them, even though I knew I shouldn’t.

Daniel sat further back on the chair, lifting one leg over the other and eyeing me closely. “So, how are you doing, anyway?”

“With what?”

“With everything. Devon, the internship. Everything.”

“Oh. Good, I think. I guess. I mean, how do I know? It’s hard to tell.”

“I’m asking how you’re dealing with it personally. Not about your performance, but about whether you want to leap off the top of the building.”

“No,” I said with a laugh. “Nothing like that. But it’s not easy, is it?”

“It’s not supposed to be. The tougher it is, the more you learn, believe me. I did it the same way, and I’m glad I did.”

“You know, I’ve been wanting to ask something. How do you make time for a life with this job? I’m only an intern and I swear, I’m here all the time.”

Daniel’s laugh was gentle, and I felt like I was sharing a connection I wouldn’t have expected. Was it possible to be friends with a boss? Was he even my boss?

“It’s hard, but you have to do it. Sometimes it means taking a few days off on the rare occasions when things are quiet. Other times it means finishing early in the afternoon, even if you know you’ll have to make the time up by starting at three the next morning.”

“Three? Do you do that?”

“Yeah, sometimes. But it’s okay if you love what you do. If not, this isn’t a good place to be, and – honestly – you should leave today.”

“No, this is definitely what I want to do. I mean, kind of. I’d like to be better at it than I am now.”

He smiled. “Then stick it out, and don’t let Devon get to you. Find something to occupy your time that isn’t work, especially if you’re offered a job after the internship. If I didn’t have my wood-working, I’d be in a padded cell by now.”

That took me by surprise. “Really? You seem so calm and happy all the time. You’re usually laughing, and I’m usually losing my mind.”

Of course, Daniel laughed at that. “You learn to deal with stress, rather than letting it break you. I deal with it by not taking things too seriously, unless we’re in the middle of a massive emergency. Otherwise, I remind myself that we’re only human, and we can only do so much.”

“I wonder if Devon understands that,” I mused, mostly to myself.

“He does, but he does a good job of hiding it. He hides a lot, really.”

I could imagine that. He was the dark and brooding type – the kind of man mothers were supposed to warn their daughters about. Somehow, I could imagine exactly why such a warning was required.

There was something about the way he kept it all to himself that had me dying to know more. Whatever it was, it made me desperate to find out.

Even if I didn’t like admitting that to myself.

He stood to leave, and I blurted out a question before I could stop myself: “Does Devon have a hobby to keep him sane?”

Turning back to me in the doorway, Daniel laughed. “Oh yeah. You should ask him about the parrots he rescues.”

What?

I was more than a little surprised by the information. My jaw must’ve dropped to the ground because Daniel seemed to realize he had said more than he should. “But don’t you dare tell him I told you that. I’ll deny it until my dying day.”

A smile crossed my face as Daniel left the room. I couldn’t imagine Devon with pets, let alone rescued parrots. To think of him gaining their trust, medicating them and showing them that humans aren’t all bad, was a new picture that didn’t seem like it could be real.

The mental images of parrots – large and small – dancing across his outstretched arms as he wore an expression of something akin to happiness almost made me giddy.