I feel a little dirty leaving Justin’s office that day.

Actually, I feel totally disgusting. I don’t know why I agreed to stay or why I thought to ask for more money, but he gave me everything I wanted. I probably could’ve asked for more, but I stopped myself.

I don’t understand it. I was ready to tell him to go fuck himself, that I’d never work for a bastard like him, but as soon as I saw him in person, smiling at me with those gorgeous eyes and full lips…

I couldn’t do it. I’m such a little chickenshit, but it’s the truth. I couldn’t do it.

Of course, there are a ton of reasons why I didn’t go through with leaving. I’ve put in a lot of time at this company, and apparently the board does like me even if they don’t trust me. And I do believe that Justin won’t stay here forever.

Which means I could be in line for CD, assuming I make the board realize I’m loyal to the company, and not just to Diane.

True to his word, I get an offer letter on my desk before the end of the day. Everything is in there: ten percent raise, extra vacation days, even a line about greater creative freedom. I compile my list of brands and send them over before signing the letter and slipping it under his door.

I go home, feeling like I just made a deal with the devil.

“What do you think of him?”

Howard frowns at me from behind his thick black glasses and runs a hand through his mop of brown hair. He’s a heavyset guy and wears a vintage gaming t-shirt plus well-worn jeans to work every single day.

He’s the head of digital, so he gets away with it.

“He seems decent,” I say, although it physically hurts me to let the words escape my lips. “I mean, they brought him on for a reason.”

Howard frowns. “Aren’t you pissed about what they did to Diane? I mean, you were her… you know.”

“I am pissed,” I admit. It would be stupid to pretend like I’m not. “But I want to move forward. I think Justin’s going to be a good director.”

“Yeah, maybe.” Howard sighs and shrugs. “Guess it doesn’t matter. Might as well get along with the guy, right?” His eyes brighten for a second. “Hey, isn’t he your age?”

“He sure is,” I say. “Youngest CD in company history.” I want to throw up in a trash can.

“Good for him,” Howard says, a little vague. We start to move toward the conference room as people pack themselves in.

“Really, he’s decent,” I tell him. “I plan on acting like it’s business as usual. I know it sucks Diane’s gone, but she told me she wants us to keep moving forward and doing good work, so…” I trail off as we step into the crowded room.

“See you later,” Howard says as he goes around to the other side to sit with the tech half of the company. I sit down next to Martin, one of our lead designers. He gives me a little tight smile. He’s a small man, thin mustache, wears a lot of turtlenecks.

“What’s this all about?” he whispers to me.

“Just a general intro meeting,” I say.

“For the whole company?”

I shrug. “Guess so.”

“Young man must be trying to make some power moves already,” Martin says. “Get us all in line.”

“Maybe,” I admit. “Or maybe it’s just a meeting.”

He raises his eyebrows, but doesn’t fight the point. More people drift in before Justin stands up from a chair off to the side and walks to the front of the room.

I glance around as he starts speaking. Martin is right, nearly the whole company is here, minus support staff. Every creative, every department head, everyone is here. Part of me feels like Justin is about to start randomly firing people, just to make a point, but that’s not fair.

I have to at least try and keep my personal feelings for him out of this, even if those personal feelings are pretty damn strong.

“This is going to be a special year,” Justin’s saying. “I know I’m a new face, and I know my predecessor was very respected. Frankly, I looked up to Diane in many ways, everyone in the industry did. But she’s gone now, and I’m her replacement.”

He clears his throat, looks around. His eyes drift over everyone and I swear he lingers on me, just a second too long.

“As such, I’ll be making some changes.” Martin glances at me, a little smile on his lips. “First, we’ll be increasing focus on the digital side of things. We’ll be doubling their budget for the coming quarter.”

Murmurs around the table and Howard looks stunned. Clearly, Justin didn’t prep him for this.

“Next, we’re going to make a push to bring in new clients and to cut legacy accounts. If they’re not bringing in much work and they’re just sitting on our books, we’re getting rid of them. It’s time to clean house, people, or at least to straighten up.”

There are more murmurs. Nobody likes cutting clients, even clients that don’t earn us very much. It’s always a pain in the ass and it never goes smoothly. People get pissed, people complain, and it’s just generally such a big hassle.

“In the spirit of this, I’d like to announce that I am personally bringing in a very sizeable account. We’ll be handling all of Spine Virtual Reality’s materials from now on.”

This gets the biggest reaction yet. Everyone’s heard of Spine. They’re a fast-rising tech company out of Hawaii that’s been taking virtual reality mainstream. Their hardware is amazing and their vision is fantastic, and it’s all lead by this really bizarre woman named Blair Ashton. They’re one of the most highly funded projects in the country, with enormous amounts of cash coming in all the time.

I have no clue how Justin landed Spine, but this is huge. They’re popular and in a hot market, and that means they’ll be throwing a lot of work our way. I can practically see the dollar signs lighting up in the eyes of the digital guys.

“This is just the beginning, folks.” Justin stands up straight, eyeing the people seated in the large room, the buzz now palpable. “There will be more changes, but I want you all to understand something. Optimum will enter the new millennium, and we will do some huge things. I hope we can all do this together.”

He nods once, steps back, and crosses his arms. “You’re all dismissed. Get back to work.”

The room bursts into conversation. That as the shortest meeting ever, but Justin doesn’t seem to care. He sits back down and talks to a board member on his right, laughing softly at something he said.

“That was one hell of a power move,” Martin says, standing up. “The new millennium, huh? I guess he thinks we’re stuck eighteen years ago.”

“Who knows what he thinks,” I say.

“Hm. We’ll see.” Martin waves and heads into the flow of people leaving.

I stay in my seat for a second, watching Justin. I don’t know what he’s up to or what he meant by what he said, but I can tell things are going to change around here. I don’t know if they’ll be good or what, but I suspect they’ll be interesting.

I stand up slowly and start to head toward the door. Before I can leave though, I hear my name.

“Remi.” Justin waves at me. “Can you hang back a sec?”

“Sure.” People look at me as I sit back down at the table. Let them think what they want.

I wait while Justin finishes his conversation with the old board member. The guy leaves, shambling with the others, and Justin sits across from me. The room’s empty now, except for the two of us.

“First of all, thanks for staying,” he says to me. “Honestly, Remi, I appreciate it. I’m glad you made this decision.”

“Sure,” I say. “What do you need?”

“I want you to take lead on the Spine account.”

I blink, taken aback. “Uh… really? I thought that would be digital’s thing.”

“No, it’s your thing.” He smiles at me, leaning closer. “Think you can handle it?”

A million responses flit through my mind. I want to yell at him, slap him, run away. I want to tell him to fuck off.

“I can handle it,” I say instead, because this is a huge opportunity.

“Good. I know you can.”

“Send me whatever I need.” I stand up and he leans back in his chair.

“We’ll meet with Blair in a few days and go from there. She makes all the final decisions, unfortunately.”

I frown a little bit. I don’t want to ask, but I can’t help myself. “Is she as… interesting as people say?”

“You’ll see.” His grin gets broader. “I think you’ll like her.”

I frown a little. “Okay then. Keep me updated.”

“I will.”

I turn away from him and leave the conference room, not sure what the hell I’m getting myself into. His handsome face and gorgeous eyes are practically mocking me as I make my way back toward my office.