“Finally!” she laughed, clapping her hands. The lovely Italian accent only made her more alluring and Selena felt pale and gangly in comparison. “You must be the new marketing genius!” she exclaimed and stepped forward, extending her hand. But the woman didn’t wait for Selena to shake her hand. Instead, she took Selena’s hand enthusiastically. “It’s great to see a new face on this floor. One would think with the beautiful sunshine and the glorious mountains in the distance, that the people here would be more laid back.” She turned and gave Brant a meaningful glance, then looked back at Selena. “Not the case,” she said, her accent thickening with whatever was going through her mind. “Come get me when you’re ready for lunch. I’ll take you to a place that will make you cry!”
And then she was gone. Selena stood there for a long moment, wondering what had just happened. The woman was like a beautiful whirlwind!
“You get used to her,” Brant growled, his voice indicating that he had not yet gotten used to the amazing woman.
Selena laughed softly, shaking her head. “I hope not.”
“This way,” Reid told her and, once again, he took her elbow, leading her out of his brother’s office. But not before she caught a look that sparked between him and his brother. Since Selena didn’t know the younger brother well enough yet, she couldn’t interpret the look, but she guessed that their silent communication had something to do with the woman who had just departed the office.
Chapter 7
During the next hour, Reid introduced her to several of the marketing staff, including her boss, the marketing director, and the team of ten people that would help her implement her idea. Her office was located right next to the marketing directors and, after Reid left her, the work began.
Over the next week, she worked long, hard hours. The team brainstormed ideas and slowly developed a plan. Marketing wasn’t just about coming up with an idea. It was an eye opening experience and all of her business and sales knowledge was tested as she worked with this group of people who had helped bring Rembrandt Cosmetics from a small start up to a massive, international brand.
Selena woke up earlier each day, needing to get in her morning run so that she felt balanced, but then hurried through her morning routine in order to arrive at work as early as possible. There was so much to do, so many details to work out. It wasn’t just the basic concept that she and the team had to create. Marketing was so much more than that. Models needed to be chosen, slogans refined, art work developed, commercial scripts written, social media strategy developed, television commercials refined…there was so much more to the world than she’d realized.
For her part, Selena was just the genesis of the idea. The marketing team would be the ones to develop and work up the ideas. While Selena brainstormed with the marketing team, she was in charge of developing the new training techniques.
She worked harder than she’d ever worked in her life, spending hours with the marketing team, vendors who might support their efforts, and the accounting department to ensure that their ideas would be profitable.
Selena took a great deal of pride in her work, wanting to be the best. She’d worked the makeup counter for Rembrandt Cosmetics during college and had always achieved the best sales with repeat customers who’d ask for her specifically. After college, she’d been promoted to training assistant and then trainer. After another couple of years, she’d been promoted to training the trainers for the district. This was the next step and she wasn’t going to fail!
She got to work early each morning and stayed late, trying to research solutions to problems and find ways to make every idea better, more effective. By the end of the day, she was exhausted but always thrilled with her efforts.
And every night, she fell into bed and dreamed…not of color palates or moisturizing slogans, but of Reid and wondering what he might think if he ever saw her in her new underwear. Or out of it! The nights were long and she hoped that her co-workers never discovered how erotic her dreams had become lately. Especially since all of her nights and dreams featured their illustrious, devilishly handsome boss.