A Business Love

chapter 6

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Three weeks later, the D-day was here: Jessie was finally to present her digital marketing strategy to the marketing team and receive their feedback. If her plan was solid enough, Massimo would present it at the next week quarterly meeting to all the senior leaders of the company. And if they approved it, she would get the promotion she coveted so badly. 

She had worked every week day from 8 a.m. until sometimes as late as 9 p.m. at the office, and then some more at home. She also worked on the weekends.

Work was the best distraction from her recent break up with Michael. She felt so much comfort at the office. Work never failed her. No matter what the circumstances, whether she was happy or sad, work was faithfully there. It didn't matter that she was weird, imperfect or too intense. Work didn't care. Work was always there, embracing her exactly as she was.

She had also come to realize that deep down, she always knew that Michael and her would eventually go their separate ways. In five years, she had never been able to picture herself getting married or having kids with him. Her brain had never wanted to project itself there, as if it knew it would never happen.

It was the fear of being completely alone that scared her the most. Yet, now that she was, she realized that being alone was one thing, but being with someone and feeling alone was another.

"Ready for today?" asked Mariana as she put a Starbucks iced coffee on Jessie's desk.

Jessie's eyes sparkled. "You got me a Starbucks drink?"

"Your favorite too! Venti iced chai latte with two shots of espresso blended in instead of one. That's for good luck."

"You are the absolute best!" she exclaimed in gratitude.

Mariana winked at her and entered in her office.

Jessie took the coffee and headed to the marketing conference room to prepare for the meeting.

Massimo passed by the conference room and exclaimed, "See you in 30! Excited for this!" He was so excited about this project that it was all he talked about.

The team gathered in the conference room as the meeting hour was fast approaching. Jessie definitely felt ready and while she was stressed, it was a good kind of stress. She looked both beautiful and professional with her black blouse, tight black and white tile trouser and shiny black high heels. Her hair was in a ponytail and she had a natural make up look on.

She cracked a few jokes to remove her stress before starting her presentation and her colleagues were very supportive of her.

"Thank you everyone for attending my presentation today. I know we are all very busy, so I appreciate it. Please, by any means, do not hesitate to give your feedbacks during the presentation. This is why we are here. We only have an hour and this strategy is pretty comprehensive so I'll start now."

She proceeded to detail the digital marketing strategy in great detail.

Everyone was stunned. They were now realizing that when they first saw her present her thesis as a student three months ago, they had only seen the tip of the iceberg and there was more to her. Her skills were almost intimidating. She was flawless; not only was the content of her presentation top notch and thorough, but the way she talked about it was also absolutely captivating.

All of her team members knew they were looking at someone who had a great career ahead of her. She never stuttered, she was in total control, with an overwhelming confidence, without the arrogance that could usually accompany such a performance.