Tongue Tied

Chapter 14

I could feel Alec's eyes on me while Darin and I conversed. His icy glare accompanied by the woman hanging off his arm and flirting with him seemed to have shifted the air in the room and I was suddenly finding it much less comfortable to be at the gala, and somewhat harder to breathe normally.

Darin was surprisingly down to earth, contrary to what the papers occasionally said about him. He and the president and CEO of Abernathy Advertisements, Chase Levitt, had had their names thrown into the self-absorbed asshole category of our industry for as long as I could remember. I didn't understand why though. Maybe Chase was a jerk. I'd never met him so I had no way of drawing a conclusion there. But Darin had a vibrant personality and a good sense of humor. He was able to be sweet and charming while still keeping a professional demeanor. Not to mention, he was really attractive. I was impressed. How could anyone not like this man?

Darin and I had been sitting at a small table in the corner of the room, sipping on some fancy champagne I couldn't pronounce the name of, and discussing Hawthorne Hills Hospital and what it was like for me to help organize this year's gala. We talked about how Corbin and Hilliard had acquired the business of Hawthorne Hills, and I hinted towards some ideas I had for future advertisements for them. Darin appeared to be pretty impressed with me as well.

Usually I wouldn't have taken this much time to talk with someone else in the advertising industry because, like in Alec's case, most of them were looking to steal your ideas and then add insult to injury by stealing your clients. But it was different with Darin for a few reasons. One: Abernathy was on a totally different side of the country and I knew they would have no interest in trying to steal Hawthorne Hills Hospital's business. Two: I didn't know if I was still going to be employed at Corbin and Hilliard after two weeks and I needed a backup plan, such as getting my foot in the door with Abernathy Advertisements. Three: regardless of whether or not I was able to keep my job at Corbin and Hilliard, I still intended to move on to a bigger, more prosperous agency at some point; preferably Abernathy. Impressing Darin Forbes was a good way to partially seal the deal for potential employment at his company.

Darin began to tell me about some of the ads Abernathy was currently working on. Commercials designed by Abernathy for JC Penney and Dillard's had just been filmed and were set to hit the television the following week, just in time for the holiday shopping to begin. He said they were in talks with Macy's about doing Black Friday commercials but he wasn't sure they were going to get the deal because Macy's had apparently been using another advertiser for quite some time, whom they were very happy with.

"What about Belk, Bath and Body Works, or maybe Best Buy?" I suggested.

Of course, every advertiser wanted to be the lucky one to claim responsibility for successful ads with goldmines like Macy's or JP Morgan, but there were plenty alternatives that would be equally as flattering to the agency to work with.

Darin raised his eyebrows and pursed his lips as though he were contemplating my suggestion. "I agree that they're good companies to work with and I'd love to add them to Abernathy's roster, but they also tend to already have advertisers they're pleased with," he said. "It's difficult to sweep in and change their minds when they've stuck with someone else for so long."

"That doesn't necessarily mean they'll always be happy with that advertiser," I pointed out, running the pad of my thumb over the edge of my champagne flute. "Maybe they'll get tired of a certain type of ads at some point and want something fresh and different. I see no reason why any agency couldn't borrow an hour of their time and pitch a few ideas based on what they think they could do better than the agency already contracted."

A perplexed smile crossed Darin's mouth. "You're tenacious. I like that in an agent. It's the biggest factor in success in this industry."

"Persistence is the key to every achievement on my resume, Mr. Forbes." I uncrossed my legs, ready to stand up. "I see no sense in waiting for Macy's to come to me if I know I have a solid, impressive idea to bring to them."