After dating all through college, Sophie and X broke up after graduation, for a variety of reasons. But over the summer they never really created a new — separate — routine. They still called each other to grab lunch, work on job applications, or watch a movie, just like always. They had been each other’s companions for so long that they didn’t really know how to be alone.
Then X was offered a fantastic consultancy position, with a two-year minimum commitment, on the West Coast. Sophie encouraged him to go, trying to be selfless — and single. But she knew she would miss him.
And she does, but her own job at Arden Advertising keeps her busy. Right now she’s working on a major campaign for a non-profit organization that’s trying to expand. The real challenge, though, is dealing with a certain Creative Director’s ego.
“I’ve prepared a competitive set so we can see what other comparable organizations are doing,” Sophie announces to her team one morning in the conference room. She begins to click through the slides.
“Hmm, that looks familiar,” the CD says, motioning for her to pause on a print ad. “Did NY-AD do that?”
“I don’t know. Does it matter?”
“Well, we do better work than NY-AD, so I’m not sure what we have to gain by looking at their stuff.”
Is he serious? Sophie decides to ignore his comment and proceed. “Next is this beautiful outdoor campaign. I know we don’t usually do billboards in-house, but–”
“Well,” the CD interrupts again. “It’s not because we can’t do outdoor. Outdoor’s just, you know, a little easy. We have better ways to spend our time, don’t we?” He winks at the designers assigned to the project, who chuckle like dutiful minions.
“Right.” Sophie takes a deep breath. “I wasn’t implying that we couldn’t do something like this. In fact, I think we could, which is why I’m showing it.” By the end of the sentence, she was speaking through gritted teeth.
“Oh, we can do better than that. Much better.”
Sophie glances over to the media buyer and other account planner. Sure enough, they are similarly astounded by the CD’s superiority complex, but all three of them are too junior to speak up. Sophie has no choice but to press on, carefully wording her comments so as not to praise other firms, and enduring CD’s egomaniacal interjections whenever she fails.
At the end of the meeting, Sophie shuts down her laptop. The Creative Director stands and says, “Thank you so much, Sophie. That was an excellent presentation, and such a refreshing reminder of why Arden is at the top of the game.” He looks at her expectantly, perhaps waiting for agreement or a reciprocal thank-you. Helpless, she just smiles.
She ducks into the bathroom, hoping to vent to one of her friends. But MJ is only reachable by internet, Claudia is still in the middle of her sacred morning writing time, and X is two hours behind on the West Coast, probably sleeping. Sophie has no one to call.
When she returns to her cube, Reggie practically pounces on her. “Soph, guess what? There’s a new copywriter from Venezuela. Diego. Four of the secretaries and two of the designers have already given him their number — and they weren’t all female. He…”
Reggie keeps talking, but Sophie isn’t listening.
“I quit!” she hisses just as Reggie puts his hands on her shoulders and spins her around. Suddenly she is staring right at a Latin American god. Her eyes pop open.
“Oh my.”
Sophie looks Diego over head to toe… and back up to head. His athletic build fills out the button-up shirt and charcoal slacks he’s wearing. His hair is longish, his skin a perfect gold, his deep eyes framed by trendy glasses. He’s talking to Alexis Arden, who is somehow not a puddle on the floor, and Sophie can tell he’s actually paying attention, one of her favorite qualities in a man. Then he notices her glance and smiles bashfully. She turns away, embarrassed, but grinning from ear to ear.
“Wait a minute, did you just say you quit?” Reggie asks in a panic.
“Hmm?” Sophie is reluctant to leave her newfound daydreams. “Oh, no.” She sits at her desk and stares happily at the ceiling. “No, I’ll be here for quite a while, I think…”
