Chapter 110
Riding on Hogan and Cecilia’s coattails, I got invited into Morgan’s office too.
Just a moment ago, that secretary who was all high and mighty was now shaking in her boots, obediently taking a tongue–lashing from Morgan.
After he gave her an earful, he turned to me with an apologetic look and said, “Now hurry up and apologize to Ms. March.”
The performance was quite something. Seeing the secretary all jittery, I played it down and said, “It’s not on her; I just wasn’t paying attention.”
When Morgan heard that, he glanced at Hogan and Cecilia, like he was trying to read the room, and then comforted me, “Ms. March, you’re really big–hearted. I just found out you work with Mr. Zade and Ms. Irwin. Please forgive me if there’s been any oversight.”
The apology was meant for me, but the explanation seemed more for Hogan’s ears. But it was the same in every crowd, wasn’t it? It was all about who people knew. If playing second fiddle got me where I wanted to go, I was game.
“Mr. Paisley is making too much of it. Xaviera is famously forgiving.” At the moment, Cecilia chimed in, still with that dimpled smile, “But speaking of which, Xaviera, I really didn’t expect to bump into you here at Mr. Paisley’s. Talk about serendipity.”
I shuffled my feet, managing a strained smile. My feet were throbbing, but I bit my tongue and didn’t make a peep, although I couldn’t help feeling a twinge of heartache.
I decided to cut to the chase, “Mr. Paisley, we came here in good faith to invite FreeMan to collaborate with us. But I do believe it’s essential for a master to fully understand their partner before teaming up. Last time was a rush visit, and I didn’t bring anything. Today, I’ve prepared a brief project intro video, just two minutes long, if you could kindly pass it on.”
I finished speaking and handed over the USB drive with the video. I had edited the video overnight, making it detailed yet concise – definitely more fun than flipping through pages of project proposals and a real time–saver.
In the age of information, we’d got to figure out how to keep a customer’s attention in a couple of seconds, especially someone as sought–after as FreeMan.
I bet he didn’t spend more than a second or two on each spreadsheet, so I’d got to bring something special to the table.
Morgan raised an eyebrow, a flash of surprise in his eyes, and asked curiously, “Ms. March, do you mind if I take a first look?”
“Of course not, if Mr. Paisley is willing to provide feedback, I couldn’t ask for more,” I said confidently.
“I gotta learn from Xaviera too,” Cecilia stood up and joined us, her attitude humble, “to see what kind of secret sauce Xaviera’s been cooking up.”
13:33
Chapter 110
She said it playfully, completely oblivious to the fact that this was a critical moment for me to win over Morgan.
Oh, right. From her standpoint, she needn’t bother. With Hogan as her ace in the hole, she could do as she pleased. Why would she need to tread as carefully as I did?
A short while later, as the video ended, Morgan looked at me in astonishment and said, “Ms. March, you’re really something else coming from an IT background. To make such a creative video in such a short time, I’m impressed.”
I did put some thought into the video, tailoring the style to match the occasional updates FreeMan made on Twitter. I guessed the busy man himself wouldn’t have time for such fancy stuff, so it had to be one thing – Morgan’s taste.
“Mr. Paisley, you flatter me.” I said sincerely, keeping my cool, “It was just a little trickery, nothing worth showing off.”
“You’re being too modest, Ms. March.”
