Total pages in book: 29
Estimated words: 27257 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 136(@200wpm)___ 109(@250wpm)___ 91(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 27257 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 136(@200wpm)___ 109(@250wpm)___ 91(@300wpm)
“It’s Valentine’s Day, and we need to market it to men for their wives or lovers, so I think we need a sultry lingerie shoot to go in all ads.”
“Do we have time for a commercial?”
“I’m not sure. We’d need something provocative with the perfect couple. That’s time-consuming and expensive, and you’d have to be able to please the company.” My assistant jotted down notes, knowing this wasn’t the first time we had to come down and swoop in to save my father’s company from ruin at the hands of my brother. Sometimes, I wondered if the constant sabotage was intentional. However, I could never puzzle out a logical motive.
“Where is Henry right now?” I asked him as my temper grew heated quickly.
“He flew off to meet with the company and ask them to give us a little more time.” That prick wasn’t going to get more time. If anything, they were going to tell us to go to hell in a damn handbasket. Why did my father keep giving him more chances to ruin the company?
“Do you think that was a smart idea?” I questioned. I wondered if my father was getting too damn old to run this business.
“No, but when he gets an idea in his head, there’s no stopping him.” The defeat coated his words, but I couldn’t keep chasing these problems when they went ahead and made more. It was like running after an errant toddler or something.
“Okay. Call your contact at the perfume company. I’d like to speak with them personally.”
“Are you certain?” he asked. I didn’t have time for him to second-guess me. He either wanted me to handle it or not.
“Yes. Get them on the phone and I’ll deal with them myself, or I can leave and manage my own company.” I took a seat in front of his desk and braced myself. I pointed to the chair beside me, and my assistant popped down, ready to record whatever ass-kissing obligations we would have to meet.
He nodded anxiously as if he were afraid of speaking to the client. He left the receiver down and dialed the number. “Hello, Mr. Jaques, this is Darren Keaton. I’d like to have a word with you.”
“As I with you, sir. I had the most interesting conversation with your son. He informed me that you were in the process of a photo shoot with a lovely model and my perfume for the campaign. Unfortunately, there was a snag with the photographer’s schedule and the model falling ill, so you had to delay it.” What a fucking liar. My brother was a professional con-artist.
“Yes, but we are right on it,” my father answered. I gave my assistant a knowing smirk.
“Yes, he said you hired Claude Rene to take photos. He is a favorite of mine. An artist. I can’t wait to see them.”
“Son of a bitch,” I muttered to myself. We didn’t have any relationship with the exclusive bastard, so I didn’t have any idea why Henry had the nerve to tell him that bullshit. What was wrong with that fucking asshole? When I saw him, I was going to punch him in the balls.
“Excuse me,” Jaques said on the other end.
“Sorry, sir. My other son choked on his coffee.” My father glared at me like I’d lost my mind, as if I was the one screwing over this company one major fuckup at a time.
“You have another son?” he asked, sounding super suspicious of us through no fault of his own. My brother and father had to take all the blame for that.
“Yes, my younger son.”
“It must be wonderful to be blessed with two boys. C’est magnifique.”
“Thank you. I am. My son, James Keaton, is assisting to ensure your campaign goes off smoothly.”
“Are you a part of the business, Mr. Keaton?”
“It is a family business,” I lied. I didn’t want the man to believe that my father brought me in because he mismanaged the project. Now I’d have to pull a miracle out of my ass to turn this campaign around in less than a week.
“Great. Shall we get…how do you say? The ball rolling?” he said in a thick French accent.
“Yes, we’ll get right on it, Mr. Jaques.”
“Très bien.” He ended the call, and now I had to run interference and figure out how the hell I’d get Rene to take the photos or where Rene even was at present.
“Dad, we need models that would suit the look of the perfume. I need to get a hold of my asshole brother.” My first call was to him because I wanted answers. No, I needed to demand answers from the prick, and I required them fast.
I dialed his number, and he picked it up on the first ring. “Why, hello, Jimmy.”
“Don’t call me that, asshole. Why would you lie to that man?” I barked.