Today, though, she would have to get her emotions under control. Roman was scheduled to be back in office this morning and, as much as she thought she was not ready to see him again, she knew the meeting was inevitable. How would she handle their first encounter after that kiss? Maybe for him the whole thing meant nothing but it had practically devastated her defenses. This was the first man she’d ever met who’d knocked her barriers down with just one blow.
The clock on her desk said nine thirty when there was a knock on her door and Theresa entered the room. “Mr. Steele needs you in his office. Make sure you take your notepad with you.” She was formal, as usual, but this time there was more of an edge to the woman’s voice.
“Is something wrong?”
“No, nothing. Just get down to Mr. Steele’s office right away.” Without another word she turned and left the room.
Serena lifted her eyebrows, surprised at Theresa’s terseness, then she sank back into her chair. Her heartbeat had accelerated at the announcement and she took a couple of deep breaths to calm her nerves. “Well, here goes,” she murmured and grabbed her pen and pad.
When Serena entered the office Roman was sitting at his desk holding a bottle of what looked like shampoo and a small gold jar which she guessed contained face cream.
“Have a seat, Miss Van Buren.” His voice sounded pleasant enough but his stare was intense. She slid into the chair in front of him and kept her eyes downcast.
For a moment there was silence then Roman spoke in a low voice. “Serena, look at me.”
Surprised at his change of tone, she lifted her head and looked into his eyes. She was taken aback by what she saw there. He actually looked ashamed.
“Serena,” he said, “I owe you an apology.”
Serena held her breath and stared back at him, incredulous. Roman was apologizing to her? He’d seemed like the kind of man who would apologize to no-one. Now that she was seeing a new side of him it confused her all the more. Was he apologizing for the kiss or for kicking her out of his office?
“I behaved inappropriately and for that I’m sorry. I assure you, it will never happen again.”
It will never happen again. It will never happen again. The words reverberated in her head and for some reason her spirits sank. It will never happen again? Dear God, she wanted it to happen again. More than anything.
Swallowing her disappointment Serena looked back at Roman and gave him a small smile, accepting his apology with a quick nod.
“For the next few weeks you’ll be working closely with the marketing team,” he said, his voice professional and cool. “I’ll make sure you participate in meetings that are relevant to your development. What I want is that at the end of your time with Steele Industries you should have a good handle on project management, marketing, and promotions. For today, though, you’ll sit in on my meeting with the ad agency.”
He leaned forward and placed the bottle and the jar in front of her. “These are two products from the Enchanted line we’ll be launching next quarter. I want you to get involved in every aspect of the launch, starting with this meeting. The ad execs will be here in about ten minutes so I’ll give you a quick briefing to prepare you.”
Roman spoke quickly, filling her in on the consumer research that had been done and the reason why the company thought the line had great potential. Serena scribbled feverishly, trying to keep up with him, and was relieved when he finally told her it was time to head for the main conference room.
The agency executives arrived moments later and as soon as Roman introduced her to Martha Foxworth and Herman Moore the meeting began. Martha presented storyboards of television commercials with the first one depicting a woman shampooing then drying her hair and a man coming in and sliding his fingers sexily through her long brown tresses. On a second storyboard a woman applied Enchanted face cream to a wrinkled face followed by a close up shot of the crow’s feet by the side of her eyes. The next shot showed a close up of the same eye but this time the skin was smoother and softer. The tagline for this commercial was “Your face never looked so good”.
Last in her set Martha presented a print advertisement featuring the moisturizing face cream. The model was a beautiful dark haired woman, seeming to be in her late thirties, and she held a young child in a close embrace. The little girl had her hand on the woman’s cheek, as if stroking it, and the tagline for the product said, “I just love your baby face.”
After the initial presentation Martha reviewed each campaign in detail, giving Roman and Serena a chance to understand the reasoning behind each and soliciting their input. Serena was impressed by Roman’s knowledge and understanding of the advertising business and, for the most part, she kept silent, absorbing as much as she could. She did make some suggestions on the clothing worn by the models but she kept her comments to a bare minimum, leaving the meatier comments to her boss.
Roman expressed concern about how the message was relayed while Serena’s few comments were focused on the visual impact of the ads. Being the daughter of a wealthy man, she had lived for years in the public eye and knew how to make a good first impression. She was an expert in haute couture, make-up and styling.
Because of that she looked at the advertisements with discerning eyes and was able to find flaws where she knew the average woman might not. She felt a little guilty for involving herself too much but she knew she would feel even guiltier if she kept silent. After all, Roman had invited her into this meeting, not to be a statue but to participate. She knew she was here to learn but she also knew she had a lot to share, regardless of her lack of experience in business.
With that conviction she began to speak her mind. She made recommendations for the wardrobe for the models, and for the television commercial she even suggested changing the model all together. From what Roman had told her about the Enchanted line of products she knew it was targeted toward young, professional women. The model selected by the agency was in her late thirties. She reasoned that they needed to use a model to whom the target market would relate. Both Martha and Herman were looking at Serena with an air of surprise but Roman had a satisfied smile on his face.
“I guess we’ll have to go back to the drawing board,” Martha said, a hint of annoyance in her voice.