Glancing up at the clock, I saw that it was almost time to start. Marco wasn’t here. Maybe he wasn’t coming. It wasn’t like him to be anything but early. I kept running the pitch through my head, focusing on that. I would get through the next hour, and then I’d worry about Marco.
“I’m here.” Marco walked into the waiting room, and I nearly collapsed in relief at seeing him. Without thinking, I went over and hugged him. His body was stiff, but it was so good to see him and touch him again that I didn’t care if he hugged me back.
“I’ve missed you,” I said. I wanted to tell him everything right then, right there. Not yet. I would tell him after. Right now, it was enough just to have him close to me.
His arms went around me, and he returned the hug. “I’ve missed you, too.”
I rested my head against his chest. His body still felt tense, anxious. I looked up at him. “Are you nervous?” Heaven knows I certainly was.
“A little,” he confessed.
“Crack your knuckles,” I told him as I let go of him and covered my ears.
He gave me an odd expression, but then he did it, giving me a half smile while he did so.
“Better?” I asked when he was finished.
“Yes.”
That look of his was back, the one that made me want to tell him everything. Or maybe that was just how much I needed to tell him that I loved him. “There’s so much I want to say to you,” I said.
This wasn’t the plan, but he was here, and that was all I cared about. But before I could say anything else, a middle-aged, no-nonsense woman came over to us. “Mr. Kimball will see you now.”
This must have been Janine, Ken’s assistant. Marco thanked her and turned to me. “Shall we?”
“I’m nervous, too,” I confessed. For so many reasons.
He ducked down slightly so that our gazes were level. “I believe in you, Anna. You’ve got this.”
It was the perfect thing to say, and it filled me with an optimism I wasn’t used to feeling. We went into the conference room. Craig and Ken were waiting for us. I had a momentary flashback of the last time I’d been in a conference room with Marco, but I told my ovaries that now was not the time.
“Anna, good to see you again.” Mr. Kimball shook my hand, but Craig sat at the table with a smug smirk on his face. Marco and his father took seats next to one another, and I went to stand next to the whiteboard. This was it. I had this. I knew my stuff, backward and forward. I could do it. I shook off the nervous energy I was feeling and launched into my presentation. “Right. Good morning, gentlemen. I’ve come here today to—”
Ken held up his hand, indicating that he wanted me to stop. Oh no, had I messed up already?
Then he said, “There’s no need to hear your pitch.”
“What?” I had spent a lot of time working on this. “I have charts and graphs.”
Marco looked furious. “What’s going on?” he demanded.
Craig apparently decided now was the time to speak. “What’s going on is that your little girlfriend is an employee of KRT Limited. She signed a standard consulting contract. Which means we own her lipstick. Any intellectual property she develops as a consultant belongs to us.”
What? Was that true? I cursed myself for not reading that contract. It was like Craig had just lobbed an anvil across the room that had struck me square in the stomach. They owned my mood ring lipstick? This was going to be the mark I made on the cosmetic industry, the thing I would be known for.
And Craig acted like he was about to take it all away from me. My dream.
Given the looks he was exchanging with his dad, they’d been in on this together. They could have called anytime during the week to destroy my life, but no, they’d apparently wanted to do it in person.
Marco looked scary. “Did you bother to read her contract?”
Craig’s smug expression finally faltered. “Why does that matter?”
“Because Anna didn’t sign the standard contract. I made some alterations. Including the fact that any products she developed would remain her intellectual property and specifically did not belong to Minx or KRT.” He glanced at me and gave me a sad little smile. “You didn’t read the contract, did you?”
No, I had not. I put my hand over my heart.
“Why would you do that?” his father asked, clearly annoyed. Craig’s face turned red, and he sputtered in protest.
Why would Marco do that? My heart leapt with hope. Why would he put a clause into my contract unless . . . unless . . .
He had always been trying to protect me. He was always looking out for me and my best interests.
What did that mean? I knew it meant something, but it was like I couldn’t process all the thoughts zooming around in my head into something meaningful.
I knew what Catalina would say. She would say that Marco had done it because he had feelings for me, too.
And I’d been too stupid to see it.
Marco stood up, buttoning his suit coat. “Anna, my recommendation is that you not listen to anything that these two have to say. There are hundreds of investors who would see what you’re offering and want to invest in you. You have such a bright future.” He paused and then glanced at his brother. “I hope you are happy and get everything you want.”
He gave me the saddest look, and then he walked out of the room.
And I just stood there, frozen with fear.
Because the only bright future I wanted had just left.
No. Things were not going to end this way. I wouldn’t let them. I started gathering up my things, intending to chase after him. I had to tell Marco everything. His words had sounded so final. So over. I couldn’t let this be it.
But then Craig was standing in front of me. “Wait. We’re not finished.”
“We most certainly are,” I said.
But then Ken was there, too. “We can make you an investment offer. We will give you whatever cash flow you need for facilities, equipment, and a staff. But in exchange we take eighty-five percent of your company.”
Did they really think I was that stupid? “I’d rather run this out of my grandparents’ garage than hand it over to you.” I did believe in myself. Marco believed in me. And those two things were enough. The money would come eventually. I didn’t have to sign my dreams away to make that happen.
Ken’s phone buzzed, and he looked at his screen. His expression changed, shocked. “Marco just emailed his resignation.” He started angrily pushing buttons, and apparently Marco’s number went straight to voice mail. “You will call me back. I don’t accept your resignation. This is unacceptable behavior.”
Craig’s entire demeanor changed. “You don’t have to do that, Dad. I’m here. I can take over Minx.”
He was such a weasel. How had I been such an incredibly bad judge of character? Not only of Craig but of Marco, too. Why hadn’t I told him sooner? Why had I waited?
Ken looked his second son over and dismissed him. “No, you can’t.”
Marco quit? Why had he done that?
The realization hit me hard. It was for me. He had left his mother’s beloved company and his dream job as CEO of KRT for me. Because his dad and brother had tried to screw me over.