Devil in a Suit

“Both of you have done great work. I encourage you to keep it up. It’s been great having you here,” I continued as my eyes automatically shifted over to Madison. A small smile crossed my lips as I met her gaze. I didn’t know what spell she put over me, but I was starting to not mind how it made me feel.

Sara’s eyes darted from me to Madison, and a perplexed look filled her face.

I snapped out of my daze and quickly looked away, clearing my throat to try to cover up my slip-up. I had to watch myself better. The last thing I needed was a jealous intern. I had other things to deal with.

“So, that’s it for you two. I’ll send you the details of the conference so that you can prepare for it. I would advise you to have a pitch prepared,” I told them, moving the meeting along. I didn’t want to kick Madison out, but I couldn’t show favoritism in front of my executive board.

“Will do, Mr. Ashland,” Sara said as she stood up from the table. She looked between Madison and me once more before leaving the room.

Madison trailed after her, passing me a faint smile before shutting the door behind her.

My eyes lingered on the door for a second. Maybe I was crazy, but I kind of missed her already. I would much rather chat with her than deal with this meeting. For a while now, meetings only made me upset, and I didn’t want to ruin this day so early in the morning.

“Alright, time for the adults to talk,” I sighed as I took a seat. I probably needed to be seated for today’s report.

“I guess I’ll start,” Jerry murmured quietly as he gathered his papers in front of him. “We haven’t seen much of a change since last time on our front, but there is change from Odyssey.” I nearly grimaced at the sound of that name. Whenever I heard it, bad news always followed.

“What now?” I asked. I wasn’t looking forward to hearing the answer.

“They’re bringing in more numbers. They’re outpacing us,” Jerry replied, his body tensing up slightly as he prepared for me to explode.

Trust me, I wanted to. I wanted to throw papers and shout at the top of my lungs, but Madison’s words entered my mind. I breathed in and out deeply, forcing myself to calm down. Screaming at my board wasn’t going to fix anything. I had to figure out a different approach.

“Okay… does anyone have any suggestions as to what we can do to change things?” I asked as calmly as I could. My words sounded forced, but at least they were spoken in an inside voice. Usually, I would’ve shouted them.

My executive board looked at each other with surprised expressions. They were expecting a very different reaction from me.

Madison had surely worked a miracle on me. I was still upset and stressed, but I didn’t feel like I was about to explode. That was an improvement. I wondered what else she could possibly change about me.

“I think you should use the interns,” Brittany spoke up from down the table, drawing all eyes to her.

“Use the interns?” I questioned her, wondering what she was getting at.

“They’re incredibly bright idea factories. We obviously need a drastic change to beat Odyssey. Let’s see what the interns can come up with. They’ll think in different ways than us. We’re stuck in our usual routines, which obviously aren’t working any longer,” Brittany explained.

My eyebrows lifted slightly out of interest. Maybe she had a point. I knew that Madison was incredibly bright, and I was sure that Sara was too, or she wouldn’t be here as an intern. I could ask them to come up with some ideas and let my executive board fine-tune them.

“So, I should give them an assignment?” I asked her, trying to figure out how to coax them into action. They were here to learn, and what better way to learn than by doing? Helping turn my company around would be a great point to put on a resume.

“I noticed that they’re competitive. Encourage them to come up with the best idea possible,” Brittany replied with a bold smile.

I liked her way of thinking. As usual, I could always count on Brittany. She thought outside of the box more than others, which was why she was my head of marketing. One day, I wanted to promote her even higher because I trusted her so much. She would take care of my company.

“That’s not a bad idea,” I said with a nod. I wanted to try it out and see what happened. Madison encouraged me to try new things. This could be one of those things. Hopefully, it benefitted my company in some way.

Brittany relaxed back in her seat with a proud look on her face.