"Just returning the favor," she whispered. Tasha shuffled through her papers again and located the answer to the CFO's newest musing.
What she failed to see was the notice her small kindness had garnered. Frankie was grinning and sending out messages again. My former flings were narrowing their eyes at her. There were speculative glances from most of the team members. Tasha and I were the only two junior executives in the room, sitting side-by-side, and sharing whispers. I suddenly felt like the tiny plastic man on the top of a wedding cake.
"Is it hot in here?" I asked Tasha.
She glanced up, her mind on the report in front of her. "Are you feeling all right?"
"Rainer. This is a perfect time for us to segue to your press conference," the CFO said. "You did a great job fielding a range of questions, and I think you really gave the consumers a good idea of what GroGreen can do for them. Sales saw a spike directly after you were done."
Tasha's back was ramrod straight, but she turned in her chair, like the rest of the team, and waited to hear what I would have to say.
"I really didn't do much but read the script Ms. Nichols and the team provided. Really good work, everyone," I said.
Tasha's frown told me she wasn't buying it. "I think he wants you to reiterate that line you added, the one you thought might make a good slogan."
"Well, we haven't had a chance to meet about that," I told Tasha. I hoped tossing the spotlight back to her might lessen her frown, but it seemed to be making it worse. Plus, it was uncharacteristic of me, and my colleagues would be sure to comment. I cleared my throat. "I simply pointed out that the brilliant GroGreen app makes it easy to put Mother Nature on a schedule that fits our busy lives."
"Yes, that's it," the CFO said. "The bit about Mother Nature respecting our busy lives."
Tasha’s look darkened, so I spoke u
p again. "It's more about how the respect is mutual now."
Tasha sniffed, unimpressed with the new direction. She opted out of the conversation by flipping the page and starting up her note-scribbling again.
"I like it; I think it really appeals to today's busy consumer. They love the idea of gardens, they want a garden, but it's a lot of work. GroGreen breaks it down into manageable tasks and syncs it to our daily calendars." The CFO nodded his approval at me.
"I'm not sure it sounds all that respectful, sir," Tasha said. She gripped her pen so hard her knuckles were white, so I knew she'd been struggling to hold her tongue. "It sounds as if we're bragging that our app can control the cycles of nature. We can't just jump in and take credit for power we don't have. The app is meant to encourage people to notice the seasons, work with them, make them a healthy part of their lives. Not the other way around."
"It's perfect for the virtual gardening tool." Frankie put down his phone and spoke up. "GroGreen is realistic enough to give people an authentic experience while also making it available at any time."
"Authentic means people would actually be growing their own gardens," Tasha corrected him. "And the virtual gardening tool is meant as a side amusement, not the app's main focus."
"Games are big business," I said.
Tasha skewered me with a look. "GroGreen is meant to be much more than a game."
Frankie flipped back through his packet. "The virtual gardening tool went over huge with the beta-testers. The top words used were realistic, beautiful, and authentic."
The meeting erupted into a flurry of disagreements and side-conversations. The CFO stepped back and let the team hash out new ideas. He clearly knew something we did not.
"Have you been in a garden lately?" Tasha asked me. "It's not supposed to be about control."
"What about for farmers, and those crazy people who create amazing hybrid roses? It seems like gardening is, at its root, about controlling Mother Nature," I said.
"Oh, shit, that's good," Frankie said. He sent out another flurry of messages.
Tasha raked her dark-brown eyes over me again. "I shouldn't be surprised that you missed the point of GroGreen entirely. I mean, this is the first time you've worked on it."
I caught her arm before Tasha could turn away in a huff. "Look, I'm sorry. You're right. Today's comment at the press conference was totally off-the-cuff, and I should have ran it past you first."
She looked at my hand on her suit coat sleeve and then up at me. "So, even you get nervous on camera?" Tasha asked.
Her eyes softened, and I felt my insides melting to molten lava. "I don't get nervous on camera," I said, "but I am out of practice working on a team."
"Well, you're on one now," Tasha said, "and you better get used to it if you want to go any further."
My throat tightened as thoughts of how far I wanted to go with her flashed through my head. I cleared my throat. "Maybe the line about Mother Nature respecting us could use a little more thought."