13 The Next Day

Walking back into the office on Monday seemed like a little nightmare to me. First and foremost, getting into the building was a lot of work because security decided that I wasn't who at said I was, all because my lipstick was a dark plum instead of my usual red shade. I even showed them my ID card and they wouldn't leave me alone. If it wasn't because the receptionist have intervened for me, I would have been super late. To top it off, my coffee was beginning to get cold by the time I reached my floor and there was nothing I hated more than lukewarm or cold coffee. 

"Good morning, boss!" Someone I didn't recognise was standing outside of the elevator with a fresh cup of coffee in his hands. I looked around to see if there was someone behind me that I hadn't noticed. Was he talking to me? "I heard what happened with security so I thought you might want a new cup of coffee, It's a cortado." Okay so he was definitely talking to me. 

"Thank god, I was about to throw a f*cking fit," I threw my cup into the trash and took the one he was holding. My soul soared into the heavens as the strongest taste of Colombian coffee hugged the inside of my mouth. "You even know how much sugar I like!" 

"Yes ma'am, I asked your best friend, Helena, to help me," he said respectfully. He was holding a tablet that had a portfolio cover, which only indicated one thing, "since it's my first day, I thought I should make a good impression." 

"About that," We began walking to my office as I spoke to him. "What exactly are you here for?" I paused once abruptly, narrowly avoiding spilling coffee on my silk blouse. This day was starting out terribly, as far as I could see. 

There was a plaque on my door. An actual plaque. The words 'Vice President of Marketing' were engraved in gold on a dark metal bar plaque. That wasn't there before, and neither was the large desk that wasn't behind a cubicle. What was going on? 

"Do you like it?" I'd been so busy staring at the desk that I hadn't noticed the door of my office opening and my boss stepping out. "Considering how difficult things might be getting from here on out, I thought you could use the extra help." 

"You did this?"'Well of course he did it Amaria, who else?' "What is this for?" 

"I made a change to the policy over the weekend and we've already received impact from it, so you would be needing someone to help you keep track of new appointments." 

The thickest part of my eyebrows were about to kiss from how furrowed my brow was. "New appointments?" I wasn't even done designing the marketing strategy for the company's newest investment launch this coming season, what the heck did he mean by 'new appointments'? 

"Come on, I'll explain inside your office. Hugo, Evelyn is going to show you the ropes." 

Jason escorted me into the office, promptly closing the door behind him as soon as I began to settle into my chair. "I told you that I made some changes to our company policy, right?" 

"You mentioned that, yes," my fingers interlaced with each other and my body instinctively took on a professional stance. Whatever he was about to tell me, I had a feeling it wouldn't be that great. "Why?" 

"Greene Marks has always been about representing video games on the market, and I realised that it might cause a problem for us, because there are a lot of start-up companies making their presence known who need a reputable source of visibility. That would be us," he paused to gauge my reaction. When I didn't say anything, he kept going. "The changes I made are so we can take on minor companies. And I mean really minor."

"Like producing-out-of-my-garage minor or we-have-a-small-warehouse minor?" 

"The first one," If I felt like my workload had doubled before, it was surely quadruple now. "We've also branched out to South America." 

What? "When? You couldn't have done that overnight, surely?" 

"It's been in the works for a while now, I just didn't tell anyone. My team advised that maybe we should have everything ready before announcing that we were international." 

"I'm on your team. I had no idea," just how many surprises was this man going to spring on me this morning? 

"It was going to be a surprise! Now rounding back to Hugo, I got you an assistant because from here on you're going to be Vice President of Marketing for Greene Marks," he smiled at me like he was saying something exciting. 

"But I already am," the confusion was surely very apparent on my face. The fact that he was running in circles around me made no sense at all. I was head of marketing for the HQ office, so marketing supervisors of different branches in the United States would report to me for anything needed. Was he appointing me my job twice? 

"Internationally," I felt like a bucket of cold water had been dumped on me. "You'll also be in charge of speaking to our newest most important clients, personally. I'm sure that with this new unveiling, we'll be receiving many visits here in New York, so you'll be responsible for carrying out the exact marketing goals they're hoping to achieve with us." 

Silence ensued in the office, and my head felt like a balloon filled with helium. There was no way he could be serious? Was this all a joke? I knew that our company had been investing in robotics and adopting minor energy companies, but to take our representation worldwide? First of all, we catered to the video game industry. The entire purpose Jason built this company from the ground up was because even in the modern age, many people didn't take video games seriously. We presented those same games to a different demographic than only gamers, and had managed to bag a good number of old people to play. 

We were a marketing company. Was Jason planning to branch out from just marketing? That could be the only explanation for him wanting to take it global. We were already famous in North America, what other place did he feel to step into? 

"There's something else here that you're not telling us, isn't there?" He was looking at my face, but he wasn't making eye contact. A classic habit of Jason's when he was purposefully a omitting an important detail. Considering what he had just told me, I think it was safe to say that he didn't just want to promote French products in France. The possibility that we would be promoting products that branched beyond the video game isle wasn't lost to me. There were poorer countries that didn't have recreational technology as a priority, and rightfully so. What else did he have up his sleeve? 

"Yes. I haven't told anyone but I've been in contact with a lab in Los Angeles. I've been looking towards create our own gaming devices for years now and the first prototype is finally ready. I need you to come with me to take a look at them." 

"You said them. How are there multiple prototypes if you said there was only one that was ready?" 

"You caught me, I can't get anything past you," he threw up his hands and leaned back in the chair. "We also partnered with a laboratory in Hong Kong to create solar power pods. We will be providing them to our new branches in Pakistan, Kazhakstan, and southern India, to start." 

I nodded and made a mental note to ask my new assistant for a map where all the new branches were to be opened. "What about the gaming devices? Are they consoles, computer systems, laptops...?" 

"Pocket gaming devices to start. I have drafts to make gaming laptops later. We will be introducing them here in North America, Europe and Saudi Arabia to start."

My eyebrows were really going through it today. "You opened up a branch in Saudi Arabia?"

"Yes."

"And I'm responsible for marketing all of these products?" 

"You're responsible for telling the branches how to market the products, yes." 

"When is all this supposed to happen?" 

"We will be introducing our branch-out to the world next season, after our company vacation. I went with Miami, by the way," Jason observed my facial expressions carefully. "If you feel like it's too much, I can always get you a second assistant." 

Did I feel like it was too much? Absolutely. I wasn't ready for all the weight that would come with being responsible for our marketing highs and lows worldwide. The very thought of it terrified me, but the President had put his faith in me, so I would endure and carry it through to the end. We were about two months away from the public release of our company's new endeavours so I had so much work to do. 

Our marketing for the newest Seraphim computer system had flopped because the design for it was flawed, so I had to finish the strategy for that and make sure everything was ready for the moment it was reintroduced. Now, on top of that, I had to design strats for the solar energy pod, and the pocket gaming device. I had to do my research on the countries we'd be introducing them to, and find a way to appeal to each of them while still being general. 

My new pay check had better be huge. 

"Why exactly do you want me to go to California with you? I'm not an engineer expert," that reminded me that we didn't have an engineer department. We were a bloody marketing agency, for goodness sakes! 

"Our new Vice President of Engineering will meet us there as well. I need you to see them personally so you can get a feel of how to present it." 

Okay, that made sense. I nodded and tried to resist from massaging my temples. There was a lot that I'd found out today, and it was only the beginning. 

"Okay, when do we go?" 

"Thursday midday. We should be coming back on Friday."