Celebrations

It was finally the week of Tae's product launch. After weeks of endless work Elle could finally see the finish line. Tae had filmed a series of commercials to begin airing starting on the actual day of the launch, but part of Elle's idea had been to use influencers to promote the product the four days leading up to the launch. Tae had sent out a free bottle of the perfume to four different popular figures. One was a model, another an actress, one was a t.v. personality, and finally the last one was simply a socialite with a large circle of connections.

Each day leading up to the launch a different influencer would promote the perfume on their platform. This meant each day the marketing department was running wild tracking posts and reactions, and ensuring everything ran perfectly.

Elle got to work at eight every morning, and didn't leave again until eight at night. One day the actress they had sent the bottle to wore the perfume to her movie release. Since the event took place a night Elle monitored the media reaction from home, working late into the night.

Unbeknownst to Elle, Adam was also gauging the media's reaction. He knew that Tae would be releasing their new scent at the end of the week, and he knew that as the marketing director this was Elle's project. So everyday he took a minute or two to check in on the progress. Things seemed to be going well, pre-orders began being placed on Monday ahead of the release on Friday.

The pre-orders were a good way to measure how successful their marketing tactic was, but Elle didn't once look at the numbers during the week. As a tradition the marketing department would hold off on checking the number of pre-orders until the official launch happened. They would all stay late the night of the launch and receive the results together.

Finally, after a long and tiring week, Friday arrived. Elle and her team were in one of the conference rooms anxiously awaiting the results. The official product launch took place at noon, but it was already approaching six in the evening. They had to wait for the sales department to finalize the numbers.

As they waited most of Elle's team members were talking to each other, though they were anxious most of them were optimistic about the results. Things in the conference room were lively as the department tried to pass the time. Elle, however, sat alone at the head of the table. She tapped her fingers against the desk as she nervously waited.

They had gotten both good and bad results in the past, but Elle had never felt as tense as she did now. This was the first time in a long time that she had put so much thought and effort into a project; she couldn't bare the thought of things going poorly after all the work that had been put into it.

After what felt like an eternity Elle finally saw the sales department head and three other members approach the conference room. The lively room was quiet in an instant as the sales team entered the room.

"So?" Elle asked as they walked in. "How is it?"

The sales members all had straight looks on their faces, Elle couldn't gather anything from their expression, but her hopes for high numbers began to fade.

"Tae's previous record for the number of pre-orders was 100,000. Today we performed a count and the total number of pre-orders was…350,000!"

Elle felt a huge weight lift from her chest. She took in a deep breath of relief as the rest of her team members began cheering.

"Good work everyone." The sales department congratulated them.

Everyone was wild with celebration but Elle was still sitting, shocked. 350,000? That was more than triple their previous record. It was a number beyond her wildest expectations.

The sound of a champagne bottle popping brought Elle out of her thoughts, and she finally joined in on the festivities as her team poured her a glass. It really was quite the accomplishment, all the long hours and restless nights suddenly seemed worth it.

"I don't want to see any of you in until Monday afternoon." Elle announced as she shared a glass with her department.

"Are you sure director? There are still a lot of reports to make."

"I'm sure. You've all worked very hard these past few weeks. Go home and sleep until Monday."

Everyone cheered and thanked her. Elle knew she would have to come in early on Monday to compensate for the lost time, but she felt it was worth it when she saw the smiles on everyone's faces. Afterwards everyone wanted to go out to continue the celebrations, Elle was invited of course, but she declined. She was eager to go home.

Elle ended up leaving first, she walked out into the cold winter air feeling tired but happy. As she made her way out Elle was surprised to see a familiar black car parked in front of the building. Elle had no idea how long Adam was waiting for, but his dark hair had beet tousled by the wind, and his nose was red from the frosty air. Adam leaned against the car casually, but straightened up once he saw Elle approaching.

"What are you doing here?" Elle asked with a smile.

"I came to congratulate you."

"You know?"

"I do."

"How can you possibly know the launch was successful? Even I only just found out." Elle asked in disbelief.

"If I want to know something there's no way I can't find out." Adam said proudly. "The launch was well done. Congratulations Director Shaw."

"Thank you." Elle was grinning from ear to ear. Adam's congratulations were more rewarding than the champagne.

"How are you feeling? Excited? Proud?"

"Exhausted and hungry mostly." Elle said with laugh.

"Get in. I'll treat you to dinner." Adam said as he opened the passenger door. "You can sleep in the car on the way back like you did last time. I don't mind, even if you do snore." He teased.

"I don't snore." Elle grumbled, but she got into the passenger seat anyway.

Adam chuckled and closed the door behind her.