Read Online Ready or Not by Melissa Brayden - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Melissa Brayden
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powers. How young was this guy anyway? The suspect in question popped up from his chair with a wide grin.
“Call me Timmy. You must be Mallory.”
“I am. Pleased to meet you.” She went to shake his hand but was offered a high-five instead.
“Up top,” Timmy said. She obliged. “That’s how we do it at Big Top. The high-five is everything. Popcorn? It has real butter. The good kind,” he told her, indicating the buttery bowl on the side table.
“No, no. But thank you. I generally wait until after nine thirty for popcorn. Strict rule.”
He laughed at her lame attempt at a joke and introduced her to his colleagues, Robby, the COO, and Freddy, the CFO. Apparently, Robby, Freddy, and Timmy had become best buddies at one of those creative think-tank workshops and never looked back. They opened a movie theater together and, after its overwhelming success, opened another and another. Currently, they were at the helm of over sixty-five theaters and counting across the New England area and ready to expand even further. This would be a huge account for Savvy, should they land it.
“Do you like movies, Mallory?” Robby asked. “We love ’em. We watch at least two a day.”
She nodded. “I do. I’m a total buff.” Okay, well, a minor stretch. But Brooklyn and Sam had her sitting through enough of the old stuff to qualify as somewhat knowledgeable.
“We should watch one now,” Timmy offered excitedly, already moving to some sort of control closet on the back wall.
Mallory thought quickly. “That sounds great, Timmy, but maybe we should talk about the proposal. I’d love to discuss some ideas Savvy has and how we might be able to assist Big Top with promotions and advertising. I think what you have started here is amazing, but I also think we can add to it.”
Timmy smiled at that and took a moment. “I like the way you said that. That you guys can add to what it is we already do. Not a lot of agencies understand that. They want to mainstream us, move into some sort of rebranding. And we’re not mainstream.” With that, there was a Timmy-Freddy-Robby high-five, and Mallory felt like she’d somehow stumbled into their tree house. “Tell you what,” Timmy said, serious now. “Leave what you have, and we can look it over and talk about it down the road. Terminator ?” He held up the DVD case.
“Totally,” Freddy said, and grabbed a baseball cap from his bag and put it on backward.
“It better be the original,” Robby shot at Timmy with an outstretched hand.
“Like I’d put on anything else and call it Terminator . Mallory, you game?” Timmy asked.
She didn’t have a lot of options here, so swallowing her reservations, Mallory summoned her best Arnold voice. “I’ll be back.” Did she honestly just do that? Was this seriously happening?
Freddy pointed in Mallory’s direction. “I like her.” And now it was time for Mallory and Freddy to high-five.
The armchairs were then reassembled in a movie-watching line via the little wheels that popped out with a push of a button. Before she knew it, the four of them sat in the darkened office, courtesy of blackout curtains, watching Terminator at nine in the morning on a Monday.
She couldn’t make this stuff up if she tried.
*
For the fifth day in a row, Hope had let herself sleep a little longer than was probably wise and now had to find a way to gain time back in her day and fast. After an energy bar for lunch, because she didn’t have time for the real thing, she raced around her small apartment in a hopeless attempt to find her other shoe. Once she located the culprit beneath her bed, she had the task of figuring out where she’d left her keys. She glanced down at her rather muted attire and sighed, as she just wasn’t feeling it. Instead, she traded her black V-neck for a red tank top, because why the hell not? It was already that kinda day.
“Hey, Teddy,” she said into her phone as she locked her apartment and headed for the
“Call me Timmy. You must be Mallory.”
“I am. Pleased to meet you.” She went to shake his hand but was offered a high-five instead.
“Up top,” Timmy said. She obliged. “That’s how we do it at Big Top. The high-five is everything. Popcorn? It has real butter. The good kind,” he told her, indicating the buttery bowl on the side table.
“No, no. But thank you. I generally wait until after nine thirty for popcorn. Strict rule.”
He laughed at her lame attempt at a joke and introduced her to his colleagues, Robby, the COO, and Freddy, the CFO. Apparently, Robby, Freddy, and Timmy had become best buddies at one of those creative think-tank workshops and never looked back. They opened a movie theater together and, after its overwhelming success, opened another and another. Currently, they were at the helm of over sixty-five theaters and counting across the New England area and ready to expand even further. This would be a huge account for Savvy, should they land it.
“Do you like movies, Mallory?” Robby asked. “We love ’em. We watch at least two a day.”
She nodded. “I do. I’m a total buff.” Okay, well, a minor stretch. But Brooklyn and Sam had her sitting through enough of the old stuff to qualify as somewhat knowledgeable.
“We should watch one now,” Timmy offered excitedly, already moving to some sort of control closet on the back wall.
Mallory thought quickly. “That sounds great, Timmy, but maybe we should talk about the proposal. I’d love to discuss some ideas Savvy has and how we might be able to assist Big Top with promotions and advertising. I think what you have started here is amazing, but I also think we can add to it.”
Timmy smiled at that and took a moment. “I like the way you said that. That you guys can add to what it is we already do. Not a lot of agencies understand that. They want to mainstream us, move into some sort of rebranding. And we’re not mainstream.” With that, there was a Timmy-Freddy-Robby high-five, and Mallory felt like she’d somehow stumbled into their tree house. “Tell you what,” Timmy said, serious now. “Leave what you have, and we can look it over and talk about it down the road. Terminator ?” He held up the DVD case.
“Totally,” Freddy said, and grabbed a baseball cap from his bag and put it on backward.
“It better be the original,” Robby shot at Timmy with an outstretched hand.
“Like I’d put on anything else and call it Terminator . Mallory, you game?” Timmy asked.
She didn’t have a lot of options here, so swallowing her reservations, Mallory summoned her best Arnold voice. “I’ll be back.” Did she honestly just do that? Was this seriously happening?
Freddy pointed in Mallory’s direction. “I like her.” And now it was time for Mallory and Freddy to high-five.
The armchairs were then reassembled in a movie-watching line via the little wheels that popped out with a push of a button. Before she knew it, the four of them sat in the darkened office, courtesy of blackout curtains, watching Terminator at nine in the morning on a Monday.
She couldn’t make this stuff up if she tried.
*
For the fifth day in a row, Hope had let herself sleep a little longer than was probably wise and now had to find a way to gain time back in her day and fast. After an energy bar for lunch, because she didn’t have time for the real thing, she raced around her small apartment in a hopeless attempt to find her other shoe. Once she located the culprit beneath her bed, she had the task of figuring out where she’d left her keys. She glanced down at her rather muted attire and sighed, as she just wasn’t feeling it. Instead, she traded her black V-neck for a red tank top, because why the hell not? It was already that kinda day.
“Hey, Teddy,” she said into her phone as she locked her apartment and headed for the
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