by fun you mean work, you are correct,” Tyler said, leaning back in his chair.
Kellen had the title of company president while Tyler was the executive creative director. When they started the business five years ago, the two of them worked on every project together. In the last year or so, their accounts had almost tripled. It could have been more, but it seemed the harder Tyler worked, the more Kellen pushed him to slow down.
“Well, I will let you two catch up,” Hadley said to Kellen before turning her baby blue gaze on Tyler. “Call your brothers back, Ty. I’m begging.”
Kellen picked up the shadowbox of arrowheads Tyler had on display on his bookshelf. Tyler resisted the urge to wrestle them away. They had belonged to his father, one of the few mementos he had from either of his parents.
“I heard you accepted a meeting with Rockwell’s Hardware,” Kellen said, setting the box down. “I thought we agreed we weren’t going to take on any other clients until we cleared a couple projects.”
“It’s a simple rebrand.”
“I’m not sure Eric’s ready to take on another rebranding account. He’s still trying to get his bearings here.”
“I’ll do most of the work.” If he didn’t bother sleeping, he’d get it all done easily. Tyler didn’t have any other choice. Eric would most likely never find his bearings.
Kellen sat down across from him. “Tyler, you know I appreciate your drive. It’s why I partnered with you. But we can’t overextend ourselves. We run the risk of choosing quantity over quality.”
Tyler tried to sound reassuring. “I got this. Don’t worry.”
“You sent me thirty-two emails between the hours of nine at night and six in the morning. I hate to say it, but you’ve got to slow down.”
This was how Tyler worked. People appreciated hard work. If he wanted to get noticed in this competitive world of marketing, he had to rise above the rest. “All of this will be worth it. We’re going to be the number one advertising agency in Portland this year.”
“Tyler.” Kellen rested his elbows on his knees. “Maybe after the Lodi Organics presentation, you should take some time off. Relax. Get away for a couple weeks.”
Tyler’s brow furrowed. He must not have heard Kellen correctly. “Are you suggesting I take a vacation?”
“I’m not suggesting. More like telling you. You need a break. We all need a break.” Kellen sat back and seemed to struggle with the right words. “Let me be straight with you. There’s been some grumbling. People are feeling...stressed.”
“Like who?” Tyler looked out at the office cubicles. The eight-person staff all scurried around, refusing to make eye contact.
“Like everyone.”
They had planned this. They had gone to Kellen behind his back. He felt his blood pressure rise, which made it difficult to control his volume. “Stressed about what? Having a job?”
* * *
THE GLASS WALLS of Tyler’s office were far from soundproof. It wasn’t surprising that he was taking Kellen’s feedback poorly. Hadley had warned Kellen that Tyler was on a mission. A mission to work himself into an early grave. The main problem with that was he was taking the rest of the office with him.
“On a scale of one to ten, how mad is he going to be with us?” Veronica was the web designer and one of the biggest complainers over the last couple of weeks. She fidgeted with her oversize gold hoop earrings.
“Fifty-seven,” Lee, one of the project managers, guessed as he made his way over to Hadley’s desk. He stroked his goatee. “Look how red his face is.”
“Fifty-seven?” Hadley shook her head at the random number choice. “I don’t know if it’s that bad.”
She glanced over at the two of them having it out, secretly hoping Tyler was stubborn enough to dig his heels in. Maybe the two of them would realize that Tyler had too much on his plate for a reason. Perhaps they’d admit the real problem was that they had given the brand strategist position to someone so woefully unqualified instead of her.
Hadley could manage a hundred more accounts than Eric. She had deserved that job and hated Tyler for not going to bat for her. She blamed him even more than his partner. Had Tyler called Kellen out on his nepotism and fought for her, Kellen would have backed down and given the job to Hadley.
“Look at how tight his jaw is. That is not a good sign,” Lee said.
“Don’t worry,” Eric assured them. “My uncle will get Ty to chill. I made it clear we could not work under these conditions any longer, right?”
Hadley bit her tongue and tried not to roll her eyes. Eric couldn’t work under any conditions. He was so far over his head, it was ridiculous. He probably asked her close to fifty questions a day, trying to get her to do his job as well as hers.
Tyler’s glare zeroed in on her. The open layout of the converted warehouse left nowhere for people to hide. He pushed open his door and folded his arms across his chest. Even though Hadley may have had her issues him, she couldn’t deny that Tyler Blackwell was attractive. Broad chest, dark hair, denim-blue eyes and a jawline that could make Hollywood’s A-list leading men jealous.
“Anyone here want to tell me they’re unhappy to my face? Are some of you unhappy with...I don’t know...having a job? Because last time I checked, without clients there’s no work and with no work there’s no jobs. Anyone out here who doesn’t want a job?”
“Tyler, come on,” Kellen said, putting a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t worry, everybody. No one is losing their job!”
Tyler shrugged him off. “I hope you enjoy the amount of work you’re all going to have while I’m on vacation.” He pointed at Hadley. “I need you.”
This was her chance. If she could convince Tyler he could trust that the work he’d started would be finished to his standards while he was on his forced getaway, maybe she could make him see she should be the brand strategist instead of Eric.
He dropped into his chair and shuffled through some papers on his desk. His frustration came off him like smoke from a fire. “Did you talk to him about being overworked?”
“Me? No,” she asserted. “I think all this business is great. I wish I could do more to help.” She had to be cautious about how she proceeded. She needed Tyler’s help if she was going to convince Kellen to get rid of his nephew. Kellen always preached about the importance of family, but giving a job to someone who didn’t know what he was doing was bad business.
“Well, I need help figuring out how I can pretend to be on vacation while still getting things done.”
The main line rang, lighting up the buttons on Tyler’s phone. Hadley reached over and picked it up. “2K Marketing, this is Hadley. How may I direct your call?”
“Hi, Hadley. It’s Ben, Ben Blackwell. I know you told Ethan that Tyler was on another call, but I am done with this. Tell him he doesn’t need to call any of us back.”
Hadley
