Leading him back to her office, she took her seat behind her desk in a defensive position. “Okay, I don’t have any other options so tell me what we need to do first.”
“First, you need to talk to George and get the bank accounts opened up,” he explained and dialed a number on his cell phone, putting it on speaker. “George, this is Marco. Is everything set up like we discussed earlier today?”
“Yes, sir. I just need to type in some business information from Ms. Parker and I can courier the forms over to her place of business for her signature. Once that’s done, the money can be transferred over. All the vendors on the list you sent me earlier today have already been notified of the change.”
Zoe looked up at Marco, not sure if she should be irritated that he’d gone ahead with the transition even though she hadn’t been completely on board or if she was impressed with his efficiency. Remembering that she didn’t have any other alternative, she gave George the information he asked for, then fifteen minutes later, a courier was handing her the bank documents, waiting for her signature before rushing them back to the bank.
Twenty minutes after that, she was standing in Marco’s office, receiving a thick contract which she was told to bring to her lawyer for review before signing it. At her blank look, Marco sighed and made another phone call, then gave her directions to a lawyer’s office in Manhattan, along with the address. “Go now, ask all the questions you can think of and tell the lawyer to put your concerns into the contract so that you feel secure moving forward with this partnership. Once you’ve gotten the terms to a point where you’re comfortable, then come back and I’ll sign them. We have more plans to make.”
By two o’clock that afternoon, Zoe was almost dizzy with how quickly things had moved. The lawyer had gone through the contract and explained the terms, which were exactly how Marco had described to her yesterday, along with the six month term limit. The lawyer cautioned that she would be required to go along with Marco’s marketing and distribution ideas. Zoe didn’t really understand what that meant, but she signed the papers anyway, unable to think of anything to add. The contract stipulated that, if Marco didn’t grow her business by fifty percent within the six month period, he would owe her the remaining revenue as a buyout clause. The lawyer explained that the contract terms were basically all in her favor so Zoe felt much more relieved after the conversation.
During the cab ride back to Marco’s office, she went through everything the lawyer had said, and came to the conclusion that Marco was simply taking on this project as a way to prove to himself that he could succeed in the fashion industry, one area he hadn’t yet tackled.
Now, here she was, standing in Marco’s conference room with three other people who were getting ready for a slide show to discuss options for her marketing strategy. She was terrified of the terms they were throwing about and wasn’t exactly sure how to respond. She kept looking to Marco who would either nod or shake his head when she wasn’t sure, letting him guide her through the possibilities.
Four hours later, Zoe was exhausted, starving and completely overwhelmed. When the next team arrived to give her a briefing on future store sites, Marco called a halt, asking the three newest people to leave the information and he’d go over it.
“Come on,” he said as he took her hand and pulled her up out of the chair that had previously been comfortable, but now seemed like a giant leather marshmallow trying to suck her into its depths. “You need a break. How about Chinese?” he suggested.
He picked up the briefing and led her back to his office. Dialing a number, he asked the person at the other end to send up his usual, but double.
“Okay, what did you think?” he asked.
Zoe put her hands on her forehead and shook her head. “I’m not really sure what to think anymore. All those terms seemed so off that I wasn’t sure what they were talking about.” She turned to look at him, her eyes wide with anxiety. “Am I really that stupid? I didn’t understand half the stuff they were telling me.”
Marco looked at the bright, intelligent woman with her sad eyes and felt disgusted. He was irritated with his marketing team for trying to impress him with their skill and know-how instead of playing to Zoe who obviously needed to be guided through the presentations differently. A marketing team should have known better, he mused.
“How about if I walk you through them?” he suggested, and took a seat next to her. He picked up the first briefing of the afternoon and started discussing the information in terms she understood, explaining the strategy and giving her insight into why a company would do something. With Marco explaining, she was more than able to understand, even offered feedback and counter arguments to go in a different direction, or tweak the marketing idea to better cater to her current client base as well as expand it.
The food came and they ate, continuing to discuss the ideas and tweak it. Marco no longer only explained, but he asked her opinion and encouraged her own ideas. She made notes in the margins and argued with him on the direction she should go. Marco agreed with some of her ideas, but wouldn’t let her shy away from the more aggressive ones. He pushed her, she pulled back, they argued and she had to laugh at how tenacious he could be.
“What’s so funny?” he asked, sitting back in the leather sofa.
She picked up the broccoli and chicken. “You ate the rest!”
“Of course I did. Snooze, you lose, Gorgeous. Isn’t that what I’ve been trying to tell you for the past five hours?”
Zoe glanced at her watch and gasped. “Goodness!” she exclaimed, standing up and looking around. “I had no idea it was so late. I’m sorry to have taken over your evening.”
He stood up as well, and Zoe didn’t realize how close she’d been sitting. But as he stood, their feet were almost touching, making them less than an inch away from each other.
Looking up at him, she started to take a step backwards but he stopped her by putting an arm around her waist. “Marco, I…”
“Shhh,” he interrupted her.
She couldn’t hold his gaze, letting her eyes fall to the middle of his chest. “We can’t do this again,” she said softly but didn’t move.
“Do what again?”
“Become involved.”
“We’re already involved.”