Page 35 of Out on a Limb

“I promise.”

CHAPTER twelve

Walker

“Walker, where are we with briefing the client on the summer digital campaign?”

Walker’s head shot up. The world came back into focus. He blinked sleep out of his eyes and found Patricia staring at him from across her desk.

“We’re good.”

“Good. What does good entail?” Patricia returned to typing an email on her laptop, yet still waited an answer.

“I put time on their calendar for next week to go over the digital recommendation.”

“What day next week?”

“Tuesday.”

“Good.”

He didn’t want to know whatthatgood entailed. Patricia swiveled around to the neat stacks of paper behind her desk. Not a single sheet was out of place, and they all had Post-its affixed to the top page. She picked up the center stack, swiveled back, and dropped it on her desk with athunk. Walker and Lucy traded looks. They never knew what would come next with Patricia.

“We just got back the media modeling research study from last year. This analyzed every campaign, down to the placement, that Radiance ran. It’s a deep dive into what worked and what didn’t. Which segments had the best ROI and how we can build on that. This will be crucial for planning our presentation for the review.”

Neither he nor Lucy picked it up. He had never been so intimidated by a stack of papers.

“Anyway, I wanted to use this meeting to plan out a timeline for preparing the review presentation. We all need to be on the same page to make sure we stay focused.” Patricia pressed her hands together. Knowing her, Walker thought, she probably was praying every night for them to win the review. He should, too, since his job was on the line. “I think we should have daily check-ins in the morning to gauge progress.”

Walker hoped this was a nightmare. His head pounded from his sleep hangover.

“I think we can do a weekly check-in,” Lucy said. Walker would hug her in the breakroom. “We’d be able to provide you with better updates.”

“Twice a week,” Patricia countered.

“Tuesdays and Thursdays?”

“Mondays and Thursdays. I love Monday meetings. It’s a great way to set the tone for the week, don’t you agree?” Patricia waited for their answers. Walker’s head shot up again from the sleep canyon, and he nodded. “Excellent. I’ll send out the meeting invites. Thanks, guys.”

Walker and Lucy stood up to leave.

“Walker?”

He turned around. Patricia nodded her head at the research study.

“I want you to read through this and fully digest it. You’re going to be the point person for all research questions. You’ll need to make sure everything in our presentation aligns with the media modeling study.”

“Got it.”

Walker beelined to the breakroom with the study weighing down his arms. He poured himself another cup of coffee, and then he hugged Lucy as promised.

“I tried, honey.” She laughed into his chest.

“We just had a meeting about a meeting.”

“A series of meetings.”

Walker paced around the small confines of the breakroom. It wasn’t much exercise, but it was necessary movement. All this sitting. All this staring. Whatever was in Patricia’s office, she should bottle it and sell it to insomniacs.