A Heart to Trust, A.L. Brooks [speed reading book TXT] 📗

they’d left Olivia’s building together, they’d parted at the bagel shop two blocks away from the office so they wouldn’t be seen arriving together. Hiding would soon get old, Jenny knew, but she was okay with it for now.

She also knew she needed to change her job and leave C&V. In the small hours of Sunday morning, lying sated in Olivia’s arms, she’d realized nothing should get in the way of what she and Olivia had. She knew Olivia had a great chance of getting the production manager’s job, and she knew Adrienne was right when she said Jenny could—and should—do more with her working life than staying a PA forever. She wasn’t sure what she wanted instead, but it didn’t matter. It was time for a change, a positive one, and she was going to be the one to make it.

She reached her desk and set up for the day.

Olivia appeared a few minutes later with Maxwell by her side.

“Morning!” Jenny called.

“Hey.” Maxwell grinned at her. “How was your weekend?”

“Good. Very good.” There was no way she could wipe the big smile off her face, and she simply shrugged as Maxwell nodded knowingly at her. “Yeah, whatever.”

Maxwell laughed and threw Olivia a glance, who stood nearby with a bagel bag in hand, blushing.

“Here.” Olivia thrust the bag in Jenny’s direction. “I still can’t believe you asked me to order that.” She shuddered in mock disgust.

Jenny chuckled and opened the bag, licking her lips. “PB and J is an American classic. You need to get behind our cultural icons if you want to live here.” She pulled out half a bagel smothered in peanut butter and jelly and held it out to Olivia. “Want some?”

Olivia tutted. “No, thank you.” Her eyes sparkled as she threw Jenny one more glance and then sat at her desk.

They worked quietly through the morning, sharing the occasional secretive glance that left Jenny tingling with excitement each time.

Olivia left around noon for some meetings, and Maxwell disappeared at one to head uptown to a studio where he was helping out with a show on the greats of boxing. He looked happy for the first time in a while, and Jenny was pleased for him.

The regular staff vacancy bulletin pinged into Jenny’s inbox a few minutes later. As usual, more from idle curiosity than anything else, she opened it and browsed the open positions. Right at the bottom of the list something caught her eye and had her sitting upright.

The marketing and creative team were expanding and looking for someone to bring new ideas to the table. The new person would work with the whole team, helping with ideas and administration for every marketing campaign and every pitch the company made to the major networks, with a specific emphasis on sports and entertainment shows.

Jenny’s mind whirled—the role sounded interesting, challenging, and fun. Plus, it kept her working for a big name in the business and able to continue dating her girlfriend without any issues over the company policy. Not only that, it was a role two pay grades above her current one, and it was open to applications from people outside of a marketing background. It’s your ideas that count, not your experience, was the key phrase that leaped off the screen and into Jenny’s consciousness. It was almost too good to be true.

She sat back in her seat and blew out a breath, her gaze on her screen but not at all focused on the words before her.

Adrienne had said she had excellent ideas. So had Olivia. And although Jenny, unlike Roz, didn’t believe much of that stuff about the universe sending you a message when you most needed it, she couldn’t help thinking it was a sign. The same day she decided to get off her butt and take charge of her career direction, a fantastic job vacancy turned up in her inbox.

But would they truly consider someone like her?

Well, only one way to find out.

She picked up the phone and dialed the number for Harper, the HR assistant. “Hey, Harper, it’s Jenny Quinn from production.”

“Oh, hi, Jenny. How are you?”

“I’m good. I’m wondering if you have some time free today?”

“Let me just check.” Harper clicked a few keys. “Yes, at two-thirty. Work for you?”

“It does. I’ll come up then.”

Jenny’s hands shook as she replaced the receiver. When was the last time she’d just run with something without thinking it through eighty-six times? It was kind of scary.

But also kind of cool.

At a little before two-thirty, Jenny took the stairs up to the next floor and walked to Harper’s cubicle.

“Hi, Jenny.” Harper stood. “Let’s go into Zoey’s office—she’s out for the afternoon.”

Once they were seated, Jenny took a deep breath. “So, I wanted to talk to you about the role that’s being advertised in the marketing team.”

“Oh?” Harper’s blue eyes held Jenny’s.

“Yes. I know I don’t have a marketing background, and I know the posting says that isn’t essential, but I wanted to check if that was true?”

Harper leaned forward. “It is. Broadly. But Martina, the hiring manager, would still want to know what you could bring to the table. Any projects you’ve worked on where your ideas made the difference, that sort of thing.”

Okay, here goes. “Well, the change in direction for Project Catwalk was my idea. I presented it to Derek and he ran with it.”

“Wait.” Harper held up a hand. “You came up with the idea to change Project Catwalk?” Her eyebrows were raised, but Jenny couldn’t tell if it was from surprise or skepticism.

“I did.” Despite her churning stomach, Jenny’s voice held firm. “And I can prove it, if necessary.” She swallowed. “I’m not sure how it was presented to the board by Mr. Flanigan, but it was my idea and my presentation.”

“Good for you.”

“I can also provide examples from my time at TC where my ideas led to successful changes and improvements in other projects.”

Harper threw her a wide smile. “Well, then I think you should definitely consider putting in