Agreed, I reply.
Because any cat that warrants a text message—the first in months—from Margot, is obviously the best cat in the world.
Tucking my phone back into my pocket, I smile against the glass as I down the last sip of scotch and head back inside. Whenever Margot’s ready, I will be too.
Which means I have some work to do…
***
A week later, there’s another board meeting, but this one goes entirely in my favor. Now that the acquisition of Ridgeway is finalized, True North is seeing record profits in the Midwestern market.
Thrilled by the success, the board is eager to see what other markets might benefit from an acquisition. But while they were busy looking for mom and pop shops here in the US that might consider selling, I was thinking bigger. I was thinking internationally.
When I floated the idea of acquiring Steinman’s Sporting Goods, the biggest outdoor recreation chain in Canada whose recent annual reports have shown signs of financial strain and overextension, most of the board members were shocked. But there’s only one board member who really matters: my brother.
Garrett founded this company. He spent the better part of a decade leading it into the type of financial success that isn’t easily replicated. Of the two of us, he always says that I have a better mind for business, but he’s wrong. I may be good at numbers and analytical to a fault, but Garrett has somethingspecial. Something that also can’t be easily replicated: an innate, uncanny sense of what’s going to propel the company forward and the balls to see it through, even when everyone around him questions it. We all know it.
So, when I was done with my presentation to the Board, it was no surprise that all eyes shifted to Garrett, who pondered then nodded then announced, “Fuck yeah, let’s do it.”
The general sentiment of the board followed suit, and there was an energy in the air that none of us had felt in a while.
But I had one condition. Unsurprisingly, it had to do with Margot.
“I need her back upstairs working with me on this,” I told them.
Garrett, of course, argued. “She turned down the last promotion.”
Thankfully, he left out the part where she also asked to be transferred to a whole different department.
“She won’t turn this one down,” I said with more confidence than I actually had.
“What’d you have in mind?” Garrett asked.
“Director of International Expansion.”
Our relationship is old news, so is our breakup. I’m back in the board’s good graces, a fact cemented by floating the idea of an international expansion. In their eagerness to see where this could go, Margot’s promotion was met with very little reluctance from the board.
And now, I’m sitting here in my office with the head of HR, waiting on the one person who I still need to convince: Margot.
A familiar knock on my office door makes my heart skip a beat. I’m not sure when I became the type of person who gets sentimental over the sound of a particular knock, but here I am. The door creaks open a second later, and Margot steps into myoffice for the first time in months. Her smile wavers when she notices Helen from HR sitting across from me.
“Hi, Margot. Have a seat.” I motion to the chair next to Helen.
Margot crosses the room, looking slightly wary as she lowers herself into the chair and offers Helen a polite smile. Her expression transforms when she turns her attention to me, silently questioning what’s going on.
It occurs to me at this moment that there’s a distinct possibility that Margot is about to be very annoyed with me. Maybe I’m pressing my luck by offering her yet another promotion—one that would force her to work in close proximity to me, no less. This job means long days and lots of work, most of which will require collaboration between the two of us. She might not be ready for that. She might say no. And while I’d be lying if I said that I wasn’t looking forward to all of those long days of work with her on a personal level, this is truly about the company. An expansion like this is a huge undertaking. I can’t do it without her.
“I’ll get right to it,” I say, as if I haven’t spent the last few moments playing out best- and worst-case scenarios in my head while everyone else in the room waited with bated breath. “I’ve found an opportunity for True North to potentially expand into the international market, starting with Canada. The board is excited to examine the opportunity more closely, which will mean a lot of financial assessments, risk analysis, and some travelling. It’s a lot of work. And while True North certainly has the staff to do all of this, the board and I both believe that it would be beneficial to have one employee dedicated to leading this expansion.”
“Okay…”
“And we all agree it should be you.”
Margot’s eyebrows lift and her mouth pops open. “Me?”
I nod.
She hesitates for a beat. “What would the position be?”