Chapter 235

235 Short on Time

A few grilling meetings followed now that we had Ace’s approval of the final commercial. Although, the commercial would really be final if it passed the committee’s review. I didn’t doubt that the commercial would make it past the review at all. If it was good enough to pass Ace’s review, then it was probably good enough to pass anyone’s review. That was what I truly believed. Ace’s standards were probably the highest and the strictest in the industry and he wasn’t someone who would hold back his comments for the sake of the team’s mental health or morale either.

“I want you to push up the meeting date with the committee,” Ace announced in the team meeting.

His words surprised everyone including myself. I had no idea why he was pushing the timeline even though we didn’t have that much time on our hands to start with, and now he was trying to shorten the time that we had. Everyone was visibly surprised and then very concerned.

“May I ask why you think that way?” Jeremy asked after hesitantly raising his hand.

He reminded me of a schoolboy who was scared that his teacher would yell at him. However, I did respect his courage to speak up and ask the question that was probably on all of our minds.

“We’re done with the work. There’s no point in stalling the process. Plus, if words get out to our competitors that our work has already passed the committee’s review and is well ahead of schedule, it would put a lot of pressure on our competitors,” Ace explained sternly.

It did make sense. Although Chase Creatives was no longer in the run to compete with us, that didn’t mean that we could ignore the other companies that were still participating. If we could apply pressure, then we should. The success of the campaign wouldn’t depend only on the quality of the commercial but also on the execution of its launch and marketing. If we could get a head start on that then it might really secure our victory for us.

“I’ll do my best to push up the meeting with the committee,” Julianna spoke up.

It was clear that this one would be on her and that was why she had decided to step up and make that commitment.

.....

“Doing your best is good and all that but it doesn’t mean much if we don’t get the result that we want,” Ace stated coldly.

“I understand. I’ll make sure to move the meeting up for us,” she replied.

'

“This week. Can we get the meeting within this week?” Ace asked.

Although it was phrased as a question, I was sure that everyone knew that it was more of an order than a question. The atmosphere in the room was tense and I didn’t even dare to breathe. If Ace wanted the meeting this week, then there were only three more days left. Can Julianna call a meeting with the committee on such short notice?

“I understand. Please leave it to me. I will get a meeting with the committee within this week,” Julianna said with confidence.

My eyes widened as I stared at her determined face. She seemed so confident, and I felt so much respect for her and her commitment. I wanted to believe in her and that was what I decided to do.

“Good. I’ll be waiting for good news from you,” Ace replied.

“Thank you,” Julianna thanked him.

Ace gave her a nod and then the agenda moved on to review the launch and marketing plan. Julianna quietly left the room, and I knew immediately that she had already started working on the task that she was given.

...

**A few days later**

I clenched my hands together to stop them from shaking in front of me as I tried to appear well-composed and confident. Although I had decided to place my faith in Julianna to get us a meeting with the committee within the week, I was still surprised when she made the announcement that she indeed succeeded. Ace was undoubtedly pleased by her achievement.

“I’m sorry that I couldn’t get us an earlier meeting; however, I managed to get a 30-minutes session with the committee this Friday in the afternoon,” Julianna announced before she beamed a confident smile at everyone in the meeting room.

“As I had expected. You really have your act together, Julianna,” Ace complimented her with a nod of his head.

The smile that lit up Julianna’s face told me well enough what she felt at that moment. I felt proud of her too and her achievement. There probably wasn’t anything that Julianna couldn’t do after she set her mind to it. Once again, I was reminded of how awesome and talented my team members were.

“Get everything ready for the meeting on Friday. We will be showing the committee members our commercial and then let’s show them a comprehensive summary of how we plan to launch and market our commercial,” Ace instructed.

“Yes, Boss!” various team members said all at once.

And that brought us to today. I still remembered the shocking incident that took place when we were here before. We found out that our work had been leaked and Chase Creatives presented the storyboard that we had in mind. Back then, I couldn’t bring myself to believe that I was the source of the leak even if it was unintentional. I took in a deep breath and let it out slowly as I tried to push away all the dark thoughts and anger that I felt toward Kyle.

He really ruined many things for me...

However, those obstacles only made me a stronger person and since then, I’ve made so much progress in my career. I had Ace to thank for that. Although I hated being overly optimistic, I told myself that the desperate situation that Kyle forced me into did help get Ace and me together. It made me appreciate Ace so much more for what he did for me and how much he supported me.

–To be continued...