by Ivy Blake
But still, it was annoying.
“Your first presentation is in fifteen minutes.” Jana set the roster down in front of me with a friendly smile. Jana also moonlighted as our trusted confidant, she has been with us for years. Since the very beginning when we were running off loans until we made a name for ourselves.
“Thanks.”
I took off my sports coat and adjusted my tie. I had gotten used to being overdressed next to Jake. He always looked like he just left the gym; the MMA gym we own and was our first endeavor. It started out as just that, a gym, but now it was home to a few B-list fighters, Division I schools, and has become its own fitness brand. But I could never ditch my dress pants, tailored shirt, and silk tie. No way.
Jake finally came in with five minutes to go, when the first presenter was already outside. As I suspected, he was wearing khaki shorts and a Polo. He always had the buttons undone to show off his tattoo. I thought his shoulder piece of roses and thorns was a drunken mistake, but apparently it wasn’t. The chest tattoo was after that.
“You ready?” He sat next to me and I stifled my annoyance.
“I’ve been here for thirty minutes.” I said in response. He just laughed and shook his head.
He took one pen pad, and in big letters he wrote ‘yes’ on one, and ‘no’ on the other. I shook my head, but smiled.
“Whatever. The only way we work is when you do the hard work, and I seal the deal with my thug tattoo and muscles. It’s proven.” Man, he was a dick sometimes, but also an entrepreneurial genius.
When we met in college, I planned to just work on software, and maybe develop my own. But he stepped in and showed me how to brand myself, and how to make a fortune with my brain. I was opposed to starting out with investments like the gym and coffee shops for undergrads, but it was what built us. Now, we could pretty much do whatever the hell we wanted. And a lot of that was due to his attitude.
“Right.”
He geared up for another rebuttal but then there was a knock, and Jana told us number one was here. Jake didn’t hide his ‘I’d rather be anywhere else’ groan. But he knew why we did this. Mentorship was a big deal, especially when you can make someone loyal to you at a young age, and become their spring board.
These younger people have great ideas…some of them. Jake and I were both almost thirty, we had lost touch with what was trending, and selling. So, these hopeful college students come in and tell us what we we’re missing, and we give them an offer they can’t refuse to capitalize on it. It’s fool proof.
“Who is this guy?” Jake grabbed the roster, and found his file in the large stack of thirty.
We had a team vet all these applications before we even looked at them. We get almost two thousand proposals, and they narrow it down to thirty before they subject us to hours of unpreparedness and entitlement. Seriously, it gets worse every year.
The school specifically might be the problem, it was no Ivy League, but UCLA had a lot of pretentious students, fueled by family money and entitlement. Only a rare gem actually deserved what we have to offer, and I doubted I would even see one today.
“Something about sustainable agriculture?” Jake asked. I chuckled softly and shook my head.
“No, recyclable agriculture. He is an Ag student, so that’s probably why we have never heard of it.” I told him. Jake shook his head and frowned.
“Hopefully it’s good.”
It was not good at all. I could see the bits and pieces, but they just did not fit together. I wondered why he was even so nervous, it was just the two of us. How could he ever make it in our board room, full of ten power suits worth more than the school’s endowment? Those are the kind of things I look for as well. Can we send them out to the business world sharks, with our names on their resume saying that we taught them?
Hell no.
“Thank you, we’ll be in touch.” I offered my best poker-faced smile as he took down his presentation.
He even had graphics set up, but he never got around to explaining the big ass graph he sat right in front of us.
“We have got to get someone else to do these.” Jake leaned back in his seat, rubbing his face in frustration.
“Then we wouldn’t know who’s walking in our office, or who we are buying.” I said.
“Uh huh. Maybe you should do it alone then, since you are so damned good at it.” He retorted.
I shook my head. Jake could be a real trip sometimes. Honestly, when it came down to it, he was still responsible. The gym we have is what he tends to focus on. Not only does he operate it himself, he trains there too. In other days, he planned to be an MMA fighter, but somehow that plan got lost in the wind.
He doesn’t talk about it, and I don’t ask. But I know it has something to do with his parents. When we met, they had recently died. I think that was why we took to each other so easily, and why we work so well as business partners. I grew up with my aunt, so we both know how to appreciate shit before it’s gone.
Most business people don’t do that, and that is why most businesses fail.
“We should make this more exciting?” Jake flashed a devious smile and looked at the files again for the next person.
“How so?” I asked. He shrugged, telling me to just wait and see. Oh boy.
Jake can be a real prick. He could moonlight as a prison guard if he wanted, always playing bad cop of course.
“Next one is coming in.” Jana peeked in, and then went back outside.
“Does she have a date?” Jake asked me. I furrowed my brow in confusion.
“No, why would you think that?”
“I’ve never seen her wear a dress is all.” He eyed the space she just left. I shook my head and hid a yuck sound.
“Uh, she dresses like that all the time. What is with you?” The next applicant was in now, setting up her presentation. I didn’t pay any attention to her, but Jake was flashing his sizing up look.
“Nothing. Just haven’t gotten laid in a while is all.”
“Seriously?” I asked, in a way I was asking how he could be talking about that right now.
“What? You haven’t either.”
“I have been busy. As we are busy now,” I gestured to the young woman clicking through a power point.
She actually looked prepared though. She was in a gray pantsuit with a pink blouse, and had her blonde hair pinned up. I hoped for something good.
“Right. We should go back to the club this weekend.” I was prepared to shut him down, but the idea was appealing.
It had been a while. And Jake and I had interesting sexual tastes. It wasn’t uncommon for us to share a woman, not since back in college. It made things more exciting, gets your testosterone flowing like crazy and makes for a good time.
“Maybe. Now hush.” I turned to the girl smiling at us nervously. She probably heard our entire conversation.
The screen was a good few paces from us in the lecture seats, so maybe not.
“Please begin.”
I thought she would have a good idea, then I was reminded why I don’t judge based on appearances. Sorority matching. That was her pitch. A company that would learn your interests starting in high school, and prep you for the houses you wanted. Making the rush process more ‘focused and way more fun,’ as she said.
I couldn’t believe it. I don’t have anything against sororities, but the way she delivered the presentation made me wonder how she even met our GPA requirement. A 3.5 wasn’t too high, and we thought it would weed out, well, people who want to open a sorority dating site of sorts.
“So, how do you think this matches up with anything our company has been doing?” Jake asked in his no bullshit voice. I tapped his foot with mine, I really didn’t want to watch anyone crying again.
One time he was so hard and mean, that the guy started crying and broke down saying he didn’t know why he was so worthless. I kept tabs on him for some reason, and found out he is now an assistant professor at a junior college. His idea was rea
lly good, he just didn’t want to sell.
“How do you mean?” She replied with a smile. I relaxed a bit.
“Do you even know what kind of companies we invest in?” He asked.
She blinked rapidly, and shook her head once. Jake scoffed and started writing on the ‘no’ pen pad. He wrote her name down, and then held it up for her to see.
“We won’t be in touch. Thank you.”
She dropped her jaw like she expected to be handed the job instead. But eventually, she started packing up to leave. We either use their idea as a springboard and actually open the business, with a three-month plan and make them the CEO. It is much easier than outsourcing yet another job. Or, we see it as a really good seed we want only our name on, and buy them out.
Out of the thirty here today, only one would actually get the CEO job. And out of the rest, three would be bought out. So, I was prepared for twenty-six shitty presentations.
“I have to say, it was kind of a good idea.” I told him. Jake frowned. I think he just had an affliction with sororities.
Back in college, he slept his way through Tri Delta, and somehow expected them to not tell everyone they knew. One girl in particular was his repeat, and he thought they were monogamous for a while. That was the last time he tried that. Because he found out from their brother fraternity that she was sleeping with them too, and they call her Wendy because she is four for four. To save herself, she blogged about rating all the men she had slept with. Jake was last.
So, the last presentation didn’t stand a chance.
“Maybe. But sorority girls…can you imagine having to go in for reporting?” He shuddered. But he was right. I didn’t want to imagine it.
We sat through twenty-two more presentations. Disappointing, and unfortunate. The very last one, her PowerPoint wouldn’t come up and she wasn’t good at extemporaneous delivery, so she tried to explain it without any graphics or supplemental material. If it was her idea, she should have been able to.
And Jake ripped her apart for it. She about ran out of there in tears.
“That was so mean,” I mumbled.
“Yeah. This is shitty man, what if we don’t find anyone?”
I shrugged.
“Then we set our sights on a different school.” He shook his head, looking at who was next.
I crossed all my fingers, hoping Madeline Jackson would save the day.
2
Madeline
I spent the entire night wondering if was too late to change my major.
Eventually, I came to the conclusion that since I was a senior nine weeks from graduating, it kind of was.
I was going through my presentation over and over, and I would mess up something different each time. I groaned in frustration multiple times and collapsed on my couch, defeated. It wouldn’t do me any good to stay up all night, but I had to get it right.
This meeting with Collegium Corp was my big break. I was riding on it since January when I was told I was in the final selection, and could deliver my presentation in person to two of the most influential businessmen and investors in the city. I didn’t even know what they looked like, but I knew everything they did from top to bottom.
I memorized all their dates and numbers too. The exact day their gym, their springboard investment opened, when they started buying out investors, and when their company grossed a billion dollars in one investment period. They were a force to be reckoned with and I knew I had to do something to get their attention.
I purposefully didn’t want to see any photos because it would throw me off, I just thought of them as two springboards. They have a buyout option, but I didn’t want it. I wanted to be a CEO. It was why I double majored in business entrepreneurship and management. I was top of my class and had a perfect GPA. I looked good on paper. Now, I just had to blow them away in person.
“Oh my God, are you still up?” My roommate and best friend, Sarai, scared me half to death.
Her bedroom opened right up to the living room. She stood in the doorway, her shirt crooked and her blonde tresses wild and messy. She looked like I had woken her up, but I know she just lays around watching Netflix for hours.
“Yeah. I have that big presentation tomorrow.” I answered. She yawned and padded over to the kitchen in her fuzzy socks.
She made us both tea, black for me and green for her. We lived together for four years, and our friendship was accidental. But perfect. She was a public health major, so she rarely had free time and was the complete opposite of me. Tall, and leggy, perfect for a model. Seriously, she modeled to pay for school.
“How is it going then?” She sat next to me. I sipped the tea and instantly relaxed.
“Not good. I keep messing up the numbers.”
“Because you have been at it too long, go to sleep.” She said, half asleep herself.
I nodded in agreement. I had to be well rested and it was almost one. I stood up, my baggy shirt falling over my yoga pants and I started packing up my stuff. I had two big graphics and a PowerPoint presentation. All the stuff was there, and I knew it was good.
The idea came to me in one of my required classes, composting. I geared it toward the younger crowd, who was quite honestly very lazy. But a good majority of them were in touch with the environment, and the amount of people composting now were largely made up of the younger crowds. So, by putting an easy access facility near campus, it would encourage young people to take part in it. One day, it could expand to residence halls, apartment complexes, and such.
Maybe I was a hypocrite because I don’t compost myself, but if there was anything I learned in my business classes it’s that if enough people do it, it’s important. It matched up with their investments from the past two years. They had acquired almost twenty private recycling firms, and have stepped in to sustainability within the community. This was the only idea they had not capitalized on. I really hoped they didn’t buy it off of me, but I would take what I could get if it meant being mentored by either of them.
Ugh, I needed to sleep.
I finished off my tea, and Sarai said goodnight. I knew she only came out to check on me. She was more my sister than a friend and roommate. We met freshman year at the required orientation, as roommates, and hadn’t parted ways since.
It has been good so far, but we have both been so busy since the second semester, that we have barely seen each other. Even over spring break we were working nonstop on our thesis and turned them in early. We had one day off to binge watch Game of Thrones.
I was glad I had someone to challenge me though, to push my limits and make me work harder. We studied together, motivated each other; we balanced each other out.
I begged sleep to come but I was so hyped up. I got up again and picked out what to wear. Judging by their accomplishments, I thought they were older conservative men so I picked out my only black skirt suit, the skirt went past my knees a bit, and a white button up. It seemed that was the last thing I needed to plan before I collapsed into bed.
~
I was scheduled for noon on the dot so I got up at nine-thirty. I made breakfast and had a double dose of coffee before I got dressed. I took my long brown hair and braided it back. I wasn’t the makeup type so I just wore foundation to hide my dark circles and simple peach lipstick. I spritzed on my favorite perfume and double checked my notes and materials. I was ready to go. Just extremely nervous.
Sarai had already gone to class, or work. I couldn’t remember. She worked at a small boutique where the employees also model the looks. She always rocked the exotic, bohemian look with her deep eyes and thick brows. It was the perfect job for her. She didn’t need the money, so she just did it for fun.
I worked in the admissions office as a secretary. It was boring, but I could get a lot of studying done as I sat at the desk. I took today off to prepare, since I only had classes two days a week the job was relatively easy to keep.
My trusty, fifteen-year-old Beetle was parked across the street. The blue pain
t was chipping so bad, it looked gray. But it did look kind of retro and cool, all that mattered is it runs. I headed to the hall they held the interviews at, and easily found parking.
I got in with thirty minutes to spare, so I just sat outside.
“Are you waiting for the presentation?” An older woman, with dramatic features and a kind smile asked me while I waited on the bench.
“Yes, I am.” She asked me my name and I assumed she was an assistant of some sort.
“You look nice.” She told me.
“Thank you, I am a little nervous.” I smiled. She waved me off.
“Don’t worry. They like to think they are all big and mean, but they really aren’t. Especially Jake.”
I smiled a bit.
“Thanks. I’ll try to relax.”
I waited a few more minutes, and then went in the bathroom nervously to check myself. I heard noises in a stall that sounded like crying. I never liked knowing people were upset about something. I thought it would take my mind off of my own mess of a life anyway.
I knocked on the stall gently, “Are you okay?”
The sniffled stopped, and then the stall opened. She looked so pretty, and well dressed in a suit. Why was she upset?
“I’m fine, thanks. Just an interview gone bad is all.”
She went over to the sink and washed her hands, then started fixing her makeup.
“With Collegium Corp?” I don’t know why I asked that.
“Yes, do you have one too?”
I nodded.
She shook her head. “It was a disaster. I thought my presentation was good. I know the idea was a little crazy but I was prepared. But one of them was a total asshole and got mad at me for not Googling them or something. It was awful. I ran out in tears! Oh no, are you going in too?”
I nodded slowly. Now terrified to even go. I glanced at my watch. Five minutes to go. Would I run out in tears too?
“Yeah, I do. I’m sorry it didn’t go well,” I said gently.
“It’s fine. I guess I will just have to go and work for my dad or something. I just wanted to make it on my own for once.” She shook her head sadly as she looked down.
