“Relax that drum solo,” Charli said, pointedly looking at the two fingers Roman was tapping on the table top. “We want her to be comfortable, because then she’ll be more likely to give us what we want. Her knowing the manager is a good thing.”
It didn’t stop his jaw from clenching again.
“Do you remember Marco?” Roger asked Bex. Then he turned his head toward the back of the store and shouted, “Hey, Marco. Come here a minute.”
Then Marco came out, and apparently she knew him, too, and it was reunions all over again. Roman had never even seen Marco before. So Bex knew more people than he did at his own coffee shop?
Luckily, Bex’s conversation with both men ended quickly, and her gaze shifted his direction. She gave him a brilliant smile when she saw him and walked to their table, which he met with his own hard smile.
“Hello.” She reached out and shook both his hand and Charli’s, and then banged her knee into the chair as she went to sit down. The sound was loud and she hissed in a breath, wincing.
A smile tugged at his lips as he sat, too. It wasn’t enough to make up for the fact that she had leveled out the playing field by knowing the people at his home field, but it definitely helped.
“Thank you so much for meeting with us,” Charli said. “Roman and I have talked, and we decided that, despite your differences in opinions on a few points, that he would really like to do the interview. We are hoping that we can talk about a few of those differences so that we can make it something that is beneficial to you, as well.”
And this was why he hired and promoted Charli. She could take his “I hate everything Bex wants to do, but still want the new users she could help us bring in” and turn it into something professional and courteous.
Bex sat straight in her chair, looking regal and professional, which was impressive, considering the critical look that was just beneath the surface. She was quiet for a moment, then said, “Interesting. Because when Roman and I talked last night, he didn’t seem to think very highly of my channel.”
Probably because it was a channel not meant to be thought of highly. It was just there for the sake of entertainment. He opened his mouth to talk, but Charli must’ve sensed that what he was about to say wouldn’t get them the interview, so she touched his forearm to pause him.
“That was before he spent some time watching your videos. He especially liked your interview with Brooke McClellan.”
By “watching your videos,” Charli meant that she forced him to watch five minutes of that interview.
“It’s one of my personal favorites,” Charli said. “I don’t think I’ve ever laughed and sighed and cheered and cried so much in one fifteen minute period before. I’ve seen interviews with her before, but I never felt like I got to know her the way I did in your interview. That’s actually what led me to your channel initially and got me to subscribe.”
“Thank you,” Bex said. “I’m so glad you connected with it.”
Roman took a deep breath. He was being a jerk with his thoughts, and he needed to stop. This will help LivenUP, he reminded himself. “I would like to do the interview. But the reason I would like to is because we have a new app releasing, and I want to get the word out. That’s my entire purpose.”
“Roman,” Bex said, and his chest lifted a little hearing his name on her lips, “I think we’ve had a bit of a miscommunication. I want you to get the word out. My plan all along was to help you with promoting your app. But that’ll be most effective if people can connect with you.”
“Fine.”
“So you’ll do the four-part interview and let me get personal?”
He looked out across the coffee shop. This was a bad idea. He was used to running this company with his gut, and his gut was telling him to run far away from this woman and from this interview.
But, strangely, it was also telling him to stay. He couldn’t deal with the conflicting messages. He just needed to make a decision. So he gave a curt nod.
Then something caught his eye—a mother and daughter stood in line, looking over at them, the daughter whispering to the mom. She looked like she was probably thirteen, and he did not want to relive the embarrassment of last night when the two girls came over to their table again. Not in front of one of his employees and especially not a second time in front of Bex. Maybe they’d leave it at whispering about him from a distance.
But then the two of them broke away from the line and walked over to their table. But instead of walking toward him, they went straight to Bex.
Bex greeted them with the same big smile she’d given Roger and Marco when she’d first walked in.
“Hi,” the girl said. “You’re Bex Sterling, right?”
“I am.”
The girl’s smile widened. “I’m a Bexlandian. I love your show! It’s my favorite. I watch it like, seriously, the second a new video comes out. And then my friends and I get together to rewatch it. My favorite episode is the one where you’re bringing the happy birthday cake with the candles to your nephew, and their dog attacks your ankles and the cake splats and goes everywhere.”
As the girl and Bex chatted about how hilarious that was and what a mess it made and how many times the girl watched it, Roman seriously questioned his choice. His target audience wasn’t kids who would be content watching fail videos all day long. It was adults who were looking to live their lives more fully. Adults with cash to spend on apps. And he definitely didn’t want himself lumped in with the birthday cake debacle.
He was turning to Charli to suggest they cut their losses while they could when the girl’s mom spoke. “You’re Roman Powell, right?” When he gave a nod, she said, “I read your interview. I like that you admitted to wishing you could stay in bed some mornings and just laugh at funny memes, but that your responsibilities always get you out of bed early.” The woman nodded a few times. “I’m the same way.”
He was never going to interview with Business Success again. And he definitely wasn’t going to with Bex, either.
When the mother and daughter left, he said, “Actually, the four-part personal interview isn’t going to work out after all. Let’s do just one, focusing only on the company and products.”
Those hazel eyes of hers bore into his. Like the golden ring around the edge of her iris had magical powers. Then, after a pause long enough that it made him uncomfortable, she said, “Okay, I have an opening for that in a couple of months.”
“Nothing sooner?” Charli asked. “Our new app releases in two weeks.”
“Listen,” Bex said, “between two weeks from now and six weeks from now, I am being judged for an Eddie Award. I have to put my best work forward during that time, and I’m not about to do the kind of interview that is going to get people to click away to a cat video thirty seconds in. Because that’s what they are going to do if we have an interview like that.”
“Roman,” Charli said, her voice pleading.
But what was he supposed to do? Say yes to something he didn’t believe in? If a regular interview wouldn’t work with her audience, then his first instinct to walk away had been right. He was about to stand up and end the meeting, but Bex folded her arms and gave him a look that somehow kept him from standing up.