Hot Potato

42. Marcy

"What?" Marcy near-shouted into the phone as Dunc stood beside me, his whole upper body shaking while he tried to suppress his chuckling.

"Needed to catch your attention, Marce. Cynthia told me you're looking."

"Cynthia?"

"Rothingham. PR Cynthia. From what she had told me, this is the perfect position for you."

"Perfect? Hah! Why would she think I'd want to join a struggling chain?"

"Not struggling. I'm well-funded, and I have Cynthia doing the full monty – PR, website, social media, everything. We'll be flying high in two weeks. I want you in from the beginning, Marce."

She snorted into the phone. "Sorry! But your confidence stunned me. Are you high on something?"

"High from pulling together such a fine team – from seeing all the pieces slide into place."

"Too many missing pieces for me, Gigi. Better I remain here, overworked and underpaid."

"Call Cynthia and have her tell you about us. Oh, and the salary starts at $125,000."

"What? You really are high on something."

"Call Cynthia. Then give notice, take your backlog of vacation and come join us."

She remained silent, so I continued, "I'm completely serious, Marce. This is the perfect position for you. And I want you in it. Call Cynthia."

"Hmmm, okay. When I get a minute."

"Now, Marce. I need someone now, and I don't want to have to work my way down Cynthia's list."

"You have her list?"

"That's how I discovered you're dissatisfied and looking. Call her."

"Okay, okay, okay. I will."

"Great! Then call me back immediately, so I don't have to start down her list."

When we had clicked off, Dunc said, "Wow! So powerful. There's no way she could misinterpret your offer, and waving $125,000 in her face was a great touch."

"When she mentioned overworked and underpaid, it seemed natural to drop it in."

"But leaving Cynthia to convince her – was that wise?"

"Cynthia had been doing Plimpton's PR all the way through its growth, and she's confident we'll be able to grab onto the residual momentum from August. Part of Hot Potato's story is that we're continuing the vision Arnie and Freddy had. Oh, and I need you to check the wording in the purchase contract – see if there's any proscription from our stating we're the former Plimpton's."

"There's none. While you were talking with Kira, I did a keyword search through ColeCorp's acquisition contract. Nothing, not even changing the name; that was a separate agreement. I made no reference to that in our contract, in case you wanted to use the name for marketing."

"Great! I should have guessed you'd do that. But the mentions of the name need to be handled delicately. Cynthia said that most will be sympathetic and enthusiastic, but some might think we're usurpers and opportunists."

"But, she's confident about your success?"

"Our success, Dunc. You're a huge part of this."

"Another sign you love me, Gigi."

"Ummm, yeah. I tingled as I said it. But yes, so confident that she said she'll charge no fee if it doesn't work."

"Wow! And she'll convey this confidence to Marcy."