Present
As the elevator doors parted, everyone standing throughout the desks out in the center of the office area began clapping. Mr. Sekham exited the elevator, turned and held a hand to the door, keeping it open, extending the other toward the office. Out walked Sven van Geurgen accompanied by four other high level executives of Clam Oil. He feigned surprise at the applause and smiled, waving around to the ladies of the office before allowing himself to be escorted toward the conference room.
Ayla walked over to the group and bowed. She wore a tight black dress that had a series of vines running from the hem, which started above her thigh, and ran up around the back before becoming a red flower on the girl's abdomen. The dress showed off just about everything that Ayla had to offer. A few of the men bowed in return awkwardly but Sven just looked at her with twinkling eyes. They followed Ayla out of the bullpen and through the conference room doors.
Tabitha stood at the front of the long desk that filled the room. Off to both sides were three easels with an ad copy on each though all of the examples were covered. Samantha stood a few feet down from her toward the middle of the table, but she immediately moved toward the door as the client group entered.
"Of course, you gentlemen are really here for Samantha." Mr. Sekham indicated toward the CEO and the men all nodded to her and shook hands one at a time. "Well, these ladies have a great pitch for you. I'm excited at the prospect of partnering for your next ad campaign. With that I take my leave, though, I shall see you gentlemen later this evening for dinner."
After some goodbyes, the room was left to the now sitting group from Clam Oil, with Mr. Geurgen at the head of the table staring down at Tabitha. Even though Tabitha had been in the room for similar large clientele in other firms, she'd never been the sole focus, and she had to make a concerted effort to push down the nerves that were firing off in her brain. After a few moments of pause, they began their production.
"As one of the oldest oil and gas companies on the planet, we took a lot of consideration into how best to monetize the history of the Clam brand. For over one hundred years you have been at the forefront of civilization. What else has survived as you have?" Tabitha's voice was confident, calm. As soon as she opened her mouth, the doubt and anxiety were gone. Instead the incredibly rehearsed speech was filled with passion and intrigue.
She walked over to her left, standing next to the first easel. Removing the plain white stock paper that was covering the artwork, the first ad example was revealed. A large pyramid was in the background surrounded by sand. Down the middle of the photo though was a thin black bar. On the left side of the picture, the pyramid was a bright yellow, and on the left the yellow was dulled and much more muted. In the foreground of the ad the front view of a vehicle pointed straight out of the picture, headlights and windshield face on.
The black bar down the middle split the car in two. On the left, the car seemed to be an old 1930 Ford Model A with a round headlight, canvas canopy suspended over the half windshield and a spare tire mounted to the side of the engine housing. The metal of the car shone off a dull metallic blue in color. Standing just off to the side of the car on this side of the picture was a beautiful woman with tan pants, leather boots that went nearly up to her knees, a matching tan jacket over a loose white blouse and wearing a leather pilot's cap with goggles on top. The penultimate Egyptian adventurer of yesteryear.
The right side of the car looked to be a similar blue color but a much better paint job. The body of the car looking like a modern Land Rover that lined up in height to the Model A on the opposite side. Off to the side of the modern half of the vehicle was a beautiful woman in a white sundress that was cinched at the waist with a large belt. She was wearing sandals and a large sunhat and dark sunglasses.
"Your history is the world's history. Your legacy is our adventure." Tabitha walked to the second easel and pulled the front off this one as well revealing a similar split picture of old car and style woman on the left, new car and style woman on the right. The background of this one though was the Eiffel Tower and city of Paris.
"Wherever we went in this world, you not only came with us, you enabled us to arrive." Revealing a third ad with the background of the Empire State Building. As she gave her speech three more cards were unveiled: Taj Mahal, Sydney Opera House, Mt. Fuji. Tabitha shifted their attention to the screen on the wall and started showcasing the different design elements and slogans. There were a dozen renditions from, "Adventure by Clam" to "Fueled by History."
A half hour later and with some questions and feedback, Samantha was shaking hands with a smile. They had made it through a major hurdle and were well on the way to a happy new client. Tabitha moved to the group and stood just behind and beside Samantha as the executives continued glad-handing. Sven glanced over at Tabitha and thanked her, his eyes lingering and smiling with an expression that two months ago would have made Tabitha cover even her clothed body with her arms.
"You know," Sven finally looked away from Tabitha to Samantha, "at my company's founding, we were the pioneers of the full service stop and pump. We took care of all our customers' needs. Filled up the tank, cleaned the windows, topped off fluids and filled the tires with air. It's a shame really we've gotten away from our roots. I understand..." again, Sven glanced past Samantha at Tabitha, "your company might have it's roots in full service as well?"
Full service. Full service? She was a good girl. She would service the firm's needs. She wanted to make the executives happy. Tabitha heard Samantha's bright voice responding, but the words seemed to be muddled and coming from down a long tunnel before being incredibly muted. It wouldn't have mattered if she had been louder though as a high pitched ringing started pressing down on Tabitha. A sharp pain building in her head, stabbing her brain.
There was no helping or ignoring the pain this time, it was sharper than it had been at any point before. Tabitha pressed her hands to the sides of her head and groaned as took a few steps back from the group. Her legs gave out though as she tried to support herself and instead dropped to her knees on the floor. The voices around her called her name and she felt hands touching her arms to keep her steady and from fully toppling to the ground. After a moment the pain ceased but the exertion of fighting it left her brow beaded with sweat and her body exhausted.
"Tabby!" Samantha's beautiful voice finally broke through and flooded some comfort into her mind. She groggily looked up into that marvelous face and tried to smile.
"Sorry. I'm alright. Just a dizzy spell. I apologize." Two of the visiting executives were helping her get back to her feet and feel steady. She motioned a thank you and allowed herself to stand without aid. Samantha's face was filled with concern.
"Honey," Samantha indicated with a finger to the bottom of her own nose. Tabitha took the hint and reached a hand up and touched. She felt fluid and pulled her hand away. Blood was clearly dripping from her nose, though it didn't seem or feel heavily, it was clearly there.
As if on cue, there was a knock at the door and Scott entered. He knew exactly how long the pitch was supposed to have taken so that the doors hadn't opened yet indicated good or bad. He had risked good and poked his head in. Seeing the huddle around Tabitha and the nosebleed he stepped into the conference room completely.
