The Job by Douglas Kennedy Read Free Book Online Page B

than an application’s own de-installer. And faster than…”
    “So, you really have read our advertising copy.”
    “Part of my job. And it’s also my job to get you to advertise with CompuWorld.”
    “But PC Globe is the main player in the market-and we already have a relationship with them.”
    “You know, Lizzie, the problem with main players is that they always believe they’re the only game in town-that they don’t owe the customer a little respect….”
    “Just respect?”
    “And, of course, a discount.”
    “What kind of a discount?”
    “Put it this way, our rack rate for a full-pager, middle of the book, is thirty-five. But with a new customer like MicroManage, we’d be in a position to give it away at-” “Thirty,” she said.
    “Wish I could, but I can’t shave twelve percent off the-”
    “That’s still a ten percent shave. Thirty-two-five, on the other hand-” “Sold.”
    “What?” I asked, taken aback.
    “Sold,” she said.
    “What’s, uh, ‘sold’?” I sputtered.
    “The MicroManage ad. A full-pager. Your July issue, if that’s possible….”
    “I’ll personally ensure that it runs then.”
    “Good. Just one thing: Though we’re not after a premium position, if you bury us near Classified, we don’t talk again.”
    “That won’t happen.”
    “Glad to hear it.”
    “Because, uh… well, it would be nice to talk again.”
    “Would it really?” she said, avoiding my gaze and straightening brochures.
    “Yes. It would. If, uh, you were interested …”
    “Maybe,” she said, handing me her card before returning to the business of tidying up the stand.
    “Mosman and Keating Public Relations,” I said, studying the company name on the card.
    “What’s your relationship with MicroManage?”
    “I’m their PR representative.”
    “But who handles their advertising?”
    “Bruce Halpern at Ogilvy and Mather. But he usually authorizes any advertising recommendation I give him. Of course, if you want to speak with him directly …”
    “No, no, I wasn’t suggesting-” “I mean, if you’re worried about dealing with a lowly press rep…”
    “I’ve offended you, haven’t I?”
    She shrugged her shoulders.
    “I’ll live.”
    “I’m sorry.”
    “Apology accepted. You’re kind of new at this game, aren’t you?”
    “Is it that obvious?” I said.
    “Rule Number One: Never overplay your hand. Especially when the other nartv has sienaled that they’ve boueht your spiel.”
    “So you will talk to me again?”
    A slight arching of her eyebrows.
    “Maybe.”
    During the next week, I called her three times at her office. She was always “in a meeting.” The fourth time around, she deigned to answer.
    “You’re kind of persistent, aren’t you?” she said after taking the call.
    “And you’re very good at playing hard to get.”
    “Oh, I get it. If a woman doesn’t call you right back, it must be some sort of flirty game she’s playing. It has nothing to do with the fact that she might just have a high-pressure job.”
    “So I suppose dinner tomorrow is out of the question?”
    “I guess I could spend an evening listening to your sales pitch.”
    Now that’s what I call attitude-of the sort that most guys would find a little too hot to handle. But I was charmed by Lizzie’s self-assurance. Behind the flirtatious bravado, I sensed that she was a fellow urban hopeful-someone who was also trying to gain a foothold in the big bad city.
    “You close. I influence.”
    I remember the moment when she said that line and stroked my hand with her index finger. It was during that first dinner together. It was late, the plates had been cleared away, we’d polished off a martini each and a bottle of zinfandel, and had just asked the waiter for two more glasses of wine to keep the alcohol flowing. Maybe it was excess intake of booze, or maybe it was the soft lighting that made her seem even more radiant than when we first met. Or maybe it was the fact that,