Chapter 16 The Next Bestseller
Eden’s POV:
Noah might hate Mondays. It’s weird because I thought he loved working for Clancy’s Comforts. Apparently, not so much on Monday mornings.
I’m supposed to be recording the minutes but that’s a bit difficult when no one is speaking. You could hear a pin drop. Staring at the clock on my laptop, I wait as patiently for their three minutes to be up.
I glance up at Noah. He looks completely relaxed, leaning back in his chair. Everyone else on the other hand look like they’re about to crap themselves.
“Right, who is going to go first?” Noah asks eventually and I breath out a sigh of relief.
But then the silence is back as no one volunteers.
I tap my nails on the table, awkwardly looking everywhere except at the others in the room.
“Surely, someone has something,” Noah says impatiently.
Still nothing. He opens his mouth and I flinch. I recognise that look. He’s going to shout. Fortunately, I’m not the only one who has recognised the expression on his face and Rob speaks up.
“Does the idea have to fit with the current line we’ve been working on?” he asks hesitantly.
Noah considers the question before answering, “not if it’s a good idea.”
Rob nods his head before saying, “we don’t have any pet related products.”
“And?”
“Cat hammocks,” Rob tells him.
Several people laugh but not Noah, he simply rolls up his sleeves before looking to the person next to Rob expectantly.
“Rocking beds,” Lauren says. She’s younger than the others and when everyone bursts out laughing, she blushes beetroot.
Noah shushes them with a single look before flinging a wipe board marker at her and asking her to draw it. She nervously gets to her feet, approaching the board at the far end of the table. Noah looks thoughtful as he watches her draw and I can’t help but wonder if he’s actually considering her idea.
I try to imagine sleeping in a rocking bed but just can’t picture it. I almost giggle though when my mind wanders to the other things you might do in that bed and I can feel my own cheeks heat up. When I glance up to check that no one has noticed, I find Noah staring right at me.
When she’s finished, Noah doesn’t comment. I expect him to give feedback but he doesn’t. He just moves on to the next person, who makes a suggestion for a range of furniture for the inside of a lighthouse. The man is completely straight faced as he says that each piece of furniture would need to be curved.
With a smirk, Noah asks, “how many people do you know who live in lighthouses?”
“Er… None,” the guy replies.
“So, maybe not a bestselling product then,” Noah continues.
“Yeah, maybe not,” he mutters.
“Next!”
“What about a range of tents, sir?” Stacey suggests. “They could be made from echo-friendly materials…”
“You mean like Glamping?” Rob asks.
“Oh, yeah…”
“Hang on,” Noah says. “It’s not a completely daft idea. We could do a line of canvas tents, rather than plastic. Add it to the board, Stacey.”
“Bunk chairs,” the next person suggests.
Noah eyes them suspiciously.
“Are you just pulling ideas from Google?” he questions.
We carry on like that for the better part of an hour and the longer we continue the more outlandish the ideas become. They suggest everything from tables with built in aquariums to animal themed armchairs, a hamburger shaped bed and a cactus sofa.
Even though at least half of the ideas are complete write offs in my opinion, Noah asks them to nominate their favourite ideas, adding them to the two ideas already on the board.
“Right, let’s vote,” he says, clapping his hands together. “Eden can you pass out some scrap paper, please.”
I do as he asks before returning to my seat. He looks at me, scowling slightly.
“You should vote too,” he says. “You’re a part of this team.”
I’m surprised how happy I feel at his words. It shouldn’t affect me as much as it does. I smile brightly at him before scrawling my vote down.
“Everyone, off you go,” he says. “We’ll discuss this again tomorrow.”
There is a murmur of discord. They clearly want to know what the new project will be but he refuses to give in.
“I’m not telling you,” he says, “just in case you actually all voted for the cactus sofa. I need to be able to veto.”
Mumbling, they all begin to get to their feet, ready to leave. They give Noah their piece of scrap paper on the way out as I hit save and close my laptop.
“What did you vote for?” he asks.
Looking up, I’m surprised to find we’re now alone. I’m not sure I want to tell him. Not that I know why I feel nervous at the idea of telling him.
When I don’t answer, he reaches to take my piece of scrap paper. I try to get it before he does but completely fail. He reads it, leaning back in his chair once more with a grin.
“I voted for the rocking bed too,” he says before getting to his feet and leaving the room.
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