Chapter 193 Do Us Proud
Samuel turned to Evelyn with a grin, "Meet the boss of this gig, Evelyn Taylor."
Evelyn was totally caught off guard.
Wait, what? What was she supposed to be doing? She didn't know squat about this project.
"Ms. Taylor, nice to meet you!" Lucas beamed, "Your name rings a bell."
"Wasn't there a recent perfume tasting contest? I heard the top spot went to a Vistalia perfume designer named Evelyn Taylor. That you?" Lucas asked.
Evelyn was shocked the news traveled so fast, even to Lucas, who was knee-deep in the Marseille soap biz, not fragrances. Guess she was getting some street cred.
"Yeah, that's me," Evelyn nodded.
Lucas's eyes lit up. "Really?! I'm honored! Mr. Whitman, I gotta say, when you talked about mixing perfume with Marseille soap, I was iffy. But with Ms. Taylor on it, I'm sold! Ms. Taylor, it's all yours!"
Evelyn felt a bit lost.
"I've never done this before, so I'll just give it my best shot." She had just heard about it and had no clue how to pull it off. She shot Samuel a look that said, "Seriously?"
"Ms. Taylor, you're too humble! Winning that contest really made Vistalia stand out! In this industry, especially with luxury cosmetics and perfumes, Vistalians face a lot of criticism. People here think Vistalians can't keep up, but you've shown them otherwise!" Lucas praised.
His praise felt genuine, not just because of Samuel, which surprised Evelyn and gave her a warm sense of pride.
Bringing honor to Vistalia and showing what Vistalians could do was exactly what Evelyn wanted. But she knew this was just the start, and there was a long road ahead.
After a quick chat, Lucas left with some fancy Marseille soap gifts.
As they left the store, Samuel tried to hold Evelyn's hand, but she dodged it smoothly.
"Are you mad?" Samuel quickly picked up on her vibe. "Is it 'cause I didn't give you a heads-up?"
"So you knew." Evelyn shot him a look. "You said we were going out for fun, but it was a business thing. If you wanna talk shop, fine, but why drag me into it? I had no clue!"
Earlier, in front of Lucas, Evelyn couldn't call Samuel out, but now that they were out, she let it rip.
Seeing her a bit ticked off, Samuel chuckled. "Yeah, we're talking business, but I did wanna take you out too! Look, we got gifts!"
He waved the gift bag in his hand.
"I don't want it!" Evelyn huffed, walking ahead.
She liked Marseille soap, but treating a business meeting as a gift was just lame.
"Looks like this gift ain't cutting it for you, but no worries. I got more up my sleeve." Samuel caught up with Evelyn in a few strides, blocking her path.
With him in her way, she had no choice but to stop and face him. "Is this another business pitch wrapped up as a gift?"
Business folks never missed a beat when it came to making a buck. Even when they were supposed to be chilling, they were always hustling.
"Not this time!" Evelyn stared at Samuel for a moment, then held out her hand. "Alright, where's my gift?"
Samuel quickly handed over the gift bag. "Didn't you just say you didn't want it?"
"I changed my mind!" She peeked inside the bag and caught a whiff of plant oil, different from the usual perfumed soaps. The scents were pretty much the same, just varying in strength.
If Evelyn hadn't figured out Samuel's game plan before, she sure did now after piecing together his and Lucas's words.
"You want me to mix fragrance oils with Marseille soap so it smells different and attracts more folks, right? Expand the market?" Marseille soap was unique 'cause it only used plant oils, mostly olive oil. That made it super moisturizing, but the plant smell was always front and center, with little variety.
Just like Lucas said, the Parker family's company shaped Marseille soap in all sorts of ways, which was easy to copy. Even though there were differences in craftsmanship, not many people cared about the nitty-gritty, and the market was bound to get split up.
In the biz world, you gotta keep pushing forward, or you'll get left behind. A tiny slip or hesitation could mean getting overtaken or even wiped out. The market wasn't fully tapped yet, but the Parker family's company was already grabbing the chance, which was pretty impressive.
"You're sharp as a tack!" Samuel openly admired Evelyn. "That's why I'm totally cool with you leading this project."
"Why are you so sure I'll nail it? Marseille soap has a long history. How can you be certain no one has attempted this before? If there haven't been any successful attempts, maybe it's because they all failed. Are you sure I can pull it off?" Evelyn was intrigued by the challenge but knew it was serious business.
Evelyn's curiosity was more about the challenge than the outcome, but in business, there was a lot more at stake.
"I believe in you," Samuel said with confidence. "I'll back you all the way, and most importantly, I trust your skills!"
With Samuel's faith in her, Evelyn couldn't back down.
"I can't promise it'll work." After thinking it over, Evelyn said.
"No biggie. If you don't try, how will you know how many ways there are to fail?" Samuel replied casually.
Evelyn was speechless.
Well, if Samuel was so chill about it, Evelyn wasn't scared either. After all, there were plenty of ways to fail, so why not see how many there were?
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