She looked over the work and at first, her face revealed no response. Then she looked up at me with one arched brow and said, "You're not using these, are you?"
"Why wouldn't I?"
For a moment she stared at me in disbelief, and I didn't like the feeling she evoked in me. I was good at my job, so why was she looking at me like I was a fucking idiot?
Feeling the need to defend myself, I said, "This campaign is going to appeal to the European market. It's classic and it's traditional. It's a throwback to the days of Audrey Hepburn and Cary Grant. Think Roman Holiday."
"First Roman Holiday didn't star Cary Grant. Second, Roman Holiday’s romanticism appeals to people in the United States, not in Europe. People in Rome aren't interested in a Roman holiday. They live there. It's just another place to them.”
"Okay, smarty-pants, what would you do?"
Heat flashed in her eyes at me using the word smarty-pants. She clearly didn't like it, but in the end, the joke was on me because seeing that fire in her eyes made me wish I could lay her over my desk and show her all sorts of classic and traditional things that could be done between a man and a woman.
"Strong Incorporated creates a shoe line that is very much Californian. Actually, it's very California beach. That's what you should be selling. And if you wanted to go with some old historical vibe, could go with maybe sixties beach, like the Beach Boys or something. But it definitely needs to evoke a Cali girl vibe."
That didn't sit well with my classic traditional marketing thinking. "You don’t think that a little gauche."
She grinned. "We look at you using French."
I felt my jaw tighten and I worked to keep it loose because I didn't want her to know she was getting on my nerves. "This campaign needs to be ready like yesterday. These are the sketches we have. Are they something you could work with?"
She tossed them back on my desk. "Nope."
I cocked my head wondering if maybe she didn't want this job as much as I didn't want to give it to her.
"I was told that this job would have some creative leeway. This is non creative. Europeans already have access to traditions. Your goal shouldn’t be to fit in with what's already there. Your goal should be to stand out. Europeans who come to America are either going to the wild west because they're infatuated with cowboys or they’re coming out to the California beach hoping to see movie stars. If you want to sell your sandals in Europe, that’s what I would go with."
I don't know why I was so incensed. Maybe it was because she was questioning my knowledge of marketing and advertising. Maybe it was because she had a point.
"I wouldn't expect someone who paints landscapes all day to fully understand what it takes to design a marketing campaign." Yes, I was going into full asshole-mode.
To her credit, she gave me that smirk again as if she was more amused by my outburst than offended.
"Well, at least my landscapes offer something interesting to look at."
"Well, at least mine do what they're supposed to do and make money."
She flinched and the satisfaction I wanted to feel by gaining the upper hand wasn't as good as I hoped it would be. I hated when being an asshole made me feel guilty.
She stood up. "The problem is that you think this is art and it's not. Yes, it's all traditional and everything, but your goal is to inspire people to buy your shoes. This is too boring to inspire anybody to do anything. Most assuredly it won’t make them go buy shoes."
"Clearly you're not a good fit for this position," I said.
She laughed. "That's an understatement. Thank God it's over, right?"
I stood ignoring the shadow of the woody that despite everything was still present. "Right."
"You know, I didn't really even want to apply to this position. So, you don't have to worry that Ryan or Kellie are going to be upset at you for not hiring me."
I frowned. "Why did you apply?"
"Probably for the same reason you interviewed me. Because they hassled me to do it."
I don't know why but I found that funny and I laughed. "Fucking families."
She grinned, and for the first time it seemed we were on common ground.
"Besides, I want to get work on my own merits. I don't need my sister and brother-in-law doing me any favors. And I’m especially not interested in doing anything like that," she said pointing to the sketches of the ad campaign we'd already prepared.