Untitled Novel - Chapter Eight

Navette began the awkward, but gratifying, explanation of how she and Sammy knew of Marcus’s new position within Sloan Advertising. It was difficult for her to find a place to begin.

“It all began, well not that your bravery had anything to do with it, when Dad came to see you in the hospital. Let me start all over. “DIAMOND WORLD” is partnering with Sloan Advertising. This has been in the works for several months. Dad felt it was so courageous of you to put your life on the line for that innocent girl; well he just wanted to do something for you. He convinced Mom to make part of the contractual agreements between “DIAMOND WORLD” and Sloan Advertising that you become the representative to “DIAMOND WORLD” for Sloan. I suppose Sloan felt our relationship would benefit the outcome of this partnership. Anyway, it means you will be working directly with Mom’s magazine, but still working for Sloan Advertising. Of course Mom negotiated the terms of your salary and everything. But, that’s not all; I am going to be on the team also. I will still be working for Justin Sloan but assigned primarily to the “DIAMOND WORLD” account. I don’t know your job description, precisely.”

Marcus suggested Navette return to the house. He turned around and headed back up the hill, telling her he needed to think and take one more look at the nine letters. Marcus thought this must be a great opportunity for him, but he was a little concerned about the situation in which it came about. He had always envisioned his creative knowledge would get him his executive position and not a favor from a friend, especially a favor that had absolutely nothing to do with his occupational skills. Once Marcus reached the top of the hill, he took another look at the magnificent sign and wondered how actors and actresses would view this situation.

After much back and forth deliberation with himself, he assessed that the actors would probably jump at the opportunity to prove themselves as a worthwhile choice, regardless of how the opportunity came about. But, it was still difficult knowing that his new job would be from a commiserative act by a friend and not from his own efforts. The sign helped him to discover that decisions are just a part of life and his own inhibitions should not be the determining factor for his choices. He should face this as a challenge and prove himself worthy. He remembered a saying from a book he once read: Never enter the arena expecting to lose.

This quiet time to think led Marcus to feel good about his job and his future in advertising, realizing this is the break away from the drudgery of the monotonous calling of his old job. He hurriedly made his way back down the hill, anxious for some of those pancakes that Peter had promised.

“Get down here if you want some of these pancakes,” Peter was calling up to Emerald just as Marcus walked in. “Marcus, you have not had a pancake until you have had my double dipped pecan and cream cheese California cakes. Get in the kitchen before they get cold.” Peter pointed into the kitchen and turned to call to the bedroom one more time. “Emerald, they’re getting cold!”

Marcus walked into the kitchen and Navette and Bright were at the kitchen bar pouring syrup on what looked to be something from the gourmet cooking show. Peter had returned to the kitchen and placed two more of these delicious treats on a plate and placed it in front of Marcus.

“These look too good to eat, but give me some of that syrup.”

Emerald did not come down. You could tell that Peter was a little disappointed that the family could not all be together for this fabulous morning treat. Peter placed two more of these cakes on a plate and took a seat beside Marcus.

“What do you think of these cakes my friend?”

Marcus, with a mouthful, looked over to Peter and murmured something that sounded like: “They’re great.”

“Dad very rarely treats us to these, but we are so happy when he does.”

Navette was so glad to see Marcus in such a good mood: enjoying the breakfast and emotionally in good spirits. After all, she had just revealed a bit of tumultuous news to him.

“Marcus, Navette tells me she revealed our plans with Sloan Advertising. I hope that you are eager to get back to work and make this joint venture work. I feel better about it since I have talked to Navette and I’m sure the team that has been selected at Sloan will do a wonderful job. Navette, have you told him about the team?”

Bright looked to Navette with encouragement to continue the discussion and tell Marcus more about the new team.

But, Peter jumped in. “Let my friend finish these wonderful cakes and then we can talk about business. Bright, do you want to go with me to Dream Island? I want to see if I can find my sunglasses. I think I left them there. It will give you a chance to get in touch with nature.”

“I think you and Navette should go and give Marcus and me a chance to get acquainted and discuss his future. He must have a million questions and so do I.”

Navette wasn’t sure how to respond to this suggestion so she left it up to the others. Before anyone could make an objection, they were interrupted by the clamoring of feet coming down the stairs. Emerald had awoken with an appetite.

“I smell pancakes; I hope you have some left for me. He popped himself on a stool and looked over to Peter. “Well, aren’t you going to cook me a couple of those cakes?”

“Sure son, but it is time you learned this family tradition. Let me show you how to make California cakes.”

Peter took hold of Emerald’s arm and led him over to the griddle to show him the art of making California pancakes, but Emerald was not too interested in learning what he considered a menial task.

Emerald stepped away. “I don’t think this is something I want to do. I’ll just get me a coffee and bagel down at the coffee shop. Mom, want to come along?”

This is more in line of Bright’s daily activity, but she enjoyed the family gatherings also and she relished Peter’s enjoyment of these traditional breakfasts. She disapproved of Emerald’s actions so she quickly berated his suggestion.

“No, I have something to talk to Marcus about.”

Emerald had ignored Marcus and Navette even being in the room. He was not sure himself if he wanted to leave with such a conversation taking place. But, he decided that he would not appear to let this bother him and left with a simple gesture indicating he was off.

Navette decided to go along with her mother’s suggestion that she go with her dad to Dream Island. However, she was curious about what her mom and Marcus would be discussing.

“Dad, I would love to go with you on the condition that we stop by the market and get some healthy food for lunch.”

“That’s a deal. You will be responsible for lunch. Medina will be coming soon and she will clean up. Go put on your sailing clothes, my lovely sailor, and we will bow to the mercy of the wind.”

Navette looked at Marcus to try to decipher his opinion of this arrangement by looking into his eyes. It was obvious that he was undecidedly confused, but not enough to disrupt the plan.

“Don’t worry honey, Marcus and I will be fine. I have something in the office that I want Marcus to see. I want us to get off to a good start so we need to talk business for a while. I want to bring him up to date with “DIAMOND WORLD.” You and Peter have fun and don’t worry about us. We’ll be fine.”

Marcus looked at Navette with a look that revealed conflicting desires. “I am beginning to get enthusiastic about this new position. I think I will let your mom fill me in.”

Navette wasn’t sure this was the best way for Marcus to be introduced to his new position. It would have been more appropriate for Sloan Advertising to break the news especially since she had promised Justin Sloan that she would wait and let him tell Marcus. But, she decided to be loyal to her mom and let her mom have the advantage of revealing her desires first. She could see no harm. She would just tell Marcus to act as if he was hearing it for the first time when Sloan tells him Monday.

Marcus and Mrs. Tolkowsky walked down a hallway to glass double doors leading into a large room. Marcus thought the room looked as if it should have been in a downtown office building. When the door opened and Bright turned on the lights, Marcus could see photographs of diamonds all around the room. One in particular caught his eye. It was the same photo he had seen in the window of Tiffany’s just a few weeks ago. . The photo was of a tall man in his mid-twenties, dressed in ski regalia, on a snow covered mountain, presenting a diamond ring to a girl dressed in a long black formal. The caption of the photo read: Maybe not the perfect place, but it’s the “PERFECT DIAMOND.”

Marcus walked closer to the photo and looked up to it with a sense of curiosity. “Why do you have this photo in your office? I saw this same ad in Tiffany’s window a few weeks ago.”

“Oh, that’s the “PERFECT DIAMOND” ad for Tiffany’s. We ran that ad in our March edition of the magazine. Peter’s company, Tolkowsky Diamonds, is supplying the ideal cut diamonds for this promotion. It is in full presentation now and doing very well.”

“Is there such a thing as a perfect diamond?”

“You need to talk to Peter about that. He will tell you in detail. I can only say that perfect to me is huge and brilliant.”

Bright then brought her hand up to the light for Marcus to see her diamond ring. It was huge and flashes of reflective light made their way across the room.

“Peter sees that the diamonds are as perfect as possible and I make people want them.”

“This is what your magazine is all about huh? Do you have a copy that I can see?”

“Sure, they’re on the table.”

Marcus turned to look and on a glass top table he saw a row of twelve strategically placed magazines, one slightly atop the other. Bold faced letters spelling out DIAMOND WORLD were across the top of each issue. The current issue was in full view on the end of the row. Its cover was illustrated with a striking oversized photo of a diamond. The diamond photo was centered on the cover with the top of the diamond slightly overlaying the “DIAMOND WORLD” heading. The topic titles and subtitles all contrast with the 100% black background. There were rays of light representing the sparkle of the diamond that contained hues of red and blue. The titles and subtitle colors seem to harmonize with these rays. One more look at the combination of the photograph and the content of the cover lines told Marcus that what he saw was art and words, combining to speak to the reader. It was, in Marcus’s opinion, a very striking cover.

“I don’t know what it says inside, but the cover is great.”

“I feel the content inside is as great as the cover. We have a team of writers who keep up with all the latest trends and technology. These writers are some of the most knowledgeable in the industry. We report on all jewelry related events and have special features that interview the movers and shakers in the industry. Our magazine is printed in eight different languages. We sponsor one of the largest international gem and jewelry events in Antwerp, Belgium. There is definitely more inside the cover than photos and fonts.”

“If you have done all of this, why do you need Sloan?”

“It is simply dollars and cents. Our partnership with Sloan will consolidate expenses by using their talent and staff in graphic design and layout. We will continue to supply the news and editorial content.”

This project was almost too much for Marcus to comprehend. It was a much larger challenge than he had anticipated: to move from a research and service call center to such a level of enormous detail and complexity. He was beginning to have doubts as to whether he could do the job.

“Mrs. Tolkowsky, what exactly will be my position? I mean, what do you expect of me? I have not had hands on experience in ad development. I have been in research, if that is what you want to call it. I have been calling purchasers of our customer’s products and doing surveys and the like. I am not sure I can jump in and do what is expected of me.”

After Marcus said this, he almost immediately wanted to retract his statement. After all, this was a great opportunity. And he just told the supplier of his dreams he was not ready. Marcus had all these feelings running thorough his mind. He was very confused. More and more he reflected back to his dreams and decided that he would not let the fear of making a mistake interfere.

“Marcus, I don’t want you to do anything you don’t want to do. You can grow into the position and the position can grow with you. Navette has told us of your abilities, but most of all, you have shown us your heart. If the heart is right, you can gain the experience. My life has been spent cultivating this magazine and I wouldn’t have made this decision if I thought you could not do the job. Anyway, if you are going to be involved with our family, it’s time you learn the businesses that are a part of our lives.”

Marcus was relieved of a great deal of stress with Mrs. Tolkowsky’s words. It changed his perception of his new job: from having to know much, to the opportunity of learning much.

“I didn’t mean to imply that I didn’t want the job. It is just the unknown expectations that seem to be weighting on my mind. I am sure the more I learn about your magazine, the more I will find ways to contribute to its continued success.” Marcus seemed to swell with confidence. He was pleased with the statement he just made.

“I want you to look through those twelve issues and get a feel for what we are doing for the industry and what we are doing for the success of the magazine. It is really important to gain satisfaction from our clients. Both, Sloan Advertising and “DIAMOND WORLD” must work together to give those who purchase advertising in our magazine the results they need. We must unify our products to ultimately serve the same client. I’ll let you know when Peter and Navette return with lunch.”

This gave Marcus a new perspective of a magazine. After all, it was not a magazine that he would pick up at a newsstand. He was not looking for the latest profile on the New York Yankees. He was looking for flow, style, and artistic quality.

Bright walked out of the room and gently closed the door as if she knew Marcus would not want to be disturbed. She knew their conversation had sparked a flame within his passion for life. She left the room confident that Navette and Peter had been right when encouraging her to include Marcus. As she walked back toward the master bedroom, Emerald entered through the front door.

“Did you enjoy your bagel?

“Yes, I did and I ran into an old friend. You remember Todd Robinson, don’t you? He is going to be running the triathlon this afternoon. I think he is crazy. Why would anyone want to put themselves through that torture just to win a stupid trophy? He has lost any brains he ever had. I’m going to run down to the diamond institute to listen to Matt Diamond talk about the new color treatments. Want to come?

“No, I will stay here and enjoy the time with the ones I love, not the ones who despise my opinion of color treated stones. But, you might see Carla; she will be covering that story for the magazine. I know you and she share some common interest.”

“What could we possibly share?”

“You are both workaholics.”

With that said, Bright walked away and Emerald went up the stairs to change into more appropriate clothes for his lecture. Bright started toward to her bedroom to freshen up.