Page 34 of The Duchess Effect
In Mela-Skin, Dani had finally found a way to seize authority over her life. She’d started and nurtured it the way she’d wanted to. She’d brought on staff and an executive team who understood and carried outhervision. And early on in all her negotiations, Dani had been clear that she was looking for a partner who would respect Mela-Skin’s products, customers, and branding.
She thought she’d found it in Genesis. But they wanted her to jump through so many damn hoops she felt like a fucking circus poodle.
It was time for her to go. She needed to get the fuck out of Dodge before she said or did something that could permanently harm Mela-Skin. Thankfully, she trusted Andrea to manage the rest of the meeting on the company’s behalf.
“If you’ll excuse me...”
She didn’t wait for their response. Ignoring Greg’s cold stare and the shocked faces around the table, Dani stood, draped her blazer over her arm, and strode from the room, head held high.
What were you just saying about things not going left?
Chapter Seven
Me: Coming out of Tory Burch @HudsonYards, happy & minding my business after purchasing my monogram ladybug sneakers
Life: Duchess getting on the elevator
#fyp #lifemade #bowdown #skyhigh #duchess
@camdampsey, TikTok
On the rooftop terrace of the hotel’s penthouse suite with the black-and-white-striped umbrella providing maximum shade from the midsummer sun, Dani popped the last piece of crust in her mouth and reached for the glass of water on the table in front of her. She took a long sip, leaned back in the chair, and said, “What the fuck are we going to do?”
Tasha looked up from scrolling on her phone. “She speaks! I was wondering if you were ever going to talk.”
Two hours had passed since Dani had stormed out of the meeting at Genesis, directed her driver to take her to the nearest place where she could get good NY-style pizza, and headed back to her hotel.
“It was a lot! Trust me, I needed some time and space. And food! I wanted to make sure I was doing the right thing and not feeling some type of way because I was hangry.”
“It definitely wasn’t what we expected,” Andrea added from the seat across from her, tapping her nails on the table’s glass top. She’d gotten back to the hotel half an hour before.
“How did you leave things?” Dani asked.
“I told them we were disappointed that they chose to spring this on us at the meeting instead of giving us a heads-up and that since they’d done so, we’d need some time to consider this new requirement.”
Dani was still outraged at their treatment. That man had sat there with a straight face and said that Jay should be included in the marketing for Mela-Skin.
The caucasity of it all!
“I did everything they asked of me,” Dani said. “The press I generated knocked the scandal with Banks off the front pages.”
“Can they do that?” Tasha asked. “Just change the contract?”
“There is no contract,” Andrea said. “We hadn’t gotten that far. The stipulation regarding Dani’s reputation was a precondition before we even got to the contract.”
“Which I fulfilled,” Dani reiterated, to make sure the universe heard and understood.
“You did,” Andrea agreed.
Thank you, universe.
“It’s also why they weren’t obligated to disclose their own deal with Parcellum.”
Tasha frowned. “Isn’t Parcellum a residential real estate company? I’ve seen their ‘For Sale’ signs on lawns.”
Andrea smiled slightly. “Parcellum is a multinational conglomerate based here in the U.S. They have their fingers in everything including energy, manufacturing, media, retail, and real estate.”
“I have a finger for them,” Dani muttered, pulling a pepperoni from a slice in the box.