Page 12 of Gray Hair Don't Care
“They’re moving you again? Do you think that’s a bad thing?”
“I don’t. I talked to my dad about it. He said it’s just part of what corporations do.”
“Your dad’s a retired chemistry teacher. What does he know about it?”
“Actually, he worked for a big company before he transitioned into teaching. He developed patents on all kinds of household products in the seventies.”
Tammera nodded. “Huh. And now he’s helping you with makeup. Talented guy.”
“He just consults now. The scientists in the JTI labs do the heavy lifting.” Lela’s dad, Ben, and her mom, Deb, were incredibly supportive, but they’d also become far more present in her life since the divorce. They were visiting New York three or four times a year now, just so they could make sure she was “okay”. It was incredibly sweet and adorable, but Lela couldn’t ignore the central conclusion her parents had made—even though the divorce had happened three years ago, Lela was still in a vulnerable space. She didn’t feel that way, but she wasn’t about to tell her parents not to come.
“Are you worried about this shift?” Tammera made air quotes for added effect.
“It sounds scarier than it is, which is sort of funny, because I think they call it a shift to make it sound less frightening.” Lela started packing up her rolling makeup case. “But no, I’m not worried. I mean, we’re doing well, but we’re still small potatoes. I don’t have that much say in it.”
“It’s probably all numbers to them.”
“Exactly.”
Tammera raised her hand to her lips to blow a kiss and say goodbye. “I should get into the studio. I’d hug you, but it’ll mess up your hard work.”
“I appreciate that.”
“Good luck today, honey. I believe in you.” Tammera underscored her good wishes with a wink. “Oh, and by the way, you’re looking fabulous today. Especially the hair.” With that, she disappeared down the hall.
Lela hustled to pack up the last of her things, then ran downstairs, and hailed a cab to her apartment. It took about twenty minutes to get changed, fix her makeup and hop into a different taxi to hightail it to the JTI offices in the garment district, which wasn’t far but she was on a tight schedule. As they whizzed through the city, Lela couldn’t help but feel like today was going to be a big day. A good day. There was a flutter of excitement in her chest. JTI had every reason to put Lela B in the best possible situation. If nothing else, at least they were paying attention.
When Lela stepped out of the cab, it was the first time she’d picked up on what a truly beautiful day it was—warm and sunny, like a reminder from Mother Nature that summer would arrive any minute now, even though it was still May. As she strode down the sidewalk, she felt eyes on her. This was a recent phenomenon in her life, happening more and more often in the last year. Before this, if people were staring, she either had toilet paper on her shoe or food on her face.
Now that her gray had fully grown out, people took notice. A lot of people. Lela had never,everbeen “that girl”, the one who turned heads. She’d been to a million parties in her life and had virtually no one take a second look. Things were a little different now. She might have devoted her career to making other women beautiful, but for the first time in her life, she felt that way about herself, and a big part of that was her glorious silver hair. She wasn’t about to let it go to her head, but she was glad that going gray had a silver lining.
Inside the building, she swiped her ID across the security turnstile scanner, then made her way to the elevators. A super handsome, younger man stood next to her, and flashed her a flirtatious smile. “Which floor?” he asked when they stepped on board.
“Twenty-two.”
He pushed the button for her floor, then another for sixteen. They rode together in silence, but there was an undercurrent of sexual tension ping-ponging off the walls. It was awkward as hell. So much so, that she was thankful when the elevator dinged. She had work to do, not sex to think about.
The man stepped out, then looked back at her. “Love the hair, by the way.”
“Thank you.” Lela felt her face flush with heat. She might be done jumping through hoops for men, but she still appreciated tastefully delivered attention.
Up on her floor, Lela’s office was tucked into a corner with a smallish window that mostly had a view of the ugly 70s architecture of the building across the street. She had no staff, just an admin she shared with another of the small JTI brands, and she got marketing and advertising support from various teams within JTI. She benefited from the muscle of a large multinational corporation, but she also felt like a tiny cog in the machine.
She dropped off her things, then headed up two more floors to one of the more modest conference rooms. She lost some of her earlier confidence when she stepped inside and saw the panel of four JTI staffers she’d never met before. Across from them was a lone chair, apparently destined for her.
“Good afternoon, Ms. Bennett,” one woman said as she flipped through a binder. “Please. Take a seat.”
Lela did as she was asked. “Good afternoon, everyone.”
“This will be quick. We just want to get you up to speed on some reorganization we’re doing. We’re hoping we can help your company…” The woman consulted the paperwork before her, drawing her finger down the page. “Lela B, step onto a larger stage.”
Okay, so they didn’t know the name of Lela’s baby. At least they were talking about better prospects. “Yes.”
“One of our subsidiaries, Echo Echo, is interested in working with you, and we think the move makes a lot of sense. They’re primarily a collection of niche fashion brands, but they’re doing a deeper dive on beauty. Apparently, they heard about Lela B and thought it could be a good fit.”
Lela’s heart swelled with pride. She’d heard about Echo Echo. It was a big deal. Unfortunately, she knew almost no details, but this seemed promising. “Can you tell me more? How things will change for me?”
“Well, I believe they want you to move your offices up where they are. They have three floors upstairs. Thirty-nine and up from there. They have their own marketing and advertising departments, so that will be a change for you as well.”
