“Don’t get up,” she said to the Chinese executives gathered around the table when she walked into the conference room. “Wǒ shì Janey Sweet. Suǒyǐ, hěn gāoxìng jiàn dào nǐ. Wǒ shì CEO.” She introduced herself as the company’s CEO in passable Mandarin. Those language apps and long walks down the High Line had really paid off.
Beau had yet to make an appearance. This meeting wasn’t supposed to start for another five minutes, and of course he’d be another five late. Janey made small talk in English, mentioned how much she loved visiting China, asked after the men’s plans for the company. They were nice enough, but these were businessmen who could care less about good design or quality craftsmanship. Hugh had filled her in on their backstory. He’d once negotiated a deal with them for All-American Juice, one of the first companies to bottle cold-pressed juice out of Brooklyn. It was now produced in Bangalore but still bore the “All-American” brand. This was the same company that now owned two famous Kentucky-born whiskey brands, a majority stake in the largest beer company in the world, almost every popular denim brand, and several American cosmetics companies. The situation was just as she’d suspected. They planned to mass market B dresses all over the world, a strategy Beau had always rejected in the past in favor of small production, hand craftsmanship, and high quality. But Janey knew Beau had been dazzled by their offer, by the money, by the fact that he thought he could pull this off behind her back. The sale price was even higher than Ronald Applebaum had been told, making it clear once again that Beau had intended to shortchange her on this deal.
She should have asked Anna to take a picture of the moment Beau realized Janey was sitting in the conference room. Through the glass she saw him mouth “What the fuck?” to Natasha, B’s lawyer. Janey could see the older woman trying to calm Beau down by rubbing his shoulders before he walked into the room. On his other side was a newer and younger version of the tall and beautiful Alizza. Was Beau manufacturing muses in a lab these days?
“This is our designer, Beau Matthews,” Janey said, knowing that in the mind of these executives the title of designer was much less important than her title of CEO.
“Tā shì yīgè xiǎo nánrén!” one of the men said, eliciting a burst of laughter from the others. Janey thought hard on the words and then laughed along with them. He had said that Beau was much smaller than he expected. She replied in Mandarin that he was quite petite, which encouraged more chuckles.
She opened the cardboard box she had picked up on her way to the office.
“I know you gentlemen have traveled a long way. I would like to offer you a delicious new American delicacy. This is the bruffin, a delicious combination of brioche and muffin, created right here in SoHo.” Their guests eagerly grabbed at the pastries.
Janey took control of the meeting before Beau could get in a word. She told the men from Xi Fong that she expected to spin the news of their acquisition to the press in a way that would be beneficial to every employee of B. She expected her employees to be well compensated and was happy to forfeit her own earnings to make sure they were all given large payouts from the sale. She was sick of CEOs who sold out their companies and left their staffs to flounder. Her people had helped her build this thing and they deserved to be compensated. Besides, she didn’t need the money. Beau sat there frozen, his eyes the size of saucers. When she finally allowed him to get a word in edgewise, his voice was small.
“And you’ll be staying on with the company, Janey,” he said. It wasn’t a question. “As CEO.”
She looked over at the men the way a parent would look over the head of a child.
“That’s not necessary. These gentlemen know exactly what they are going to do with B. None of you need me involved. I’m proud of everything we accomplished, but this is not my baby anymore.”
She stood and smoothed her dress over her hips. For the first time since she’d arrived in the office she stared straight at Beau. His beady little eyes were filled with rage, a twinge of fear, and something new. Maybe it was respect? She didn’t know. This would be the only closure the two of them would have. Beau would be a very rich man after this sale, but he’d never achieve the same level of fame that he had with B. It would be a long time before their paths even crossed again, and when they did Janey would be with Hugh, finishing up a half marathon with him and his two daughters in Central Park. She’d see Beau as they walked hand in hand to the West Side. Beau would avert his gaze and Janey would smile in remembrance of their shared history.
A sense of ease settled over her as she thanked everyone in that conference room and reached across the table to snatch the last bruffin. Janey nodded to the Xi Fong team and promised to be in touch soon with her strategy for dealing with the press.
She walked toward the doors and bit into the pastry, smiled, and air kissed Beau’s cheek, her mouth filled with the delicious sweetness.