Special Excerpt
When a divorced working mom dips a toe in the dating pool, she ends up swimming with the sharks...
From The Shark and I:
Our huge meeting room was impressive by any standard. It seated fifty in a bowl-like auditorium, and glass windows marked one entire side, with a stunning view of sparkling Lake Michigan. Jessica, our company president, stood, clearing her throat, her signature pearl necklace catching the light. Jessica’s make-up was always perfect. Her dark bob with the hint of a gray wave down the front, perfectly styled. When I turned fifty, I wanted to look like her: put together, stylish, age-less. She took to the podium at the front of the room like a champ, a big PowerPoint presentation screen behind her.
“Welcome, everyone. Now, first, let me introduce the members of McCormick who will be helping us transition.”
The transition leader of McCormick would have a tough road ahead of him or her, no doubt. How would he break the news that half or more of McCormick’s executive staff would probably need to be let go? It was just simple math: two companies merged into one, so we didn’t need two presidents, two CFOs, two heads of human resources, or two public relations directors, for that matter.
I watched Jessica, confident that my position at least would be saved. If someone had to go, it would no doubt be my McCormick’s counterpart. Wouldn’t it?
“First of all, I’d like to introduce the person who will be heading up their transition team, McCormick’s acting president, Peter Bennett.”
I glanced over, and for the first time noticed the man wearing a crisp dark gray suit and blue tie. He was tall with linebacker-sized shoulders. As he turned to face us, I realized I knew him.
He was Hazel Eyes Peter, the man I’d just matched with on my Spark dating app. And when he glanced at me, I saw the flicker of the recognition cross his face, and a slow smile cross his lips. He seemed to know me, too.
I matched with the president of our largest competitor? The man heading up the transition team, the one that would decide all the layoffs? THAT Peter?
And I’d just essentially passed him a note through Spark that said I thought he was cute.
This was not good. This was not good at all.
“I’ll try to make this painless,” he said, not missing a beat. He met my eyes in a way that I didn’t think was at all accidental. “I’m looking forward to getting to know each and every one of you.”