"So, Brooke, they have you here as a senior copywriter. Where did you work before? Have you worked on any good campaigns?" I asked. I needed to get a good idea of what I could expect her to contribute to the effort.

"Nothing. This is my first job. I interned here last year, but that was all remote work over on Terry's team," she admitted. Terry was the other creative director, who actually did their job, so she might be in for a rude awakening here.

I just stared at her in shock. Was I going to be training her as I worked while also doing her brother and Jax's job and then trying to craft a winning ad pitch? I reached into my backpack, pulled out my bottle of Advil, and quickly swallowed a pair of the little tablets. I really hate Mondays.

I took a deep breath. I had to remind myself, this wasn't her fault. I couldn't take this out on her. She seemed like a somewhat decent person, she knew the guys were man whores after all, and I hoped she was here to do a good job instead of coasting. "Brooke, do you want to be in advertising?"

She cocked her head as she looked at me in confusion. "What do you mean by that?"

"I mean, is this what you wanted as a career? Or is this something that your dad wanted you to do? Is this something you're passionate about getting into?" I needed to know if I was going to have a willing pupil or another useless member of the Adkins family.

"I wanted this. When I was younger my dad's old partner, Mr. Holt, showed me some of the behind the scenes stuff when we had a cookout over at their house. I loved it. I got to see how storyboards became commercials, and I liked that they could be like little TV shows. He passed away before Nimbleworth came into the picture, but he was amazing." Brooke's face was lit up with a smile as she explained that story, and I could tell that she would have a chance to make this a good partnership.

"Then you're going to need to learn as much as you can over the next four weeks while we work on this project. The last thing we need is another creative director without a clue," I told her. "I'm glad you're excited about it, so that helps."

She shook her head as she took in what I was saying. "What do you mean by another creative director without a clue?"

"I mean Jax is already useless. If he was doing his job, he'd be working with the teams trying to find a concept for us to go with. But he's probably in the copy room right now fucking one of the office girls instead. He has no clue what he's doing or what he's supposed to do, and he has no motivation to learn. But you look like you want to learn, so I'll teach you what you'll need for when you get the promotion."

"Kris, there is no way I'm getting that promotion. I just graduated from Stanford two weeks ago!" she scoffed. "And please, Jax is a family friend, so keep your personal thoughts to yourself."

I looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "Fine. Let's just say for the sake of argument that I get the promotion, and then I win the lottery and fly to Bora Bora with a team of top heavy college cheerleaders to cater to my every whim. At that point, if I haven't taught you anything then you're screwed." I knew she was going to get the job, but she was too altruistic to think that her dad would do that. She'd learn better quite soon.

She covered her mouth in a giggle. "Bora bora and cheerleaders. Got it. Fine, you teach me everything that I'll need, just in case."

"Okay, so why don't we start at the beginning. Nike already sponsors a ton of people, teams and leagues. So, we have to think way outside the box on this one," I pointed out. "We're going to go fast, so take notes. The next time you're working on a project, you might not have me available to answer questions."

"Didn't their last agency do that with the tortoises?" she asked, not reacting to the last statement. Maybe she thought it was another Bora Bora joke.

"Yeah, but that was poorly thought out and desperate. I bet if we looked, we'd find out they were already in trouble and were trying to do something spectacular that flamed out. We need something that isn't big and has a rabid fan base. Kind of like what mixed martial arts was a few decades ago. We need to find the next big thing. Or something that could be big if it got more press coverage." I had something in mind already, but I needed to research it a bit more before I suggested it, because it was so far outside the box that it made the box almost invisible.

"So, what is the criteria?" she wondered. I was happy because she was already asking good questions and would hopefully keep doing so.

"For the initial brainstorming, go with anything you like. I want to try finding a league over a team or player, but if that doesn't work then we can revisit that. Once we have six or eight ideas, then we'll narrow them down. We can look at things like what exposure they already have, an existing fan base, if they already have sponsors or TV deals, things like that."

She nodded and then booted up her computer. "Okay, got it. Does it have to be in the US?"

"Nope. Anywhere. Nike is a global brand, so we can look all over. Go nuts!" I was about to start writing down a few suggestions when I realized I had no music. "Brooke, do you mind if I put on some music? I tend to have some playing in here while I work. Sometimes it inspires me, and sometimes I just need that motivated."

"Sure thing. I can deal with music. Any particular kind?"

"Everything," I admitted while starting my work playlist. "I'll listen to as much as my brain can handle. Sometimes you hear something, and you can tell it's perfect for a commercial, and you just have to track down the rights to see who owns it."

"So, you only listen for work?" She didn't seem satisfied with my answer.

I shook my head as I continued to do my internet searches. "No, I listen for pleasure too. I listen to almost all genres, but while I'm here it is all about work. If I was at home or relaxing, I'd listen to a different playlist."

She stared at me a bit before nodding, and we let the music play while we worked. It wasn't easy finding leagues or teams that would both be worthy of a sponsorship and that didn't have one from someone else. Several times we came up with ideas, only to find out they already had one. But a few hours later we had a list. It was dicey, but it was a starting point.

"I don't see Nike sponsoring a lot of these," Brooke muttered as she looked over her list.

"Agreed." My list didn't look too inspiring other than my dark horse candidate. "What did you come up with?" I wasn't going to shoot down anything she came up with, because I wanted her to get some confidence as we did the research.

"Okay, so this was harder than I thought. I have cornhole, badminton, field hockey, and mini golf. Some of those already have some TV or streaming deals, but maybe they'd go further." She passed over the list and I looked it over. Some might be interesting to research, though some were as bad as mine. Yeah, I had some stinkers, it happens.

"So, this is what I have." I passed over my list. "Curling, beach volleyball, lacrosse, and the tongue fighting dominance league. I picked a bunch of Olympic sports, but I think most won't have a chance." I secretly knew we'd be likely going with the TDFL, but I wasn't telling her that yet. I wanted to test her first. As nice as she seemed, trust had to be earned, and she was still an Adkins.

She looked over at me with a grin. "The tongue what? Is that a joke?"

"Nope. The tongue fighting dominance league, or TDFL, is what I would consider an out of the box choice. I think it could work. But I want to look them all over before we make a decision.

"You're going to have to show me a video or something, because I can't even imagine what the hell that is," she admitted.

"I will." I quickly made up a worksheet for each of our choices. "But first we're going to get some copies and supplies to work this out. We'll research each sport and see which one could work best for our client."

"But they're not our client yet!" she pointed out.

"If we treat them like they already are, they're going to feel better about it. We want them to get comfortable with us. We'll be talking to their creative people, finding out what their budget is, and see if there is anything that is off limits. There are all kinds of things that could influence not only what league we pick but how we market that league as well. This isn't just making a commercial. We need to see what the league needs, see what Nike can offer them in cash and equipment, see if we can get TV deals if they have backing, and then make both the league and Nike a success. Does that make sense?"

She looked at me, with her jaw dropped a bit. "Yeah. Sorry. When Bryan told me about it on the way to work, he made it sound like a piece of cake. Just making a commercial."

"Of course, he did." I wasn't even a little bit surprised. That was why he and Jax were so bad at pitches. "But if we treat it like we're producing the whole package, we have a better chance of winning. Then Bryan and Jax can take the credit for it, and we'll move on." I'd had that happen too many times to expect anything else to happen.

"Kris, seriously. Can you please stop bad mouthing them?" I didn't even answer, just cocked my eyebrow at her. She sighed, and then nodded. She may know those two outside of work, and I was sure they were assholes there too, but while in the corporate environment they were also a liability. Sooner or later, she'd see them in their true light. Until then, I couldn't trust her with anything they might ruin.

"Come on, let's make some copies and get some supplies, and then we'll get to work.