The Consultant

The Proposal

The cursor on Dani's computer screen blinked at her, as if it were trying to make her feel guilty for daydreaming rather than working. She was still reeling from the meeting, ecstatic that she had landed such a huge new contract.

Almost landed, she reminded herself.

She still had to get her proposal over to Nathan Younger. Each of the board members had shaken her hand with enthusiasm after the meeting, excitement at refreshing their tired brand and growing their firm evident in their thank yous and goodbyes. Except for Nathan. He had shaken her hand with detached professionalism, but he didn't let go as he told her he was looking forward to her proposal in that same clipped tone. She had spent the entire drive home wondering if she had imagined him keeping her hand an extra moment longer than was strictly professional.

Dani dismissed the thought. Of course it was all professional. He was the CEO, after all. He was probably being cautious with her until he saw her proposal, and her work. She'd seen it before with past clients who thought she was too young to handle their projects. They started out reserved, writing in ways to get out of their contracts, until they saw her work. Then they'd open up and trust her.

None of her recent clients were large enough to keep her on a sustained contract though, and she needed the income. She'd scraped enough money together to pull rent on a tiny loft just north of downtown, but she was tired of worrying about her bills. Living month to month was not in her comfort zone, and she refused to move back in with her parents.

So get it together and write the damn proposal! She had scolded herself all afternoon, but had still found a number of excuses to delay. Bandit was out of food and his litter needed to be changed. The laundry was piling up. There were dishes in the sink. She was exhausted and needed a quick nap to re-energize.

That damn cursor had continued to wink in and out of existence, accusing her of procrastination with each reappearance.

She pulled up the current company website and started a list of all the things she would need to update, marking an approximate number of hours next to each task. When she finished, she tallied up the hours and added a few for "just in case" scenarios, before figuring out the fee for the project.

With a hard number in place, she built out the tasks into a clear proposal with action items, a schedule, and an overall strategy. Satisfied with her proposal, Dani saved the document. She would do a final review after dinner, then fire it off to Nathan Younger with her fingers crossed.

A series of staccato mewls sounded near her feet, announcing Bandit's presence a split second before he rubbed against her ankles.

"Dinner time bud?" She reached down to scratch his ears.

Bandit darted off to the corner of the kitchen where his bowl sat on a low shelf, his meows becoming more insistent. Dani got up from her desk and crossed the three steps to the kitchen, scooping a can of chopped chicken out of the pantry and dumping it into Bandit's dish.

Peace and quiet restored to her apartment, Dani opened the fridge, stomach growling. The shelves were bare, except for a wrinkled bell pepper, a half-empty carton of eggs, a near-finished gallon of milk and a container of leftover pasta. Dani grabbed the pasta and popped it in the microwave.

She ate at her desk, since her apartment was too small for a table, a desk and a bed. She read through her proposal twice more, making minor tweaks to the wording and bumping up her fee after reconsidering the number of hours the project would take. Then she sent it to Nathan.

Dani shut down her computer and got ready for bed. She turned out the lights, but reached for her phone to check her email one last time before bed - a bad habit left over from her time in California. To her surprise, she already had a response from Nathan. Her heart pounded as she opened it.