“It must lead to some curious decisions,” Molly said.
“Indeed it does. And we have an investment problem, too. Two years ago, we made some studies that convinced us we would be wise to get into what Mr. Hooper calls ‘buttons, bows, and nonsense.’ In other words, style and fashion items for the female market, where we have a volume production, high markup, and the accent on merchandising. And so we’ve picked up Andro Cosmetics, Davisson Products, Kempler Shoes, and Betty Marie Fabrics.”
“You don’t fool around,” Molly said.
Ross Hamilton smiled at her. “We expect to do very well. Mrs. Murdock, what do you suppose will be our problem area, common to the companies I’ve named?”
She frowned. “The sales and advertising, coordinated with design. You’re in a style area. Competition is rough.”
“And what is the biggest special problem within that area?”
Molly shrugged. “Finding the right people. That’s always been our problem at Andro.”
Ross Hamilton smiled at both of them in turn and said, “Don’t be too shocked if I tell you that I do not give a damn about your pretty pink report. It isn’t the sort of problem we’d have you fly here to discuss. And I don’t plague myself with decisions on that level.”
“Then what in the world are you—” John Quinn said.
“We’ve received detailed reports on both of you,” Ross Hamilton said. “You’re young. You have taste, energy, experience. We look for people like you, and there are few of them. Too many bright young people settle comfortably into some cozy little corner of a big corporation and wait for retirement.”
“I’m flattered, Mr. Hamilton,” Molly said, “but when I leave Andro, which will be very soon, I’m certainly not going to come and work for you. I’m going back into the housewife business, full time.”
“I’m not asking you to work for me, Mrs. Murdock. I’m not asking either of you to work for me. I think people with your abilities should be in business for themselves. That’s where the satisfaction is. And the profit.”
“You’ve lost me,” John Quinn said.
“We are in a position to finance a new advertising agency, to handle the accounts of the companies we are buying. I suggest we call it Quinn-Murdock. We can turn over the Kempler and Betty Marie accounts as soon as you two can lease space and assemble a staff. We can turn over Andro and Davisson a little later, and we can guarantee two more sizable accounts before the end of the year. We’ll lend you the initial working capital. I’ll come in personally for a one-third interest, but quietly. I won’t share in any draw. You can take out what you want, to start with — twenty-five, thirty-five, fifty. If you two could give it, say, ten years of top effort, I think you’d be in a position to unload and walk away with a substantial capital gain.”
Molly had the feeling she was only half comprehending what he was saying. It was as though she had to struggle to realize she was in Texas, wearing her hundred-and-eighty-dollar suit of Hong Kong silk in a shade of green that made her eyes look a gray-blue, listening to a strange, bland man tell her she had won some game she had not known she was playing. “Where is your advantage?” she asked in a small voice. “A kick-back on billing? Preferential rates? I don’t understand.” She glanced at John Quinn and saw that his natural pallor had turned to an astonishing chalkiness.
Ross Hamilton chuckled. “We’re not sharpshooters, Mrs. Murdock. Not on that level, at least. You are pleasantly modest. We get young effort. We get sparkle, enthusiasm, intensity, and — as Mr. Hale suggested to me — we get a quality of imagination that would lead to effective coordinated promotions of the products in which we are interested. It would be, in a sense, a captive agency, yes. But with the sort of people you are, wouldn’t that make your work more effective?”
“It would be a lot of billing,” Quinn said dreamily.
“Enough to give you an agency gross of thirty million when the package is complete, at current advertising-budget levels.”
Molly smiled wanly. “And the rabbit told Alice she would have to hurry or she would miss the tea party.”
“It’s all quite real,” Ross Hamilton said. In an unexpectedly gentle voice, he added, “Every decision I make changes somebody’s life. By now, I should be used to it. But I never am.”
Molly awoke from her daze and looked at Hamilton shrewdly. “You wouldn’t be in for a third because you need the money. So?”
“Mrs. Murdock, you would be completely at home in the business life of Texas, I assure you. Certain stipulations would be written into the partnership agreement. One of them would be that no new account could be taken on without the permission of all three partners.”
“And?”
“Accounting and auditing procedures must be approved by all three partners, and no contract over X dollars can be entered into without the approval of all three partners. Other than that, I give you my word, there will be no thumb on your neck.”
“Suppose we goof?” Quinn asked.
“You would lose your clients and be unable to solicit others.”
“A lot of people would be very anxious to see us goof it,” Quinn said.
“Does that alarm you?”
“Here’s what alarms me,” Quinn said. “I’m twenty-eight. I’ve been moving very well, I think, trying for the double-play ball whenever it has come my way. I moved from Yale to CBS to Young and Rubicam to Darmond, Birch, and Hollis, with careful timing, aiming at a partnership at thirty-five, and the money machine at forty-five, and a retirement to the academics of the profession by fifty-five, and when you reached out with the hook, it was the first time, believe me, when the footing has been unsound. Suddenly you have thrown the target years in my lap. This is thirty-five and forty-five combined. Let alone, I could win the ball game, in extra innings maybe. But when you are mentally set to bunt, what do you do with the fat pitch?”
“It depends on the inning, doesn’t it?” Hamilton asked, looking at his watch. “I’m going to have to apologize. I’d planned to have you out to the place for dinner, but I have to run over to Austin. I’ve set you up for three tomorrow afternoon, right here. That will give you time to think this over. Suppose you use some of the time working up a plan of the sort of organization you’ll want — size, departmentalization, floor space, and so on. You can work here or at the hotel. Phone Miss Babcock for any secretarial help you need.”
“It we decide to do it,” Molly said.
Hamilton’s heavy eyebrows moved upward slightly. “If you decide to do it, yes. Of course.”
John Quinn said hesitantly, “The whole deal is predicated on — both of us coming in?”
“Yes. You balance and complement each other. The last Andro promotion is perfect proof of that.”
“How about our plan?” Molly asked. “This pink project we slaved over?”
Hamilton stood up. “Quinn-Murdock can recommend it to the client, and Andro management can accept or reject.” He shook hands with Molly and Quinn and said, “Talking to you has convinced me we’ve come up with a good idea. See you both tomorrow.” He walked out quickly.
Quinn picked up the copies of the special report. “What’ll we do with these, woman?”
“I don’t think anybody really cares, somehow. They look indecent in this room. Bring them along, Johnny.”
They rode down in the special penthouse elevator. It was a little after five, and the office buildings were emptying. The windless heat of July made the air at street level tangible and enervating.
“Taxi, lady?” John Quinn said.
“Let’s sort of stroll, h’m? We’ll give them fits. They have to keep erecting all the buildings in front of us and tearing them down as soon as we get out of sight. And they have to pay all these people to act as if they lived in a place called Houston and were completely unaware of us.”