The Labyrinth Campaign Read Free Page A

a long receiving line of handshakes and hugs from his fellow students, Jack hit the locker room for a shower and a shave before he called his girlfriend, Carrie, to invite her out for a celebration. When he finally left the martial arts studio, he stepped out into the evening air. The wall of heat hit him, reminding him that September is still summer in Dallas, Texas. As Jack drove down Greenville Avenue, his mind wandered from black belt to girlfriend to work and finally back to that warm feeling of accomplishment.
    It was Friday night. Though it was still early, the bars and restaurants along Greenville Avenue were already filling up. This part of Lower Greenville was an interesting section of town. The gingerbread houses of the “M” streets were the location of choice for Dallas’s young professionals. Close to downtown and within walking distance of a number of trendy bars and restaurants, the neighborhood was an ideal location. Jack was now older than the average M-street inhabitant, but he loved his house on Mercedes Street and continued to tell himself there was no reason to move until he got married. His office had always been downtown, and he could get there in less than fifteen minutes. His favorite restaurant was The Grape, and he could get there in less than five. What was not to like?
    As Jack pulled his two-year-old Saab convertible into the driveway, his cell phone rang. “Hi,” cooed Carrie, his new and very sexy girlfriend.
    “Hey,” Jack said. “Come over right now; we have some celebrating to do.”
    “Really? What’s the occasion?”
    “I just got my black belt, and I want to take you out for dinner.” “Oooh, sounds great. I can be there in about an hour. I just need to stop home and change real quick.”
    “Are you still at the office?” Jack asked.
    “Yeah, check your voicemail and you’ll know why. See you in a bit.”
    Jack wandered into his house, thinking about Carrie. She was awesome. Beautiful, smart, fun. If she only liked sports more, she would be perfect! But then again, no one was perfect.
    Jack had four voicemail messages. The first was from Ross: tee time at 8:00 a.m., Saturday morning.
    “Yes!” Jack hadn’t played golf in weeks.
    The next two messages were uneventful, but the final message explained what Carrie was talking about. It was from Allen Hamilton, the CEO of Will, Page, and Clark, the advertising agency where Jack and Carrie worked. WPC had just been notified that they had made it to the final round of the GenSquare new-business pitch, and Allen was calling an 8:00 meeting for Saturday morning. GenSquare, a next-generation software company, was the fastest growing company in Texas, owned by the Hawkins family, the richest and most powerful in the state.
    Jack reacted with mixed emotions. The pitch was the biggest in the agency’s history, but as silly as it sounded, he was really looking forward to playing golf. Anyway, business came first, not to mention the added bonus that William, the eldest son of the Hawkins family, was a powerful Texas senator with presidential aspirations. This would not normally be of much interest to Jack, but the senator and Jack had very similar views on Jack’s two most passionate political topics: drugs and the environment.
    Jack made a quick call to Ross to bail on golf and jumped into the shower. After getting dressed, he was startled by a noise in the kitchen. As he rounded the corner to investigate, he bumped squarely into Carrie. She was dressed impeccably, and the sight of her took his breath away.
    “You look great! And I’m suddenly looking a little underdressed,” he stated as he looked down at his jeans, starched, button-down shirt, and loafers.
    “You look fine,” Carrie replied. “I just got a little carried away, thinking about my black-belt boyfriend.”
    With that, she threw her arms around Jack and gave him a long, passionate kiss. Just as Jack began to respond, she pulled away and said, “Oh, no you