By the end of the first quarter, online revenue was up forty percent.
Otis didn't say a word of praise.
But at the quarterly meeting, he had the marketing department give a standalone presentation.
I was the one who went up and delivered it. When I finished, he gave a single nod. That was it.
After that, my workload kept growing.
Product line restructuring, supply chain optimization, new brand incubation. I had a hand in all of it.
I didn't mind the work. What I feared was having nothing to do.
In two years, Henson Group's annual revenue went from seven million to thirty million.
By the third year, it hit eighty-five million.
Last year, the CFO told the board that based on current growth and profit margins, Henson Group had met the criteria for an IPO.
After that meeting, I stood alone in the hallway.
Felicity texted me: "Congratulations." I sent back a smiley face.
I thought, Surely things would be different now.
They weren't.
Otis walked out of the conference room, and I greeted him. He grunted and kept walking.
That evening, the whole family gathered for dinner. Everyone talked about the IPO.
Nobody mentioned me.
My seat was always at the far end of the table.