Page 46 of The Hard Launch

He knocks quietly on mine a half-hour later.

“That took too long,” I tell him.

We don’t get enough sleep, but some things are better than sleep. Or they seem like they are, until the morning comes and you want to die.

Jude hits snooze on his internal alarm, and when my actual one goes off it feels like an act of aggression. Jude’s arms are wrapped around me, and he’s sleepily kissing my shoulder and neck. We’re staying warm together inside piles of white sheets, a duvet, and too many pillows; he cranked the air conditioner up last night, maybe a little too far. It was hot in here.

Light filters in at the edge of the closed curtains, revealing a room that looks like most other reasonably nice hotel rooms: desk, bureau, chairs, television. It’s not the hotel my studio is trying to be but right now, today, it feels like the nicest room I’ve ever been in. One I don’t want to leave.

“Do you think they’d notice if we skipped?” I ask.

“They might.”

“Do you have a lot of work left to do on your board decks?”

He yawns and rolls onto his back, and I turn over and rest my head on his chest.

“I’m not kidding, I got so much done yesterday after you left my office.”

“I did, too,” I tell him.

“Interesting,” he says. “Really interesting. Do you want to apply first principles thinking to this?”

“No. I’m too tired for business.”

“Just hear me out. We both assumed that being together would make things complicated. But if we question all of our assumptions…”

I sigh, and finish his sentence. “Then maybe us not being together is what makes it complicated.”

“Yeah,” he says, stroking my hair. “I like it.”

I rest my chin on his chest and smile up at him. “Next on the agenda: will you fit in my suitcase and, if not, how are we smuggling you out of here?”

I’m not saying Jude’s theory is entirely correct, but once I’m sufficiently caffeinated and back with the team, Day 2 is off to a fantastic start. The engineers have a clear but very busy path to the finish line, so I’m able to focus on launch planning and messaging. And as I’ve learned, it’s very important to get buy-in across the organization. Especially executive leadership.

“Me again,” I tell Jude, knocking on his doorframe yet another time. “Do you have a minute to give me feedback on positioning?”

He looks up from his laptop, slightly scandalized.

“Product positioning, for the launch,” I explain, carrying my laptop to his desk. When I’m closer, I add, quietly, “Don’t be such a perv.”

“You’re the one who tried to feel me up when you were in here twenty minutes ago,” he says, looking pleased. “I should report you for sexual harassment.”

“You’ll have to hire an HR person first. And remember, it’s only harassment if they’re senior to you.”

I smile sweetly and worry crosses his face.

“Not funny,” he says.

“I’ll sign a release form or whatever,” I tell him. “It’s not going to be a problem. But I promise I’m here for a legitimate reason this time. Can you pull up the Tooity website?”

I show him how Tooity has, yet again, made their homepage nearly identical to ours. Meaning it would be smart to refresh ours ahead of the launch.

He groans. “I’m not disagreeing,” he says. “I just wonder if we have the time or resources to do a redesign well.”

“Not a redesign. A re-skin. I can check with Ella and see if she has any ideas.”

“Ideas aren’t the problem. Time is the problem,” Jude declares.