Chapter 1 - Minor Delays
Chapter 2 - Telephone Tag
Chapter 3 - Alex's Plan
Chapter 4 - Unexpected Surprises
Chapter 5 - Presenting the Proposal
Chapter 6 - Setting the Plan in Motion
Chapter 7 - On Your Marks, Get Set...
Chapter 8 - Prepare For Takeoff
Chapter 9 - On the Right Track?
Chapter 10 - Clue #2 is Found!
Chapter 11 - Railroad Warriors are right on track
Chapter 12 - A Few Bumps Along the Way
Chapter 13 - The Bittersweet End

Chapter 5  

Presenting the Proposal
Alex emailed Mr. Leift to see if he could meet with him this morning. Within ten minutes he replied with an available time. Although Alex was prepared and ready to present his proposal now, he’d have to wait until 11:30am. Alex was a little disappointed in the slight delay in his meeting, but was happy to be able to get some of his work done.

Fully engrossed in his work, Alex glanced at the clock. It was already 11:15am. He stopped what he was doing and began reviewing his notes. He couldn’t believe how organized he was, his presentation was perfect and he was ready to show it off.

He quickly gathered the copies he had made and headed for Leift’s office. He walked normal-paced to the office, he didn’t want to appear too anxious but deep down inside he had an increasing rush of adrenaline rising.

He reached the office of the CEO and Mr. Leift’s secretary showed him in. She advised that Leift would join him momentarily.

Within a few minutes, the CEO entered his office.

“Ah, Alex, good to see you, how are you doing?” Leift asked.

Alex immediately felt at ease. The atmosphere seemed calm and comfortable and Alex thrived in such environments.

“I’m well, thanks for asking and thanks for giving me a few minutes of your time.” He replied.

Leift nodded approvingly and Alex continued.

“I know you asked for the budget proposal for tomorrow, but I have it prepared and ready to show you today.”

“Really? That’s fantastic, let’s take a look at what you’ve come up with as far as numbers are concerned” Leift said.

Alex gladly provided the CEO with his proposal. As Gregory looked over the documents presented to him, he was astonished at what he was reading.

Finally he looked up and addressed Alex.

“Mr. Knight, am I reading this correctly? According to this document, the only financial responsibility our company will endure is choosing a prize for the winning team, is this correct?”

Alex took a deep breath and explained the beneficial circumstances they had fallen upon.

“So Mr. Leift, with all of the sponsorship and support I’ve acquired, it looks like we’ll be able to set this plan in motion—and the best part of all is found on the last page.

Gregory skipped to the final page. Leift was speechless.

“Isn’t that fantastic news? A network TV station has offered us film crews, air time on their network and anything else we need. They simply want to be a part of this event.”

“Alex, I commend you for your efforts and can see no reason why we cannot begin setting this idea into motion. You’ve done a heck of a job kid!” Leift said.

Alex could hardly believe what he was hearing and as he began to speak, few words came to mind.

“Don’t go to bed hungry, I’ve got it!” he said.

Leift was totally confused, “Alex, are you okay?”

“I’m great sir, I meant to say thank you, however an ad idea just struck me and I had to get it out!” Alex explained.

“But seriously Mr. Leift, thank you so much for this opportunity, I won’t let you down. I’m gonna get to work on it right now, after all we need to pick our contestants!” Alex said and exited Gregory’s office.

Alex was beyond thrilled that his idea had been accepted; he rushed back to his cubicle to get the ad written for the free meal promotion.

He got his notes for the promotion together and added his line “Don’t go to bed hungry” to the document. He thought it fit the theme and was happy with it. He sent it off to his boss and moved onto his next project, the race.

Alex began writing up the contestant entry form. Details that all interested individuals would need to include basic name and address information, but each would need to answer a few questions as well. Alex hoped that with a few key questions asked, it would help weed out the serious entries from the reality show junkies who would do anything for the chance to be on TV! For this reality race, Alex wanted equally balanced teams to make it as fair as possible.

With the registration form now complete, Alex was ready to put it live. That would need to wait a few days, as there were other things to complete first, like the signing of contracts from all sponsors, plus preparing an email blast to advise the general public of the race.

Alex decided it would be best to limit the registration period to one week. He banked on the fact that he would have several thousand entries to review and select from. He would need to assemble a small team of people to assist him in sorting the entries so that selection would go quicker.

With all of the thoughts running through his head, Alex thought it was time to create a timeline for himself and this project. He got a notebook out and started to write.

“Due by next week” the first column read and was followed by “Following week” another week after then, then finally “Departure for Europe”. As he stared at the paper, he suddenly realized he had a ton of work to do in a matter of four weeks. First and foremost however, was to contact all of the sponsors. Luckily due to his optimistic nature, Alex had already written the email that needed to be sent to the sponsors and had the legal team send him the general contract that would need to be signed and returned.

Alex was so involved with this project he worked straight through lunch. He ran the contestant registration form past the legal department and got their seal of approval. He was nearly done with the email blast when his phone rang.

Without looking, Alex picked up the phone and said hello.

“Alex, its Giles, I know you’re busy, but have you had a chance to work on that promotion?”

He quickly replied.

“Yes, actually I thought I had sent it to you, but now I see it sitting here in my draft folder. I’ll get it right out to you.”

“Thanks so much” Giles replied and hung up.

It was getting close to the end of the day and Alex had already received three out of the four contracts back. Now he just needed Lara’s and he could send the registration email. Hopefully that would go out tomorrow and contestant selection could begin.

Shutting down his computer, Alex packed up his files and paperwork so he could continue working on his timeline when he got home. With so much to do, he knew he’d never be able to fall asleep, so he figured he might as well be productive!