Well, prioritize my content next.

I begin typing how the airfare deal expires next week and we need to promote it on social media more, but before I can hit the return button, another message from Graeme pops up.

I’ll post your British Columbia content first thing tomorrow morning. Not that it will make much difference at this point in attracting more September bookings.

Have fun polishing those big knives.

The bubble next to his contact turns red, indicating that he’s offline.

I clamp my molars until my jaw pops. My dentist is going to lecture me about grinding my teeth again, I know it.

“Graeme,” I grate.

Who is he to infer that my marketing plan for social media won’t net a few more bookings over the next week? That’s just so… presumptuous. And rude. And so totally wrong.

I snatch my quinoa salad off the coffee table and stuff a bite into my mouth. It tastes like sawdust. Shoving my laptop away, I stomp to the kitchen, toss the quinoa into the trash, and riffle around my fridge. It’s slim pickings: three containers of vanilla yogurt, various condiments, and a single mini Babybel cheese. Mental note: add grocery shopping to my weekend task list.

I grab a jar of grape jelly and my last two pieces of bread from an upper cabinet and make myself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I slap on the jelly with a bit too much gusto and it splatters across my gray laminate countertop. Graeme’s words niggle at my brain. Not that it will make much difference. With a huff, I brace my hips against the counter and tear into my PB and J like a bear eating a salmon.

I should start my paper, but Graeme’s parting shot has my stomach contracting and my skin itching. There’s something I need to do. Polishing off my sandwich in four more bites, I return to my laptop and dig up last year’s numbers for British Columbia and cross-reference them with our social media activity.

There was barely an increase in bookings. My social media marketing for these voyages last September hadn’t worked as well as I remembered. Even with the airfare promotion, which was my idea, we needed to do something different to get the word out. Something outside the box.

I open a blank Google Doc. After a minute, the ideas trickle in. I start typing. It’s after ten when I finish, and I haven’t even started outlining my paper yet. If I want to stay on track to meet Monday’s due date, I need to at least get that done tonight. I silently curse Graeme as I flop my textbook open on the coffee table and begin brainstorming.