Most Creative Thinker

He never thought of himself as being creative. Analytical, logical and precise were the adjectives to describe him. Imagination should be left for the artists or for the students who did not get a PhD from an Ivy, who could not graduate with two summas or maintain the illustrious perfect 4.0 GPA. It was this intelligence and thinking that landed him the coveted Vice President of Information position at Billington Industries, a position that also caught the attention of "Genius Today" website who named him Man of the Year last December. NO creativity did not interest him.

The new marketing director however made him think differently. His path should not have crossed hers. She was in the 4th floor of Building D and he ruled the lab in Building A. He brought his lunch and ate with the scientists while she made an appearance in the cafeteria daily at noon. The recent award was their conduit. BI, as Billington Industries was called, insisted in capitalizing on his man of the year award and it was her responsibility to do so.

Although he complained and avoided it, the day she walked into his lab he was awe struck. She was Pepper Potts, Louis Lane and MJ all rolled into one. The type of girl who only dated Varsity level athletes in school and focused on sales guys at work. He allowed himself the fantasy of dating her, but only once a day. She liked him; true it may have only been an admiration or respect or curiosity but she did start asking him to lunch once in awhile. It gave him hope.

It was last Friday when she asked him if he was participating. Posters for Most Creative Thinker of Billington Industries for the Year 2012 were everywhere: tacked to office doors, thrown across lab tables, even stuffed into the primitive newsletter delivered weekly by the latest intern. She suggested he enter and when he refused she gave him an odd look. Was it disappointment? Was it resignation? Or was it the reality that he could never be the type of guy she would spend any real time thinking about? He decided at that exact time that he would not only enter the contest, he would win it and then ask her out. The date would be his prize and he was sure she could not say no.

He had one full week to submit his entry. The rules were fairly lax which made it more difficult for him to decide on his creative demonstration. He went online and read several books on the subject. Unleashing the Creativity Inside, Thinking Outside the Box, It Is Not Black or White were a few of the titles he choose. In the end the books didn't seem to be the answer. The suggestions were pedantic with no basis, no foundation for truth, no formula. Formula. Yes that was it - he would take the flimsiness of creativity and legitimize it with a formula.

The night before the deadline he stayed up editing and graphing. He was proving the formula to creativity. It was brilliant and his documentation was full of artifacts, graphical representations, numbers, symbols, quotes. It was complete by 5:35 am and he rushed to work to hand in a hard copy along with the PDF version he emailed to the committee. That afternoon, the marketing director joined him for lunch. They barely sat down before he exploded with news of his entry. He could not wait to tell her and see the awe in her face. Instead she politely smiled and wished him luck. Maybe she did not believe it. Her response was so lackluster, so common. It would be different he believed once they announced him as the winner.

They did. It was a full assembly of the entire BI organization. The CEO and President of the board of directors both gave a speech extolling his brilliance and creativity. When he approached the temporary stage to gather his statue, certificate and bonus, he searched the crowd for her. He knew she had to be there and he just knew she would be more than excited about his win, therefore anxious to go out with him.

Although he couldn't find her in the crowd, he spotted her immediately at the award reception following. She was with the sales team, laughing while toasting each other with the nonalcoholic champagne. As soon as she noticed him, she smiled and hugged him, congratulating the company's most creative employee. He felt the embrace and was even more confident in her affection for him. She introduced him to the sales team and then they walked alone to sample some of the appetizers.

While she was nibbling the crostini, he asked her. Blurting the words out quickly with the confidence only an award winner can display. He had the night, the restaurant, even the kiss sketched in his brilliant head. Now he just needed the yes.
But in this contest he was not a winner. She smiled that beautiful smile and gently told him they were just friends.

He left the party and walked back to the lab, tossing his award and certificate in the trash while contemplating a formula for love.