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[singer] ♪ Feel the love

[singers] ♪ of Christmas

[singer] ♪ In the air

[singers] ♪ Of Christmas

[singer] ♪ Light a glow

-[singers] ♪ Of Christmas -[singer] ♪ Everywhere

♪ Give 'em all they want for Christmas ♪

♪ All I want to do is spend this time with you ♪

[cell phone buzzing]

Mom?

Darling, is that you?

You called me.

What time is it anyways?

It's after 8:00 am already.

That's 5:00 in the morning here.

Oh, that's right. I always seem to forget.

Forget?

You lived here practically your entire life.

Where's Aunt Debbie?

Oh, well, she's still asleep of course.

So why are you calling me so early even If it was 8:00?

I wanted to talk about Christmas.

But that's not for a few weeks.

Um, that's never too soon.

Look, Mom, we've talked about this.

Not this year, okay?

Darling, we made a promise to each other.

No matter where we were,

we'd always spend Christmas together.

I know, but this year...

of all years.

Well, there's always going to be something.

Look, Mom, I gotta get ready. I gotta go.

But it's only 5:00 am there.

[sighs]

Good morning, Charlotte.

Donte, you're early,

even for you.

I just wanted to see if you had a chance

to look for those prospectuses?

I did. I did indeed.

And?

Some interesting candidates.

Some I wouldn't have even considered.

Such as...

CyberSanta.

How much are we into them for?

Not much, yet.

Yet.

You wanna convince the next round to finance it?

I do.

Interesting choice, Donte.

This is not pure internet play.

That's what makes it interesting.

-How? -I like their business model.

Her tech is solid, market's wide open,

smart and young CEO.

With Christmas decorations.

Not just decorations. All thing's Christmas.

[sighs]

Where is your holiday spirit?

[sighs] I'm not totally onboard with this one.

But you have earned the right to pursue this forward.

I want you to keep a good eye on them.

-I always do. -No, no, no, no, no.

More than usual, Donte.

I want you personally involved.

No surprises.

Set up a meeting today with the CEO.

Today?

CyberSanta's on Los Angeles.

It's less than a two-hour flight.

[chuckles] Okay.

There are other investments I can check in on.

That's exactly what I'm talking about.

If you want to be in on this one,

I want you all the way in.

Like I always say...

I know, I know.

Fortune favors the bold.

Exactly.

[dramatic music]

Great. Just have the numbers on my desk.

Uh-huh. I'll review them when I get in.

All right. Thanks.

You have a call with Bradley about shipping delays.

Already had it. Spoke to him on the way in.

I'll follow up.

I'll have William handle it.

What's next?

You have an 8 o'clock with sales and 9 o'clock with marketing.

And then, you need to make time to review

the splash page for this weekend.

And then you have a lunch.

If I can get the word out until Christmas Eve--

We need time to not only test the system, but--

There is no way I'm going to get the analytics in time,

which is exactly what I need.

Just to make sure the apps was enough time to review.

Hey! We need to discuss a launch.

Alexis, we're already working around the clock.

And unless my team has more time--

Okay. Stop.

Do you need anything else from me?

No.

But tonight, don't be late.

Wait, tonight?

You'll have drinks with Donte Rogers

at River Road Capital.

Right. Right. Right.

He's only in town for a little bit.

I know you cannot reschedule.

Oh, of course not. I'll be there.

Okay.

Who wants to go first?

I absolutely have to have more time.

Okay. Stop. Gemma, go.

You need to leave.

Oh, shoot.

I wanted to go home and change first.

-Why? You look nice. -[scoffs]

I've been wearing this for the past 12 hours.

Sweating in it the entire time.

You're not going on a date.

Donte Rogers is one of our investors.

I know that.

Still, I mean, it wouldn't kill you

to go out every now and then.

I'm out all the time.

You know what I mean. On a date.

Look, I appreciate you looking out for me, but I'm fine.

We just need to get past Christmas.

[sighs]

I'll see you tomorrow.

Good luck.

[festive music]

Ms. Willis.

Alexis.

Pleasure to meet you, Alexis. I'm Donte Rogers.

I hope you weren't waiting long.

Not at all. I just arrived.

It's just really hard for me to leave the office these days,

the closer we get to Christmas.

It's far being for me to disrupt our investment.

I appreciate you setting aside some time for me,

especially now, so soon before the holidays.

Well, I doubt it's good form refusing our backers.

No, I suppose not.

But at River Road,

we really do like to pick up ourselves good partners.

And you have been. I really mean that.

Well, how about we get the, uh, business chat out of the way.

We don't have to talk about sheets and cash flow all night.

Sounds good. I emailed you the reports.

Oh.

I had all of the departments run reports,

so if you have any questions,

naturally, you can give me a call.

Okay.

I will go over the numbers tonight

and I will be with the partners tomorrow.

What? The partners?

Yeah. Uh, this is how it works, Alexis.

When you take on investors,

you suddenly have a lot of people

looking over your shoulder.

Well, just remember, it's Christmas time.

Uh, speaking of which.

I hope you don't mind that I took the Liberty.

-Thank you. -Oh, um, what are they?

Uh, the bar calls them Christmas trees.

I'm guessing it's vodka with creme de menthe.

Well, whatever they are, they're delicious.

Cheers.

Oh, my God. I love that hotel.

I met clients there many times.

It's clean, bars open at night, which I like.

Reminds me a little bit of home.

Where you grow up?

Not where River Road is located.

You make it up to the Bay Area much?

Not as much as I like.

When I was a kid, we drove up to Monterey.

My father loved the coast.

Is he...

Yeah, he passed a long time ago.

I'm sorry.

Thank you.

And your mother?

Oh, trust me,

she's very much intimately involved in my life.

She actually just moved to Florida about a year ago

to live with my aunt.

She said she needed a change.

-Mmm. -But what about you?

You have family?

Parents are both retired school teachers.

One brother, one sister.

Are they in finance too?

No, not unless you consider hitting me up

for loans to be finance.

[chuckles] Right.

Ah, well, I had a great time.

Thank you for the drinks.

Thank you. So did I.

We'll talk tomorrow.

Good night, Donte.

Good night, Alexis.

[festive music]

Oh, finally.

Mom?

[Cecilia] Hello, darling

Am I dreaming?

Oh, hardly.

Oh. You know, you didn't have oolong tea in the cabinet.

It's a good thing I brought my own.

[scoffs] What are you doing here?

Well, it's Christmas.

What did we always say?

And what did I tell you?

We talked about this literally yesterday morning.

Alexis, you didn't really think I'd listen to you, did you?

-Evidently, not. -[Cecilia] Hmm.

So, how did you even get in here?

I have a key. It's still my house too, technically.

No, you moved to Florida to live with your sister.

I told you, I was just trying it out for a while,

see if I like it there.

[Alexis] You've been there almost a year.

I don't see the rush.

You know, you coulda just called me.

And what would you have said?

Hmm.

And while you were getting ready,

I put my things in my room.

But it's not your room anymore.

It's the guestroom.

Oh, don't be ridiculous.

You know, I never realized it,

but might be a little small for my workout,

so I may do that in the living room.

Since when do you work out?

You know what?

I don't have time for this. I have to get to work.

Mmm-hmm. Okay. Okay, darlin'.

We'll catch up when you get home.

So what are you gonna do all day?

Oh, don't worry about me. I could entertain myself.

But you don't have a car.

So? I'll take the bus.

You can't take... no one takes the bus.

-Then I'll hail a cab. -You can't just...

I'll be fine.

Ah, don't worry. Don't worry about me.

I'm gonna check in on you later today.

-Okay? -Mmm-hmm.

-Hello? -Did I wake you?

Only, yeah, from sleepwalking.

[laughs]

Are you in our L.A. office?

Just at the hotel.

Did you have a chance to review the documents?

I skimmed them last night.

I'm in the middle of giving them a closer look now.

Well, I've had a chance to review them.

Okay. And?

And you were right.

The finances are all in order.

And there's no red flags that I can see as of right now,

so I emailed the partners.

That's good.

Mmm-hmm.

So Donte, what's the CEO like?

-Alexis Willis? -Mmm-hmm.

Um, I mean, her whole bio's in the prospectus that you have.

I know that, Donte.

But you've had dinner with her last night.

Drinks.

Dinner, drinks, what's the difference?

What's she like?

She's a serious businesswoman.

[chuckles]

You know me too well.

Yeah, well, I figure there's some reason you're asking me.

She's young and inexperienced.

She's smart and driven.

Those are two factors I'd bet on any day.

Maybe.

But you and I both know plenty of smart men and women

that had no business running a company.

Well, what are you saying, Charlotte?

That you'll replace her?

I'm not saying anything.

But you have to realize that if we invest real money,

we have to make sure that our card is hitched

to the right horse.

Get it?

Oh, that's quite the metaphor.

Fine.

Our sleigh to the right reindeer.

Is that better, Mr. Christmas?

Very funny.

I'm not saying she's not the right person.

Maybe she is.

But you're the one there on the ground.

You have to make the call.

And I will, Charlotte.

You better.

[sighs]

We need more manpower.

Do you think the icons are user-friendly

or do you think the pull-down will generate more sales?

Alexis, are you listening to me?

Huh?

I said we need to hire more people.

Oh, no. Out of the question.

Our financials are under a microscope with River Road.

Hence, why we need to hire someone.

Okay. It's not just about generating sales.

I need to show them an impressive ROI.

In order to do this, we must keep expenses low.

Then, hire an intern.

What?

An intern.

Free labor.

You know how many kids just out of college

would kill to work at a start-up like this?

[groans] I don't have time right now.

Well, I'll take care of it.

You don't have to worry about at thing.

How was drinks?

It was fine.

Mmm-hmm.

What? What does that mean?

Mr. Rogers, on the phone,

his voice sounded sexy.

Uh-huh.

Okay. He was very nice.

Very professional.

I saw his picture on the website.

Sari, what are you trying to say?

Nothing. Nothing. Just that, you know,

we could have worse-looking investors than Donte Rogers.

[sighs]

-[knocking on door] -[Cecilia] Knock knock.

I brought lunch.

You never eat lunch.

Sari, this is my mother.

I thought your mother lived in--

Florida, yes. She does.

Oh, well, hello, Mrs. Willis.

I'm sorry. I'm your daughter's assistant.

Oh, darling. You call me Cecilia.

How did you get here?

I called a cab.

Oh, um, I need to meet with Brock.

Excuse me.

She doesn't eat lunch?

No time.

She's gonna work herself to death.

Yeah, she's under a lot of stress right now.

Well, whenever I speak with her,

she tells me everything's going okay.

It is. It is.

We just...we have one chance to make this work.

One Christmas for our investors to decide

if this a sustainable business or not.

Oh.

Yeah.

And there's an executive from the company here this week

to get a firsthand look at our company.

Oh.

No wonder she's so stressed out.

We need more people.

But we can't afford it.

All the new hires go straight to IT

because if something happens to the app...

[imitates explosion sound]

Where could you use the help?

[Sari] Marketing, mainly.

We need to be smart about spending our advertising dollars

to get the most bang for our buck.

Hmm.

Let's eat.

[festive music]

[laughter]

[Cecilia] Oh.

Oh, hello.

It's your lucky day.

You're going back to Florida?

Very funny.

I'm going to work for you.

Excuse me?

I said I'm going to work for you.

What are you talking about?

Well, I've been talking to Sari.

She said you need help, so that's why I'm here for.

Hmm.

You can't work for me, mom.

Why not?

Well, for one thing, I can't afford you.

I'm working for free.

Well, you can't work for free. That's illegal.

Not if I'm an intern.

-Uh, Sari. -Mmm-hmm. Yup.

-She hired me. -Mom, you were vice president

in marketing before you retired.

Exactly. So you know I'm qualified.

Yeah. Overqualified.

Don't look a gift horse in the mouth,

especially around Christmas.

No. Just...no.

Look. You need help, I can help you.

What do you have to lose?

You know, Alexis Willis,

I'm about to tell you something you might not want to hear.

I love you more than anything.

I've always believed in you.

But you can be as stubborn as a mule.

Well, it runs in the family.

So...how can you help?

[mellow music]

-May I help you? -Oh.

Well, uh, I guess that depends on what you're offering?

I'm sorry, this isn't retail outlet.

This is a warehouse for an online company.

I know. I just started to work here.

Where, here?

In the other building, yeah.

Well, welcome.

William Malone, warehouse foreman.

Oh, well, Cecilia.

A pleasure.

Please don't take this the wrong way

but you don't look like the typical CyberSanta employee.

I could say the same thing about you.

-[Cecilia chuckling] -Indeed.

I have an in with the head of the company.

So what are you doing over here?

Well, I figured if I'm going to working here,

I may as well get the lay of the land.

Would you like the grand tour, then?

Oh, isn't what you see what you get?

Hardly.

Oh.

Come on.

You won't believe it.

Oh.

[telephone rings]

-Yeah. -Donte Rogers on line one.

You want me to tell him you're unavailable.

Uh, no. Put him through.

Hold on.

Donte, how are you?

I'm fine. Hey, Alexis. How are you?

Well, first tell me some good news,

then I can tell you how I am?

I reviewed the numbers you supplied

and I shared them with my team.

So far, so good.

Listen, I'd like to come by the office tomorrow

-if you wouldn't mind. -Um, yeah. Sure.

But, uh, is anything wrong?

Nothing at all.

I just like to get a sense of the company firsthand.

Standard operating procedure.

Yeah, sure.

I mean, I have a very busy day tomorrow

but I'm sure I can move some things around.

Oh, no. Not on account of me, please.

Um, I don't want to get in the way.

I'll just come in, look around, and talk to your direct reports,

then we can chat when you have some time.

Uh, yeah, sure. That'll be fine.

Okay.

Thanks, Alexis. I'll see you tomorrow.

Yeah, no problem.

[playful music]

[laughs]

Hey, hey, hey. Hang on. One second, please.

May I?

Oh. Oh. Oh.

There.

-Merry Christmas. -[laughs]

When in Rome, I guess.

That's one thing we're not short of.

Christmas spirit.

So, have you been here from the beginning.

Yep. Since day one.

Oh. But, uh, what did you do before CyberSanta?

I mean, the company's only been around for a year.

Well, I've always been in supply chain management.

Everything from, um, central distribution

of the largest grocery store chain in the country

to video cassette stores back in in the VHS days.

And just before this,

I owned and operated a solar panel storage facility.

Huh.

I figure that that would be a good business nowadays,

with everything you read about solar energy.

Yeah, it was. It was. But, you know,

I was thinking about slowing down a little bit.

And then I got an offer I couldn't refuse.

Oh, yeah? From who?

-This is your warehouse? -It was.

It was.

Look, the company needed space quick.

This fit the bill, so I cashed out.

But then joined CyberSanta?

Uh, look. I'm not ready to retire quite yet.

And the company needed somebody who could handle

inventory and shipping.

Besides, I know all the idiosyncrasies of this place.

Oh, warehouses have idiosyncrasies?

Oh, are you kidding me?

Like, when it rains, there's a waterfall

off the roof of the southwest loading dock.

Now, it looks, kind of, pretty,

but you don't want inventory sitting there,

waiting to go out.

Hmm. Well, I really appreciate you giving me a tour, William,

but, uh, I should really get back to the office.

Yeah, you don't want the boss thinking

you're slacking off on the first day.

[chuckles]

It was really nice meeting you, William.

Yeah. Come by anytime.

It's nice to have another adult around this place.

Hey, if you ever want to take a lunch break,

we order in from the best sub shop west of the Mississippi.

I may just take you up on that.

Well, I hope you do.

Here. Let me show you the way out.

[chuckles]

[groaning]

So...is it working?

Hmm, I don't know.

What should I be feeling?

Oh, the stress melting away.

Your mind disengaging from your physical body.

That's not happening.

You feel anything?

Yeah. Annoyed that I'm wasting time

when I should be working.

-You know, you're impossible. -[sighs]

You need to open your mind a little.

I don't recall you and dad having such open minds

when I was sneaking out in high school.

I'm just trying to help.

You seem tense.

Yeah, well, one of the executives

from River Road is coming by tomorrow, so...

Oh. You mean, that fine, young man

that you had drinks with?

How do you know that?

Sari told me.

I should've really make her sign an nondisclosure

for inside the office.

She's a good assistant.

A terrible gossip, but a good assistant.

Yeah. Yeah, she is.

So, I went down to the warehouse today,

you know, get a sense of everything.

Uh-huh.

Pretty impressive.

Well, I haven't been down there in weeks.

Mmm-hmm. William showed me around.

He's a nice guy. Smart.

Yeah, well, he keeps the warehouse running smoothly

and that's all I care about.

He knows it well enough, having sold it to you.

-What? -William.

He used to own your warehouse.

You didn't know that?

I mean, the lawyers handled all of that.

Well, who hired him to keep working there?

Sari, I suppose.

Not human resources?

Sari is human resources, amongst her many other duties.

Oh, you've been working that girl too hard.

Oh, she loves it.

Alexis, can I give you some business advice?

As long as it doesn't have anything to do

with working out or meditating.

Go on.

[sighs] Now, since I've been here,

you've been working nonstop.

-I told you, I just-- -I get it. I get it.

But mainly, I've just seen you pouring

over number spreadsheets.

Nuh-uh. I know. I know.

You have to answer to your investors,

and I know, I know you need to impress them.

But you can't do it all alone.

You need to rely on your team.

Delegate a little to others, besides Sari.

Anything else?

Nope.

Don't work too hard.

-Good night. -[woman] Mmm-hmm.

[dramatic music]

[Donte] Morning.

-Are you on your way? -Of course.

Let's see if this company starts early too.

I'm sure they do, Charlotte.

Really tried to get a sense of them.

I want to holistic analysis.

You know, I've done this once or twice before.

Actually, you haven't.

Not if I want someone to run the numbers

and offer for an opinion, you're my man.

But it's not often that you get this up-close in personal.

And that's exactly what I need with this company.

I understand.

And Donte...

I know. I know.

Fortune favors the bold.

Hmm. You're the man.

[sighs]

And I thought I got up early.

Well, you said it was a big day for you,

so you need to get ready.

I'll just fix your breakfast.

Well, I am ready, but what I'm not is hungry.

You need to eat breakfast.

It's the most important meal of the day.

It is not.

A dietitian from Kellogg's

came up with that slogan in 1917.

You remember that?

See? And you always said I never listen.

You know what? Never mind what I said.

-[phone beeps] -It was good marketing.

Now, you need to eat.

-Oh, no. -What?

It's Donte. He's already at the office.

Oh. Okay.

Oh, you know coding?

I've pick up a couple things along the way.

-Wow. -Yeah.

-That's crazy. -Donte. Hi.

I wasn't expecting you this early.

Oh. This doesn't matter really for me.

I like to get a head start on things.

I just wish I would have been able to get you settled.

Not at all. Brock here was just walking me

through some particulars with the app.

This guy knows a lot about code for a bean counter?

[laughs]

Why don't you finish telling me about credit card info

stored in the database later on?

-All right. Sounds good. -Okay.

Is there someone I can set you up with,

a department that we could meet with together?

No, no. Like I said,

I just want to get a sense of everything.

I'm going to set my laptop and do my thing,

but maybe we can touch base in a few hours?

Yeah. Sounds good. Whatever you need.

Okay. Thanks, Alexis.

Thanks.

Good morning.

Hey, you did some interior decorating.

Nice.

You didn't do this?

-Nope. Not me. -The cleaning people?

I thought you could use a little more Christmas spirit.

-That's all. -You did this?

-Mmm-hmm. -When?

Um, just now, while you were talking to Brock

and, uh, that other man.

That other man is our primary investor.

Hmm.

What?

I've never seen an investor look that fine.

You were right, Sari.

Mother.

See? I told you. Listen to your mother.

Okay. Enough of this.

I need to meet with Gemma.

Sari, find something for my mother to do.

Trust me, it doesn't make sense not to advertise

on all the largest social media websites.

I understand.

But some of them will not give us the analytics that we need.

And some consider it their proprietary information.

But we can track the sales that come from their site.

That's good, but not good enough.

When I submit reports to River Road,

I need specific data in addition to gross sales.

And gross sales are what's important.

That's how we're gonna grow.

They're important but...

Oh, Sari asked me to bring you these.

-Ah. Thank you. -Mmm-hmm.

Look, I feel we're missing out on the opportunity.

We have buys on eight of the top ten websites

and three of the most popular social media sites.

No one is going to fault us

for how much we're spending on that.

Oh, excuse me. Excuse me.

Um, how much of your advertising budget

is spent on digital?

Um, 100%, obviously.

-Hmm. -As I was saying.

Hmm, but that's a mistake.

And I...excuse me?

I said that's a mistake. A big mistake.

Well, why do you say that?

Well, because you're missing an enormous market,

an enormous opportunity,

simply because you just don't understand it.

Okay, now.

I graduated from USC with a Masters Degree

in PR in Advertising.

And before that, I worked at the top search engine

optimization company on the West Coast.

You ever bought billboard space?

No. We don't have time for that anyway.

Fine. Fine. What about print ads?

Of course not.

-Air time on the radio? -What's your point, mom?

My point is that,

well, you're neglecting an entire demographic.

A demographic with a lot of disposable income.

-We've done our research. -Really?

Well, it just so happens that I still read magazines.

-I still listen to the radio. -[inhales deeply]

Now, legacy media might not be sexy,

but you'd be crazy not to make it a part of your strategy.

Especially since it sounds like your investors,

they are impressed by breadth.

Go on.

Studies show that recall on ads

generated by search engines

are in the single digits.

The low single digits.

Now, the recall on radio ads is over 50%.

For print ads, it's only slightly less.

Alexis, this is ridiculous.

Whether we use print, radio, whatever, now,

we can add a discount code so that we can clearly see

just how many sales are generated through

each of these impressions.

Don't these campaigns take time to create?

I mean, we're literally two weeks away from Christmas.

Well, they can.

But they can also be done quickly and effectively.

Gosh. We don't have anyone staff that can do that kind of stuff.

Now, you do.

[chuckles]

Hey.

What the heck do you think you're doing?

My job.

And your job is to make me look like a fool?

Not at all.

No. With that.

You did just fine on your own.

You know what?

I don't care whose mother you are.

You've been here a day. And you're an intern.

If you would just listen, you'd understand

that I'm trying to help you.

Now, if we can work together, that's great.

If not, my daughter's company is much more important

than your feelings.

Excuse me. I have work to do.

[scoffs]

[gentle music]

I am so sorry, but I don't think

this place serves Christmas Trees.

Well, since I try not to drink during work hours,

I think a peppermint latte will suffice.

Hmm. Not of fan of the three martini lunch, huh?

You know, I didn't believe people really did that.

I'd be under the table.

Back in the day they did, believe me.

[laughs] I guess they were old school.

Speaking of which, I met your newest intern.

Okay. Donte, look.

She has nothing to do with the company.

There was a situation where she just showed up and--

No, no, no, no, no. Don't explain. I love it.

You do?

Yeah. I mean she's experienced.

She's so likeable, obviously intelligent.

Plus, you can't beat the business model.

The business model?

Yeah, you don't have to pay her.

[laughs] Okay.

Anyways, did you see what you came here for today?

I did. Yes, um, like I said before,

it wasn't anything specific.

I just like to visit the companies

in which we're investing so I can understand them

at a granular level.

Granular?

[chuckles] Sorry.

I swore I'd never fall victim to investor-speak,

but I, kind of, forget we're in our own little bubble.

But you like it, right?

Like what?

The job. Doing what you do.

Working for a venture capital firm.

I do. Yeah.

I like the idea of it, you know,

it's exciting to see something you helped bring into existence,

start to flourish.

I hear a but coming.

[Donte] No, no. I can't complain.

It's just the bureaucracy like you find in any industry.

That's why I like being on the road.

It's much nicer to get a sense of the company

beyond the numbers.

And that's important?

[Donte] Oh, extremely important.

It's one thing to get a look at balance sheet.

It's entirely another to get up close in personal.

Are you trying to tell me something?

-Like what? -I don't know

that even if our numbers are good--

No, no, I'm not trying to tell you anything,

I swear.

So tell me, why CyberSanta?

The name? No, no. The name's great.

Business itself, what's the, uh, what's the origin story?

Well, I used to work for an ecommerce company,

a startup.

And it was crazy, as you can imagine.

I was working nights and weekends

and holidays were coming up.

I realized I didn't have time to eat,

much less go Christmas shopping and buy a tree.

So then I got the thinking--

One-stop shop for everything Christmas.

Uh-hmm. But first, I had to do a little research.

And what I found was,

was that although people loves Christmas,

they hate getting ready for it.

So then, I thought, what if there's a way

that people shop for the holiday

and have everything shipped right to them?

And for that, you need the warehouse.

[Alexis] Exactly. People don't wanna go

to a million different places,

often in the freezing cold

for wrapping paper, tinsel, gingerbread men.

And shopping for gifts?

So that was the other part of it.

By combining our proprietary search engine

with an easy-to-use ecommerce site,

people were able to shop directly through us.

So not only were we able to get

a percentage of sales from retailers,

we were able to bring in advertising dollars on companies

once they understood our reach.

Very smart.

-So you quit your job? -[Alexis] Not at first.

I used all my savings, cashed out my 401K,

and hired some developers

to create the initial website and app.

Once I was sure that it was viable,

I went looking for some seed money.

And that's where we came in.

That's where you came in.

[laughs]

So what now?

Well, um, I've got to visit some other companies

we've invested in.

But I'll be back.

Okay.

I, kinda, like it here.

Yeah.

[merry music]

Oh, my.

Hey, everything good?

Oh, everything's good. [laughs]

I already have some ideas that I think can work.

Oh, good. Well, I'll give you a ride

and I wanna hear all about it at home.

Um, actually, I have a previous engagement.

What?

A date for dinner.

Wait.

With who?

William, from the warehouse.

Uh, I'm meeting him soon.

Wait, I haven't had a date in over a year.

You just got here a few days ago.

[laughs] What can I say?

The men can't resist my charms.

[laughs]

Besides, I see something brewing

between you and that venture capitalist.

That's strictly business.

Famous last words.

Okay. Have fun tonight.

Uh-hmm.

Don't wait up!

[Christmas music]

[singer] ♪ Oh, oh, yeah, yeah

♪ Oh, oh, oh

♪ Merry Christmas...

Well, I hope that was okay.

I mean, it wasn't exactly fine dining, but--

Better than okay.

You know how many business dinners

I've been to where I've left hungry?

I didn't realize this was a business dinner?

Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you think

-that I was-- -[William laughs]

-I'm kidding. Come on. -Oh.

-[chuckles] -But seriously,

what's the real reason you came to work here?

For the life experience.

If I tell you, you won't say anything?

[sighs]

My last name is Willis.

No relation to Alexis Willis, is there?

Only by blood.

She's my daughter.

That explains everything.

[laughs] I was only gonna stay with her for the holidays,

you know, spend some time.

But after seeing what she did,

I thought I could be of help.

You think that's silly?

Me? Absolutely not!

People like you and I, we're not ready to be put out to pasture.

That's how I feel.

But honestly, you know,

that is a new world out there, isn't it?

To say the least.

In my first job,

I had to type the shipping manifests

on a manual typewriter.

Oh, wow. You are ancient!

[laughter]

At least when I started out, you know, in marketing,

we had a computer.

And, of course, you know, it wasn't connected to anything.

Because there was no internet.

Because there was no internet.

[laughs]

You know when thought I had really made it?

When?

I got a phone in my car.

Never mind that it took up the whole center of the console,

it wasn't portable, it was big as a suitcase.

But I felt like a movie star.

Do you remember leaded gasoline?

Of course.

Can you drive a stick shift?

That is what I learned on.

What about track cassettes?

Cassettes? I remember LPs.

[laughter]

Vinyl, baby.

Oh. Oh, William, I had a wonderful time.

Well, I promised you, you wouldn't go home hungry.

Well, on that, you delivered.

It was a nice change.

What was?

To be out with a grown-up.

Hey, take it easy.

You're gonna make me feel like an old man.

[laughs]

Just like that, I feel like a teenager again.

[Christmassy music]

Hey.

Hello.

How did you get home?

William drove me.

So how was it?

It was nice. Really nice.

I should get to know him more.

-Yes, you should. -Uh-hmm.

As well as your other employees, too.

I know my core team.

Gemma, Brock, Sari,

CFO, head of human resources.

Look, I don't have time to get to know everybody.

This is a business, not a sorority.

Alexis, can I give you some business advice?

After today, I'd be a fool to say no.

I understand what a crazy time this is, I really do.

But you need to make your employees feel

that they're valued.

You know, not for them, but, you know,

that's a benefit as well, but for you.

When your employees feel valued,

they feel empowered, important, they work harder.

And right now, you need them working as hard as they can.

I mean, you're right.

Uh-hmm.

But you know our situation.

We can't afford to give our bonuses or raises. Not yet.

Well, you don't need to.

It's the little things that matter.

-Like? -Take a break for a bit

then meet me in the kitchen.

[singer] ♪ Cooking up some love this Christmas... ♪

Ooh.

How come I don't ever remember you

making cookies when I was a kid?

Oh, well, I was busy working.

[chuckles] You know, if you would have told me

I'd be baking cookies for my staff,

well, ever, I tell you, you were crazy.

[laughter]

Cheaper than raises.

-And tastier, too. -[Cecilia] Uh-hmm.

[Alexis] But you don't think this is, I don't know...

-What? -...frivolous?

Oh, there's nothing frivolous about happy employees.

Just wait 'til tomorrow, you'll see.

So what's with that fine, young man

from the investment firm?

-Donte? -Uh-hmm.

He's headed back to the Bay.

And then?

And he said he'll be in touch.

[sighs] You know what?

I don't understand how these investment funds work.

I mean, they give you money,

then decide if they wanna get in business with you,

seems backwards to me.

Yeah, I know.

First, they'll give you a little,

it's called seed money.

And then they'll look at all of their prospects,

and if they're good,

they'll invest more, if not... [tongue clicks]

Ooh. Well, that seems like a waste of time.

I mean, if you believe in something,

you should just go all in.

[Alexis] I wish.

But they invest in dozens of companies.

And out of all of them,

only a few make it.

Well, you know, it's a great idea, Alexis.

CyberSanta.

I know, and, you know, I don't tell you enough,

but I think you have done a wonderful job.

-Trust yourself. -Aw.

Thanks, Mom.

[laughter]

Okay. So now, let's finish up with these cookies.

Now, we both-- we both have a big day tomorrow.

[Christmas music]

Where'd you get these cookies from?

They look delicious.

Chez Willis.

You made them yourself?

Well, with a little help from my mother.

Smart move. A little sugar goes a long way.

Ooh.

You texted me?

Yeah, I was hoping you could bring

some of these plates over to the warehouse workers'.

Gladly. Just don't expect any back.

You know, my people are like vultures

whenever it comes to a good snack.

Oh, here, let me help you.

-Can we talk? -Yeah.

But, first have a cookie.

Okay, what is it?

I just wanted to apologize.

For what?

For yesterday.

The way that I reacted to your mother's ideas.

I thought about it for a long time last night.

And?

And they're pretty good, actually.

I mean, she might be onto something.

Look, Gemma, you're my VP of marketing.

I need you.

I mean, if it wasn't for you,

we wouldn't be where we are right now.

But I have a responsibility to this company

to consider every idea that might help us,

no matter where it might come from.

Yeah. Yeah, I know that.

I was just being...

I don't know what I was being.

But I'm fine now.

And I just want you to know that I'm with you.

And I am sorry.

[singer 1] ♪ Here comes the snow

[singer 2] ♪ All they want for Christmas

[singer 1] ♪ Have some food

[indistinct chatter]

[singer 1] ♪ Mistletoe

[singer 2] ♪ All they want for Christmas ♪

-[singer 1] ♪ Santa's shoe -[singer 2] ♪ Santa's coming

[singer 1] ♪ Everything old

[radio DJ] And that was Block 'o Blues here on WBLZ.

It's your Mo Beta Blues Station.

I'll be right back with more of your favorites

after a word from our sponsor.

[woman] It's two weeks after Thanksgiving

and you still haven't started your Christmas shopping yet?

You know what you need? Cyber Santa.

Cyber Santa. That's right.

[singer] ♪ Let's give 'em all they want ♪

♪ For Christmas this year

♪ You better watch out...

[Sari] Yes. The orders need to be coming in ASAP.

I don't know why it's delayed.

[telephone ringing]

One second. Hold on.

Yes? She's on line five.

Okay. I'll transfer you now.

[woman] Cyber Santa is your one-stop-shop

for everything Christmas, from decorations to gifts.

They have everything you need for the holidays,

either in their fully stocked warehouse

or through partnerships with every major store

you can think of.

-Oh. -Here you go.

Thank you, darling.

[telephone ringing]

Can you-- can you hold on, please?

Yes. Did you go through?

Okay. Well, let me... lemme try again.

Line two. Okay. Thanks. Bye.

[man] Cyber Santa, huh?

I wish I would've known about them before.

Now, I can stop worrying

and just enjoy the holidays again.

Thanks, Cyber Santa.

[woman] Cyber Santa,

Christmas with a click.

[cheers and applause]

Yeah, we did it.

Wow.

Have you seen the predictions

for Clear Tell's Public Offering?

-Of course. -Ah, pretty impressive.

Yeah. If they hold, then it's very impressive.

-Yeah. -Is that why you called me back

to talk about Clear Tell's Stock price?

Not exactly.

Cyber Santa is making the partners nervous.

Why? They've seen the same numbers I have.

Numbers are just numbers.

-It's the intangibles. -Okay. What intangibles?

-What are we talking about? -Well, for one,

Cyber Santa is a seasonal business,

which means that the sales vary wildly throughout the year,

it's a young company,

which means there's no history to rely upon.

And the CEO, inexperienced so--

Charlotte, we keep saying that she built the company.

Excuse me.

What's going on, Donte?

What are you talking about?

We butted heads on deals bigger than this.

A lot bigger.

And I have never seen you this emotional.

I like this company.

You like this company?

I think it's a smart investment. That's all.

Uh-hmm.

So what's the verdict? Are we out?

We're not out yet,

but I won't sugarcoat it for you.

It doesn't look good.

Will you please let me know as soon as you hear something?

Absolutely.

Donte,

if this really is about business,

don't make it about anything else.

What if it isn't?

Then you have a decision to make.

[Alexis] The last few days have been exhausting.

Hmm, but exciting, right?

So how can you be so sure?

About what?

That any of this is gonna work?

I mean, not to put any pressure on you,

but the future of my company is riding on it.

I guess I just have confidence.

In your ideas?

And in you.

-Your father. -What about Dad?

He would've been so proud of you.

I doubt it. He was always so hard on me.

That's because he knew what you were capable of

and he expected it from you.

I know what you've done with Cyber Santa.

He would've thought it was extraordinary.

[phone vibrates]

It's Donte.

Well, go ahead.

Don't look at me. Answer it.

-Hello? -Alexis. Donte Rogers.

Donte. How are you?

I'm well. Listen, I hope it's not too late.

I figured if you weren't in the office,

you'd be up doing work somewhere.

Right. You are.

What can I do for you?

Well, it's been a few days.

And I guess I just didn't want you to think

that I had abandoned you.

That's the last thing I thought, Donte.

Good. 'Cause I'll be back down there soon.

-Oh. -[Donte] Yeah.

Is that okay?

Yes. I mean, sure.

If that's what you need. Of course.

Uh, yes. I think that would be best.

Donte, is everything all right?

You sound funny.

I'll be honest with you, Alexis,

we've been having some discussions here.

About?

Well, it's... there's some concern

with the viability of the business.

It seems you're carrying a lot of overhead

that's only really justified in December.

Well, that's the nature of our business.

I mean, it's Cyber Santa

and we have revenue throughout the year.

I know. I know.

I just wanted to give you a heads up.

I'll see you soon.

Yeah.

Well, everything okay?

Yeah, it's fine.

It's fine.

Do you have anything important to say?

Nope. Not at all.

I mean, other than he'll be back in town in a couple of days.

Hmm.

What?

No, nothing.

I just want you to be careful, that's all.

-Be careful of what? -Of Donte.

I hate to surprise you,

but I have been in relationships before.

And that's what this is?

I mean, yeah.

But it's a business relationship.

Alexis, I know you have feelings for Donte.

I don't want you to forget the man has a job to do.

So, what are you trying to say?

I'm not trying to say anything.

I just... I don't want you to get hurt.

I promise you I can handle it.

I know you can.

And I know there wasn't anything you can't handle.

I just want you to be careful.

That's all.

Okay.

[Christmas music]

If I have to call you one more time,

I'm telling you...

what do you think you're doing?

-Come with me. -Why?

-Just come with me. -Why? What's wrong?

When did our radio ad air?

Yesterday during the midday drive.

You were there. You heard it.

Oh, and then again this morning.

-Huh? -Why?

I want you to see something.

What?

These are our orders in the last 12 hours.

And this is a graph of our sales over the past month.

Oh, wow.

Let's go tell Alexis.

Okay.

[Gemma] Hey.

-What's wrong? -Our sales,

uh, they're off the charts.

It's the radio ads.

Our sales are up 300%.

Well, can we handle it?

Mia, I need the dolly over on aisle three.

You gotta get those boxes on the loading dock right now.

I see you received the orders.

They just kept coming in.

I thought it was a mistake.

-Can we handle it? -We'll see.

Jackson, you gotta grease the conveyors.

They're gonna be running 24/7.

-[Jackson] Right, boss. -Don't worry.

We'll be fine.

Oh, we have a problem.

-[Alexis] Mono? -Mono.

Her agent says she's extremely contagious

for at least 10 days.

Who gets mono anymore?

[Sari] You know, I still have all the headshots on my desk.

We could just find another model.

There's not enough time.

The shoot's this afternoon.

So, change it 'till tomorrow or even the next day.

No, we can't.

We're on really tight deadlines for those print ad.

The shoot has to happen today.

So get someone off the street.

There must be a million women who will wanna do this.

-Yeah? -Well, yeah,

but not the type that we want.

And what type is that?

Sophisticated, classy,

sexy without trying too hard.

Why not let Cecilia do it?

-Yeah. -Very funny.

Well, I'm serious. Why not?

We need a professional model.

What do models do? They stand there, right?

And wear a Santa hat and display the products

that our vendors have made as replacement.

I'm pretty sure that Cecilia could handle that.

Will you do it?

Be your model for your print ads?

Oh, that's the craziest thing I ever heard.

So, you'll do it?

As I told you before,

I'll do whatever you need.

Yes.

[Christmas music]

Ooh, your skin is so pretty.

Thank you.

For someone your age.

Say that again, you won't like where I stick that powder brush.

Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that.

I'm just teasing you, sugar.

There's my muse.

Oh, Ian, I want you to meet Cecilia Willis.

She was kind enough to step in when our model canceled.

So you're no pro?

Not even close.

[Ian] Yeah.

Yes, yes, yes.

She'll be fine.

Good.

Is this your revenge?

My revenge?

For meddling?

This wasn't my idea.

This was your boyfriend's.

My boyfriend?

You mean the man from the warehouse?

-The foreman? -Cecilia,

you're a Cyber Santa employee now.

What's that mean?

It means there's gonna be gossip.

But don't you worry, that William?

Hmm, wee.

He's a sweetie.

-Oh. -Are you almost done?

Few more minutes.

[Gemma] All right. Well, hurry up.

Ian's on the clock and he doesn't come cheap.

Oh. Maybe I should call my agent too.

Okay.

Yes, yes.

Work it Ms. Christmas.

Oh, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.

[Ian] Oh, beautiful.

Lovely.

Pretend like you won a prize.

[singer] ♪ In a one horse open sleigh ♪

[Ian] Yes. You are the winner.

[singer] ♪ Jingle all the way...

Give me Mr. Santa. Give me Krampus.

Yes.

Perfect.

[singer] ♪ Dashing through the snow...

[Ian] Love it. Love it.

Oh, beautiful.

[singer] ♪ Open sleigh

Perfect.

-[William] So, was I right? -What? About what?

About that being one of the best subs west of the Mississippi?

[laughs]

Well, I can't argue with that.

Although we don't have that many great sub shops in Florida.

Cecilia, when are you going back to Florida?

Hmm, around New Year's, I imagine.

Oh, why? You're trying to get rid of me already?

The opposite, in fact.

So, is there a man back there waiting for you?

-Don't be silly. -[William] What, silly?

I'm sure there's a lot of gentlemen

who are very interested in you, Cecilia.

None that I'm interested in, at least.

So, what? You need to get back to a job?

No, I retired a few years ago

and I still do some consulting, but--

So, why are you leaving?

Why don't you stay?

I'm sorry to interrupt you two.

Oh, what? Did you come to collect me?

Yes, but to also show you these.

Not bad, Cecilia.

You might have a second career ahead of you.

[Cecilia] Uh, well do with these what you will and burn it.

Oh, we already are.

Gemma is in the office finalizing the proofs

and then we're uploading them to various outlets.

Well, uh, why don't you two go?

I'm sure you're exhausted.

You sure?

What about you, William?

How are you managing things?

Managing, don't worry.

If your orders keep coming in, I'll keep shipping 'em out.

[laughs]

Uh, I'll see you tomorrow.

Uh-hmm.

Good night.

Um, uh, you know what, um, you go to the car,

-I'll meet you. -What's wrong?

Hmm, never mind.

Just...I'll meet you.

Did you forget something?

Oh.

You have some mustard on your lip.

-Hey, Donte. -Did you get them?

Did I get what?

Check your email.

Okay.

What am I looking for?

[Donte] Click the link.

Photos from the recent shoot.

-Is this your model? -Uh-hmm.

Well, I hope you know what you're doing.

I'm being bold, Charlotte.

It's being bold.

Yes, you are.

Donte's here.

Now?

And he's looking particularly fine.

Tell him I'll be there in a minute.

Ugh.

I've always been aware of radio,

but it's always struck me as some sort

of old fashioned medium.

I mean, in hours, literally hours

of launching the ad, our sales shot up exponentially.

The cost-benefit ratio was more than we could ever imagine.

And then when we added print ads into the mix,

which is quite a funny story in itself, it has--

Have dinner with me.

Wait, what?

Have dinner with me tonight.

Please.

Um, I was actually in the middle

of giving you an update on our progress.

You can give me the rest of the update tonight.

I promise.

What do you say?

I say pick me up at 7:00.

I'll see you tomorrow.

It's not even 6:00 yet.

I have a business dinner tonight.

That's not on your calendar.

Goodnight, Sari.

[Gemma] Oh, that looks great right there.

-Hey, is everything okay? -You did a great job.

-Uh-hmm. -Oh, well, more good news.

It seems Cecilia here actually

could have a second career in modeling.

Check this out.

I put in the photos from her shoot

on the online ads,

and it increased the click rate

by 25% already.

-[Alexis] Good. -Yeah.

-Great work. -[laughs]

Oh, you leaving?

Uh, business dinner.

I'll see you at home.

Good night, Gemma.

Um, good night.

I really love you in that top.

[singer] ♪ Ooh

♪ Oh, yeah

♪ Ooh

I know I keep going on and on about it,

but it was a brilliant idea.

Ideas, really.

Truth is, with all of our experience

with the most cutting-edge technology,

we never would've thought of it.

That's why I'm an investor, not a creative.

I never would've thought of that either.

Yeah, but you still need the insight

to judge the companies correctly.

And the people, too.

Mr. Rogers, if I didn't know any better,

I think you were flirting with me.

Have I been doing that bad a job?

Uh, I thought I was being pretty transparent.

Look, Donte,

obviously I enjoy spending time with you,

but to what end?

What do you mean?

I mean, you're heading back north

once your review is over and I have a company to run.

Where could this relationship really go?

Well, do we have to know where it's going?

I like you, Alexis.

I think you like me too.

Can't that be enough for now?

I've never been a fan of long distance relationships.

Well, what if I didn't go back up to the Bay Area?

What would you do? Stay here?

-Maybe. -Don't be ridiculous, Donte.

Once you're finished... oh, and by the way,

you're being suspiciously quiet

about the developments of River Road.

Have they really not made a decision yet?

Alexis, do we have to talk about work all the time?

Well, no.

Not all the time.

[dramatic music]

What? What is it?

Um...

Mom?

Mom, what are you doing?

Shh, just make yourselves comfortable.

-Mom. -Don't mind me.

Out.

Okay. Okay. I'm going.

Good evening, Mr. Rogers.

Oh.

I am so sorry about that.

-Don't worry. -Oh.

It's okay.

I'm gonna make us a drink.

All right. Um, oh, can I use your bathroom?

Yeah. It's down the hall. First door on your left.

Okay.

[sighs]

What were you doing?

What is this?

Alexis, I'm so sorry.

When were you going to tell me?

I was gonna tell you, I just didn't want

-to ruin our night together. -You didn't think I wanna know

that the future funding of my business

has been denied?

[Donte] Like I said, I was gonna tell you,

I just...

I didn't wanna ruin this.

[Alexis] I don't care about any of this.

I wanna know why this decision was made.

I mean, gosh, we did everything you asked.

We hit every benchmark, exceeded all expectations.

It's just business.

Don't you dare give me those cliches.

Read it.

I don't wanna read it.

I want you to tell me why.

Everything you said is true.

You've done a great job, but you're a first time CEO.

After a thorough review, the partners decided

that a business like yours with really only one market

is just too hard to sustain in the long run.

And what about you?

Is that how you feel too?

-It doesn't matter how I feel. -Of course it does.

I understand their argument, but I believe in you.

You have a funny way of showing it.

Alexis, please.

I mean, why couldn't you have just been honest with me?

I was gonna tell you. I swear, I was.

I just didn't want this to ruin what we have.

No, what we had.

How can I ever trust you again?

Alexis, come on.

Go.

-Please. -I said, go.

For what it's worth. I meant what I said about us.

I don't wanna ever see you again.

[sighs]

Oh, how much of that did you hear?

Enough.

Baby, I'm so sorry.

What? No brilliant advice?

No, not now.

Since I assume you've already had plenty to drink.

How about the next best thing to drown your sorrows?

What's that?

Sleep.

Hmm.

Why aren't you dressed?

What's the point?

You're going to work looking like that?

I'm not going to work at all.

What are you going to tell your employees?

Let 'em think their jobs are safe just a little longer.

Huh?

Wow.

Oh, I never, never had you paid for one.

For what?

A quitter.

You can take your pop psychology right home with you.

It's not pop psychology, my dear. It's the truth.

So what comes next?

A speech about how I owe it to myself.

And I should buck up

and get myself together and forge ahead?

No. You owe it to your employees.

-Excuse me? -You owe it to your employees

to, Gemma and Brock to Sari.

To William.

To me.

I don't owe anybody anything.

I bled for that company

and I did everything possible to make it work.

Yes. Yes, you did.

And now you have to continue to do so.

Didn't you hear what Donte said, mom?

It's over. River Road is out.

River Road isn't the only venture capital firm around.

I'd have to go back to the beginning.

So, go back to the beginning then.

I don't know if I have that in me.

Alexis. Alexis, listen to me.

Now, just because you've lost faith in yourself,

I haven't lost faith in you.

[Charlotte] Hey, Donte. Hey.

I've never seen you sulking before.

I'm not sulking.

Okay. Stewing.

Is that better?

We made a mistake.

We should have backed them.

Maybe we should have.

But either way, you were too close to the situation.

That's nonsense.

-Is it? -Of course, it is.

Donte, you let your feelings for someone

cloud your judgment

and you've never done that before.

Those things aren't mutually exclusive, Charlotte.

I can care about Alexis

and still think Cyber Santa is a great company.

Perhaps you're right.

But there's nothing we can do about it now.

The decision has been made.

Yeah.

Did she take it badly?

That's an understatement.

How'd you tell her?

I didn't.

She saw your text, the one that said we're officially out.

Ouch.

Sorry about that.

Not your fault.

Donte, are you happy here?

Are you letting me go?

No. For what? For being childish, immature?

Come on, now.

We've known each other for a long time.

You know how valuable you are to this company.

What?

Do you need me to stroke your ego and tell you again?

No.

You have to admit you've changed

since you first met with Cyber Santa.

And you can deny it all you want.

It's the truth.

Maybe it is.

Maybe I just discovered what's important.

And where do you think you're going?

Fortune favors the bold.

Didn't you know that, Charlotte?

That's gross.

Oh, I went to the place--

Can I have everyone's attention?

I'm afraid I have some bad news.

Despite how hard we've worked,

despite everything we've hoped for,

our investors have decided

not to continue their relationship with us.

-Oh. -What?

Wait, what does this mean exactly?

It means we keep working.

We do exactly what we've been doing.

And it also means that you're gonna have

to have some faith in me.

Is the company going to fold?

Not if I can help it.

Look, I'm not gonna sugarcoat anything.

If you wanna leave, I wouldn't blame you,

but I'm gonna do everything in my power

to keep this company afloat.

Look, we built something special here,

and I'm not willing to give that up just yet.

Hmm.

I'm getting to work.

Well, me too.

I'm in. We believe in you, Alexis.

[Brock] Okay. Let's go. Hey, let's go.

All right.

[Alexis] I'm talking Christmas trees,

lights, everything.

Hold on one second. Did you get that?

Okay. I need everyone on deck, please. Okay?

I need all the lights, all the Christmas trees.

This is it. This is the one.

Every snowman comes with a hat

and the can of spray snow with every Christmas tree.

[Sari] Well, I think the ad would've been better

if it had been placed closer to the front of a magazine.

Yeah.

It's by the time people get to the end,

sometimes they won't even see it.

And I think we paid top dollar.

Okay.

All right. Well, let me know.

Make sure they fold the branches.

Don't let them bend it.

You know, if they bend, it defeats

the whole purpose of the Christmas tree.

And I thought I knew what hard work was.

You did. This is just hard work version 2.0.

Well, what? Did I use it wrong?

You were brilliant today, you know?

I was desperate.

Hmm, I've seen desperate.

You were brilliant.

Well, thank you.

But I'm afraid I might be a little too late.

Oh, there's only so much you can do, Alexis.

I mean, there's some situations that are beyond your control,

but you inspired those people today.

If there's anything that they can do for you,

they will.

I hope so.

Uh-hmm.

So, what's on tap for tomorrow?

Meetings with venture capitalists.

I can't believe you got 'em on such short notice.

Me either.

I just hope it's not indicative of their quality.

Oh, anyone would be crazy not to invest in Cyber Santa.

From your lips to God's ears.

Oh, speaking of lips. Oh, I forgot the hot chocolate.

I hope you have marshmallows.

Big day.

[sighs] Don't I know it?

Wish me luck now.

Oh, you don't need luck.

Okay. Good luck.

Good luck, anyway.

Thank you.

[Sari] Your 10:00 am meeting

with the venture capitalist is here.

I put him in the conference room.

Wait, I don't have a--

[phone ringing]

I am sorry. There's nothing on the calendar.

But...wait, what is this?

Is this some kind of joke?

Couldn't be further.

Look, I don't have time for this, Donte.

I have investor meetings lined up all day.

-Thanks to you. -Yeah.

So I can't do whatever this is.

This is one of your investor meetings.

River Road pulled out of Cyber Santa

that's what you told me.

Oh, no. Wait.

That's what you didn't tell me per the documents.

I don't work for River Road anymore.

What?

[Donte] As of last night, I quit.

Wait, why?

Well, the long answer is I wanted to be able

to decide on investments using my own metrics.

Sometimes a gut feeling's a lot more important

than anything on a financial report.

That's what being on the road,

seeing companies up close has taught me.

And the short answer?

The short answer, I did it for you.

I thought about what you said,

and you were right about everything.

But Alexis, the most important thing,

the one thing I need you to believe

is that I meant every word I said about you.

But without River Road, how are you able

to invest in companies on your own?

River Road isn't the only game in town.

I made a lot of contacts over the years

with a lot of other companies who would love

to finance my investments.

And Alexis, I want Cyber Santa to be the first one.

I'm sorry, but no.

Wait. No?

I'd love your investment. We all would.

But I can't be in business with someone I don't trust.

I never lied to you.

But you didn't believe in me either.

That's not true. I...

it wasn't my call.

I'm sorry.

[dramatic music]

What was that about?

Donte left River Road.

He started his own company and he wanted

Cyber Santa to be his first investment.

Well, that's amazing.

Yeah. Well, I turned it down.

What? Why?

He never believed in the company as much as I did.

Alexis, Alexis, listen to me.

Cyber Santa is your company.

No one is going to care about it more than you do.

Yeah. But that's what I need.

And you have that in Sari, in Gemma, in Brock, in me.

Now, for an investor, you need someone like Donte.

He's putting his money where his mouth is.

That's the biggest vote of confidence you can ask for.

More important than that, he cares about you.

All right.

What should I do, Mom?

You go and grab that man

before he walks out of this office.

Of course, we can get it for you by Christmas.

Just gimme your address

and I'll make sure because she wants it.

[Alexis] Donte, giving up so easily?

Look, I'm sorry.

You don't need to be sorry, Alexis.

Well, I was wrong.

You did believe in me.

I was just so angry I didn't see it.

I don't blame you.

You were right.

Cyber Santa deserved that financing.

If you gimme a chance, I'll get it.

I promise you.

I believe in this company and I believe in you.

I have to ask, what changed?

I mean, everything you've said in there--

I got some very good advice.

Huh?

Dare I ask from whom?

[laughs] Would you believe it?

An intern.

[singer] ♪ Fresh-worn clothes, mistletoes ♪

♪ It's my favorite time of year ♪

♪ We hang holiday lights

And I think it's...

Can I have everyone's attention please?

Hey.

All right.

I just wanted to congratulate all of you

as the numbers continue to come in

on this Christmas day.

I'm thrilled to say they've exceeded

all of our expectations.

-Oh. -Yes.

I can't thank all of you enough

for being here on Christmas together.

-Let's do it again next year. -Whoo!

And with the full year to prepare,

I think next Christmas will be even better.

-All right. -Yes.

Good.

Ho, ho, ho.

Wow.

So you really are staying?

I'm staying.

I think together we can do some great things

with this company.

So, it's purely a business decision?

Oh, there is one other factor.

I think I might be falling for the CEO.

Huh?

[William] So, Cecilia, now that your daughter's

business is a big success,

I guess you're going back to Florida, huh?

I don't know.

It seems like now she may need me more than ever.

Yeah, I imagine so.

Hmm. You know, but only on one condition.

-What's that? -She gives me a promotion.

So, you're really thinking about staying?

Well, I don't know. What do you think?

I'm biased. I mean, you're incredibly valuable

here in the warehouse

and you are the prettiest intern I've ever seen.

Oh.

Oh, wait a second.

Oh, Cyber Santa doesn't have any rules

about coworkers dating, do they?

I mean, I am an intern.

[Alexis] Not for long.

I was hoping we could make this arrangement

a little more permanent.

I'll even let you do your workouts

in the living room.

I think I'll need my own place.

As long as you'll stay.

I'll stay.

We got a lot of work to do next year.

So, we've wanted to run this by you,

you got a connection.

I think these will sell really well on Cyber Santa.

-Okay. -[Donte] Check it out.

[Alexis] Oh, wow.

-It's beautiful. -Right? Yeah.

I think it'll do well too.

I think people are gonna like it.

Huh.

[phone ringing]

Beautiful. What? What is it?

It's Charlotte.

Charlotte?

-Have you spoken to 'em? -No.

Uh, should I answer it?

Yeah.

Hello?

Donte. Hi, it's Charlotte. How you doing?

[Donte] I'm fine, Charlotte.

I'm actually with Alexis Willis right now.

Ooh. Even better.

Put me on speakerphone, please.

Okay.

Hi, Alexis.

So I wanna congratulate you both.

I've been following your progress

very closely in the trades.

-Thank you. -Thank you.

So, looks like I made a mistake, huh?

Well, we can't always back the right reindeer

can we, Charlotte?

No. No, we can't.

But we can try to make it right.

So, I wanna offer you financing for Cyber Santa.

Financing that will ensure that the company can maintain

its business and prosper and grow for years to come.

What do you think?

I think that's something we would seriously consider.

That's exactly what I wanted to hear.

We'll chat again soon.

Oh, Donte,

I should have listened to what you always say.

What was that?

Fortune favors the bold.

Oh, my God.

Merry Christmas.

[singer] ♪ Here comes the snow

[singers] ♪ All they want for Christmas

[singer] ♪ Had some food

[singers] ♪ All they want for Christmas

[singer] ♪ Mistletoes

[singers] ♪ All they want for Christmas

[singer] ♪ Santa's shoe

[singers] ♪ Santa's coming

[singer] ♪ Everything old

[singers] ♪ All they want for Christmas

[singer] ♪ Becomes new

[singers] ♪ All they want for Christmas

[singer] ♪ So this year let's make

♪ Their every wish come true

[singers] ♪ Every wish come true

[singer] ♪ All I wanna do is spend this time with you ♪

♪ Let's give 'em all they want

♪ For Christmas this year

♪ You better watch out 'cause it's almost time ♪

[singers] ♪ To make their dreams come true ♪

[singer] ♪ Give 'em all they want for Christmas this year ♪

♪ All I want is to spend this time with you ♪

[singers] ♪ All they want for Christmas