16. Adam

16

ADAM

S eeing my face in print no longer produces the strange gut drop it did after that first event I attended with Anna, and we both look so comically surprised in the photos of Arty Maroz’s assault. Another paper has my face contorted into an angry snarl. It’s badass, something I could use in competitions, and badass is a word I’ve never used to describe myself. But God, is this what people are going to find when they do a search on my name? Prospective employers? Fuck.

After I leave Anna’s, I head to the office. There’s still a ton of work to do on the kits: Susie is launching them on the website at the end of the week. As I take in the wonderful weekend quiet and the shadowy desks in the half-dark, my phone rings just as I turn on the lights.

Carly. The PR Janus bullied me into using two days ago. He said he’d talked to Anna, and I “absolutely needed” someone for my personal stuff, or it would “rapidly spiral out of control.” I huff out a breath. When I told him I couldn’t afford it, he swore at me and said he was going to add it to the Janus Industries contract.

“Hey, Adam, I saw the videos and photos from the event last night and I’m calling to discuss tactics,” Carly chirps in my ear .

“Sounds sensible.”

“I’ve spoken to Anna Talanova’s PR team …”

Already? On a Saturday? Wow. How much are they charging? “Okkkaayy …”

“And they want to play the angle of harassment … I understand Anna’s lawyer is trying to tie down a temporary order of protection for her today. I don’t think this is the first time this has happened to her.”

Oh really? She didn’t mention that. My mind plays back her slight hesitation last night and something hot and sharp bubbles in my chest. “Jesus.”

“Exactly.”

“We were thinking that we’d push the line of you wanting to do your best by her, etc. Low key.”

“That sounds sensible.” I blow out a long breath. “The whole thing makes me mad if I’m honest. What women have to put up with. All the bullshit Arty Maroz is dumping on Anna, and all she can do is collect his texts and go after him through some long slow legal process? It sucks.”

There’s a short pause on the other end of the line. “Would you like to make a more political statement?”

A what? “What kind of political statement?”

“I’m not sure exactly, but along the lines of the idea that he’s a predator—a feminist support approach. We’d have to draft up something. I can’t guarantee that anyone will be interested, but if you make a statement, some of the press might want to talk to you, and that changes the angle from him to you.”

Wow, what a cat-and-mouse game this is. Do I want more media interest? I’m starting to wonder whether it’s worth it. But Carly barrels on:

“This is how it works, Adam. You come to the attention of journalists for whatever reason, and you have to make the most of it when it happens.”

“Not sure this is happening for legitimate reasons or that I want to take advantage of it.”

“But that’s where I come in. My job is to build your profile and get the right type of coverage. Trust me, Adam, in situations like this, Arty Maroz’s PR company may step in and spin some tale about you to justify his behavior—why he assaulted you or even Anna. The truth is, he’s more likely go for you because attacking a woman doesn’t look smart. They could easily make some awful stuff up. I’ve seen it happen.”

I bury my head in my hands. This has really spiraled. Like some messy, threatening thing that Janus or Fabian might get sucked into. I need some advice. Fabian never touches the media, but I could talk to Janus.

“Plus, you can push things like pictures of that fight down with something more positive,” she adds.

I guess there’s no harm in getting Carly to write something as a starting point.

“If you could draft something, that would be amazing.”

“Excellent. I’ll do that now. It’ll need to go out today, Adam.”

“I can do that.”

“Great. Good to catch up with you.” And she hangs up.

I immediately phone Janus.

“Adam!” he says. “To what do I owe the honor of a call on the weekend?”

“I know you’re in the office, asshole.”

“I’m in the home office, yeah,” he says, chuckling.

“And Jo?”

“Korea. Is she ever anywhere else?”

“Didn’t you kickstart all this interest in her company?”

“I am not taking any credit for it. It’s all her. So what if the people at Samsung are in love with her? Although they’re more enamored with Des if I’m being honest.”

“Des?”

“Her number two. He’s a great tech guy.”

“I called for some advice, actually.”

“Excellent. No one wants to listen to what I think about things in the business at the moment, so it’s a welcome change.”

I find that hard to believe. “Well, I got involved in an actual fight last night. Anna’s ex-boyfriend went after her at an event we were attending … ”

“Wait. Like on the street? What the hell, Adam?” His fingers tap away on his keyboard.

A sigh seeps out while he searches online. He lets out a low whistle. “These pictures are … hang on, I’ve got a video.”

Oh dear, I couldn’t bring myself to watch the whole thing.

He starts to laugh. “He didn’t stand a chance! The rage on your face is priceless. He went down like a sack of potatoes.”

I growl down the phone. I don’t want to be praised for decking some guy. I can just imagine my mother’s views if she thought I was involved in an actual fight. And God, I hope this little gem doesn’t reach the far corners of bumfuck nowhere. I clench and unclench my fist. It was strangely satisfying taking Arty Maroz down.

“I sounded off to Carly about what Anna puts up with, and she’s suggested she could try and spin the media a bit. Talk about predators and widen it out into how women are treated more generally, how they’re subjected to more abuse online than men … all that stuff.”

“Are you comfortable with that?” Janus says. His chair rolls back and footsteps echo across the floor.

“What are you doing?”

“Getting a double espresso. This feels like a caffeine kind of conversation.” I hear the clinking of cups and beans being ground in the background. “Jo would love you forever.”

“What? Why?”

“She’s vitriolic about how women are judged in business. You can imagine what it was like for her starting out. A petite redhead in kickass clothing? No one treated her seriously. She had to dress completely differently.” He chuckles.

“What’s funny about that?”

“When I first met her, she was all dressed up in an executive suit. I made some assumptions and, as you can probably guess, that didn’t go well for me. When I met her later in what she normally wears, it kind of blew me away.”

My mind swings back to Susie in her dungarees with dreadlocks begging on the street. How adamant she was that she was never working for another company. Did no one take her seriously, either? Or maybe something worse? Goddammit. This stuff is terrible …

“It makes me furious that anyone has to put up with this kind of bullshit.”

“I could never step out that far,” Janus says ruefully. “That’s a terrible thing to say, but my board of investors would flip … They’re all super cautious … they don’t want anything that would rock the boat with the company or its valuation. But you could certainly do it …”

“It could all blow up in my face.”

“Carly will make sure it doesn’t. She’s the best.”

“Yeah. I like her. Thanks for that, by the way. She’s going to put together a statement for me. Will you look it over? It has to go out today if I do it.” I chew my lip. I’ve never asked him for help.

“Of course!” he says, something light lifting his voice. “I’d be delighted.”

Even with my small brushes with the media so far, I’m starting to understand how all this works, how a reputation can be manipulated so easily. And later, after Carly and I have gone back and forth getting the wording right, the statement goes out and all I can do is cross my fingers and hope this doesn’t come back to haunt me.