Let's Play A Dirty Ass Game, Mr. CEO

Chapter 17: PIERCE, THE WAY FORWARD?

LAURA

I was at Phoenix fashion house by the next two hours, struggling to unstrap my seatbelt when a vicious rap came down on my car window.

Glancing up, Mara stood there with a scowl, looking fabulous in a teal silk shirt and glossy lips. Her honey blonde hair was pulled into a messy bun that still somehow looked attractive. It was the best thing I loved about her features. Her hair. Sometimes I wished I had it instead of my tangly ginger curls.

As soon as I got out of the car, she pounced on me with her endless questions. "What happened? Why the hell did you not run away from him when you ’bumped’ into him?"

I rolled my eyes at her dramatic inverted comma gesture as I grabbed my bag from the passenger seat. "Let’s not get into all that, Mara. We should be thinking about damage control. What’s happening? Any real damages yet?"

It was safe and necessary asking Mara this, because she was the Chief Operating Officer of my brand. It was her job to know these things, and heck, she did an awful good job...maybe too good sometimes.

"Real damages, huh?" She fired after me. "Well we’re about to lose the magazine deals with GQ. Some core campaign deals too. How about that for real damages?"

"Don’t talk to me like I’m some kid here, come on. I had no choice in running into Tristan. He had some business around Eli’s school area, and I couldn’t leave as quickly as I wanted before he spotted me or decided to stop me."

Mara let out a deep groan and grabbed her bun. She usually did that when she was frustrated. "You know I’m just worried about you, right? I don’t want you in a bad place anymore, especially not because of that asshole. My concern has more to do with you than with the brand, you know that, don’t you?"

"Of course I know that, Mara." I nodded to greetings that flew in my direction the moment we stepped into the lobby. "Now enough nagging. We have to find a way to stop these stupid rumors flying around."

A peek at social media before I left my apartment had left me enraged and unsettled. There were speculations going around that I could be in an inappropriate relationship with Tristan, a man who was engaged to another woman. And the pictures that were taken of us...God..they were bad.

Bad enough that Harlan had called me soon after I got off the phone with Mara. I had told him I’d speak to him later, but not before assuring him that the pictures with Tristan were not what they appeared to be.

The fashion industry in New York was so brutal that a scandal like this could drastically ruin things for my brand. I had to tread carefully, and that was why it had to be tackled before things escalated more than they had already.

The narrative had to be controlled. I had to show the world that I had no business with another woman’s fiancée.

Moments after I stepped into my office, an urgent knock sounded on my door. The door swung open to reveal Charlotte, head of Phoenix’s PR team.

From the look on her face, I could tell that things were not good. And that instantly put me on edge.

"Ms. Hayes, I think we need to hold an urgent PR meeting. Things are quickly getting out of hand."

I placed my hands on the desk and leaned forward, trying to hide my nervousness. "Brief me."

"The magazine spread with GQ and New York Times is off the table. They got cold feet about a possible affair scandal, which could affect well...you know."

My heart missed a beat or two, but I tried to remain in control. "What else?"

"It’s a total disaster. We’re losing deals. Scheduled photoshoots are being cancelled, purchase orders too. The press tour with The Sun was cancelled just before I came into your office. This could affect the brand’s stock really bad."

"The damage is underway already," Mara cut in bluntly, her voice thick with trepidation. "Don’t sugarcoat it."

I heaved a sigh and dropped into my seat, exhausted. "What do we do?"

Charlotte swooped into the save with her opinion, which swept me off my feet even though I’d expected it deep in my heart.

"We need a collaboration with Pierce Holdings. Thankfully, Tristan Pierce is the CEO. So we can easily change the narrative with a collaboration."

"A collaboration?" I sounded skeptical, the fear was evident in my voice. "Is there really nothing else we can do here? We can’t debunk the rumours? Say the pictures with him are a misunderstanding?"

"No, ma’am. This is our best option."

Mara scoffed. "No freaking way. This is unbelievable."

Truly, it was. Especially because I told Tristan only yesterday that I would never work with him.

What were the freaking odds? Did I bite myself in the ass? How could I possibly go back to him and accept to work together? How could this work out, given our history?

An ache was beginning to worm its way into my skull. "I’ll holler at you soon," I murmured, waving Charlotte away.

When it was just us in the room, Mara aired her very obvious opinion. "You absolutely can’t work with him."

"Charlotte is right, you know? I don’t see a better way out of this situation."

"Babe..." She walked around the desk and put her hands on my shoulder. "Its going to be emotionally tasking, working with him. It’s going to mess with your head. You might be deceived into thinking there’s something there, when really—"

"Mara, please. I think I need to talk to my chief investor. Let’s worry about all that later."

Getting the cue, she left my office. And after giving it much thought, I called Harlan.

"Are you okay?" That was the first thing he asked the moment the call connected.

"I’m just confused, Harlan. The PR team suggests a collaboration with Pierce Holdings. What do you think?"

He was silent for a long moment. And for a while, I hoped he would be against the idea.

But that was not the case when he spoke. His words shattered the little hope left in me. "After everything you’ve been through, Laura, I think you should put your brand first. Do whatever it takes to save it from a bad crash."

My heart sank further down the drain.

At the end of the day, after further consultations with the PR team, I had to do the most difficult thing I’d done in a long time.

I dialed Tristan’s number.

And as if he had waited all his life for this moment, he picked up on the first ring.

"Laura?"

The moment his voice drifted into the speaker, I knew I was fucked.