He reached for the glass of water in front of him and took a huge gulp of it. “This is a nightmare.”
That made her laugh again. “Oh, come on. That kind of attention is good. It means you’re getting traction outside of tech spaces. Yesterday, I saw someone had done a list of the hottest CEOs and you were number one. Here, let me show you.” She took her cell phone from her handbag and searched for the blog post. When she brought up the page full of photos of handsome, broody CEOs, she handed her phone over to him. “See? Number one. The internet has been going crazy over you.”
He stared at her phone in horror. “Someone added giant hearts over my head.” He paused. “Hold on. It says, ‘Simon is bae.’ What the hell does that even mean? This makes me look like an idiot.”
“Correction. It makes you look gorgeous. Which you are,” Heather said.
His face got even redder and she was getting a slightly twisted sort of satisfaction at seeing him so flustered. Simon was a cool customer most of the time, so seeing him react like this wasn’t something that happened very often. “Is it too late to stop that men’s magazine from releasing the rest of the photos?”
“Nope.” Heather shook her head and gave him a meaningful glance. “By the way, that’s part of my good news. The news I wanted to share with both you and Agnes.”
Agnes flashed her a curious look. “What is it?”
“After seeing the instant frenzy that a few photos caused, Guilty magazine wants to make the interview with Simon their cover story,” Heather replied. “It’s one of the top, legit magazine’s in the country. I got an email from an editor this morning and he says that a photo of Simon will be on the cover and he’ll get a long profile piece in the magazine. So, it isn’t going to just be a small article. It’s getting the cover story treatment. Isn’t that great?”
Simon groaned. “I’m in hell.”
“This is wonderful news.” Agnes said, ignoring him. “This is the kind of media attention the board has wanted for years. Heather, you’re a miracle worker. And to show you how happy the board is with all your work, we’ve got a project that we want you to take on.”
“What sort of project?” she asked.
Agnes set her menu down. “Well, the media company that owns Guilty magazine also runs a TV production company. They want to do a documentary on Simon. You know, kind of a biography of his life. A look at how he works. A deeper look at his personal life. That sort of thing.”
“My personal life?” Simon scowled. “No. That’s not happening, Agnes.”
Heather grimaced. With Simon’s father back in the picture, a documentary could certainly complicate things. And as much as she would like to clue Agnes in to Simon’s family current family issues, she hadn’t been given permission to talk about Simon’s personal life. “When do they want to start shooting?”
“Ordinarily I would have pushed things back, but Heather, you’re so good at working with the media. I said that if I could get you to agree to take on this project, they could start shooting right away,” Agnes replied. “That’s the beauty of a documentary. You don’t have to wait for casting or sets.”
Heather chewed her lip, mulling over how she would take on a documentary and deal with Simon’s personal life getting so complicated recently. “I’d love to take this on, but I do worry about personal details getting out.”
“Oh, I completely understand that concern. Heather, the board wants you around to control the narrative as much as possible,” Agnes said. “We want a few personal anecdotes. Childhood stories. An interview or two with coworkers or friends. That kind of thing. Nothing salacious.”
“That’s still too personal,” Simon said through gritted teeth.
Before Heather could respond, a waitress arrived to take their orders. When the waitress took their menus and left, Agnes turned her focus back to Simon.
“I know this all sounds personal, Simon, but with Heather around you’ll be able to have more control,” Agnes pointed out. “Heather’s new position means you’ll have a better chance to protect yourself. This is the perfect opportunity to keep an eye on the media while they’re doing a documentary on you.”
Heather nodded. “In other words, keep your enemies close.”
“Exactly,” Agnes said. “All of this is strategy. Besides, if the documentary does well, I can imagine it leading to a movie. A movie about your life. Think about what that could mean for Dover. For your legacy.”
“What do I get out of this?” he demanded. “You all seem to be getting what you want out of this deal. I expect to get something in return.”
She smiled inwardly. Even when it looked like they could get Simon to agree, he still had a way of making it difficult for them. He might like to think of himself as just an intellectual, but he could be very cunning when he wanted to be. No doubt he’d tried to squeeze everything he could out of the board. As his media relations assistant, it was her job to make sure she delivered on the things he wanted. “How about we ask the board to make a bigger commitment to Blue Naught?”
Heather knew how much the newly acquired company meant to Simon, and she sensed an opportunity.
Simon’s hesitation seemed to vanish as he leaned forward and nodded. “Yes. We’ve just acquired them, but the board has never supported the venture. I want more support from the board. And a bigger financial investment now that we’ve brought them on board.”
Agnes sighed heavily. “I should have known you weren’t going to make this easy.”
“Get the board to sign off, and you’ll get your documentary,” Simon muttered.
“What if they disagree?” Agnes asked.
“Then you’re not getting your documentary,” he said in a voice that let Agnes know he meant every word he said.