“Right,” Morgan said, wondering how fast she could search ‘how to record a podcast.’
“And I have some great news, folks,” Brad continued. “A few minutes ago, GreenField UnLtd. issued a press release announcing their entrance into the wellness space.”
“Our biggest rival followed our previous pivot?” Carter said, clearly dubious that this news was good.
Morgan had grabbed her phone. Of course, Hawk had a post up. It included a subtle-not-subtle dig at Zabloom. Classy. No wonder they’d stolen her hashtag. “Looks like they’re already being smug about it on social media.”
“It’s a clear indicator to the market that Zabloom is a trendsetter,” Brad declared. “And we’ve got first mover advantage, since we’re already into wellness and nutrition.”
Morgan wasn’t sure it counted as trendsetting if they’d already abandoned the field before the followers moved there, or a first mover advantage if they’d barely been in either field for a week and were planning on abandoning the business market for consumers immediately after.
“Make sure you cover that in the podcast,” Brad instructed.
“I’ve got a call I need to jump on,” Kelly announced, conveniently before Brad could come up with any more ideas.
The Zabloomers drifted off to their desks as Brad wentback to his office to brainstorm new ways to ruin their lives. Brad crooked a finger at Luke. She slipped into the office behind him.
“… and swap around the Walmart thing. Got all that, intern?” Brad was saying. He caught Morgan’s eye. “We’ll want to rework the brand book, of course. Get me that, too.”
Morgan looked at Luke, her blood roaring in her ears. “We can’t rebuild the entire company from scratch in time for Christmas.”
“Then why do I even have a demon?” He flicked his fingers at her, dismissing her. Luke stumbled out behind her, looking like he was in shock.
Overwhelmed, she picked not the most important thing but the one that seemed most easily accomplished. Morgan sidled up to Carter, feeling awkward. She didn’t know the first thing about producing a podcast, although her phone assured her the audio from a video conference platform could suffice. But it was the perfect opportunity. Maybe Carter’s heart’s desire was a demo that actually worked. Or maybe it was a swimming pool of disinfectant. She couldn’t save Zabloom. It was about staying focused on her goals and who she wanted to protect, she reminded herself.
“Want to get this over with?” she said, trying for a smile, which came out a little shakier than she’d intended.
Carter looked about as shell-shocked. Maybe he also wanted to check the most straightforward of the ridiculous things off the list. He grabbed a canister of antibacterial wipes off his desk. “Might as well.”
“Luke, come help me with the equipment.” She tugged his elbow.
“You’ve been here from the beginning,” Morganstarted, after Carter had finished mopping down the desk in the phone room and Luke had set up the recording. Rix wandered in behind them.
“Second employee,” Carter confirmed. He scooted his chair a little farther from the dog, and gave the door an extra swipe with a wipe where Rix’s fur had brushed against it. Rix’s fur was perfectly clean and not at all caustic; she tried to use her irritation to harden her heart a little. She couldn’t save him either. But he could save Luke.
“You must really believe in Zabloom’s mission,” Morgan prompted.
Carter paused for a moment. “I believe in our developers’ dedication.”
That wasn’t exactly an answer to the question. She tried again. “So were you Brad’s first hire, then?”
“Brad wasn’t the original CEO,” Carter said, to her surprise. “He came in later.”
He looked like he regretted saying that. She paused the recording. “Hold up. I thought Brad was the founder.”
Carter seemed to relax slightly with the recording paused. She realized his shoulders were always riding high, but they varied on exactly how close they were to his ears. “No, the founder was a guy named Hwon. The investors at the time liked the concept, but wanted someone with more… vision to lead the company. Hwon was bought out. Last I heard, he was off starting another company.”
“He didn’t take you with him?”
Carter tried to shrug casually, but was too tense to pull it off. “Apparently the deal included clauses about not poaching Zabloom employees.”
“I see.” So Carter had been stuck at Zabloom. She pushedher feelings down—she couldn’t afford to feel bad. It was him or Luke. “Thanks for the background. Keep going?”
Carter nodded. Rix tried to move toward him, probably to lay his head on Carter’s knee. The hellhound seemed to have a good sense of when someone was distressed. Carter winced. Luke grabbed the dog’s collar and redirected him to lay on his own feet instead.
“We were originally supposed to be a benefits platform,” Carter continued when Luke signaled the recording was on again. “We’d gotten a couple of early customers, but the investors at the time were concerned there weren’t enough multipliers with the business model.”
“But the product worked.”
