This is how things spiral so quickly in this business.
“Her voice is so whiny,” I say, sliding the phone back to Tessa. “I have no idea why people have given her a platform.”
For the rest of the morning, we are in a holding pattern of sorts. Tessa’s keeping an eye out for any mentions of Bailey, and I call Kara, Bailey’s manager, to keep her in the loop. She tells me that any communication between Bailey and River would need to go through their managers first. Note taken: They’ve blocked each other.
Because things are somewhat controlled at the moment, we also work on other clients, writing briefs and responding to media inquiries.
Sometime around midmorning, a harried Tessa comes rushing into my office, her pale complexion even more pallid, her trusty notepad tucked under her arm. She holds her phone out, the screen facing me, and I tell the client I’ve been prepping for an upcoming interview that I’ll call them back.
“So, this is bad,” she says, wiggling the phone in my face.
I grab it out of her hand, and my stomach instantly drops.
It’s River’s Instagram account. A picture he posted eight minutes ago of him and a golden retriever puppy in his arms. He’s tagged a rescue shelter, and the caption says:Meet Bear. My new buddy. At least one relationship in my life is unconditional.
“Crap,” I say, mostly under my breath. I’d love to say more, but we don’t cuss at Harrow & Finch. It’s in our handbook. Our partners are very old school.
“Yeah, crap,” says Tessa, her tone indicating that she’d also like to use other words right now. “What should we do?” She pulls her notepad out from under her arm, at the ready to jot down any ideas I might have.
I shake my head because I don’t know. This is a well-crafted post. It will garner sympathy and imply River is the wounded party without actually saying it. And it has Luke written all over it.
Dropping it midmorning on a Friday means he wants all eyes on it. News you want to disappear gets dropped on Friday night because everyone is too busy with their real lives to care, and by Monday, it’s usually forgotten.
But Luke wants this one seen and remembered. It’s a bold move. Under other circumstances, I might have been impressed, had this not just blown things up for me. Because it will. People are easily swayed by a puppy.
Annoyed by this new chain of events, I pick up my phone and send off a quick text.
Me:So much for playing nice.
I set my phone down, but it beeps almost instantly.
323-555-6775:Sorry. The client is my boss.
He’s not sorry. Not even a little. In fact, I bet if he took aKingdom of Flames and Moonlightcourt test, he’d definitely end up in the Eclipse because he is basically the devil.
I press his number and hit the “Create New Contact” button. Then I add “Jerkwad” to the name field and save it. I have plenty of other things I’d like to call him right now, but please refer to the company handbook.
Once that’s taken care of, I slam my phone down on my desk. Just because.
“You okay?” Tessa asks, her big brown eyes looking concerned.
I let out a heavy exhale. “We need to hope this puppy post doesn’t work.”
She sucks in her lips, looking apologetic. “About that . . .” She holds her phone out to me again.
There it is at the top of the TikTok searches.River Rhodes adopts puppyis already trending, and right underneath isBailey Lockhart cheated. Fan-freaking-tastic.
This means war.
Chapter 4
PR Tip #46:The crisis doesn’t care if you’re ready.
Here’s the thing about a PR war: I’ve never been in one. Sure, I’ve fired back some shots a time or two, but I’ve never actually had to go to war. It’s only been an hour since River’s post, and it’s been shared so many times that it’s already crossed over from fan accounts to mainstream entertainment outlets. People are starting to see River as the heartbroken one.
So basically, I’m panicking.
Which is why this is now an emergency and Simone will need to come back. As in, right now. She can deal with this whole cheating thing and also Luke Wilder. She could do it with both hands tied behind her back. Not that she would, because that would be stupid, and Simone is anything but that.
