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I huffed. “Right, you thoughtshewas guilty of something too.”
“Sheisthough,” he countered, putting his fork completely down. “I know you don’t want to believe that she would betray you, but I have proof – somebody fromCanvashas been paying Kim a lot of money. Kim has full access to your office… to your computer… you see where I’m going with this?”
I shook my head. “Hell no, I don’t. Not only are you accusing Kim, you’re accusing a company that helped pioneer the black beauty industry of what… trying to take me down? Inthismanner?Why?!”
“I don’t knowwhy, Monica, but I do knowwhat. I know you want to believeCanvasis above reproach – you probably grew up using their brands, and maybe you still do. Maybe you admire the way they built and grew their business. Maybe you want to think they’re just flat out better than this. But numbers don’t lie.”
“But they can damn sure misrepresent the facts! About a year ago, Kim tried a new lipstick from them. A test product. It broke her face out really badly, and she wanted to put them on blast, but I talked her into just emailing someone at the company, to see what recourse she had. She followed my advice, and now I see that she got paid for her discretion. Good for her.”
Wick sat back from his plate, smirking at me. “So… she used a sample product from a popular company, and had a breakout, huh?”
“Yes, she did.”
“Just like all those influencers who used those test products foryourcompany, and had those breakouts? Quite the coincidence, isn’t it?”
I frowned, confused. “Wait a minute… what are you saying?”
“I’m saying that sheplayedyou, and has been working this shit for a while, if this was a year ago. She was testing you – gauging your reaction. I bet you she didn’t suggest thatyoushould just pay those women off to “be discreet” about it when your shit was breaking people out.”
“I nevergotany emails. They just went straight to bashing me online!”
He shook his head. “Oh, but youdid. See, Kim interceptsallof yourVivid Vixenemails – she deleted them before you ever saw them, and said nothing. Luckily for you, the web service you use keeps backups, and they were kind enough to send them to me. Monica,Vivid Vixenstarted as an indie brand – some of those influencers had been fans of yours from day one. Youreallythink they wouldn’t try to contact you first to find out what was going on?”
I blinked, hard. “Wait…no. Kim said that… no, this can’t be true.”
“I’m sorry. But it is. I don’t know what they have on her, how much she’s supposed to be getting, if they’re threatening her to make her do it, or… I don’t know what. But Idoknow that Kim is not on your team. Did you ever actually see this supposed breakout?”
I had to swallow the lump in my throat before I could answer. “I… no. She… she worked remotely for the whole week. Said she was too embarrassed to leave the house.”
Wick nodded. “Yeah. Probably more like… she couldn’t look you in the face knowing what she was doing.”
Yeah.
Probably that.
Absently, I shook my head as I pushed away my plate, suddenly disinterested in the noodles.
“Hey,” Wick said, reaching across the counter to grab my hand. “I know it’s hard, but… try not to let it consume you. We’re going to figure this out.”
I scoffed. “Will we? Because… here I am again. More and more questions, notnearlyenough answers.”
“Yes, we will. Kim is going to wake up, sooner or later, and she’s going to tell us what she knows.”
“What if she knowsnothing? What if she can’t even remember? What then?”
“Then we follow a different lead.”
“Like what?”
He shrugged. “At this point…anything.It doesn’t have to be today, but at some point, we’re going to have to sit down and have a real conversation about your enemies.”
“I don’thaveenemies,” I insisted, throwing up my hands. “I don’t fuck with anybody, specifically to prevent anybody from fucking with me! I run my business and Imindmy business.”
“That may be true, but somewhere along the day, some feathers got ruffled, and—”
“You’d better not say a damn thing about chickens coming home to roost.”
Wick grinned. “I mean, I wasn’t planning on it, but… it’s accurate.”
