Page 27 of Texting My Secret CEO
“Did I say that?” Pete murmurs.
“You showed me Dakota’s stream,” I say. “She’s extremely talented. She has serious insight. Make sure she’s on the guest list.”
Pete and Elena glance at each other. It’s a quick moment, over fast. I might’ve missed it if I wasn’t paying close attention. I let too much slip then. Passion, fire, and pride.
“I’m sure you can both handle this, yes?” I say.
“Uh, sure,” Pete murmurs, standing. “Which other streamers are you keen to have there?”
Dammit. I don’t even know. I haven’t watched anyone else except for DakkyDuck.
“The usual lineup,” I say vaguely, waving a hand. “And Pete, put a press release together. We’re going to show some early previews of the reworked Cove dungeon to our users. I want a stylish, professional voiceover explaining we’ve heard their complaints and are addressing them directly.”
“The board will want assurances too,” Pete murmurs.
“I’ll sing whatever tune they want,” I grunt. “As long as they don’t get in the way.”
“They might?—”
“If they force the issue,” I snarl. “I’ll make them choose. They can go on without me, or let me fix this.”
“The stock would hit the earth’s core without you, Jack, come on.”
“Then they should remember that,” I grunt.
Pete nods shortly. “Can we talk privately?”
Elena shifts uncomfortably. “Um, actually. I was hoping the same?”
I nod. “Pete, let me talk to Elena first.”
He shrugs, taking out his phone as he heads for the door.
Elena takes a deep breath, folding her hands in her lap. “First, I want to say thank you for all the opportunities you’ve afforded me so far, sir.”
“You’re very welcome,” I tell her sincerely. “You deserve it. You work hard, and you get results.”
A tight smile. “Yes, thank you.”
“But?” I say, hoping I sound casual and approachable and not like the big, grumpy wolf the media sometimes brands me.
“I’d like to talk about a promotion,” she murmurs.
Immediately, my CEO instincts kick in. This is the worst part of the job. Because Elena deserves a promotion. And I can’t give her one.
“I know Emerald Cove didn’t turn out the way we all hoped,” she says. “The users didn’t love it as much as we wish they did. But I worked day and night to bring it to life. Organizing all the teams, the freelancers, liaising with the Japanese office, sometimes taking your place on conference calls when you were busy elsewhere.”
I lean back in my chair, sighing. I hate this shit. “Elena, I’m so sorry, but for now, I have to say no.”
She flinches, hurt. Deservedly so. “Oh.”
“You deserve this,” I tell her. “And down the line, once this has settled, Iwillmake this right. You have my word on that. But if I promote you now, the board will riot. The way they see it, you were intimately involved in a flagship level our users hate.”
“That’s not fair,” she says.
“I know that. You were helping bring a vision to life, not having the vision yourself. It doesn’t change the corporate reality, unfortunately.”
Even saying the phrasecorporate realitymakes me feel sick.
