33. Noah
33
NOAH
I t was a finite talent pool, and I felt like we were circling the drain.
The post-scandal player migration was finally over, but PSM still needed to deal with our all-important reputation, so we were interviewing outside PR agencies that specialized in high stakes, high profile scenarios. My in-house PR team was great at managing our own clients, but we all agreed they were too close to the problem to adequately rehab us from a situation of this scope.
I’d already turned down a guy who was supposed to be one of the best in the business, who suggested that hiring more female agents could sway public perception. What he failed to take into consideration was that I had a full roster of excellent agents already on staff, both male and female, who’d worked hard and proved themselves every day. I watched my margins closely, and adding more agents was bad business on too many levels to even consider it.
The image-cleanup efforts were off to a shitty start.
A soft knock on the door was yet another reminder that a stranger was sitting in Maddy’s chair. Maddy used to bang on the door like she was being chased by a murderer, like she needed to come in at this very second or else something terrible was going to happen. It used to aggravate me a little, but the meek shit this temp was doing was annoying the hell out of me. It wasn’t the temp herself, she was fine, it was because she wasn’t Maddy .
“Come in,” I said, not bothering to hide my frustration.
“Mr. Parker? I’m so sorry to interrupt, but your next appointment is here early,” the woman whose name I couldn’t recall said. Tammy? Tara? She looked petrified of me. Good.
“You could’ve buzzed me with that information,” I said as I pointed to the phone.
She went pale. “Right. Of course. My bad, sorry! Anyway, Craig Cafarelli is here whenever you’re ready.”
I’d wanted to grab a cup of coffee in between meetings, but it was probably better to get them over with in quick succession. “Fine, send him in.”
“Okay, thank you! Thanks, I will!”
She backed out of the room like she was happy to get away from me.
I’d barely glanced at my phone when my door burst open.
“Noah, honor to meet you!” Craig boomed at me with his hand outstretched. “Shitty circumstances, but whatevs, we’ll make it better, right? That’s why I’m here, after all.”
I couldn’t decide what part of him I hated more: the fact that he was being overly familiar with me, his use of the word ‘whatevs,’ or the fact that he probably coasted by on his frat boy good looks. Who’d booked these people?
“Thanks for coming by,” I answered. I pointed to the chair. “Sit, please.”
He dropped into it with a loud exhale. “I’d tell you that your secretary is cute but given what’s been going on around here I should probably keep that opinion to myself.”
I frowned at him.
“Joking, totally joking! Anyway, I think we should get right to it. No dicking around.”
I bristled at his casual tone. We were a sports agency, not a locker room. “Yes, the sooner the better.”
“Got it.” Craig leaned forward in his chair and steepled his fingers. “So here’s the deal. I’ve been watching how public perception has been shifting since Beckett Tate started talking. Seems if you peel back the layers there’s a single issue at the core of it all.”
I sighed. “Yeah, got it. So is your take that it’s the power imbalance? Sexual harassment in the workplace? Employment law issues?”
He frowned and shook his head. “Any other guesses?”
I threw my hands up. “That’s why you’re here, Craig. Please enlighten me.”
Craig locked eyes with me. “The core is you , Noah. You are the problem.”
I sputtered out a laugh, but he didn’t even smile.
“I’m not kidding. If PSM wants to totally rehab their image, then you need to step down.”
I wanted to launch myself across the desk and throttle the man-child, but I didn’t need another mess to clean up.
“Not happening.”
The air was sucked from the room as I waited for Craig to backpedal.
He remained locked onto me as he shrugged. “You’re looking for an expert, I’m an expert. That’s my take.”
I fought to maintain my poker face. “Got it, Craig. Appreciate your insights. That’s all I’ll be needing from you today. Thanks for coming.”
He jerked his head back in shock. “That’s it? You don’t even want to go deeper?”
“Absolutely not. Tammy can see you out.”
He sneered as he stood. “Nice one, Parker. Her name is Tamara . Guess they weren’t wrong about you. Good luck finding someone to help you dig out of this colossal fuck-up. Glad it won’t be me.”
I allowed him to have the last word, because given my state of mind, if I’d opened my mouth we’d probably have come to blows.
I pushed the intercom on the phone. “Tamara, how long until my next meeting?”
The thing crackled and buzzed as she tried to figure out how to use it. Finally, her voice came through. “They’re fifteen-minute meetings with five minutes between them, but actually your next appointment is already waiting.”
I closed my eyes and rubbed them. “Fine. Let’s get this over with. Send him in.”
“Um… but, uh… okay.”
The door opened and a tall, elegant blonde woman walked in wearing a smirk. “Not what you expected, hmm?”
I got up from my desk and walked over to meet her. “You’re right. Today’s been a whirlwind. You’re Melinda West, right?”
“I am indeed. So nice to meet you, despite the circumstances.”
I reached out to shake her hand, and she took mine in both of hers, letting her fingers drag against mine for a beat too long.
“I’m looking forward to getting your view of potential next steps,” I said, moving behind my desk again.
Melinda settled into the chair and crossed her long legs slowly. The move was so obviously flirtatious that I wondered if it was some sort of test, to see if I might be tempted by the model-like blonde. As if I could focus on anything but the dumpster fire that currently was my life.
“Before we do that, let’s talk about you for a minute, Noah. Are you holding up okay? The pressure must be terrible.”
There was no way I was going to admit how rough things had been lately to a complete stranger, especially one I was looking to work with. “I’m pushing through, which is exactly why you’re here today. Let’s hear what you’ve got for me.”
The corner of her mouth curled into a smile. “I’ve got lots of good stuff for you.”
I cleared my throat. “Excellent. The floor is yours.”
Melinda leaned down to reach into her briefcase and pulled out a tablet. “I put together some mood boards and projections, sort of a mix of art and science to get us started. Let me talk you through everything.”
She got out of her chair and came around my desk to perch on the edge of it, her leg a few inches from mine. I shifted farther away as I glanced at the tablet.
“This is where I think we need to change the perception, Noah.” She tapped a red fingernail on a graph. “A high percentage of people think that PSM is an old boy’s club based on who you represent.”
“But that’s not true,” I interrupted, Melinda’s flirting temporarily forgotten so I could defend myself. “We have plenty of female clients.”
“And that’s great, but why is all of your social media focused on the dudes?” She tapped the screen again and our Instagram feed popped up. “Look: Raphael Hernandez, Ricky DelRio, Burt Simmons, Jack Matthews, Andrei Manolov, Zeke Hale, Alan Chang… look how far I have to scroll until I hit Kiley Morsbach!”
I squinted at the tablet. Damn it, she was right. “Okay, point taken.”
“You need to do a complete social media overhaul. How many people are on the social media team?” She tilted her head at me.
“That’s part of our marketing department. They handle it.”
She was shaking her head before I’d even finished speaking. “Nope, not anymore. You need a dedicated team, and if you’re smart, it’ll be comprised of mainly women.”
“Interesting,” I said.
“That’s the only freebie you’re getting out of me,” she said as she walked back to the chair on the other side of my desk. “This was supposed to be a high-concept meeting, but I couldn’t resist getting granular with you.” She paused to let her eyes drop down my body. “Because I like you, Noah. I want to work with you. More than you know.”
Her voice went husky as she said the last part, and alarm bells went off in my head. “I appreciate the suggestion and I’m sure you have other insights. I’m intrigued. You’re the first person to have a reasonable-sounding, actionable plan right out of the gate.”
“There’s plenty more where that came from,” she said as a slow smile crept across her face. Her lips were so red against her gleaming teeth, almost predatory.
“Fantastic. Anything else I should know about working with you?”
Her smile widened. “I’m a night owl. I have all of my best ideas after dark. How do you feel about that?”
“I work when there’s work to be done, so it’s fine.” Maddy’s face popped into my head. She used to be the reason I’d silence my phone and focus on something other than PSM in the evening. Now that wouldn’t be an issue.
“Good,” Melinda said. She leaned forward so her elbows were on my desk, offering me a view down the front of her blouse if I bothered to look away from her face. “I envision a lot of late nights with you, Noah.” Her tongue flicked over her lips.
I frowned at her. “Just to be clear, I still have a few more introductory meetings with other PR firms to get through.” I dreaded the thought of more.
“Oh come on,” Melinda laughed softly. “Do you really think you’re going to find a better fit than me, Noah? Not to brag, but I’m the total package. I can be bossy when I know I’m right, but I’m very willing to take orders when necessary.” She looked me up and down again. “All sorts of orders.”
Well, fuck. Now there was no mistaking what she was about, but I could not believe a woman I was considering hiring to help me deal with allegations of sexual misconduct was pulling this shit.
I managed a brief smile at her. “Well that’s unfortunate, because I never issue orders to people on my team. I prefer a collaborative approach. I appreciate you coming in, but I can see that it’s not going to work out, Melinda.”
Her triumphant smile flipped to a frown. “What?”
I stood up. “I keep these initial meetings brief because that’s all I need to make a decision about who’s moving on to more formal vetting meetings. And I can tell that you’re not the right fit for PSM. I appreciate your time, though.”
Her mouth was hanging open. “You can’t be serious.”
“Oh, I am,” I said with a smile. I leaned over to punch the intercom button. “Tamara? Ms. West needs parking validation before she leaves.”
Melinda stood up so abruptly the chair legs screeched. “You’re an asshole, you know that?”
“Yes, I’ve heard that before. Thank you, again, for your time,” I walked to the door then held it open for her.
She stormed out, pausing to narrow her eyes at me over her shoulder. I felt a wave of relief after I closed the door behind her, quickly followed by dread.
I was no closer to finding help than I’d been before the meetings. And I had no desire to continue the charade with other candidates. From this point on, my legal team could handle the initial meetings, and I’d step in once they’d determined who might be appropriate.
I threw myself back in my chair and closed my eyes. Fuck , I was exhausted, and angry at the world. But despite all the problems on my plate, the one thing my mind kept turning back to was Maddy.
Damn it, I missed her. I hated admitting it to myself, but ever since she left, I felt like there was a hole in my life. She’d become the person I wanted to talk to at the end of a bad day, and given how many of them I’d had lately I would’ve kept her busy. But no, she’d walked out on me, on us , and I was left fighting all the daily battles on my own. I still couldn’t believe how much she’d changed my life in such a short period.
I tapped through my laptop to my calendar app. Funny, the thing had become a little diary between us. No one else could’ve understood the code we’d developed, but it made sense to the two of us. Like my next trip. I could tell from her hieroglyphics that I was booked for two plane tickets, one room, two nights, and then a little joke about her wanting a steak dinner with me. I felt myself smiling despite the pain.
Maddy wasn’t going to be there with me.
Getting away from my life was a much-needed break; I just wished she’d be by my side when I did.