Chapter 33
JUNO
Iwas having a dream about being chased by bees. Then I woke up and realized it was my phone buzzing. It must have been going for a while.
Still half-asleep, I fumbled for it on the nightstand and squinted at the screen. Notifications were stacking up faster than I could process them. Instagram. Twitter. LinkedIn. Email alerts. Text messages. Everything lit up at once.
What the hell?
I sat up, my heart already starting to race even though I didn’t know why yet. If I had gone viral again, I was going to cry.
The first text I saw was from Hollis, sent about an hour ago.
Good morning, beautiful. Going for a run. Talk later. Miss you already.
I smiled despite the chaos on my screen. He and I were good, which was a relief. I scrolled to the next message.
Kari: CALL ME. NOW. I’m already headed to the office.
My stomach dropped. I opened Instagram and immediately saw why my phone was having a meltdown. The top post on my feed was a video someone had taken of Hollis, which promised to be “shocking.”
He was sitting at an outdoor table at what looked like a fast food restaurant, eating a Curly burger. A very obviously greasy, very clearly not plant-based burger.
The caption read: HOLLIS BLACKWELL EATING AT CURLY’S?? The same day he announces his own burger. Guess it must be trash. #Burgergate
I stared at the screen, my brain trying to catch up. The video had over two million views. Two million. And the comments section was a bloodbath.
“So much for that partnership with Young at Heart lol”
“This is hilarious. Man announces a healthy burger and immediately goes to Curly’s. You are what you eat.”
“I was actually excited for the B Well burger but if HE won’t eat it, I’m not touching it”
“Red meat for the win”
“What the hell?” My brain stuttered. My thoughts struggled to catch up. I’d gone from blissful sleep to an apocalypse.
I scrolled further, finding more posts, more videos, more commentary.
Someone had screenshotted our press release announcing the burger partnership and put it side by side with the video of Hollis eating at Curly’s.
The timing couldn’t have been worse. The press release had gone out just hours before this video was taken of Hollis eating one of the unhealthiest burgers in the country.
Burgergate was trending on Twitter.
I felt like I was going to be sick. I called Hollis immediately. It went straight to voicemail. Of course it did. He was on his run, working off that Curly burger. Probably with his phone on Do Not Disturb like he always did when he exercised.
I tried again. Voicemail.
“Hollis, call me the second you get this. Your fans are turning on you.”
I took a two-minute shower, grabbed my makeup bag, and tossed it in my purse. I dressed like the world was ending. It was. Mine certainly was. I grabbed my keys and my phone and was out the door in under fifteen minutes.
The drive to the office felt like it took forever. I hated traffic. My mind was racing through every possible worst-case scenario. Our brand reputation was already fragile after the rat piss incident. We’d just started to recover. And now this.
People were going to think the burger was terrible. They were going to think Hollis didn’t believe in his own product. They were going to think Young at Heart had backed the wrong horse.
The burger was actually amazing. I had been skeptical, but he made me a believer. If people dismissed it before we even released it, though, no one would taste how good it was. We’d be dead in the water and our company had already invested a lot of money to get this project moving fast.
I parked in the garage and practically ran to the elevator. My father had texted me while I was driving. He was not happy. Understatement of the century.
I rushed into the office. Kari handed me a coffee. “He’s in his office.”
She took my purse and briefcase while I headed straight there. I found my father pacing in front of the windows, his phone pressed to his ear. He looked like he’d aged ten years overnight. His hair was disheveled and his shirt was wrinkled like he’d slept in it.
He saw me and held up one finger, wrapping up whatever call he was on.
“I understand. Yes. We’ll issue a statement. Thank you.” He hung up and turned to me. “Have you talked to him?”
“He’s not answering. He went for a run.”
“Of course he did.” Dad rubbed his face with both hands. “Do you have any idea what this is doing to us right now? The phone has been ringing off the hook. Retailers are calling asking if the partnership is still happening. Food bloggers are having a field day. Our PR team is in full crisis mode.”
“I know. I saw.”
“Did you know he was going to do this?”
“What? No!” I felt defensive on Hollis’s behalf even though I was furious with him. He knew very well the public paid attention to what he ate. The Curly burger was a rookie mistake. “He wouldn’t do this on purpose. It makes him look bad too.”
“Then what was he thinking?” Dad’s voice rose slightly, frustration bleeding through. “We announced the partnership. The press release went out. Everyone knows we’re launching a plant-based burger. And he celebrates by eating that cholesterol bomb. What kind of message does that send?”
I didn’t have an answer. I couldn’t defend it because I didn’t understand it either.
My phone buzzed. I looked down, hoping it was Hollis.
It was Kari: Media requests are flooding in. What do I tell them?
I showed my father the message.
“Tell her to hold all media requests until we figure out how to respond.” He started pacing again. “We need to control this narrative before it spins completely out of our control. If it hasn’t already.”
I called Hollis again. Still voicemail.
“He’s going to call me back,” I said, trying to sound more confident than I felt. “He’ll help us figure out how to respond.”
Dad pulled out his phone. “I’m calling our legal team. We need to review the partnership contract and see what our options are if this continues to spiral.”
“Dad, you can’t do that.”
“I’m not canceling anything yet. But I need to know what our position is.” His expression softened slightly. “I’m sorry, Juno. I know this partnership has worked well for the two of you, but I can’t risk our company for his. Business has to come first. Always.”
I nodded, unable to speak past the lump in my throat. I hadn’t explicitly told him Hollis and I were seeing each other. I had a feeling he suspected there was someone in my life, but he chose to keep it to himself.
My father left the conference room, phone already to his ear again. I sank into one of the chairs and stared at my phone like I could will Hollis to call me back through sheer force of desire.
This couldn’t be happening. Not when everything had been going so well. Not when we were finally building something real together, both professionally and personally.
I pulled up the video again, watching it on repeat like I might find some clue I’d missed the first ten times.
Hollis sat there, completely unaware he was being filmed, eating that burger like it was the most natural thing in the world.
He didn’t look guilty. He didn’t look like someone trying to sabotage his own business.
He just looked like a guy eating a burger.
Which somehow made it worse.
I tried calling him again. And again. And again. Every time, voicemail.
Kari came into my office, took one look at me, and immediately went to make coffee.
When she returned, she had coffee and a breakfast burrito that promised all kinds of health benefits. All were bullshit, but I didn’t care. Hollis had eaten a Curly burger. I could eat a moderately unhealthy burrito.
“Okay,” she said, setting a mug in front of me. “Have you talked to him?”
“No. He’s not answering.”
“Maybe his phone died.”
“For three hours?” I shook my head. “Something’s wrong. He would have called me back by now if he could.”
“It’s trending on every platform,” she said finally. “Twitter, Instagram, TikTok.”
“Great.”
“There’s also a bunch of think pieces already being published. People are writing about why we shouldn’t listen to wannabe celebrities. Or influencers.”
“They’re not wrong, but Hollis is neither of those things.”
“He’s the son of famous people and you know people don’t like that. Bitter Betty’s.”
I put my head in my hands. “This is a disaster.”
“It’s not great,” Kari agreed. “But it’s not unfixable. We just need Hollis to say something. To use some of that charm to people to chill the hell out.”
“I can’t give a statement if I can’t reach him. Does he know? Maybe he’s hiding out.”
“I would be,” she muttered.
My father popped into my office.
“Our PR team has drafted three potential statements depending on what Hollis says.” He handed me his tablet. “Read through these and tell me which one you think works best.”
I scanned them. They were all variations of the same theme. Young at Heart stands behind our partnership with B Well. Choosing a Curly burger over his own burger doesn’t show a lack of confidence in his own product. This video doesn’t represent the full picture. Standard corporate damage control.
“They’re fine,” I said, handing the tablet back.
“Just fine?”
“Dad, I can’t evaluate PR statements right now. I need to talk to Hollis first before we start spinning it.”
“We might not have that luxury.” He set the tablet down. “Every minute we stay silent, the narrative gets worse. At some point, we have to respond.”
I knew he was right. I hated that he was right.
“Give me until end of day,” I said. “If I haven’t reached him by then, we’ll put out whatever statement you think is best.”
He studied my face for a long moment, then nodded. “End of day. But that’s it, Juno. After that, we move forward with or without him.”