Chapter Thirty-Nine
Thirty-Nine
Stella
Hey. Sorry to bail but I’m not feeling well so I’m going home.
Max didn’t see the text until the end of the workday and by then, Stella must’ve already been back in Brooklyn. He texted her back anyway.
Max
Are you okay? Do you want me to bring you anything?
Her response was surprisingly immediate and short.
Stella
No, thanks.
Max stared at his phone, feeling like he should do something but he wasn’t sure what. He just had the feeling that something was wrong, and he wanted to fix it.
There was a knock on his door, and when he looked up, Miles was standing in his doorway.
“Yo, you busy?” he asked. “I need a drink.”
Max frowned. “What happened to Hello, how are you?”
Miles rolled his eyes as he stepped into Max’s office and grabbed a seat.
“Hi, hello, let’s get a drink,” he said, slipping down in the chair. “It’s been a day.”
This piqued Max’s interest.
“What happened?”
“I’ll tell you if you come get a drink with me!” Miles said, leaning forward. “Come on, I haven’t seen you in ages. You’re a terrible big brother, you know that?”
Max got the feeling that Miles meant it as a joke, but it didn’t really sound that way, not that Max could blame him.
He was pretty sure the last time he’d seen Miles was right here in this office, and Max hadn’t been making an effort to keep up with Miles since then.
Truthfully, it’s not like they were grabbing beers with each other every week before, but they’d text or call at the very least, if only to discuss regular sibling things like what to get their dad for his birthday and the number of times their mom had called.
Max had definitely let himself get lost in Stella, and he surely had slacked on his brotherly duties.
“Alright, sure,” Max said, closing his computer. “Let’s go grab a drink. I need food, too, though. I’m starving.”
“Say less, bro,” Miles said, clapping Max on the back. “I got you.”
Somehow they ended up at a fancy steak house in Midtown that proudly claimed to have the best Wagyu in the city.
“So what’s going on?” Max asked once they’d ordered.
Miles blew out a frustrated breath.
“Alright, you know how I mentioned giving my staff an incentive to use Sparky,” Miles started.
Max nodded. “Yeah, Rashid told me you were making them use it for Sprint Week.”
“Oh, good, so you’re caught up,” Miles said. “Well, I get the results, and I’m fucked because this one girl decided not to use Sparky for the contest and she fucking won.”
Max knew it didn’t make sense to ask who it was, but he had a bad feeling in his gut he already knew.
“Who was it?”
Miles took a swig of his water and frowned.
“Someone named Stella,” he said, disgust lacing his voice.
“I don’t even know who she is, obviously.
Just another content writer. But seriously, do you know how bad this looks?
I planned on using this opportunity to show new advertisers that Sparky was about to change the game for Yellow Sparks’ output and engagement and then she goes and does this. ”
“So what did you do?” Max asked. He was almost afraid of the answer. If his brother fired the woman he was dating, he couldn’t see how their relationship would recover from that.
“I’m not giving her the prize, obviously,” Miles said.
“I couldn’t hide the results either. I’ve unfortunately built a platform that’s all about the numbers, and her posts were already slapped with viral badges before I was informed of the issue.
So I announced the results, noting her as the winner, but made it clear she wouldn’t be receiving any prize money. ”
“And did she say something about that?”
Miles’ face scrunched up in confusion.
“What do you mean?” Miles asked. “What could she say? She didn’t follow the rules so she doesn’t get a prize. It’s that simple.”
“And you don’t think she’ll have a problem with that?” Max asked.
Besides his personal involvement in this messy situation, Max was genuinely curious. As someone also running a business, he could see this being an issue he’d want to handle before it became a bigger problem. It was astounding to him that Miles wasn’t the least bit concerned.
Miles shrugged. “Even if she does, what difference does it make? Legally—shit, I don’t even know if this is a legal issue, but whatever—legally, she didn’t follow the rules so she’s not entitled to anything. And if she asks, it’s not like she’d come crying to me. I’m not her boss.”
Max needed a moment to process all of this. It was like he was seeing a side of his brother he’d never seen before. This version of Miles was cold and, to be frank, a bit of a dick. Still, Max tried to help Miles find reason.
“Right, but this is your company,” Max said.
“And your contest. And you just told everyone that the winner of your contest isn’t going to get anything, not even something small like an extra day off or anything, just because she what?
Wrote the posts by herself without using Sparky?
Don’t you think that’s going to look bad? ”
“Even if it does, they’ll get over it,” Miles said, unbothered. “Especially the ones who did win money. Although they haven’t come to collect it yet, but I’m sure they will.”
Max squinted at his brother, not truly believing what he was hearing. He loved his brother, but he was beginning to think he wasn’t all that bright.
“Miles, you don’t think the writers who didn’t claim their prizes aren’t tied to the fact that you refuse to give Stella anything?” Max asked like the answer was obvious, because it so clearly was.
Miles waved this off. “Sure, they may be throwing a bit of a tantrum right now or something, but once I make it clear that they have until the end of the day tomorrow to claim their money, I’m sure they’ll come running right over. They’re not going to give up thousands of dollars to make a point.”
“You’re really willing to bet on that?” Max asked. He leaned forward and stared his brother down. “Seriously, Miles, are you willing to bet on that? Because if you’re wrong and they’re planning something, what then?”
“What could they possibly be planning?” Miles said. “And why are you this pressed about it? Look, I just wanted to vent, not get a lecture. I know what I’m doing.”
Max didn’t believe that for a second, but he also knew he’d pushed as far as Miles would let it go. As much as Max always wanted to be there for his little brother, Miles often resented it, believing that he didn’t need anyone’s help, and especially not Max’s.
“Alright, fine,” Max said, putting up his hands in surrender. “So the contest is over. What’s next for Sparky?”
Miles smiled, clearly happy to move on.
“Well, despite the annoying outcome, overall the posts that were done with Sparky performed incredibly well, which proves your invention works,” Miles said. “Thanks again for giving it to me.”
“Did I give it to you if you paid for it?”
“Whatever,” Miles said with a laugh. “The point is, I think that with the help of Sparky, we’ll be able to cut down on our staff while still maintaining our regular output of content.”
Max felt like he was getting whiplash from this conversation.
“What do you mean, cut down on your staff?” Max asked.
Miles looked at him as if he was stupid.
“You know exactly what I mean,” Miles said.
“Digital media is unfortunately not doing as well as it used to, so I’m going to need to downsize to cut costs.
Obviously, losing some personnel is the best way to do that.
And with Sparky basically writing these posts, I can get rid of some content writers and probably some editors, too, and have Sparky handle most of the content output with someone still in the back end to edit and fix any errors.
I know Sparky’s not perfect, and the last thing I need is people accusing my posts of being AI generated.
But with it writing, I’d need far fewer people on staff. ”
Max was beginning to fear he was the stupid one here because how was it that Stella and her friends could see exactly what Miles was planning and Max felt totally blindsided?
“Miles, you can’t do this,” Max said. “Sparky isn’t a replacement for your writers.”
“Yeah, I know,” Miles said, the duh at the end of his sentence clearly implied.
“But it can do some of the heavy lifting for the writers I’ll keep on staff so they can churn out enough content that I don’t need nearly as many people as I currently have.
I’ve been talking with finance, and they’re saying that if we lay off thirty percent of the staff we should be good. ”
Max must’ve been making a face because Miles rolled his eyes.
“Max, this is just business, you know that,” Miles said. “Why are you so shocked?”
“Because, Miles, I know for a fact that if your company is actually hurting for money, you have enough to keep it afloat for some time,” Max bit back.
The waitress appeared with their drinks and appetizers, and Max fell back in his seat, trying to get a handle on himself. When the waitress left, Max looked at his brother, who stared back with defiance.
“I’m not using my own capital when there is a clear and simple solution to the problem,” Miles said. “One that you gave me, I might I add.”
“You never told me you were going to use it for this!”
“And clearly that was the right call because of course you’re too much of a softie to realize what I’m doing is a smart business move,” Miles said. “Just because you’ve never had to make the hard decision to get rid of some people from your company doesn’t mean you’re a saint.”
“I never said I was,” Max said. “But if I had the money to allow for me not to have to get rid of employees, I would use it. Plain and simple.”
“Well, I’m not you, and it’s my company, so it’s not really up to you,” Miles said.
“But it is my tech,” Max said. “And I won’t let you use it for this.”
Miles let out a soft laugh. “You can’t be serious.”
“Oh, I am,” Max said, pushing out from the table.
“You’re not going to use my product as an excuse to lay off thirty percent of your people.
Besides the fact that I think that’s effed up, unlike you, I’m also smart enough to know that’d be a PR nightmare for my company.
I’ll have my legal team draft up documentation to terminate our contract in the morning. ”
Throwing his napkin on the table, which he’d admit was maybe a tad dramatic, Max stormed off before Miles could say another word.