Chapter 11 #2
“Hm.” A smile flitted over her face at Cassandra’s name, but she didn’t say anything more on it. I suppose they had history. “She tells me you are looking for a career shift.”
“That’s a strong term. I’m more… interested in branching out. It’s lucky, I think, that your work and mine are already connected.”
“Why do you coach your interest?” she said, and I flinched a little at the directness. “Do you think I do not see through it?”
“Oh, well…” I wasn’t used to people just saying something upfront.
Maybe that was what happened when you changed into a new field.
Maybe I didn’t mind being taken out of my comfort zone a little.
If Houdini was doing it, so could I. “I guess it’s more accurate to say I don’t want to leave behind my old work altogether.
I like it. I just… I’ve always been fascinated by startup culture.
I know you’re operating in a highly competitive market, and I’ve wondered what it is you do to stay ahead. ”
Krysten smiled, satisfied, leaning back in her chair. “This one wants to see inside the sausage factory, then. Do you know what you’re getting into, Helena?”
“I rarely do.”
She laughed, a big and bold laugh, clapping her hands together. “Ah, you and little… Cassandra, you have much in common, then.”
Little Cassandra was summoned by the sound of her name, clearly, because she came up behind me with a tray of coffees, setting one down for Krysten, one down for another one of the people at the table with her, one for me and one for the empty spot next to me, where she slid in next to me, leaning casually against the table.
“How many times have you called me little while my back was turned?” she said, and Krysten chuckled.
“It was not zero. And it was not one either. But she is little in stature only,” she said, giving me a conspiratorial look. “You know this. A very bold woman, this one. At times I think she wants to kill me.”
“Don’t say anything too embarrassing about me,” Cassandra said, her voice playful but something just slightly warning under the surface. I was dying to know what dark secrets Houdini actually held under a cute smile. I figured I could push just a little bit.
“What does she do for you, anyway? She told me she works in music, representing talent, but she’s always been a bit evasive on the details.”
Krysten smiled wider. “Oh, I do believe that. Cassandra has been on the ground, pounding pavement, knocking on doors. She is very persuasive when she wants to be. You know this. She has been helping me expand Jewel into the music industry. I think there is still very much potential there.”
“It’s still pretty new,” Cassandra said. “Actively working with her on it, I mean. A whole lot of people saying a whole lot of different versions of no, ranging from the polite to the less polite.”
“Did you think my job was easy, my dear?” Krysten said to her, and she laughed awkwardly.
“Easy, no. Demeaning, also no. But you learn something new every day.”
That got the others to chuckle as well, and Krysten used the opportunity to introduce me to her core staff, a Ghanan woman called Tanya who tended to the quieter side, a white woman from Jersey called Liv with mile-long lash extensions, and a white guy called Tanner who looked like he was supposed to be on California’s sunny shores and had gotten very lost indeed.
Krysten explained their roles with the kind of vague handwavery that made it clear they mostly did what was needed of them—with the exception of Liv, who was very solidly PR and social media and who Krysten dragged by making fun of her influencer ambitions—and then she turned back to me.
“And we have a large network of collaborators, formal and informal. The little one here is one of them. From what she tells me, you would also want to be one.”
I sipped my coffee delicately. It tasted like free office coffee, but I wasn’t a snob. That was more than good enough for me. “I can’t lie to you, Krysten,” I said, “I did not realize I was coming in for an interview today. The little one pulled a fast one on me.”
Cassandra nudged my side. “Now you’re calling me that too? This wasn’t supposed to give you another embarrassing nickname for me.”
Krysten smiled. “Of this I am aware. Cassandra had told me about the situation. I hold much more information on each of you than you wish I did, my dears.”
Cassandra laughed awkwardly. “Look, Krysten, just focus on the interview. She’s smart and good at what she does. You’ll be happy with her, trust me.”
Krysten put her hands up. “Abeg. I cannot hire a woman who has not asked to work for me. Listen to yourself.”
God, I wasn’t supposed to be here, doing this.
Going any further down this road would only get me in trouble—trouble with Linyue, and trouble with Cassandra.
But I couldn’t help myself. Some kind of divine temptation leading me into destruction.
Houdini probably had a Greek myth handy for that.
I set my coffee down. “What would you need from me?” I said.
“I definitely have connections, but most of my circle is already using the app in the first place.”
Krysten got an unexplainably wicked smile. “If you want to work for me, you must first learn what you are doing. What I would have you do is to work with someone more experienced to learn on the job. Someone like Cassandra.”
Cassandra went rigid next to me, clutching the coffee cup so hard it looked like it would break.
“Krysten. I-I’m not…” She cleared her throat hard, continuing with too much forced casualness.
“I don’t think sending Helena to scope out opportunity in the music industry is the best use of her talents,” she said, and I suppose on the face of it she was right, but I was dangerously curious what Houdini’s day-to-day work actually looked like.
“You already told me you were going to show me that hit song,” I said. “No better way to do it than for us to work together.”
“Helena,” she said, her eyes wide, looking desperate.
“So it is settled,” Krysten said. “Cassandra was the one who vouched for you. Cassandra is the one who trusts you. Then Cassandra will be the one to put you to good use. It is a flexible structure, and I see no reason not to let you start contributing together with Cassandra right away.”
“Oh, god, don’t do that,” Cassandra said. “I’m not—I’m not qualified to tell Helena what to do.”
Krysten smiled wider. “Do you doubt my judgment, little one?”
“Yes. I doubt it strongly right now!”
“Then let us ask Helena. What do you say, my dear? I will tell you what I told Cassandra, and that is that this is thankless work. But if you prove yourself, well… we can maybe decide something more serious.”
I hadn’t even realized how much this feeling was eating at me ever since Saturday, ever since the whole thing with Linyue.
I felt like I was bundled up tightly in thin ropes that held me in place and dug into my skin, leaving painful marks, and they started to loosen up just at the idea of working with Cassandra.
Of doing what I wasn’t supposed to. Wasn’t that what it came down to?
“I would love to,” I said. “I can make myself useful. So go ahead and put me to good use,” I said, smiling at Cassandra, who went very red very quickly, dropping her gaze to the spot between us.
“Uh—we’ll—Krysten and I will talk about it,” she mumbled. Krysten chipped in.
“And we will reach the conclusion that you are working with Cassandra. It is a pleasure to have you with us, Helena.”
“I get no say in the matter?” Cassandra protested, and Krysten raised her eyebrows.
“What say do you think you get?”
Cassandra withered. I was really not supposed to be doing this. And not supposed to be enjoying it as much as I was.