46. Morgan
Morgan
Never in a million years would I have thought that Conrad and I would be working together.
But desperate times call for desperate measures.
And if you could see the state of the media posts right now (not to mention our reviews and booking numbers), you’d see just how desperate we are.
We spend the day we were supposed to be in court doing damage control in one of the boardrooms at Bale.
I’m talking slideshows, whiteboards, and yes. Lists. All the fucking lists.
Donovan is with us, and after a quick briefing, he jumped on board to work with us, no questions asked. For now.
“So you’re sure this is legal?” he asks as we swipe photos from Scarlett’s Insta account.
“As long as we tag MooreToExplore it’s not stealing,” I say. “She gets credit for the original posts and the photography.”
“And if she happens to see the effort you’re putting forth, it can’t hurt anything,” Donovan adds, and I ignore that for now.
Right now, I am focused on creating an article with photos of all the ways we are actively improving Bale Resorts. And while going through the photos again is a bit of a sore spot, the real clincher is going to be the article itself.
For one, I’m not a writer. Neither of us are. And two, everything we have to go into in this article is going to be tough.
“We need to mention the repairs and updates,” I say.
“And the selling points,” Conrad adds. “Not just the new shit but the things Mom and Dad picked out.”
“You mean like the hand-painted sinks in all the bathrooms in the Cabo resort?” he asks with a smile.
“You know I forgot about that until we actually got there,” I admit, smiling too.
“This is a lot,” Donovan says, taking off his glasses with a sigh.
“It is,” I admit. “But we’re figuring it out.”
“No, I mean this,” he says, gesturing between Conrad and me. “I’m not used to this.”
“Us working together?” Conrad asks.
“You even sitting in the same room,” Donovan says, and we both laugh.
“We’ll buy you a drink,” Conrad offers.
“Afterwards,” I say. “Right now, we've gotta figure this article out.”
“You need to be brutally honest and transparent,” Donovan says. “About your feud. About everything that came to the surface during the trip. Even about the lawsuit. Hide nothing.”
“Yikes,” Conrad cringes. “Hopefully it doesn’t make people hate us,”
“It won’t,” Donovan says. “Because the root of all of it is your parents. People will empathize with your loss and respect your honesty and admire the changes in play.”
“He’s a smart man,” Conrad says, and I tilt my head. “I need to get one of you,”
“I’ll take that as the compliment I’m sure you meant it as,” Donovan says.
“You know,” I cut in. “You have a way with words,” I tell him.
“I did double major in English and Marketing, yes,” he admits, and then he stops. “Oh. No, no. I am not writing this article for you.”
“We aren’t asking you to write it per se,” I tell him.
“Just to edit it,” Conrad says. “You know, make us sound good.”
“You could hire someone to write it,” Donovan suggests. “I know a girl…”
“Why would we do that when we’re already paying you?” I ask, and he sighs.
“Fine. I’ll help. But most of it has to come from you.”
“Deal,” I say.
And it does come mostly for us. Conrad and I rattle off thoughts and stories, telling things from both points of view. And it’s actually a bit wild just how different our views of things are. And yet…they’re all the same story.
We write it from my point of view, agreeing that most people already see me as the CEO, but making sure that Conrad is fairly represented. And honestly, it’s easier than I thought it would be.
“Alright,” I say after proofreading it. “I think it’s ready.”
“Except it’s not…” Conrad says.
“Why?” I ask. “What’s it missing?”
“The bucket list,” Donovan says.
“I wasn’t planning on adding an actual bucket list,” I say. “It was more of a metaphorical thing.”
“Dreams don’t manifest out of mere metaphors, my friend,” Donovan says, solidifying why he was the ghostwriter for this article.
But I also know what they’re getting at. This article tells the story of our loss and our attempt to rebuild everything from the family name to our legacy to our brotherhood. But it’s missing one major aspect of the story. An aspect I can’t deny.
“Fine,” I say. And honestly, I’m a little surprised at how easily I am able to come up with one.
I just hope it works.