"Glad my misery entertains you." Gray shook his head.
"Oh, it does. But fine, let’s be serious for a second." Mara leaned casually against the edge of his desk with her arms crossed. She leaned a little closer to him as if scolding him.
"You can’t ignore this, Gray. Publicity is publicity, whether you like it or not. The trick is choosing the right ones."
Gray narrowed his eyes at her. "And you already have a plan for that?"
"Of course I do." Mara straightened up and pointed at herself as if she were proud of herself. She quickly went to fetch her laptop and turned the screen to Gray. In there was the picture of Pri Daily Shows.
"Alright. Look at this. Forget about the small channels that only want to ride the Everett na. I know they wouldn’t be that interested in you but just Conrad. Instead, it’s nice for you to go here." Mara pointed at the picture.
"Pri Daily Shows is national level. Even if it feels overwhelming, one good appearance there could set the tone for how the public sees you moving forward."
Gray exhaled slowly before he annoyingly ran a hand through his hair.
"You make it sound easy for ..." he sighed and shook his head.
"I know, right?" Mara muttered before shrugging her shoulders. She turned her laptop back to her and placed it down.
"It’s so easy that you’ll just need to prepare yourself. Maybe exercise how you speak. Then there’s also a little dia coaching. Then, how to dress up. How to answer. Just a little list. I know."
Gray stared at her in disbelief. His lips parted when he realized how much preparation he needed to have.
’Damn, I’m not ready for all that." Gray quickly shook his head.
After a few seconds, Gray let out a frustrated groan and leaned back in his chair.
"Mara, no. That’s too much. I’m not built for caras or spotlights, and I’m definitely not going to change myself into soone else just to talk for a few minutes."
Mara tilted her head, studying him as if he were being stubborn on purpose. But when she saw the sincerity in his eyes, she sighed.
"Gray, you don’t have to beco soone else. You just have to learn how to be careful of your words and actions when the nation’s watching. That’s all. It’s just small details."
"Small detail?" he repeated incredulously. "That’s exactly the kind of thing I don’t want to do, Mara. You’re asking to sit in front of millions and pretend like I’m comfortable."
"It’s not to pretend," she tried to explain further.
"I’m just saying that you can be yourself. Yourself, but the version of you that knows how to be careful. I’ve seen you do it, Gray. You think you can’t, but you can." She stepped forward and tapped the desk between them for emphasis.
"When will you have the next opportunity again is not now.
Gray pinched the bridge of his nose. He beca silent for a mont. He hated how convincing she sounded. He hated even more that she was also right.
"I don’t want to do a dia circus, Mara," he finally muttered.
"Then don’t," she said without hesitation. "What about just two interviews? Maybe a big one and a small one. Just do ones that are carefully chosen." Mara tried to negotiate with it.
Gray glanced up at her. He squinted his eyes as he looked at her. Mara fought back, and the two of them just stared at each other for a few minutes.
Then, all of a sudden, Gray sighed in defeat. He avoided his gaze and sighed another ti.
"Alright, I’ll do 2. That’s it. Not 3, not 4, and definitely not 5."
Mara’s grin broke out instantly. She clapped her hands in excitent as a bright smile appeared on her lips.
"Alright! Perfect! We’ll do two then! I’ll imdiately go through the shortlist and find the best options, alright?"
"Alright..." Gray could only shake his head at her sudden good energy.
"You look way too happy about this," he muttered dryly.
"Because I am," Mara shot back, already grabbing her laptop again. "Trust , Gray. This is going to be fun."
’Fun...’ Gray shook his head. He was doubting it. But for the first ti, he didn’t feel entirely dood.
Or maybe it was just waiting for him.
- - -
After a few days, the first thing Gray noticed when he woke up was that his phone had been buzzing nonstop.
At first, he thought that it was so kind of group chat or maybe an update from Joel about the store. But when he finally rolled over and checked his phone, the notifications weren’t about sales reports or schedules.
They were from his social dia.
Gray squinted his eyes at the screen. He was not quite believing it. He had a few notifications from people ntioning him, following him, and a handful of ssages he had no intention of opening right away.
It didn’t take long for him to realize why.
Right on top of his feed was an article. It was bold and one of the articles on top of the trending lists.
"Young Businessman Gray Everett to Appear on Pri Daily Show."
Gray rubbed his eyes. He was half-hoping that he was misreading it. But no, the words stayed the sa.
He clicked on it, and sure enough, the article was filled with a mix of facts and speculation from the people. In there was his na, his sudden presence in the business world, and his ownership of a grocery chain.
’Damn...’
And, of course, the reason why people were so shocked about it. It was because his upcoming guesting was on the most-watched talk show in the country!
"Damn... this is unbelievable," Gray muttered under his breath, dropping the phone on the mattress as if he didn’t want to look at it.
"..." However, his curiosity still got the best of him. So after a few more minutes of silence, he opened his phone again, this ti scrolling more slowly at the articles.
The comnts were... well, a mix of things.
"Who even is this guy? Never heard of him."
"Is this another Everett? Guess the family tree keeps expanding."
"Lol. Did I just see a 20 year old getting an invitation on this show?"
"When I was 20 years old, I barely have a serious life."
"Pft. I can’t believe this."
"If he’s young and running businesses already, then props to him. That’s no joke."
But what unsettled him most were the ones fixating on him. Not the grocery chain. Not his work. But just him.
"Wow... he’s actually kinda cute. Who let him be a CEO at that age??"
"Damn. This guy is actually hot."
"Finally, a businessman on TV who isn’t pushing fifty."
"Gray Everett?? Why haven’t I seen this man before?"
’Ti for to have this sugar papi."
"Damn..."
And then there were the DMs.
His ssages blew up overnight since the news of his guesting broke out.
When he scrolled through the previews, he saw that so were just simple greetings. There were so complints that leaned a little too far forward. And a few were from influencers he vaguely recognized.
Gray leaned back in his chair and rubbed his temples.
"So this is what Mara ant by publicity..." he muttered.
She wasn’t exaggerating anything at all.
It wasn’t long before his phone lit up again. This ti it was with Mara’s na flashing across his screen. Gray sighed and answered it.
"You’ve seen it?" she asked imdiately, her voice too energetic even if it was still too early in the morning.
"Yeah," Gray said flatly, "Thanks for the warning."
"You knew this was coming, don’t play dumb," Mara shot back. "The second we confird with Pri Daily, the news was bound to break. Pft... You’re trending, Gray. Do you know how rare that is?"
"Unfortunately," he muttered.
Mara laughed out loud.
"Hey, don’t sulk. This is good. People are curious about you. They want to know who you are. That’s exactly the kind of montum we want going into the show."
"People are curious about for the wrong reasons," Gray argued. "They’re more interested in my face than what I’ve built."
"So? Let them be. Curiosity is the door. What you say in that interview will decide what stays in their heads. Think of it as a stage, Gray, You’re setting the script before anyone else can write it for you."
Gray pinched the bridge of his nose again.
"I didn’t sign up to be so celebrity, Mara. I just wanted to run my business."
"Oh well," Mara just laughed again. "Though, whether you like it or not, people will connect you to the store. You’re the face of your store now, Gray@"
Gray just stayed quiet and shook his head.
"I guess I have no choice then," Gray just sighed. "I’ll do the interview just normally, okay? And I’m not replying to those DMs."
"Pft— sure, sure."
User Comments
0 comments from readers