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“I don’t know. But I will say that seeing you completely humiliate yourself in front of Sterling James was priceless.”
Reese groaned again. “Please don’t say his name ever again.”
“Night Sterling.” Staci grinned.
“Did I really say that in front of him? Do you think he heard?”
“I think that the whole room heard you. Subtlety wasn’t exactly your strong suit. Also, I feel like you should probably be talking about something else. It’s been three days.”
“Are you kidding? I will be trying to get over this for the rest of my life. I met my celebrity crush after scheming my way into a private meet-and-greet, then made an absolute fool out of myself.”
Staci sighed and Reese fell into her chair beside her. No one else in the small office seemed to be listening to their conversation. Most of their coworkers were in their twenties also and had in earbuds or were glued to screens. For a boutique social media management company, this was par for the course.
“One more question and then we should probably work.” Staci had a serious face, but Reese knew her well enough to see the smile behind her eyes.
“What?”
“Are you going to finally take his poster off your wall now?”
Reese tossed a pen at Staci. “Shut up.”
She didn’t actually have a poster of him on her wall. But she had kept one up all through college, so Staci wasn’t far off. Sighing, Reese took off her sunglasses and opened her email. She and Staci had gotten used to a rhythm of working and talking for the past two years they had been working together at Azul, a social media marketing and branding agency. Reese had started right after they graduated from the University of Texas. It took a year to convince Staci, who had said that Nashville was one of the whitest cities in America. Now that they were here, they both loved it.
Reese scanned her inbox. Most of it was junk. Her clients usually texted her or sent messages through Facebook. One of her clients, who owned a car dealership, was still trying to figure out Twitter and only communicated through Twitter DMs. Getting him to stop doing that was on her to-do list for him that week. If she didn’t stab herself in the eye first.
Social media was simple to set up, but the brands and individuals they worked for struggled with the nuances of each platform. Like, why you didn’t use eight hashtags on a Facebook page, but you did want to use eleven to fifteen hashtags on an Instagram image.
With her bachelor’s in Public Relations, Reese had learned skills like brand storytelling and visual branding that she could mix with the social media training to help their clients with their public image and marketing campaigns. While she struggled to explain to her parents back in Austin what all that meant, Reese loved everything about it. You could see the proof in the numbers that went up as her clients grew their following. Several of the minor celebrities she’d worked with had been able to secure paid sponsorships after moving from a mix of Instagram posts to a cohesive visual brand with her help. It was all about story, all about transformation, all about strategy.
What she didn’t like was spin. Sometimes it involved skirting too close to lying. Her boss, Kevin, had zero problem with it and really encouraged anything that would make their clients look good publicly. As a Christian, Reese didn’t want to lie or create fake things. Her goal for clients was to take who they were and present that in the best packaging to connect them with the right fans more authentically. She was good at what she did, so Kevin didn’t pressure her too much. Usually.
Her phone buzzed. Speak of the devil …
“Uh oh. Kevin wants me in his office. You don’t think he knows about Sterling, right? Did you put any of the pics on social?”
Reese had bare bones social media profiles set up. As much time as she spent on the various platforms for clients, she had no desire to put herself out there so publicly.
“Nope,” Staci said. “The video either.”
“You took a video?” Reese felt her stomach drop.
“The part where you were running your hands over his washboard abs was particularly compelling. I’m saving it for future blackmail. Hey, Kevin wants to see me too. Think we’re in trouble?”
They pushed back their chairs and Reese tossed her sunglasses on her desk. “I don’t know. I think everyone’s been happy with me this month. Maybe we’re getting a raise?” She chewed her thumbnail.
Staci snorted. “Doubtful.”
Despite the fact that she’d worked at Azul for three years and had rave reviews from most clients, Reese hated going into Kevin’s office. In addition to not being the most scrupulous person, he totally sucked at human interaction. Especially related to his employees. He was brusque to the point of being rude and completely unwilling to compromise on basically anything.
They had staff meetings once a week that basically consisted of Kevin asking for feedback and then shooting down that feedback while the rest of the dozen staff watched. It was painful. Reese had thought about quitting to freelance, or even starting up a small agency with Staci, but it was hard to build a reputation without an office when you were new and young. Kevin was a jerk, but he had the clients. Reese was in Nashville for the music and hoped that she could get some larger musicians and strike out on her own. Without stealing them from Azul, because she wouldn’t do that.
His door was open. “Kevin, you wanted to see us?” Staci asked. Reese usually let her do the talking.
He sat behind his desk, which was completely bare save for a laptop and a bottle of kombucha. He looked at them over the frame of his bright blue glasses, his bald head gleaming under the lights.
“Reese, Staci—thanks for coming in. I won’t waste your time. I’ve got a new big client and I’m giving him to you, Reese. Staci, you can pick up Reese’s clients.”
It took a minute for his words to sink in. “Wait—what?” Reese asked.
