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“Allie, have a seat.” Keenan stands and lifts a pile of papers off his desk and sets it on the floor to make a window for us to see each other through. “I’ve had a rather strange phone call this morning and, quite honestly, I don’t even know what to say about it.”
My heart pounds and my palms get clammy because I have a horrible feeling about what he’s about to say.
“Wait. I don’t understand. Hudson’s doing the speech?” Gwen asks, her head snapping back. “Hudson Finch, the actor?”
We’re in the ladies’ room on the third floor, where I immediately went when I left Keenan’s office. I’m sobbing into some one-ply toilet paper she grabbed off the roll for me. I blow my nose, then nod. “Yup. Keenan said I’ll be given time in a breakout room to talk about Frank and answer questions, but just not on the main stage. He said the attention will be good for all of SETI so we have to let him do it.” I sniffle, the injustice of it all pouring out of my eyes. “He’ll bring international attention and millions in donations.”
“Fuck the donations,” Gwen says. “Like seriously, fuck it. We don’t need it. No. You go back there and tell Keenan we’re going to fight this because there is no way we’re letting some smooth-talking, fake-ass man steal your thunder. Not on my watch!”
“We do need the donations, Gwen. Keenan made that very clear, and before you offer to ask Ty for more money, I would never want you to do that,” I tell her, wiping my cheeks with the palm of my hand. “It would be bad for your relationship.”
“No, it’ll be fine. He’s a billionaire, for God’s sake.”
“But you can’t treat him like an ATM or it’ll ruin everything.”
She stares at me for a second before she answers, and I know she knows I’m right. Letting out a big sigh, she says, “Allie, I’m not letting some asshole step in and take credit for your hard work, and you can’t just sit back and let it happen either. You’re the genius, not him. This is your discovery, and you’re the one who’s going to change the world. He’s nothing. And if he dares to show his face in Zurich, I’m going to tell him as much. In fact, I’ll tell every single person there that this is all a big bullshit lie.”
Shaking my head, I say, “Keenan said he understands how hard this is going to be for me, and he’s going to make sure the truth comes out, but only at the right time.”
“When? Like now? Because now feels like the right time to me!”
“Like after the donations stop coming in.”
“But that could be months from now.”
I blink, trying to hold back a fresh round of tears. “Could be, but I have to just trust that no one who matters will believe the story.”
“But … some of them will. In fact, a lot of them will. They’ll all be men, of course, and they’re going to be totally obnoxious about it.”
I nod, my gut aching. “Like Chad.”
“Oh my God, I didn’t even think about Chad. He’s going to be awful about it. Smug. Smarmy. Slimy. I’m going to punch him in his weaselly mouth if he dares to say one word to you.”
I chuckle a little, then start to cry again. Gwen pulls me in for a big hug. “Listen, we are not going to take this lying down. No ma’am. We’re going to find a way for the entire world to know the truth, including all those shitty trolls. We’ll expose Hudson for the fraud that he is. And it’s going to be glorious.”
“God, I hope so.”
“I know so. We’re fighters, Al. You’re a fighter. And there’s no way we’re going to let this happen.” She pulls back and puts her hand on my shoulders. “So get yourself cleaned up and get your game face on because we’re going to war.”
Email from [email protected]
Subject: Congratulations
Heard you got some help with your AI system. What a shame since I know you like to pretend to do everything yourself. See you in Zurich!
L
Email from [email protected]
Subject: Congratulations
Fuck off.
Hudson
