three buttons undone to boast a rather generous amount of cleavage.
“Hi!” She rose to her feet to extend her hand out to Gemma. “I can’t even tell you what an honor it is to meet you. I’ve been following your work ever since you came to the States.”
Gemma smiled. “Thank you! It’s very nice to meet you.”
After shaking hands with Gemma, Aiden Klein nodded towards Elizabeth. “Miss Clarke is actually in her first PR internship, but we had her sit in today because she had some very interesting suggestions for your charity, Bee.”
“Yes, I absolutely do!” Elizabeth immediately opened the binder in her lap and removed a few printouts. Gemma took a seat, impressed by the intern who seemed immediately at ease with her while Nicki seemed to get less and less comfortable. It probably didn’t help that instead of sitting beside Nicki, Aiden had Damian on the leather couch next to Gemma. “Well, first off,” Elizabeth started. “I loved your choice of the children’s charity for arts, I think that is so appropriate and sweet.”
“Thank you,” Gemma said warmly. She and Damian shared a grin as they continued listening. Elizabeth continued the proposal with confidence.
“But I think you should nix the idea.”
Gemma’s smile dropped. “What?” She blinked and looked over at Aiden, who nodded as if telling her to keep listening. “But why?”
“Because what’s popular now is the subject of bullying, and I really think you should capitalize on that.”
Gemma recoiled. “Capitalize on bullying?”
Elizabeth’s laugh was sharp and full of energy. “No, no! That sounds like I want you to exploit the victims of bullying. Not at all. I just think that having such influential teen stars like yourselves on the side of this cause would be a very powerful message – that no matter what it may look like, we’ve all been through this before. Maybe you could even share a personal story of being bullied.”
The memory of Madison’s high school cruelty suddenly flashed across Gemma’s mind. Despite that, she squinted at Elizabeth. “But what if I’ve had no experience with bullies? Would you want me to just make it up?” She could see Damian looking at her from the side of her eye. She wasn’t sure if it was because of her sudden umbrage or the fact that he knew she had been targeted in high school. He had been the one person on her side throughout all of it.
“Bee,” Aiden started. “As much as an arts charity is needed, it won’t sell as many tickets as the cause against bullying. What you want here is the best possible turnout. If you could think of any story to share in relation to the topic, it’d be fantastic.”
Gemma looked to Perrin, who nodded in agreement. “It’s about being relatable. And Elizabeth makes a good point – it’s what’s happening now.”
From the looks on everyone’s faces, it seemed clear that the decision had already been made before her arrival at the office. Elizabeth sat before her with such an unflappably perky smile that it made her blood boil. She looked for support in Damian, who sighed.
“I think there’s a good message there,” he said, trying to sound encouraging. “Are you okay with it?”
Gemma cleared her throat. “But Tyler – ”
“We already got the go-ahead from his team,” Aiden said quickly.
“Oh.” Gemma blinked. “Well it looks like everyone is on board,” she said. Aiden nodded.
“Be more excited, Bee!” Perrin exclaimed. “It’s a fantastic subject and it’s all for a good cause.”
The words rung in Gemma’s head even after the meeting ended. It was a good cause, but she still felt unnerved for some reason. She couldn’t figure out if it was the fact that her idea had been so quickly nixed, or the fact that even Damian was in agreement with the intern’s suggestion. She knew Tyler was busy all day, so she could only hope that he
“Hi!” She rose to her feet to extend her hand out to Gemma. “I can’t even tell you what an honor it is to meet you. I’ve been following your work ever since you came to the States.”
Gemma smiled. “Thank you! It’s very nice to meet you.”
After shaking hands with Gemma, Aiden Klein nodded towards Elizabeth. “Miss Clarke is actually in her first PR internship, but we had her sit in today because she had some very interesting suggestions for your charity, Bee.”
“Yes, I absolutely do!” Elizabeth immediately opened the binder in her lap and removed a few printouts. Gemma took a seat, impressed by the intern who seemed immediately at ease with her while Nicki seemed to get less and less comfortable. It probably didn’t help that instead of sitting beside Nicki, Aiden had Damian on the leather couch next to Gemma. “Well, first off,” Elizabeth started. “I loved your choice of the children’s charity for arts, I think that is so appropriate and sweet.”
“Thank you,” Gemma said warmly. She and Damian shared a grin as they continued listening. Elizabeth continued the proposal with confidence.
“But I think you should nix the idea.”
Gemma’s smile dropped. “What?” She blinked and looked over at Aiden, who nodded as if telling her to keep listening. “But why?”
“Because what’s popular now is the subject of bullying, and I really think you should capitalize on that.”
Gemma recoiled. “Capitalize on bullying?”
Elizabeth’s laugh was sharp and full of energy. “No, no! That sounds like I want you to exploit the victims of bullying. Not at all. I just think that having such influential teen stars like yourselves on the side of this cause would be a very powerful message – that no matter what it may look like, we’ve all been through this before. Maybe you could even share a personal story of being bullied.”
The memory of Madison’s high school cruelty suddenly flashed across Gemma’s mind. Despite that, she squinted at Elizabeth. “But what if I’ve had no experience with bullies? Would you want me to just make it up?” She could see Damian looking at her from the side of her eye. She wasn’t sure if it was because of her sudden umbrage or the fact that he knew she had been targeted in high school. He had been the one person on her side throughout all of it.
“Bee,” Aiden started. “As much as an arts charity is needed, it won’t sell as many tickets as the cause against bullying. What you want here is the best possible turnout. If you could think of any story to share in relation to the topic, it’d be fantastic.”
Gemma looked to Perrin, who nodded in agreement. “It’s about being relatable. And Elizabeth makes a good point – it’s what’s happening now.”
From the looks on everyone’s faces, it seemed clear that the decision had already been made before her arrival at the office. Elizabeth sat before her with such an unflappably perky smile that it made her blood boil. She looked for support in Damian, who sighed.
“I think there’s a good message there,” he said, trying to sound encouraging. “Are you okay with it?”
Gemma cleared her throat. “But Tyler – ”
“We already got the go-ahead from his team,” Aiden said quickly.
“Oh.” Gemma blinked. “Well it looks like everyone is on board,” she said. Aiden nodded.
“Be more excited, Bee!” Perrin exclaimed. “It’s a fantastic subject and it’s all for a good cause.”
The words rung in Gemma’s head even after the meeting ended. It was a good cause, but she still felt unnerved for some reason. She couldn’t figure out if it was the fact that her idea had been so quickly nixed, or the fact that even Damian was in agreement with the intern’s suggestion. She knew Tyler was busy all day, so she could only hope that he
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