"Shelby." I looked up to see Ana, my administrative assistant, entering my office. "They're all in the executive conference room. The committees have just begun the swearing in."
"Thank you, I'm right behind you," I said, trying to find my heels underneath the desk. I slipped them on, stood while adjusting my skirt, grabbed my laptop, and walked out of my office.
I'd been at Folio since I was seventeen, the first year of my internship with the company. That was the first time I laid eyes on Carter Morrison, the CEO of Folio, and at that moment I changed from shy and studious to lovesick and sex-crazed. To Carter's credit, he never touched me until the night I turned eighteen. He confessed later that he did everything he could to stay away from me that first year. I, being a lovesick tart, wanted him to notice me. I did everything I could to be close to him, short of taking all my clothes off and sprawling naked on his desk to get his attention. Which I did a year later.
The leadership team, my communication group of four, and a couple of the attorneys from legal filled the executive conference room. We were watching the Judiciary and Commerce Committee's joint hearing on C-SPAN from Washington. Carter Morrison was at the table with three other industry powerhouses answering questions on the latest consumer complaints on privacy practices of social media companies. Carter sat in the middle of the table in a custom steel-gray suit that highlighted the light gray in his coal-black hair. Blue eyes crinkled into fine lines when he flashed his signature smile. He'd just completed his explanation of our protocols, directing the information to Senator Watson, who'd asked the question. Even I could see she had difficulties not appearing to be dazzled by Carter.
The CEO of Folio was a god among us and a walking legend. There were other CEOs around the table, all in expensive suits, but they were boys and girls compared to him. This was The Carter Show. Rugged good looks at forty-eight and a body that turned heads when he walked into the room, he was charisma personified. Two seconds into his orbit and you would've done anything for him too. For a woman, it was that soft Tennessee drawl. If you weren't careful, it would charm the clothes right off of you.
The atmosphere in the conference room was cautious camaraderie. Someone had provided a breakfast buffet. Later, lunch and eventually dinner would be served. Most of the group seated around the table were drinking coffee and taking notes. It would be a long day. Some senate hearings lasted up to ten hours. It was an elaborate necessary theater for the cameras, something legislators used to placate public outcry and show the voters they were doing something. The hearing was real, but not the adversarial atmosphere in the room. Carter knew everyone on the committee personally. He'd helped to shape much of the regulations for his industry. We'd pick up after the hearings ended; Legal would craft more policies on privacy, tweaking them to our advantage. We were in the information business to make money. Folio would launch a new ad campaign, the kind that made us nostalgic and relevant to our users. Our customers would forget to turn on the new privacy settings, continue to enjoy our product, and life would go on.
# # #
Carter was holding court in his office, an executive suite with views on three sides of Silicon Valley. He'd lost his suit jacket and tie somewhere between the plane and here. He wore a light grey slim-fit cotton shirt, the sleeves rolled up to the elbows, exposing his tanned, well-developed forearms, looking more like a blue-collar boss than a high-powered CEO. His black hair wasn't slicked back; he was more casual. This was my favorite look for him, what he normally looked like at the end of the day.
Leaning back in his chair at the head of the table, his pen tapped out an impatient series of staccato beats while listening to the General Counsel suggest we all review the seven-hour tape of his testimony again. But an irritated Carter was having none of it. "I don't need to see the tape. Good God damn, I was there. What I need is data!" His soft Tennessee voice was more prominent when irritated. "I want to know the results from the overnight polling and the focus group data. When I was coming back on the plane last night," he was speaking to everyone around the table, "you told me you had finished compiling the information and it would be available for this meeting."
Chad, the youngest of my team and the most ambitious member, rummaged through paperwork then glanced at his screen. He had requested to lead this discussion. He'd managed the focus groups and gathered the data. It was appropriate that I grant him this opportunity to lead. I just hoped Carter wouldn't leave bite marks on his behind.
I sat on the couch and allowed him to take my place at the table with the rest of the executive team. He puffed up, looking like a peacock about to pop out his feathers when he began his presentation. "We just received the raw data but haven't had a chance to analyze the numbers." He hazarded a glance at Carter, who gave him a get-on-with-it Mount Rushmore stare. Chad, like the overconfident little shit he was, who had been gunning for my job since day one, brushed it off and pushed through the rebuke. "It seems your favorability has dropped a bit, but that was only at the beginning of your testimony at the hearing. By the end we noted the numbers had seen a small but encouraging uptick. What I can say, without really plowing through the numbers, is that you're somewhere between dead even in favorability or a little better. We still have those zealots who are canceling their accounts and announcing it to anyone who will listen, but the percentage of people following that mode is significantly less than a third of a quarter percent. In my opinion, I don't think they will make much of an impact."
Carter looked around the room at his team. We were the best at what we did or we wouldn't be here. There were no free rides at Folio; you earned a spot at this table. We were an easygoing close-knit group, but sometimes Carter ruled his company with an iron fist. The stare he gave us today was serious and felt by every member sitting in this room. "What you're saying is the impact from these hearings was minimal?"
I spoke up. "What Chad was saying is that it's too early to tell. We need to let this sit with the public to see what the fallout will be. That means watching the media to see how much they want to push this issue." What I was really saying is that we hoped that technology watchdog reporters like Sagan Miller would not take up the cause and fan the flames. "As a precautionary effort, I've invited Sagan and a few other local news outlets for a conference at Folio's headquarters to discuss the hearings. We need to drive home that we are serious about working on this issue and have nothing to hide."
Sagan was at the top of my list of things to be worried about. He'd gained his reporting chops in places like Washington DC and New York. Before arriving in Silicon Valley, he'd already gained a reputation. His notoriety and his ability to break controversial news stories made him feared and revered in the tech community.
Carter had no fear of Sagan, unlike his other colleagues. I'd only seen the two men together once at a cocktail party. It was rare that Carter and I would be in a public place together. They'd invited the executive team to a ceremony honoring Carter. Sagan attended and, although it was only for a few minutes, the two seemed to have an easiness in each other's company. Most of my contact with Sagan was through my work with Folio. Carter insisted I contact him if we had to get ahead of a not-too-flattering story or if we needed to leak information anonymously to the public.
"Boys and girls, that's enough for today," Carter said and tossed his pen on the table. "I took the red-eye in and I'm planning to work a couple more hours, then go home. But I'll hit it bright and early tomorrow and I expect to see all of you in the sandbox as well."
I closed my laptop and got ready to file out with the rest of the team to finish the pile of work I had sitting on my desk.
"Hey, Shelby." I looked up at Alec, the head of Legal. He was a tall, gentle giant who always made time for me when I had legal questions. In fact, I was the one that introduced him to Jordan, his wife. "Jordan said thank you for the baby shower gift. She also said you didn't need to send gifts to the kids, but it is appreciated, and she will take you up on that spa day with you after the baby is here. But I really wanted to thank you for the romantic weekend at that Half Moon Bay Resort as a present to the sleep-deprived parents of a new baby. If that wasn't enough, you offered to babysit our three little hellions for that weekend while we're gone. I want to say if no one has put you up for sainthood, I'm willing to do it."
"No problem," I laughed, "It's the least I can do for the first assistant I had when I became Director of Communications. I can't tell you how many times Jordan saved my bacon. As for your three little angels, I'm looking forward to spending the weekend with them."
"Shelby, will you stay for a few minutes?" Carter's weary voice cut through our conversation. "I have a few more questions about the data Chad presented in the meeting."
Alec looked over his shoulder at his boss, then back at me. In a whisper that Carter could hear, he said, "Don't stay too long talking to this old dragon. He'll have you working all night if he thinks you'll do it."
"Alec," Carter's voice rumbled with fake irritation, "you've been skating on thin ice with me for the last five years. If you weren't such a brilliant goddamn attorney, I would have fired your ass a long time ago. But since Jordan and Shelby, two women who are above reproach but have questionable loyalties, think highly of you, I tolerate you and keep you around only for them."
Alec chuckled. "Remember what I said," winking at me. He took unhurried strides to the door, but just before he walked through to the hallway he stopped and threw another glance at Carter. "You better be good to her or you'll answer to me." I thought he was kidding but there seemed to be some seriousness to his words.
