Rich and Bossy (Rich Boys)

24. Hazel

CHAPTER 24

Hazel

It’s almost all too much to take in at once. I totally blank on the name of the guy I’m talking to. Campbell, almost like she instinctively knows what’s happening, mouths the name to me. Thank God.

It’s just a podcast. Still, he’s gigantic, and probably reaches more people than the regular news stations. For some reason, I feel like those will make me even more nervous than this.

According to Campbell, that’s exactly what I need to expect. This is going to get bigger by the day. The goal is to get the entire country on our side, backing our cause, and it will give the workers here a chance to see everyone has their backs. I know if there were no chances of repercussions, everything was perfectly fair, over eighty percent would want to join a union here.

They’re all afraid of management and their jobs being taken away, for good reason. This is all for pushback in the other direction, to shine a spotlight on what’s happening here, so Rapid can’t try anything insane and get away with it before we have an official vote.

Frankly, I’m having a hard time imagining all of it getting bigger than it is right now. We’re working out of her hotel room, because I know better than to hang around the warehouse until I have to go to work. Even though the volume on the TV is turned way down, I can still see live images of my workplace.

When Campbell described picketers, I had no idea there would be this many. They’re all pro-union protestors and labor rights activists. I didn’t expect the major news channels to pick up on it as quickly as they have. Social media is buzzing, we’re trending on every platform.

I have to thank Campbell for this. This is absolutely all her doing, and it really seems like they never saw it coming. The narrative is already a David vs Goliath underdog story, which is exactly what we wanted it to be.

I blink a few times and try not to fidget on camera. At least we’re on a Zoom call, so I can see the guy on the other end. None of these interviews have been hostile or required any thought yet, really. They’ve just been softball after softball questions. I’m sure Campbell did that on purpose too, to get me used to them, knowingly starting with friendlier broadcasts. If we really want to be out there and have this movement respected, I know I’ll have to take some stronger, tougher interviews. That’s okay.

The whole thing just feels odd, though. I can’t pretend it’s not.

“We just want a safe warehouse, and respectable benefits policies. That’s what this is about, and we tried. This is our last effort, a hail Mary. We tried everything we could, so this is on Rapid. It’s on them to make this right for everyone, and if we need to form a union, that’s what’s going to happen.”

Campbell’s standing behind the camera, giving me a thumbs up.

“Has anyone from the company reached out to you yet?” he asks. He seems like a friendly guy, which I’m grateful for.

“No.” I confide with a tiny shrug. “I’m sure they will soon.”

Why does a wave of guilt slam into me, right at this moment?

It’s been there all morning, right there in the pit of my stomach, but the second he asks about the company reaching out, it’s like a freight train. I can’t believe I did that to him last night.

He snickers a little. “What I’d give to hear that conversation. So let me ask you something: if Paxton Briggs himself were to reach out to you today and offer a settlement, something to quiet this push for a union, keep his shareholders and the employees happy, what would you say?”

Nothing will make sure the shareholders are happy. They won’t be happy until the union is crushed, and they will not make any deals unless they’re forced to. What would my little podcast friend here think if I told him I slept next to Paxton Briggs last night? The thought makes me a little sick to my stomach.

And a bunch of TV executives would go absolutely apeshit at how much ad money they’d make with that story.

Campbell has already coached me on this question. It’s going to come up more than once, she said. Still, just the mention of Paxton’s name gives me goosebumps.

“I would let him know any kind of negotiation needs to go through all the warehouse workers. They haven’t elected me as their leader. I’m just one person trying to find a way to get us all together, to bargain collectively.”

“So there’s nothing he or his team could do, to get you to stop trying to organize this? I mean, you said you’re the one trying to get it rolling.”

“No. The only way I’d stop is if every one of my co-workers received a new offer of some kind, or policies were changed on a warehouse level scale immediately. We tried the other channels, we’ve been patient. They have given us zero reason to believe they’re trying to improve things, and someone is going to get hurt.” I’m actually sort of proud of myself for getting that out so smoothly. A glance away from the camera shows Campbell giving me two thumbs up, grinning from ear to ear. Sometimes I still can’t believe she thought I was the person for this.

“Well, I’m sold. Hazel Strous, thanks so much for coming on and giving us the exclusive first interview about this. You picked a damn big fight. We’re rooting for you over here.”

“Thank you so much for having me. I appreciate the opportunity.”

With that, he signs off, and my part of the screen goes black to signal the end of my participation.

I drop back in the chair, letting out a huge breath. “Holy crap. That was intense.”

Campbell hustles over to me, rubbing my shoulders. “You did great. I swear, you speak on camera like a pro already. Great cadence, no filler words. It’s because you know this subject material, forward and back.”

I know I shouldn’t be in it for the praise, but it feels so good when she says that. She’s proud of me.

I know better than to think I’ve earned a break, though. She told me it’d be an intense work schedule for a while, possibly until this is over. We have to fight to keep the momentum going nonstop.

She waves me over as she opens her hotel room door.

“Hazel, these are the lawyers I was telling you about.”

I greet them with a smile and a handshake, but let’s face it, I’m too overwhelmed to remember a single name. I’m still riding the adrenaline high of finishing my first real interview.

I can’t believe this all started with some fliers and a late-night DM.

Campbell’s checking something on her phone, and the way she breaks out in a mile-wide grin tells me it’s good news.

“They want you on MNSC tonight. Eight o’clock. Plus every local news channel wants to ask you questions.”

It’s like somebody poured a bucket of ice water over my head. “Me? National news?” I gulp.

“Like I told you, this is perfect. We want to start a bidding war. Not for money, but for your time. You keep nailing interviews like that podcast, selling the story the way you did, it will continue. People love to root for an underdog, and that’s you right now. Your coworkers are the same way. They’re scared and they need to see you confident on interviews, talking about how this can happen if things don’t change. They need to believe it.” She grins, tapping the phone against her chin. “I wonder what kind of response we’ll get from Rapid if we let it slip you’re going on tonight. I’m sure their PR and media teams will love to get wind of that. Everyone will want you on tonight, and they’re still trying to figure out their own plans. We want to keep them confused over there.”

At this rate, I’m going to spend the entire day with a smile pasted on my face. As it is, my jaw aches from smiling so much already, and I’m just getting started. I find my way to the sofa and sink against the deep, soft cushions before closing my eyes. I can do this. I have to believe I can do this.

“You’re doing fantastic. I know it’s nerve racking.” A slight shifting of the cushion underneath me says Campbell took a seat next to me. “We came out swinging and we landed a big hit. We just need to keep throwing punches. Warehouse employees from Philadelphia, San Diego, Austin, Atlanta. Delivery drivers, too. We’re already getting word they’re all behind you.”

“Us. They’re behind us, right? Not me?”

“Of course. Yes. But like I said, you are the face of this. In the beginning. You have to turn it into us. You have to make them believe there can be an us. You are the person all of this is being pinned on. If it’s too overwhelming, you can pass that baton later and retire into the sunset knowing what you kicked off. That’s way down the road though.”

I take a deep breath, letting it out slowly, my eyes still closed.

“Are you feeling overwhelmed?” she asks in a quieter voice than before.

Yes. I’m scared out of my mind.

Already, I have a text from my dad saying somebody he knew stopped him during his trip to the corner store for his customary cup of coffee and newspaper, asking if he knew what was going on at the warehouse. It wasn’t malicious one way or the other, just making conversation.

Campbell already warned them not to say anything about it, especially in the beginning, but we all sort of treated it like an unnecessary caution. It still worries me that they might get caught up in this somehow.

And maybe I need to take a step back in my own head and chill out. This isn’t the time to start doubting myself. I know I’m doing the right thing, and so do my parents. They’ve encouraged me nonstop, ever since I explained what was going to happen.

“Nothing I can’t handle.” I lie when it’s clear Campbell is waiting for an answer.

“Is it a problem with him ?” She raises her eyebrows. “That’s causing some of this doubt? It would be understandable, Hazel. Trust me.”

I blink a few more times and smile. “Like I said, nothing I can’t handle. Promise. If he doesn’t understand what I’m doing here, he’s not the right guy for me.”

“Okay.” She nods a few times. “Just be open with me, okay? Overshare if you have to. I’ll keep everything between us, but I really don’t like being hit with secret bombshell type stories. Rapid is going to throw everything at us. Everything they can, so I need to know everything. They’ll sacrifice him if they have to. It’s intrusive, and I’m sorry, but I can’t prepare for what they’ll do if I get surprised with it too.”

“You know everything, especially regarding him. Everything I already told you.”

“Okay.” She nods. “Good, so take a few breaths, and we have to get back to work, okay? You good?”

“I’m good.” I nod again.

“Terrific. Because we have to meet up with the workers in about an hour.” She checks the time on her phone, giving me another smile when she confirms it on her calendar.

I’m energized and terrified all at once.

The workers.

Way more difficult than the media. They will be the ones who ask the hardest questions of them all, because they have the most to gain or lose.

She must see my deer-in-headlights expression for what it is. “Don’t worry about it. We prepared for this too. You know everything to do. We drilled it, over and over.”

I know what my issue is right now. It wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for him. This would all be a walk in the park for me.

I know he’s seen everything by now. I wish there was a way I could reach out and... what? Apologize? I wouldn’t apologize. Who am I kidding? Just… I don’t know why it still doesn’t feel right. This is all right. I’m sure it’s making his life difficult, but he let things slide into this state of affairs. Not me.

Maybe it was always going to happen this way. Maybe the system and the universe demanded it would end up like this. It’s not like he could stop trying to make more money, and his company had expanded to capacity here. The profits have to start coming from somewhere, and it’s usually out of workers’ pockets when the company gets that big.

I breathe in a huge breath.

I do my best to forget about Paxton and whether he’ll be worth thirty or twenty-five billion at the end of the week.

This is for my fellow workers. It doesn’t have to be personal with Paxton. It’s not personal what he’s doing to us, his workers, obviously. He sees it as doing business, so why shouldn’t we? Fair is fair.

But it is personal for me and my friends at the warehouse, what happens between us all. When I remember that, it’s easier to get my head back in the game. “Am I using the talking points we came up with?”

“Yes. You want to run through them again?” She puts her phone aside in favor of giving me her full attention, and now I’m the shy kid standing in front of the class. Man, if anybody I went to school with back in the day saw me now, they’d never believe it. I went through a period of time when the very concept of getting up in front of the room gave me hives. Like a legit allergic reaction.

But that was then. This isn’t a book report on some thousand-page Russian masterpiece of literature. Of all the materials and talking points Campbell and her team prepared, this particular meeting is closest to my heart. The first meeting with the workers. I’m sure there will be people who won’t agree. That want me to shut my mouth and stop all this madness. I’m hoping those people will be few.

By the time I’m finished talking to the lawyers on how best to explain the legal process—how Campbell will jump in if there’s anything I’m not sure about—it’s clear my homework has paid off. She gives me a thumbs up. “You’re ready. You’re a natural at this.”

“Let’s hope everybody else buys into it the way you have.”

“They will.” She smiles. “I know they will.”

There’s a knock at the door and my face goes pale, thinking it might be more media.

“Room service; food and coffee. Easy to forget to eat when you’re in the trenches.”

“Right. Yeah.” I nod along, knowing I haven’t eaten anything this morning, now that I think of it.

I’m not hungry at all.

And even now, after my first interview went so well and I know Campbell thinks I’m doing fantastic, I have to force down a few bites of a bagel. I only do it so she won’t yell at me for not eating.

Also, passing out in front of everyone at the warehouse wouldn’t be a terrific look. So there’s that too.

You should’ve told him.

Seriously, brain? We’re still on this?

I think that’s what is going to upset him the most. Not what I’m doing, but that I went on that date knowing what I was about to do. It does feel wrong. He’s the one who forced a date with me though. He came to my house. We all saw it. I didn’t ask him to do that.

Yeah, but you agreed to go.

Because he looked hot in my driveway and smiled at me!

Ugh! I want him out of my brain. He will not go. He refuses.

That has to be a crime, right? For him to do stuff that makes me think about him all the time and feel guilty for things I shouldn’t feel guilty about?

Wow, you’re losing it.

Campbell pretends to be blissfully unaware of my guilt, but she’s hiding it. I know she knows. She’s so smart and pretty.

She glances at the tv, then nudges me with her shoulder. Her phone keeps blowing up while the lawyers sit at her little table in the hotel suite, working on laptops, drawing up paperwork.

“What’d I tell you? Producers are blowing up my texts. Decker’s forwarding everything to my phone. Everyone wants you for the first block on their programs. It’s going national faster than I thought.”

I wish my smile didn’t feel so forced.

I wish Paxton didn’t hate me.

But I know he does now.