Chapter 18: Conference Calls
The next day, Astrid did not mention their discussion from the night before. In truth, she didn’t mention much of anything. None of her usual witty remarks came out of her mouth, and Jasmine sensed a shift in their dynamic. It was subtle, but when Astrid came back from the breakfast buffet with two plates instead of one and placed the extra in front of Jasmine, she knew there was something different now. Jasmine didn’t draw attention to it, out of fear of damaging the tenuous relationship they seemed to have developed.
The event was set to end at 2 p.m., with their flight back to New York at 5 p.m. Despite how much she had drunk the night before, Astrid showed no signs of a hangover, running over her notes for the day’s meetings like she’d gotten a full night's rest.
“Most of today’s meetings are on the production side, so we can relax,” Astrid said, “There’s one final marketing meeting at noon, which you’ll need to take the lead on.”
Jasmine nodded. “Looks like it’s the ‘We promise we’ll do everything right’ meeting.”
Astrid smirked. “Exactly. The main executives of Genesis Rock will be there, and since they were the ones who requested you, you’ll need to use that country girl charm on them.”
There was no resentment in her voice, no bitterness. Jasmine rolled her eyes and smiled. “I’d like to think of it as just charm, but thanks.”
They slugged their way through meeting after meeting. Normally completely professional, Astrid was checking her watch every thirty minutes and letting out a small sigh when another speaker droned on and on about construction of broadcasting towers and stations. Jasmine felt similarly, and she was about to fall asleep when she heard her name.
“Now, we have Jasmine Thornton, Lead Project Manager for Marketing from Whitlock Inc, come up and answer any questions you may have.”
Jasmine’s brow furrowed together, and she glanced at the sheet. This wasn’t supposed to be a Q&A; it was supposed to be a speech. She looked to Astrid, who looked equally confused at the sudden change in programming.
She did her best to place a neutral expression on her face and approached the podium at the front of the conference room. Most of the room was dressed in business casual for this last day, but the table directly in front of the podium was filled with men in suits and ties. They looked at her like lions waiting to pounce on their prey.
She gulped, took a deep breath, and then said into the mic, “Thank you for the introduction. We at Whitlock are excited to work on making Genesis Rock a great success. It looks like some of you have questions, so I’ll open it up to the floor.”
Immediately one of the executives in the front table stood up. “It’s wonderful to meet Whitlock’s newest rising star. Recently you dealt with a crisis related to a tweet by an actress. How do you suggest we prevent future incidents like this to protect our branding?”
Jasmine snuck a glance at Astrid, who looked as flabbergasted as she felt. “Unfortunately, that isn’t within the scope of the marketing department. You would be better off asking that question to HR or production about how directors and crew are vetted.”
One of the other executives chuckled and then looked up at her. She bit back a small gasp when she recognized Caleb, the executive from Whitlock who had been staring her down the night she ended up in the hospital.
“Part of the question is evaluating your business instincts in tough situations. Every department is your department when you climb high enough in an organization.” He stood up, his hostile aura causing her to grip the podium tightly. “We are concerned that, even with the expert help of Ms. Moreau, we will end up in difficult situations that you are not properly equipped to handle. You’ve only recently graduated, correct?”
Jasmine said with a strength she didn’t feel, “Yes, that is correct.”
Caleb looked smug as he turned to face the rest of the room. “She’s young, with little to no professional experience. I don’t know about you, but that gives me cause for concern. What if Genesis Rock loses great talent because she says there will be an investigation to every small infraction, without any prior authorization?”
Astrid stood up, her chair skidding towards the wall, and started making her way to the front of the room. Jasmine held up her hand, stopping Astrid in her tracks. The momentary weakness she felt from the confrontation was replaced with a cool rage.
A smile graced her face, filled with contempt. “Thank you, Mr. Lewis, for your concern,” she started. Caleb turned back to her, surprised at her expression. “However, as far as your question is concerned, my job is to clean up messes. If you hire the mess, that’s your problem, not mine.
“In fact,” she turned her attention back to the audience, “I’d say it’s reasonable to assume that if there are any accusations against people you’ve recruited, that is more a reflection on your hiring practice and ethics than anything I do, correct?”
The room fell silent. Astrid crossed her arms and smirked, a glimmer of pride in her eyes. Caleb floundered for a moment, and then sat down without another word.
Astrid resumed her stride towards the podium, and Jasmine stepped away to give her the floor. “Unfortunately, we have a flight to catch, so there is no more time for asinine and irrelevant questions. Thank you.”
Astrid hooked her arm through Jasmine’s, and they walked out of the conference room filled with stunned professionals.
“You’ve got some teeth, Thornton. I like it,” Astrid said as they returned to their room.
Jasmine laughed. “Only when it really matters. What’s his deal anyway?”
“Caleb’s part of the old guard. He’s only a little older than Nick, but he’s a big fan of the 50s and 60s if you catch what I mean.”
“Well, it isn’t the 50s anymore. I’m not gonna let ‘talent’ get in the way of taking responsibility for your actions.”
Astrid gave her a smile filled with sadness. She paused for an unusually long amount of time, and Jasmine wondered what she wasn’t saying. “It’s good to have someone else with balls on our team,” she said instead, returning back to her confident demeanor. “Come on, we got to pack.”
“Our flight isn’t till five,” Jasmine said.
Astrid sighed. “It’s a private jet. It will leave when we tell it to leave. Now come on, let’s get out of this horrendous heat. I’ve lost five pounds already from sweating.”
Jasmine smiled. She wasn’t sure how Astrid felt, but she counted the powerful woman as a new friend.