Page 25 of Small Town CEO Grump

“Well, that was bold,” I said. I tried to make myself sound annoyed, but I was actually quite amused. Jenna looked worried as if she had upset me, but then I smiled, and I could see her relax.

“I’m just teasing,” I said. “That sounds like a wonderful idea, and honestly it’s the least I could do. All three of you guys are really helping me out.”

Jenna smiled and stood up. “All right,” she said over her shoulder as she walked towards the door. “I’m going to call Addie and get to work on this. I’ll talk to you later.”

As she shut the door behind her, I couldn’t help but marvel at the change in her demeanor, from just 30 minutes earlier. When I first told her about the fundraiser, she seemed a bit overwhelmed. I could see that she was trying to hide it, and she wanted me to know that she would take care of it, but I knew it was a lot to put on her shoulders. However, now she was ready to go, and I knew the event would go off without a hitch.

I dove back into the reports I was writing, and two hours later I was startled to hear a knock at my door. I looked up and saw Jenna standing there, looking a bit nervous.

I motioned for her to come in, curious as to what had her so unsettled.

“What’s going on?” I asked once she was sitting down in the chair across from me. “Is it something with the benefit?”

Jenna shook her head. “Oh no” she said. “That’s going great. I spoke with Addie and she is so organized. I know the evening will go very well, and I’m not at all concerned about it.”

“Okay, good,” I said. “Then why do you look so nervous?” I

“You can see that I’m nervous?” she said, smiling. “I was trying so hard to hide it.”

“I’ve been around you enough to know when you’re truly confident, and when you’re simply trying to appear confident. So what’s going on?”

Jenna shrugged her shoulders and laughed a bit. “Okay, you got me. You do know me pretty well. All right, I just got off the phone with the newspaper here in town. I do freelance work for them on occasion, and the last article I wrote about a month ago was very well-received. They have asked me to do a long article about the newest full-time resident of our little town. He’s the CEO of a commercial real estate agency, and he is quite successful, especially given his young age. They want me to get a full biography, with as many details as he is willing to share.”

“Oh,” I said.

“Yeah,” Jenna replied.

I thought for a moment. I did not like the idea of my personal life being out there for everyone to read, but I also knew that the citizens in town were going to be curious about me. Jenna was a fantastic writer, and I knew she would do an excellent job with the piece. I trusted her. And I also knew that if I didn’t agree to this article, they would still try to find the information they wanted, but in a less direct way. I knew Jenna wouldn’t do anything underhanded, but there were a lot of other freelance writers out there, who would be more than willing to write an unauthorized biography about me.

“Okay,” I said.

“Okay?” Jenna said. “You mean you’ll do it?”

“Yes. I will give you the interview. When do you have to have a copy in?”

“A week from today.”

“Okay. Can we do the interview at the beach? I always feel more relaxed there, and I know that I will be more willing to talk and give you the information that the paper wants.”

“Yes,” Jenna said. “Of course. Can we do it tomorrow after work? I will have my parents pick Tyler up from school, feed him, and get him to practice. They can even bring him home from practice, and stay with him until I get back. That way we don’t have a time crunch.”

“Another excellent plan,” I said, trying to sound more excited than I felt.

“Don’t do that,” Jenna said.

“Don’t do what?” I asked.

“Don’t fake it with me. Just as you can tell when I’m seriously confident and pretending to be confident, I can tell when you’re seriously happy and pretending to be happy. Don’t pretend to be happy about this. I know you well enough to know that you aren’t excited about having all your information out there. That is why I was so nervous to ask about it. You can trust me, but there’s no need to pretend you’re happy about it.”

“Fair enough.”

***

The next evening I sat at the beach with Jenna, and we enjoyed takeout sandwiches as I answered all of her questions. We discussed my childhood, my relationship with my family, and my history with baseball. We talked about the early stages of my career, my first year as a CEO, and everything I had done since. We even talked about some of my failed relationships, And my hopes for the future.

That night, as I drifted off to sleep, I thought about the fact that as uncomfortable as I was having to share all of that information, Jenna made it better. And that was a very interesting realization.

Chapter 10

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