“I wanted the best chance for me and my friends, and you’re it. I’m not trying to oversell this; I truly believe that.”
“Good, because I hate it when people do that.”
“I figured it was a long shot, but I might as well give it a try.”
“I’m glad you reached out, to anybody at all, to be quite honest.” Campbell darts away, grabbing a wheeled suitcase off the conveyor and plopping it on the floor before extending the handle. “Because this is way bigger than you could handle on your own. I’m not trying to oversell anything either. I believe in upfront, concise communication. We can’t afford not to say what we believe reality is. And I don’t mean any offense by that.”
“Trust me, none taken.” I can only laugh nervously. “I know.”
We start out through the sliding doors, and I point her in the direction of the lot.
“I hope you’ve given some more thought to what we discussed when we spoke on the phone. It’s easy to agree to something like this when you’re caught up in the moment. Sometimes, though, when we have a minute to sit back and really think it through, we might get cold feet. That would be perfectly natural, by the way, if you had those feelings. I wouldn’t hold it against you.”
It seems strange, having this conversation when she’s already landed and we’re on the way to the car, but I can’t blame her for wanting to be sure. Besides, she doesn’t have to be this kind or generous. I wonder how many times she’s been in a situation where the people she was trying to help got freaked out at the last minute.
I’m sure it happens a lot. Companies can be very intimidating, and they usually hold all the leverage.
I realize she’s waiting for an answer, too. “I’ve been giving it a lot of thought. A lot. Like, it’s amazing I can get anything else done, that’s how much I’ve thought about it. And I’m just as committed to this as ever.”
“Do you feel overwhelmed?”
“Uhh yes.” I blurt out before my ego gets in the way. “It’s not easy to admit that to somebody I’ve looked up to the way I look up to you.”
“It’s okay. I won’t tell anybody.” She grins.
I’m pretty sure I’d marry her if she wasn’t already taken. She doesn’t even seem to mind the thin, cold rain drizzling on us as we trot our way to the lot.
“Sorry about the weather.”
“Oh, New York is no better. I’m used to it.”
“It’s going to get nuts in a month or so.”
“I’m glad you admitted to feeling overwhelmed, because that tells me you’re taking this seriously. You’re mature enough to be honest.”
“Please, don’t hold my age against me.”
“That’s not what I mean.” She stops and turns to me. “This might not go how we want it to go. In fact, it’s probably going to end completely different than us, or the company think right now. It’s not a movie where the ending is happy and everyone cheers and it’s all scripted. There will be things you haven’t thought of. People you think are on your side who aren’t. It’s going to be a war.”
“Okay. I’ve tried to think of anything I can, but I know I can’t predict everything. I don’t have any expectations other than I put up the best fight possible. I’m trying to be realistic.”
“Good. Because that’s how you’re going to need to take this, every step of the way. Realistically.” We come to a stop by the car and she turns to me. “If we move forward, it’s not going to get any easier. There are going to be times when you wish you had never started this in the first place. If they, meaning Rapid, feel threatened, they’re going to attack you in ways you can’t imagine. They’ll attack everything about you, any weakness they sense, they will pounce, do whatever they can to discredit you. Because they only need to convince a certain number of theirworkers that a union is the worst possible thing for them, and if they do it, they win. And they will win at all costs. Nothing is off limits. You will need a fantastic support system to deal with this.”
“I have that.” I don’t have a doubt in my mind Mom and Dad will be behind me on this a hundred percent.
My confidence doesn’t seem to impress her. “There’s going to be some long days, too. Interviews, all that. On top of your work schedule, which will probably be more grueling with them watching you like a hawk, and anyone they think is collaborating with you. Your school stuff will be going on, you’ll need to study. Honestly, it’s probably good that you’re still young and full of energy. That’s an asset. And of course, the public will make decisions for themselves. You’ll be all over social media—and by the way, I recommend you don’t run a search of your name, at all. I would delete your apps, and we’ll post to the union social media from a laptop, then close it. I can monitor the comments on it.”
Oof. The thought makes me cringe, but I can’t give up over something so trivial, no matter how much it stings to think of people making decisions about me when we’ve never met. Anybody on social media knows how comment sections can go, and how political they can get in a hurry.
And I understand what Campbell is trying to say without coming straight out and putting words to it: Rapid’s team will undoubtedly spread all kinds of crap, maybe even hire people or have social media bots that will flood any of our messages. Who cares if anything they say is true? People will only read the headlines.
I straighten my spine, rolling my shoulders back before I lift my chin and meet her head-on. “I can handle that.”
“So you’re ready?”
This time, I can answer without hesitation. “Yep, let’s do it.”
I don’t want to flatter myself by thinking she looks proud of me when she smiles, but I can’t help hoping.