Page 7 of Fight For Her
I stood up to stretch my legs. “Hey, Lee. Love the outfit.”
They beamed. “Thanks. I was feeling alien-core vibes this morning.” They pushed their hair away from their ears to show me a pair of chunky alien head earrings that dangled like pendulums.
“Psychedelic.” I smiled naturally for the first time all morning.
Lee stuck their head into Claudia’s door. From the corner of my eye I saw Claudia’s exasperated look as she took in Lee’s outfit. Claudia loved Lee as much as I did even if they drove her crazy.
I went back to my computer screen where I pulled up PRCareers.com and scrolled the listings. I did this a few times a week lately. So many of the companies were located in Los Angeles or New York with celebrities or high-profile companies as their clientele.I clicked on one of the listings at the top.
Stratestar Agency
Hollywood, CA
With over four decades in the business, Stratestar gets PR
Have you ever dreamed of working with top Hollywood celebs? Do you want to take your career to the next level?
We are searching for a PR Specialist with superb communication skills who flourishes in a fast-paced environment. Must be creative, a team player, and above all be able to think outside the box.
Stratestar was famous in the PR world. Their CEO, Victor Moss, had his own reality show a few years ago. I skimmed the rest of the qualifications all of which I had exceeded at this point in my career. For a moment, I let myself dream of that life. Me on a red carpet, palm trees swaying in the balmy California breeze. Camera flashes clicking all around me, like music to my ears. I’d usher a Kardashian sister to their marks as I gave TMZ a confident “no comment” regarding their most recent scandal.
Until Lee made a squeak and uttered, “Oh no” loud enough to pull me out of my reverie.
They had their phone centimeters from their face while theirfingers scrolled lightning fast.Calmly, like I was talking someone off a ledge, I approached them.
“Lee? What’s wrong?”
It wasn’t unusual for Lee to squeak and squeal ten times a day for random reasons. Sometimes it was an adorable puppy video, a news headline about Timothy Chalamet, or a sale at Fringe, their favorite boutique. But the looks on their face made me think it was for none of those reasons.
“Should I get Claudia?” I asked tentatively. Their eyes flashed to mine before they shook their head.
“No, I think I can do damage control.”
I didn’t wait for them to explain. Prying their phone from their death grip, I scanned the screen. Instagram was open. Everything looked normal.
But, wait? Why was there a photo of their cat, Mr. Kittykins leg up high, grooming himself on Chez Famille’s page with the caption:Wine not? Today’s chef’s special looks droolworthy.Don’t you agree?#provencale #cuisinefrench #chicken #meat?
The post had hundreds of likes and comments. I could feel ideas ping ponging around in my skull. We had to fix this. Chef Lambert was our pickiest client. He’d get pissed for the most minute of reasons especially since last year when a Yelp reviewer blasted them for serving chicken when they were supposed to get duck. He acted like the review was a personal attack. I didn’t know how he managed to keep staff at his place.
“Lee? When did you post this?” I forced my voice to be calm and steady.
“Yesterday afternoon. Claudia sent me a message from Lambert with a photo of some chicken dish. I guess I was tired and accidentally posted Mr. Kittykins instead.”
Lee was pacing now. “Should we delete it? It looks like the comments aren’t all bad.”
I read through quickly. Lee was right, most of them thought the post was hilarious and commented how cute Mr. Kittykins was. There were others though, that said things like “DISGUSTING”or “EW” or “@sugarbaby101 I told you my chicken tasted off when we ate there.”
Shit.
We had to pull Claudia in for this. She couldn’t be caught off guard when Lambert saw the post. Freaking, Lee. I handed them back the phone and sent them into Claudia’s office with a sympathetic look.
A headache throbbed at the base of my skull. As I sat back down, I thought about that job posting and how different an Instagram post gone awry would be in the glitzy world of Hollywood. Without another thought, I opened up the job listing again and sent my most recent resume to the contact there. It was a shot in the dark, but the thrill helped me pull through the rest of the afternoon.
I’d never been so happy to get to Krav class on a Monday evening. After hours of listening to Lambert holler in Claudia’s office, the gym was like an oasis. The familiar scent of sweat and Old Spice enveloped me, and I instantly relaxed my shoulders.
I almost didn’t come to class. My headache went away, thanks to multiple ibuprofens, but the day depleted my social battery. I used to thrive on solving issues with difficult clients. Claudia told me I had a knack for it. But I’d lost that enthusiasm somewhere.
My classes at Krav Maga on Main had become a well of energy for me these past few months. At first, I only went to placate Mia. But after a few classes, I could see how she got hooked so fast.There was something empowering about punching the crap out of a pad or rolling someone bigger than you.
