Page 71 of Nothing But the Truth

“Well, this is going to be fun,” Monica said into her glass before draining it. “I’ll be in touch before I make anything live.” She pivoted for the exit.

“Thanks, Monica,” Joanna called after her.

“Never a dull moment in this town,” she said, throwing her arms in the air as she slipped out the door.

Lucy and Joanna were left alone, standing on either side of Joanna’s desk. As if to offset the symbolism, Joanna rounded to the same side as Lucy and leaned back. “Lucy, before I go out there and address everyone, I want a word with you. We both know that you deserve your promotion, and I want to be transparent with you that I’m not sure what’s going to happen with the board meeting, but I will do my best to ensure an outcome that favors us both. You have excelled with obstacles in your way, and I’m both incredibly remorseful about and amazed by that.”

The compliment warmed Lucy’s face. “Thank you. But I learned it all from you. How to handle difficult situations, I mean. You’re the best I’ve ever seen at it.”

It was Joanna’s turn for modesty. She shook her head. “If I were any good at it, none of this would have happened.” She stared at the floor, and Lucy couldn’t be sure what she was thinking. When she looked back up, her face twisted with remorse. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

The heavy question sat between them, prickled with shame on both the asking and receiving ends: Joanna for even needing to ask, and Lucy for staying silent for so long. But Lucy had to tell the truth. And she had already said it, if not in so many words, earlier that day anyway.

“Because I was afraid. Not only is he your brother, I didn’t want to jeopardize my career by accusing the CEO of harassment. You’ve probably noticed that things don’t usually work out too well for people who do that.”

Joanna’s mouth hardened like expecting the response did not lessen the pain of it. “I’m sorry, Lucy. I know I can’t undo time, but I hope my actions now show you where I stand on the matter.”

Lucy couldn’t fight a smile. “You mean how you sabotaged him?”

The grin that bent Joanna’s lips looked positively wicked. “Like you said: he is my brother. It’s best to keep such matters within the family.”

Having no siblings of her own, Lucy could not understand the dynamic making Joanna grin like the Cheshire cat, but she did not take issue with the much-needed support. In fact, it made her swell with gratitude.

“Do you want to come to my birthday party tonight?”

Joanna looked genuinely surprised. “Do you want me to come?”

Lucy laughed. “Yes, that’s why I invited you. Today has been crazy, and I’m sure after the board meeting you will need something better than that to drink.” She nodded at the glass still in Joanna’s hand.

A warm, soft laugh hummed from Joanna’s throat. It was a rare sound, and Lucy reveled in it. “I can’t make any promises, but that would be a lovely way to end this nightmare day.”

“Great. Perch at eight.”

Lucy hoped she was talking to the future CEO of her company, but she also felt like she was talking to a friend. How fortunate to have those be one and the same thing, if all went well.

“Sounds great. Now if you’ll please excuse me for a moment. I have to attempt the impossible.”

Lucy watched her drain her glass in a single gulp. “Which is...?”

Joanna set the glass down with significant force and the most I am not entertained face Lucy had ever seen. “Convince my father I’m capable of running this company.”

Oh.

Lucy didn’t know the current intricacies of the Jenkins family dynamics, or what power Joanna’s father held over company ownership and decision-making, but it didn’t surprise her to learn he still had a say.

“Want me to tell him like I told that guy at Billboard?”

Joanna laughed a full, throaty sound that made Lucy smile—and assured her she wasn’t in trouble for her colorful commentary on the Ms. Ma debacle. “As much as I would enjoy that, this is something I need to do on my own. Finally.” Determination, coupled with a bit of weariness, filled her face.

“Well,” Lucy said, “I wish you the best. And if it counts for anything, you know where I stand on the matter.”

“It counts for a lot, Lucy. Thank you.”

Lucy shrugged a shoulder as if her life-changing day of honesty were no big deal. Her brief conversation with Annie in the bathroom that morning had snowballed into, hopefully, Joanna taking her rightful place as CEO of the company, but far be it from her to take credit for the butterfly effect. “You deserve it.”

“Thank you. Oh, how did lunch end with Lily?”

“Couldn’t have gone better, actually. She agreed to sign with us, and then I went to talk to her in person about the Deadline story before it broke so it wouldn’t scare her away before she actually signed.”

---