Page 15 of Token

“Right, and that didn’t have any effect on his Nike contract, and I know the guys over there and they’re no better than we are.”

“He signed the contract with them well before his activism. Now he expects more from the companies he partners with. Plus, if you’re arguing that as long as you meet their low standards, he should be okay with it, I’d work on the pitch.”

“Obviously, that’s not what I’m saying,” he said. “But it would have been better if he’d been public about it a month ago.”

“Things have changed, Peter. I was under the impression you realized that when you hired me last year.” Sometimes, pointing out the obvious was the most important part of her job.

He stopped next to her chair and peered down at her. “Yes, but it was nothing like this. Last year, one of the managers sent an inappropriate email to the wrong person, and you took care of it.”

“No, Peter, it was yourvice presidentof Global Sales, and as I’m sure you remember—” She didn’t sugarcoat things for her clients. By the time they reached out to her, they needed brutal honesty delivered via IV drip. “—the email was racist and sexist, and it denigrated the Black and Asian communities. And we had an agreement, which you’ve since failed to honor.”

Peter had had no choice but to fire the guy, or the scandal would have exploded onto the national stage. It had been the agency’s most lucrative contract at the time, as he’d hired Kennedy to be the face of the coming change. It had been the agency’s job to create a plan to make their offices in New York and New Jersey reflect the diversity of the country, which she and Aurora had spent the ensuing three months doing. In the end, she didn’t know if he’d even read the summary.

He lowered himself onto the edge of his desk. “Kennedy, we’re going to make the changes. I give you my word. I mean, we have to, right? Like you said, times have changed and we either keep up or we may as well drop out of the race.”

Right—she’d heard this song before.

“Then my advice to you is to be up-front with him. About what’s going to come out in the report and what you plan to do in the future.” And let the chips fall where they may.

His laugh was entirely without humor. “Except the truth isn’t our friend.”

“Then I suggest you make it your friend.” The problem with men like him was they operated under the assumption that everyone was like them.

“If you do as I say—and what we agreed to—I assure you, this won’t happen again,” she stated evenly. The best she could do was lead the horse to water, as she’d done last year. She should have known this one would require a kick in the ass—and for Antonio Jackson’s contract with Nike to come up for renewal—to make him drink.

“Oryou can come to the meeting.Youcan explain things to him. What we plan to do. Coming from you, he’ll listen. I know he will.”

Kennedy began shaking her head before he could finish, her hair swishing softly against her shoulders. “Listen to what? I said the same thing last year. And. Nothing. Happened.”

“That you’re back to help implement the plan.” She could see, by the sudden spark in his eyes, a light bulb literally going on in his mind. “Because we couldn’t do it without you. Which would be the truth,” he added with a cajoling smile—if sharks could smile.

“Peter—”

“We’ll pay you double your fee.” If this were an auction, he was going for broke. “And I promise you this—by the end of the year, no less than seven percent of our employees will be men and women of color, and a total of fifteen percent the following year.”

Kennedy uncrossed her legs and recrossed them the other way. A large dose of healthy skepticism was the only way he should or could be taken.

“And I will put that in writing. Send me a contract and I’ll have it back to you signed and dated first thing in the morning. Everything will be done onyourterms. You can screen the hires, tell us what kind of diversity classes we need to take, and whatever else is in your plan. You lead and we will follow.”

“Peter, I don’t have the bandwidth to—”

“Three times your fee. And if you need help, hire as many people as you need. I realize you have a business to run, so you can work from whichever base is most convenient for you.”

Forget broke, he was going for bankruptcy.

Kennedy’s mind went back to a similar conversation she’d had two years ago with ECO. Back then, the initial offer of five grand had taken her breath away. Today’s offer put enough wind in her sails to get her from New York to the Bahamas and back. This was the kind of money no sane businesswoman could turn down.

“I’m not going to lie to him,” she warned. She’d come perilously close a time or two, but that was a line she just wouldn’t cross.

“I’m not asking you to,” he said, raising his hands in the universalnothing to see heregesture. “But I’m sure when you explain what we have planned, he’ll jump on board with both feet.”

With this infusion of cash, the agency could expand its services and bring on Cecelia Catawnee, their part-time graphic designer, full-time.

“And my first recommendation is that you immediately begin the process of diversifying senior management.”

“You must have read my mind. Don’t worry—I’m already on it,” he replied, sending her a wink.

“Good. Then if there’s any way you can delay the meeting with Mr. Jackson three or four days—although a week would be preferable—that would give me enough time to put together a stronger and more convincing pitch.” She could think of several people she wanted in place or with guaranteed start dates before the meeting, and she planned on reaching out to them ASAP.

---