Page 51 of Try Hard
“Hard pass.”
“Ah.” He hesitated. “Then, I might have terrible news.”
“What is it?”
“They’re talking about the need to expand into social media. You know, short videos, long ones, getting the staff writers on the content.”
“They want us to write for social media?” I didn’t love that, but I could do it.
“Not exactly,” he said, his tone wheedling. “They’re not looking to hire more people, especially not to do what we’re already doing. They want us to do it alongside the writeups.”
My stomach dropped. Of course they were looking into that. In this day and age, it was a wonder it hadn’t come up sooner. But still. I had no interest in being on camera. I hid behind the photographs, behind my words and articles. I was good at that. I was not a presenter or a personality.
After a moment of silence, Fuad made a popping sound. “So, what do you think? Would you do it?”
“Would I have a choice? If they don’t want to hire more people, they’re not going to keep giving me jobs if I don’t do it, are they?”
“Well, it’s not like they can just get rid of you if you don’t.”
“True, but you know how it’ll go if we refuse. Just messy and complicated, and there is a clause in the contract that says they can make changes to respond to the market. This is exactly that.”
“Yeah.” He hummed. “Well, you know, as I say, it’s just talk right now. And I wasn’t trying to wreck your holiday with it.”
He had a strange way of showing that. Especially since he’d have heard about it on Friday at the latest. He could have asked before I left. “Right.”
“I mean, I’m kind of excited about it, honestly, but I just wanted to know what you’d say if they asked.”
“I don’t know.” I’d need to think about it, hear their proposal. And I wasn’t supposed to be hearing about all of this while I was on holiday.
I was not, however, surprised to hear Fuad was looking forward to it. He already had a decent presence on social media. He was no stranger to filming himself. He was also significantly more outgoing and personable than I was. He was the kind of personality that worked in front of a camera.
I sighed. There wasn’t anything I could do about it, and, even if there was, it wasn’t going to happen while I was on holiday leave. “Thanks for the call, Fuad. I need to run.”
He laughed. “Try not to stay too busy on your break!”
“Sure. Bye.” I hung up.
The whole thing felt like a lot, but the worst part was how Eve was the first person to pop into my mind for who I wanted to talk to about it. That made no sense at all. We’d never been people who talked to each other. Sure, she’d spoken to me at school, but we’d been worlds apart. We hadn’t been friends. And, now,after two days of being back in touch, she was the one to come to mind? It didn’t make any sense at all.
I shook the thoughts off, my mind too busy to make good choices, and climbed out of the car, finally heading inside. If I stayed put for too much longer, Mum would have been coming out to get me.
She gave me all of ten seconds after I got in the door before she was at my side. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah, yeah. Just work,” I said, trying subtly to adjust my blazer and ensure my piercings weren’t showing through it. I’d checked in the mirror a lot, but, being back around her had it forefront in my mind.
She tutted. “They shouldn't be contacting you while you’re on holiday.”
“It’s fine. Just a colleague and office rumours, you know?”
“About you?” she asked in a scandalised tone, pausing in her quest to lead me to the kitchen.
I laughed once. “No. Not like that. Company changes. You know how it is.”
“Oh.” She started moving again, gesturing me along the hallway with her. “Your job’s going to be safe?”
“Yes,” I said, sounding far more confident than I felt. Restructuring and redundancy weren’t exactly strangers, and there was every chance this could be part of bigger changes. “It’s really nothing to worry about. You know how company gossip gets around.”
She relaxed. “Of course. Plus, you’re a big name over there. They’d be lost without you.”
