“What the hell happened?!” yelled Jack. His ferocious glare had me inwardly quivering, but I knew I wasn’t all to blame.
“You told him I was the one who changed your mind about the cost reduction. He trusted me, Jack. Now he felt like I betrayed him. Why would you do that? When it comes to our clients, I am the point of contact, the face of your company. The clients need to trust me. You throwing me under the bus ruined my relationship with him. You, as the CEO, should have known better.”
Jack balked with his mouth opening and closing. My audacity in telling a CEO how to do his job must have rendered him speechless, for he flicked his eyes over to Tyler, seeking his assistance in handling me.
Tyler, however, seemed to agree with me. He smiled easily and clapped a hand on Jack’s shoulder. “We all have our losses, Jack. I’m sure Charles will request our business again after letting off some steam tomorrow. But if he doesn’t, I wouldn’t fret over it too much. I never liked the guy anyway.” With that said, he led me away by the small of my back, leaving Jack bristling in the hall.
“Are you okay?” Tyler asked once we entered the busy lunchroom.
“Yes…” I answered hesitantly.
His brow arched in doubt as he picked up two flutes already filled with champagne from the center island. “Tell me what’s on your mind.”
I sighed and rubbed my neck sheepishly. “It’s just something Charles said. It’s nothing, really. I’ll get over it soon enough.”
He frowned reprovingly. Transferring me a flute, he grabbed my free hand and pulled me out the side door to the patio seating area, away from all the commotion. After having us seated on a cushy couch, he swung his arm around my shoulder, his flute-in-hand suspended out in front of me.
“Tell me,” he encouraged again in a low voice. “I don’t care how insignificant it may seem to you; I still want to know.”
I fiddled with my glass flute while he patiently sipped his champagne. Seeing how he was likely to sit there all day unless I spoke up, I plucked up the courage and timidly shared my nagging thoughts with him. “I feel awful for not believing in Charles when he believed in me.”
Tyler’s brows furrowed in bewilderment. “He believed in you as a PM. There’s a stark difference between believing in someone running projects and someone running an entire company. One wrong move from him, and all that he has built may cease to exist tomorrow. He can’t possibly expect you to reciprocate that amount of faith. If so, he’s asking for too much.”
“But there’s something else,” I said, and this time, I had to avert my gaze. It was much too embarrassing to admit that I was affected by mere gossip, especially to someone like Tyler who couldn’t care less about what others thought of him. “He mentioned there are people here, our colleagues, who believe that I’m sleeping with you because of your title.”
“He only spoke with Jack. Jack believes that, and you know you shouldn’t mind whatever Jack thinks.”
“No, I don’t care for Jack, but what if Charles overheard the managers and tech leads talking? I need to work closely with them and we need to have mutual respect. If they don’t respect me, I may not be able to hold my job for very long.”
Tyler took my undrunken flute of champagne and set it on the table with his empty one. Then, gathering my hands, he clasped them in between his own. “There will always be talk no matter what you do. At the end of the day, it’s all about your output. If people see you putting out the work, and that you’re willing to work with them, then they’ll come to respect you — as a colleague. Not as a friend. I know that’s what you want, but you can’t be friends with everyone.” His eyes flicked over my shoulder and he added, “Here, ask Lauren. She’s your manager. If anyone had any issues with you, she would know firsthand.”
Lauren, who had just strolled out from the noisy lunchroom, downed her flute of champagne before setting it aside with the other glasses in front of us. She looked at us expectantly with a slight tilt of her head. “What was that? I heard my name being mentioned.”
“Charles said there’s talk among our colleagues about me,” I told her after she sat down in the chair adjacent to me.
“Really?” She tapped her chin in recollection. “If that’s the case, then I’m the person they’d complain to, and I haven’t heard anything.”
“There, see?” Tyler said, rubbing my knee reassuringly. “Don’t worry about what Charles said.”
“Why would he tell you that?” asked Lauren. “Even if there was talk about you, it’s none of his business.”
“He was angry because I betrayed him.”
“Betrayed him?”
I updated her on the pricing revision Jack had promised, only to get it pushed back by me, and now as a result, we had lost Charles as our client.
“I don’t know why Jack would throw you under the bus like that,” said Lauren. “He knows quite well that the final decision is up to the execs, not a PM to decide. Charles, too, should have known that you had little influence in the matter. If the proposed cost bothered him that much, he should have gone directly to Jack, Tyler, or Prisha. Why would he take his frustrations out on you?”
“It felt personal to him, like I was doubting him.”
“A true business man wouldn’t have taken it personally. He would have known how to separate personal agenda from business. Your doubt was on his company’s ability to pay us — not on him. He should have understood that. And perhaps he will, and maybe he’ll come back. It’s not the end of the world if he doesn’t.”
“I, for one, don’t care if he does,” said Tyler with a grin.
“Hey. Separate your personal agenda from business,” Lauren scolded him.
“Says the person who hired her best friend?”
Lauren flinched, but then, with an indignant tilt of her chin, she countered firmly, “If I hadn’t, you wouldn’t be sitting here all cozy, now would you?”
Tyler lightly pressed his lips to my temple. “No, I wouldn’t. So, thank you for taking a leap of faith on her.”
“It wasn’t a leap of faith. I always knew she’d do well.” Lauren beamed at me like a proud parent. I returned a grateful smile.
“Tyler!” Sean called, bursting through the door. “We’ve been looking for you, man. Lauren, I thought you were gonna get him!”
“Oh, sorry. Got distracted,” Lauren said sheepishly.
“Hurry! We’re trending on Twitter!”
“What?!” I screeched, jumping to my feet.
Tyler chuckled under his breath. “I knew it.”
We hurried back to the bustling kitchen, with me leading the way. People were swarming around the two large monitors hanging by the entrance, all talking above one another about something displayed on the screens.
“Shit! We’re number two already!” exclaimed Lauren as she stood on her toes to see over everyone’s heads. “We were twenty-something just earlier. What happened?”
“That!” Sean pointed to the neighboring monitor.
I couldn’t see past everyone's shoulders. Seemingly aware of this, Lauren linked her arm with mine and pushed her way to the front. Once in front of the two screens, I was faced with the Twitter trending page on the left monitor, and on the right was a Twitter post:
Talus AI new CTO already in hot seat after kissing employee during product launch
An attached article featured a high-def picture of me and Tyler locking lips in a passionate embrace. I had my head slanted to the side while my hands clutched at his jacket. His hands were tenderly cupping my face, like I was the most precious item he had ever held. Despite him thoroughly covering my face, the lanyard hanging around my neck was an obvious indicator that I was an employee.
Moving my eyes down to the flashing numbers at the bottom of the post, I was blindsided by the sheer volume of retweets. The post had been shared thousands of times — and counting. Then, over to the left, on the currently trending page, #TalusAI was trending number two. And number one? #TylerChen.
I threw my hands up to my head, not believing my eyes. I wasn’t sure if I should break down and have a panic attack for Tyler, myself, and the company’s reputation, or feel thrilled because I loved the picture and apparently, so did a lot of people. Furthermore, Tyler was right. Talus AI was now a known name. Whether that was a good or bad thing, I was still unsure.
“What does the article say?” I heard Tyler ask from behind me.
“It says, ‘After an impressive demonstration of a new and futuristic smart camera security system (ready to order later this year),’” Sean read off his phone, “‘Talus AI’s new CTO ran off stage and took hold of an employee sitting in the far back of the audience. Without hesitation, he kissed her in front of the remaining audience in what appeared to be a celebratory kiss. The female employee is believed to be Lana Nguyen, a new project manager who started working there only a few weeks ago, as reported by TheBrainiac.’”
“The blogger,” I said to Tyler.
He nodded, still looking down at Sean’s phone. “Open that link.”
Lauren and I huddled around Sean’s phone as he tapped on the hyperlink, directing us to TheBrainiac’s blog post. It detailed the presentation with praise. Then, at the very end of the article, there was a notice of an update. Sean began reading out loud again.
“‘Since the publishing of this blog post, news has been circulating about an incident that occurred after I left, regarding the CTO’s kiss with an unknown employee. I was in fact sitting next to this employee who had a seat reserved especially for her. Her badge indicated that her name was Lana Nguyen, a Project Manager. When I had asked her why she wasn’t sitting up front alongside her colleagues, she answered vaguely that she was there “for support.” She appeared extremely nervous and seemed concerned for Chen as he presented. Though I was curious at the time, I wasn’t there to pry into someone’s personal life. In light of the event that followed, it now made sense as she was supporting her partner during his first time presenting at Talus AI. I hope it works out for them.’ And there’s a link under Lana’s name directing to her LinkedIn.”
“Hmm,” Tyler thoughtfully hummed. “I guess I’m going to have to unban him.”
“You banned him?” I said, mildly stunned. “Is that what you told that intern earlier when you gave him the business card?”
“Yes,” he easily replied. “I don’t like that he revealed who you are, but that’s journalism; he did it for the clicks. And it actually turned out better than I expected. With him identifying you, his blog post detailing our work is going to be linked in every gossip article about us. You essentially made Talus famous.” He smiled at me proudly, but I wasn’t sure how I felt about my identity being exposed.
I returned my attention to the two monitors, watching the comments pour in. Some praised our technology, many expressed concern over privacy issues, and many more seemed divided over Tyler’s kiss, debating its desirability and ethical implications. And, of course, there were comments about me.
“Sorta brings back memories, huh,” Lauren said, wrapping an arm around my shoulders when she noticed my crestfallen expression.
“Yeah…”
“At least this time they’re not all bad. And it’s a great picture,” she added, giving my shoulder an encouraging squeeze.
I, however, struggled to bypass the discouraging comments made by people who thought they knew me. I turned my gaze to my colleagues, trying to gauge their reactions to the turn of events. Tyler was on the phone, telling the PR team to retweet the blog post. He seemed pleased despite the negative comments targeting him. The unfavorable press had overshadowed his outstanding performance, and yet it didn’t seem to affect him in the slightest. On the flip side, Jack was frowning at the screens in displeasure, and he wasn’t the only one. Alaina and Mindy looked fiercely distraught. Prisha’s face was etched with concern, though I couldn’t tell if it was due to disapproval or something else.
After scanning the excited faces from Tyler’s department, my gaze landed on Allen. He was sitting off to the side at an empty table, absentmindedly staring at his champagne flute, swirling it around, and not paying attention to the screens. Sensing my gaze, he looked up, offering a weak smile before returning to staring into his flute. Something about his forlorn expression unnerved me.
“Excuse me,” I said, pushing past everyone.
“Where are you going?” I heard Tyler call, feeling him grasping for me.
Flustered and overwhelmed, I flung his hands aside. “Please! I just need a moment!” I yelled.
He recoiled from my outburst, surprise evident on his face. I stood there chewing my lip as a pang of guilt pricked at my heart. “I… I just need a moment,” I repeated, softly this time.
With that, I whirled away, hurrying out of the kitchen and up the stairs to the terrace. Several people were lounging outside, admiring the scenic view of the Palo Alto hills. As I passed them, they stopped their conversations, their eyes following me, their expressions indecipherable.
Trying my best to appear unaffected, I paced to the furthest point of the balcony, looking out at the hills. I pulled in a deep inhale, letting the fresh air soothe my racing heart, the warm sun rays calm my spiraling thoughts.
When Tyler claimed that the only thing that mattered during the presentation was me, I didn’t realize how quite literally he meant it. Tyler showed no concern for the unpleasant aftermath; all he cared about was that I was proud of him. With that in mind, I shouldn’t have been bothered by everything that occurred outside of his presentation. What people thought of me shouldn’t matter. Tyler’s happiness was what truly mattered. Not the opinions of invisible people behind Twitter handles, not even my colleagues. They weren’t living my life; I was. I should have been allowed to live in a way that made me happy. Tyler made me happy. Lauren made me happy.
And, though I wished it wasn’t so, people’s approval made me happy.
I sighed, dropping my face into my palms.
An arm curled around me, and I peeked through my fingers, seeing a plate of food hovering before me.
“If it helps at all, I always find it better to talk out loud than to have arguments in my head.”
My own advice was spoken softly behind me. Another flute of champagne swung around to my other side. “What’s troubling my baby?” Tyler asked, his hip pressing into my lower back, his mouth leaning in to kiss my cheek.
I suddenly felt suffocated by the raw display of affection in front of our colleagues. I turned my face away, searching for a place to sit where Tyler and I could each have our own separate space. As my eyes wandered the terrace, I caught sight of contemptuous stares and demeaning scowls.
Ducking under Tyler’s arm, I quickly moved to an empty set of tables and chairs on the far side of the balcony, gesturing for him to take a seat in the chair opposite me. Noting his quizzical expression, I put on a forced smile, striving for nonchalance.
But he wasn’t one to be fooled. Instead of sitting where I had indicated, he took the chair next to me, setting the plate of food and champagne glass in between us. “What’s the matter? Are you still upset over Charles?” he asked with a hint of annoyance.
“No, not Charles. Well…maybe?” I shook my head questioningly with a dejected sigh. “I’m just…feeling overwhelmed. I don’t know how I feel about us.”
Tyler froze, and I could actually feel him stop breathing. “Don’t you dare,” he warned, his voice dangerously low.
I nervously glanced around. Some people had stopped their mingling to eavesdrop. “Relax. I’m not leaving you,” I whispered in a rush. “I just don’t have a thick back bone like you do. You may not care what people say about us, but I do. I can’t help it. I want us to be together, but with the whole world knowing… Tyler, I’m costing you millions of dollars in investments — potentially billions! And that’s just today alone!”
“Potential!” he snarled, attracting more attention from our surrounding colleagues. “That’s the key word. Potential. They’re all potentially worth billions, and we lose out all the time by denying RFPs and partnerships we cannot deal with. You, alone, are not costing us anything.”
“You saw that headline,” I said, my own voice rising. “And what that VC said. Who would want to do business with you after today? Who would want to work here? You dating me, is costing your company’s reputation and undermines the belief that your company is built on merit. I don’t want to cause you any more trouble.”
“You’re not,” he said earnestly, taking hold of my hands. “What happened today is a good thing. You’ll see.”
I freed a hand and motioned to the people who were now openly staring at us. “Look at your employees, Tyler! They’re clearly not happy. All their hard work and we just stole their thunder.”
“Our livestream is being rewatched by thousands when usually we’d get a few hundred if we’re lucky. Their hard work is finally being recognized. If that doesn’t please them, then so what? We can’t please everyone.”
“I just don’t feel comfortable with how people are seeing us…how they’re seeing me.”
“Why do you care? We’re happy right?”
I turned my gaze towards the hilly landscape, unsure how to answer him, as I, myself, didn’t know why I cared so much. Why must people’s judgment affect my happiness? They weren’t living our lives. I didn’t want to care, yet I did, and I couldn’t turn it off.
“I just wish everyone would stop judging us,” I murmured helplessly.
As if on cue, people began shifting around, averting their gaze. Tyler pulled his chair closer to me, shaking my arms until I looked at him. “Lana, I don’t know what I can do to please everyone around us. You want me to give you some space at work, I’ll try. I’ll try not to smother you. I can even make it look like we’re no longer together, if that’s what you want. But we’re going to stay together. You will come home with me every night, and we will leave together every morning. I will not let you back out of this.”
“But what if I cause you more damage than good? You’ll feel miserable and come to hate me.”
“That’s impossible. I don’t care if I lose every penny in this company. I’ll just start a new one. I’ll even work for someone else so as to not worry about running my own startup. My business is always replaceable, but I can’t replace you. I need you by my side. Let me worry about my and my business’s reputation.”
My eyes fell to my lap and I hung my head low. I felt pathetic for even wanting to ask. “What about my reputation?”
My question must have thrown him for he suddenly went rigid. The old familiar calmness masked his face. I was aware it was a selfish concern. I had no reputation to uphold. My reputation affected no one but myself. He, on the other hand, had much at stake, yet somehow, he managed not to care. His persistent silence told me he was thinking the same. Still, I waited for him to come up with some kind of response that would put my concern to rest.
He slowly blinked away the calm facade, revealing unexpected hurt and remorse. He held up my hand, gently pressing the back of it to his lips. “Is being with me damaging your reputation?” he asked in a grave voice.
I vigorously shook my head. “No, I don’t mean it that way. It’s not you, specifically. It’s the idea that the relationship carries — that I may not take my job seriously…that if I go anywhere, I would only be searching for a man with a title.”
“But you’re not going anywhere… Are you?”
I sighed wearily, knowing he would not be open to discuss any sort of compromise. Such an idea would never cross his mind. Still, it had to be said in order for him to consider its possibilities. “I think it would be best if I leave the company.”