3 Chapter four

When Samorena and Saone woke up on Tuesday morning they were both incredibly nervous and, if it counted for anything, well rested. They had gone to bed early the previous day. They had their lunch over an hour after it had been delivered. Then had spent the rest of the afternoon rerehearsing their presentation and preparing for how to answer questions regarding Luca. They were certain at least one question would pop up. By the time evening strolled in the world knew who she was. They had her name, where she was from, where she worked, who her parents were as well as who her last boyfriend was. He would love that! She was officially the world's most hated person if not then definitely top five. It was a difficult thing to ignore or carry on one's shoulders, especially where a verdict was passed without hearing both sides of the story. They both did the best that they could to ignore everything that had nothing to do with their presentation that day.

Over tea they went through the final preparations, making sure they were both on the same page. Saone gave Sam one last pep talk because Sam looked like she needed one.

'We are good at what we do, we are prepared for this and our portfolio does the talking for us. We are money waiting to be made and they would be crazy not to partner with us.' Saone said.

'Hi 5!'

'Work mode on.' Saone said, making Sam giggle.

Sam had on a gray skirt suit, a royal blue silk shirt and black shoes while Saone had on a black pants suit and a light gray shirt with charcoal gray shoes. They gathered up their papers and packed them in their briefcases, then packed up their laptops and tablets. As they were preparing to leave the knowledge that there was a group of people waiting for them downstairs never left their minds.

'Do you want to turn on the TV and see what they are saying?' Saone asked.

They had not turned the television on since last evening and were curious what new developments there were. Sam was surprised to learn that Luca was planning on doing an interview later that day. What was less surprising was that while Luca kept a low profile Diane had been talking to people. They saw a clip of Diane playing the victim perfectly and thanking everyone for their well wishes and asking for privacy in "this very difficult time"

She would always be fond of Luca and would not sully the memory of their relationship by talking about it. She was good. Effectively telling the world that she was done with Luca while also making it sound like she did not want to talk about it. Diane had every right to play victim because she was.

'Luca is keeping a very low profile. It's two days without a word now. I wonder what his play is.' Saone said.

Samorena was about to respond when her phone rang. It was a UK number so she answered it assuming it was Mandy or Dave; the people that they were meeting, but praying it was not a reporter.

'Hello.' she said.

'Hi. How are you Sam?' a man said.

'I'm fine. Who am I talking to?'

'Luca Bataglia please do not hang up.' the last five words were spoken almost as though they were one word.

She went still at the mention of his name seeing as he was the last person she had expected to talk to. She had saved his number so he was calling her from another number. She wanted to hang up but she was curious about what he had to say.

'Who is it?' Saone asked.

'Luca.' Sam mouthed and Saone frowned.

'Are you there?' Luca asked.

'Yeah, I'm still here.'

'Where do I start?'

'You could start by hanging up and letting me get on with my life.'

'I can't do that, not yet. Listen, I called to let you know I am doing a live interview later tonight and I would like for you to be there, so we can set the record straight.'

She thought about it for a second then said, 'I have a business meeting in an hour, I will talk to you when I am done.'

'Where is your meeting? Maybe I can join you, later when you are done, I mean.'

'That would not be a good idea.'

'OK. The interview is later this evening at six for seven.'

'Text me the details. Bye.'

She hung up then took a moment to gather herself. She had always scoffed at the idea of love at first sight or any of that romantic stuff but there was no other way to explain the effect that he had on her and she had known him for four days. Four days was not enough to create as strong a connection as she felt with him.

'Are you ok?' Saone asked. She did not ask about the details of the phone call, she knew Sam would tell her when she was ready, all the wanted to know was that Sam was fine.

'Yeah. Let's just get out of here and be businessy. Forget all this bullshit.' Sam said.

Somehow they managed to work their way past the dozen or so men and women waiting for them and got into a cab. The questions rang in their heads as they sat at the back of the cab.

"Are you and Luca lovers?"

"How long have you been seeing each other?"

"Is it true that you are secretly engaged to him?"

"Are you a mail order bride?"

"What about Diane?"

It took every ounce of the strength that she possessed as well as Saone's strength to hold it together. She hated herself for sleeping with that man. Her face was all over the news on all seven continents for all the wrong reasons. She could just imagine what was going on back home. She had worked hard preaching women empowerment and being each other's keeper yet there she was in the news for wrecking another woman's relationship. It does not get any more hypocritical than that.

'Oh Sasa I thought I could handle it.' Sam said.

'Of course you can.'

'What possessed him to call me?!'

'This is not the place or time to talk about this.'

Saone glanced at the driver who was paying more attention to them than the road. Sam took a deep breath let it out then smiled at Saone.

'Believable?' she asked.

'Almost. You'll get there.'

The ride felt like an eternity in hell. The nightmare continued when they realized even outside Dave and Mandy's office there were reporters waiting there.

'Who the hell told them we were coming?' Sam exclaimed.

'We've just stepped into hell.' Saone echoed, as reality planted her ugly feet firmly in place now.

As they muscled their way into the building Dave wondered how famous people coped with this kind of intrusion everyday of their lives. She could not imagine having to live like that for the rest of her life. One day in it and she wanted to burrow into the ground and never resurface, at least not until another scandal swept hers under the rug. The building's security kept the reporters outside so the pair could breathe normally again. They approached reception and introduced themselves. They were shown to the conference room and entered the room as though they had not come in from chaos. Dave and Mandy were already in the conference room waiting for them. They both stood up when the women entered the room and shook hands with them.

'You are quite the celebrities; we have been fielding calls non-stop all morning.' Mandy said, as soon as they were all seated.

Samorena laughed nervously as she removed her laptop from its bag.

'It would appear so.' She said.

'It's really none of our business.' Dave Elliot said.

Mandy Elliot eyed Samorena suspiciously. She and her brother Dave were wealthy and had decided several years ago to invest in start-ups as well as companies that had promise. They were currently looking for an international PR firm. They had identified four companies from three different continents and GLAMAGE were the most impressive they had come across. The fact that they were also an Advertising firm gave them an edge over the other three. GLAMAGE had been sure to get the funding until news had broken about the scandal involving one of its owners and a famous football player. Mandy had wanted to axe them immediately because she did not want her brand associated with that sort of scandal but it was Dave who had convinced her to change her mind because scandal or not this was a great opportunity.

Africa was virtually uncharted territory and they both realized the potential for more joint ventures. Even as she sat at the table with the woman in question, Mandy was not sure she wanted their brand associated with that sort of image. She was sitting there was for two reasons, the first of which was her brother had convinced her to hear the two women out and the second was if the women could spin this scandal in their favor, then half the work would have been done for them. In the world of entertainment, especially, there was no such thing as bad press.

Her brother was all for investing and Mandy knew, as talented as the women were, his interest lay in the women and not the company. The fact that Samorena was embroiled in scandal made her very interesting to Dave. He was and has always been attracted to trouble and controversy.

As Samorena set up their equipment Saone began the pitch. Mandy was impressed by their poker faces. Other than the occasional sip of water by Samorena, one would not be able to tell that anything was amiss or that she was facing a potentially career destroying scandal. She felt a little sympathy for the young girl, guilty or not, it must not be easy to be going through this. The world is fickle and unforgiving of human flaws.

'The world is fickle and unforgiving, and nobody is safe from censure. It does not matter who you are and it seems the higher you climb up the ladder the more your mistakes are picked apart. What's more, we are, none of us, perfect and now and then we make mistakes. Yet it seems those in the public eye such as businesses, athletes, actors, musicians and politicians are held to a different standard and expected to never make mistakes. Is that possible? Not at all. That's why we are in business and that's to help those who find themselves in a position where they have lost the favor of the people they serve, that adore them and that purchase their products. Our job is to make the public do one of two things. One, realize that these people are human just like they are, two, minimize the impact of the scandal.' Saone said.

'We have been doing exceptionally well and have a strong client base that is loyal to the work we do for them. Our wish is to enter the UK market and a liaison with you would make this penetration a lot smoother.' Samorena added.

Dave laughed out loud then excused himself.

'I apologize. Please, do go on.' he said.

Samorena felt her cheeks burn. She could tell exactly where the obnoxious red-faced man's head was at but she could not put him in his place because she needed his money and connections more than she needed retribution.

'We have a strong and talented team who are the reason we are so successful. We have three branches in our country; in Gaborone the capital city, Francistown the second city and Maun the tourist capital of the country. Each branch is made up of fifteen to twenty employees. Five PR officers, a copy editor, graphics designer, art director, three drivers, two marketing executives, one person in legal, one in accounting and two assistants for myself and Miss Lebang.' Samorena continued.

As Saone continued where she had left off Samorena handed out hard copies of the information on the screen.

'If you could look to the screen there.' Saone said, 'On the left you will see our total turnover over the past three years, on the right is a breakdown by branch. We have been in business for six years and while the first two were difficult the last three have been good to us. On the next slide you have financial projections for the next three years and what you are looking at are projections for the Southern African market; that includes South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe. The next slide shows projections for UK if we were to go in alone on the left and on the right are projections with you on board. These projections were informed by our performance from inception to yesterday, your organization's reputation, the target market that we have identified in each market as well as resources that will be available to us. As you can see we expect a hike of about five to eight percent in the first three years with you on board than the two to three percent we would enjoy in the first five years were we to go in alone.'

'We are asking for a joint venture investment which means you will have a say in how the company gets run and how profits are divided and expansions within the UK.' Samorena added.

Then she switched the projector off and spoke to the siblings again, 'We are confident that this partnership will reap benefits for years to come and together we can build an empire which is why we are hopeful of you coming on board. Thank you.'

'Thank you ladies.' Dave said.

'Do you plan on hiring your people or locals?' Mandy asked.

'Naturally, I would bring some of our officers for training of the locals we would be hiring. There is a certain culture that has been cultivated within Glamage that we feel has been part of the reason for the success enjoyed and we would want that culture to extend to this market. However, majority of the employees will be locals.' Samorena said.

'How do you intend on going about getting clients?' Mandy inquired.

'We have identified several niche markets in England, Manchester especially, that could be profitably explored. And some of our clients back in Botswana have branches here and could be swayed to shift some business our way, we have in fact struck up tentative arrangements with several of them.' Saone answered.

'It's very important for us to know who we are going into business with and so there are things that I need to know which may be of a sensitive nature. I would be pleased if you would be forthcoming so we know how to proceed from here.' Mandy said.

She took a sip of water and watched Samorena over the rim of her glass.

'Samorena may I be frank?'

'Please.'

'Alright. I was impressed by your presentation and I must admit I fell in love with your company the first time I read about it. However, certain things in your private life have come to light and it has made me a little hesitant.'

'What my sister, in her roundabout way, is saying is that we are worried how your affair with the football player will affect us.'

'There is no affair. What happened was...the record will be set straight and the truth will be known. I want you to know that at Glamage we run things in a professional manner and never let our private affairs affect business in any way.'

Mandy nodded and looked at Dave who nodded as well.

'Mandy and I will think on it and email you our decision in a week.' 'Thank you for meeting us.' Saone said.

They both got up and shook hands with one another. Dave gripped Samorena's hand a little tighter and held on a little longer than was necessary.

They said their goodbyes and left the room with the other pair's eyes following them out. They muscled their way to the waiting cab. Sam threw her head back and stared up at the roof. Tears trickled down her face.

'I am sorry.' she said.

'Whatever for?' Saone asked.

'Screwing this up for us. How ironic is it that there was actual screwing in this.'

She laughed bitterly. Saone pulled her closer and kissed her forehead.

Then she started laughing.

'What?'

'I was just thinking how we added lesbian lovers to the equation with me kissing your forehead just now.'

Samorena sighed loudly and said, 'This is a never ending nightmare. How the hell did we become more famous than our clients? It's not supposed to be that way.' she said.

When they arrived at the hotel Samorena remembered her phone call with Luca that morning and how he had said something about an interview. She checked her phone for messages and sure enough he had text her the details. They were going to be live on one of the biggest talk shows in the world. They had viewership on six continents. She had not properly spoken to Luca since she stormed out of his house on Sunday morning. She debated the pros and cons of going on the interview. The biggest pro was the fact that she would finally get her side of the story heard.

The con was the fact that by going on this interview and talking about her life she would be making it okay for other people to talk about her and her affairs. However the fact that people would continue to talk, especially the longer she kept a low profile, overrode any need for privacy. People would talk either way but it was better for them to talk about the truth. So she decided she would do the interview so she called Luca on the number he gave her at the hospital and waited nervously while it rang.

'Cara...' he said.

She ignored the endearment in spite of the fact that it made her heart do leaps and bounds.

'I will do the interview with you but I have conditions.'

'Let's hear them.'

'We will not arrive together. We will not talk to each other before or after the interview and there will be no physical contact.'

'Your demands are reasonable.'

As she hung up she hated that he was being so nice to her.