Make Me (Editing)

four (edited)

Gray's Consulting did it all, which meant that I did as well.

The paperwork, filing and business correspondence was endless. I took all of my boss's calls, planned out his every move, and made sure he was everywhere that he was meant to be. I also attended countless meetings, where I was basically just the scribe, writing down every notable comment that was made. It really baffled me as to why billion-dollar businesses like his hadn't implemented some sort of recording technology to replace the physical labour.

In my first few weeks on the job, I'd also done a lot of research, both assigned, and of my own accord. I was obviously required to know every intricate detail of the business in order to represent it well. But in addition to studying the surface facts, I'd found myself more often than not digging deeper into the history of Gray's Consulting, as well as into their many scandals, both past and present. I was more than aware that a lot of what I was reading had been completely manufactured for the sake of selling a story. Nevertheless, they certainly gave a good indication of the various perceptions of the company, both from the media and the public eye, which were arguably just as important as the facts and figures.

Every business had their scandals - it proved that they were significant enough for people to care. And every business had their rivals - it proved that their product was good enough to be worth competing with. A large portion of my job revolved around the detailed knowledge of this. From very early on, I'd been presented with a list of names; companies, media outlets, and individuals; to avoid like a plague. Although Marcus' name was (thankfully) not on the extensive register, the company he represented most certainly was. 'Nelson Incorporated' sat boldly near the top of the document, second only to 'Life & Style Weekly', who seemed to find joy in running Mr Gray through the mud at any chance they got. And through completely unbiased research, I'd also discovered that Marcus' portrayal of my employer as the bad guy of the feud with his was in fact rather twisted.

I had been surprised to discover that Nelson Incorporated had in fact started up well after Gray's Consulting had been established by Mr Gray Senior some thirty-five years ago. According to my reading, their products and campaigns had, in their short history, appeared to mirror ours, in a pretty non-discreet manner. It seemed as though the company Marcus was aligned with was in fact the antagonist in a lot of the unsavoury interactions between businesses, and had been rather petty with the numerous fabricated scandals that they had circulated. They also made a considerably smaller income than Gray's, which didn't confirm anything in itself, but definitely helped the argument. The more I read into it, the more the rivalry resembled a sort of restraining order, preventing Nelson Incorporated from touching us.

Oh, and you may have guessed by this point that I still hadn't gotten around to telling Marcus who I worked for. I was definitely a bit of a scaredy cat, and just hoped that he'd be ok if I told him in person when he came to visit. And if it counted for anything, he hadn't asked for specifics or brought up the topic of work much at all. But I knew that the longer I held off the worse his reaction may be.

"Morning, Al," Bella greeted me as I made my way hurriedly towards the elevator. "You in a rush or something?"

"He's gonna be pissed," I laughed, causing her to cringe.

"Good luck," she chuckled. "Sounds like you're gonna need it."

As the elevator door closed, I checked my phone for the time. 8:01. Although it was only a minute past my scheduled clock-on, I was certain to incur my boss's wrath because of it.

Ever since I had 'argued' with Mr Gray on my first day on the job, he'd given me a new set of requirements, which basically ensured that he would never have to see me unless we were in a meeting, where he acted as though I wasn't there anyway. I now had to arrive at around a quarter to eight, early enough to deliver his coffee and get settled in for the day before he arrived right on eight o'clock. From there, he would send me my daily tasks in choppy emails, and I would return them in a similar manner. It had been like this for almost four weeks now, and this was the first time I had failed to make it in on time.