Chapter 4
The next morning at eight, I dropped Lily off at the preschool entrance.
With her hair in two little pigtails and her strawberry backpack on, she turned and waved at me.
"Bye, Mom!" she called out.
"Bye, sweetie. Be good today," I replied.
I stood there for a few seconds, watching her run inside.
That was why I couldn't afford to panic.
With parents to look after and a kid to raise, plus a mortgage of 4,000 dollars a month, I had a lot on my plate.
My savings could keep us afloat for six months, if I didn't land a new job.
I couldn't let myself become passive or just wait for things to happen.
At nine sharp, I showed up at a café on Westfield Avenue.
Susan was already sitting in a corner booth.
She was in her early fifties, with short, neat hair and a gray cashmere sweater, and had an air of confidence and efficiency.
When she saw me walk in, she stood up.
"Grace," she said.
"Susan," I replied.
We sat down.
She didn't waste any time with small talk. "I was in the control room the whole time last night."
I nodded.
"Before your stream got cut off, our GMV had already hit about 29 million dollars," she said.
"We were just a hair away from about 33 million dollars," she added.
"That wasn't your fault," Susan said, stirring her coffee. "It was on them, your old company dropped the ball."
"Did they reach out to you after I left?" I asked.
"Yeah, they did," Susan said, her smile a little cold. "Charles, your old operations director, called me three times, saying they wanted to switch to a new host for the special. I asked who, and he said Emma."
"What did you say?" I asked.
"I told him I'd never heard of Emma, and my contract was with Grace," Susan replied.
She paused, looking at me.
"Grace, I didn't ask you here today just to catch up," she said.
I sat up straighter.
"Cosmique's regional division has a new project next year," she said. "We're launching a brand-owned local live stream channel and need someone who knows products and traffic. Salary plus bonuses, at least triple your Radiant Media pay."
Three times.
At Radiant Media, my salary plus bonuses had netted me nearly 1.3 million dollars after taxes last year.
Three times that would be at least 4 million dollars.
"This job isn't with Radiant Media," Susan said. "You'd be signing directly with Cosmique's local subsidiary. It won't conflict with your old non-compete agreement. You'd be working for the brand, not as a host for an MCN."
I didn't answer right away.
"Let me think it over for a couple of days," I said.
"Alright," Susan said, standing up and grabbing her coat. "But don't take too long. This spot's only for you."
She reached the door, then paused and glanced back at me.
"Last night, you made a decision everyone thought was crazy," she said.
"But honestly, I think it was the best thing you've ever done," she added.
*****
After leaving the café, I didn't rush home.
I sat down on a bench along the sidewalk and pulled out my phone.
The trending list was still on fire.
It was even crazier than last night.
The new trending topic [Has Grace Responded Yet] shot straight to the top.
And [Radiant Media Stock Plummets] was holding strong at number four.
Someone even posted a screenshot, Radiant Media's stock had tanked by eight percent as soon as the market opened this morning.
All because of me.
Getting axed live on air set off a whole debate about how chaotic things were behind the scenes at the company. Shareholders and brand partners were all on the sidelines, waiting to see how things would play out.
Then I spotted a post from a major industry influencer:
[Grace is one of the few hosts in the live streaming world who not only knows her stuff, but also has real credibility with brands. When Radiant Media let her go, they didn't just cut Grace, they cut off their own lifeline.]
120,000 likes and counting.
I scrolled through my DMs.
Thirty-plus messages.
Some were from old coworkers just checking in, others from brand reps making sure I was okay.
But one message really caught my eye.
A name I didn't recognize: David Stone.
The message was sent at three in the morning.
[Ms. Nolan, hope this isn't too abrupt. I'm David from Beacon Ventures. I saw what happened last night. We're incubating a new live streaming platform and I'd love to discuss a possible collaboration with you]
Beacon Ventures.
Of course I knew that name.
They're one of the top VC firms around here, three of their portfolio companies have already gone public.
I looked up David Stone.
He's only thirty-four, the youngest partner at Beacon Ventures. Harvard undergrad, Wharton MBA, and after coming home, he basically built Beacon's consumer investment division from the ground up.
He keeps such a low profile, you can barely find a trace of him on social media.
The only photos of him online are a couple of candid shots taken at industry events.
I put my phone down and looked up at the sky.
Last night, I honestly thought my path had ended.
But this morning, out of nowhere, two new paths had appeared in front of me.
Cosmique's brand-owned live stream channel.
David's new streaming platform project.
And I knew Radiant Media wasn't done with me, they'd definitely try to make things difficult.
I wasn't stupid.
They weren't going to let me off that easy.