The Reluctant Assistant - Book One

The Preemptive Strike Part 51

By mid-morning Raymond walked into their conference room where the press was gathered. They seemed to be impatient to hear what the announcement was. Hellion rarely held press conferences and the fact that it involved Dealer's made it so much more interesting.

Walking up to the podium, Raymond smiled over at Jackson who was waiting off to the side, before addressing the people in the room.

"Thank you all for coming at such short notice." he smiled around the room. "I only have two announcements to make, which I'm sure will be of great interest to you.

Jackson looked on as Raymond commanded the attention of everyone. He spoke with ease, even joking with some of the reporters. This was a different side to Raymond that he'd not seen before. He'd always been confident in his work, but had always stayed out of the limelight when he was at Dealer's, never addressing the press, even though Jackson had asked him to make the odd announcement over the course of their time together.

"So, now that I've kept you waiting for long enough with all the boring stuff..." he paused while the reporters laughed, "Let me get straight to the point." He looked around, everyone's attention focused on him.

"Hellion and Dealer's have decided to collaborate with each other to create a center for the arts and sciences. This will be one of the biggest projects undertaken to serve the entire community, especially for those who come from disadvantaged communities. This will include building one of the biggest and most advanced centers, which will act as a central hub for all the programs that will also be rolled out to rural communities over a period of three years." He put his hands up as pictures were snapped and the questions started, to quieten them down.

"The program aims to encourage people of all ages and from all walks of life to work together and contribute to the growth of the program, by teaching them the skills needed to promote the upliftment of not only arts and culture, but also to contribute to the advancement of scientific knowledge, which will lead to real life applications..."

It was something that he'd wanted to do for a while now, but never had the means to do. Now with the support of Jackson and Damon, he could give free reign to his dream and make sure it came to fruition. It also helped that they were going to invite all the companies and rivals that they've worked with to participate in the program, to sweeten the deal, which would throw a spanner into Lilith's plan. 

"Who will be managing the project?" one of the reporters interjected.

"Well, if you just wait a moment, I'll get there." he joked with them, causing laughter amongst the reporters. 

Taking more questions from the reporters, he answered them with ease, making sure to cover all his bases, so that Lilith would not be able to find a hole to crawl through to throw things off the rails. 

"What about Dealers? Will Mr. Dealer also make a statement?" Another stopped him.

"You've just spoiled my surprise." Another round of laughter rang out amongst them.

To Jackson it was like watching a snake charmer, the way that Raymond interacted with the people in the room. He held their attention, easily answering their questions, as if he knew what they were going to ask next. He couldn't believe that this was the same person he'd met on the bench or even the same person who'd started working for him six years ago.

Calling Jackson up, there was a flurry of photographs being taken, with Jackson also being peppered with questions. Just as Raymond expected, he charmed them, like only Jackson could and of course, he still loved being the center of attention.

"What is your second announcement?" One of the online influencers asked.

"Well, I think that this will probably break the bank, so strap yourselves in." Raymond quipped, to which there was another round of laughter before the press settled down again.

"Now to answer your question, Jackson and I've decided to let you in on a bigger moment in out lives." He could see all of them sitting on the edge of their seats. He winked at Jackson who moved to his side, grinning like a fool.

"We've decided to get married." Raymond paused while the room exploded with questions and more pops of light. Taking Jackson's hand, he lifted them up to show the rings on their fingers, with Jackson leaning down to kiss him on the cheek.

Just as Raymond had expected, everything went according to plan, as the gossip columns got what they wanted, a juicy story to splatter all over their front pages. "So, we've also decided to let everybody in on our plans for the wedding, so that they can follow this special journey in our lives." This preemptive, was so that Lilith would not be able to blackmail Jackson and so that they can now do things on their own terms.

"We are aware that this won't be an easy ride for us and that there will be some who won't accept something like this, but I also want to let others in our situation know that love does not ask questions and it's okay to just be yourself."

Walking hand in hand, they left the room, leaving the questions behind them. Once they were in his office, Connie came in, her laptop in hand.

"I've created social media accounts for you as a couple." she said turning the laptop to show them. "After the announcement, your following increased immediately, with all sorts of messages. I've created a filter to keep some of the extreme comments out, so that we don't have an online war breaking out." she grinned at Raymond. 

"This is brilliant, thanks Connie." He knew that this was the easy part, the hard work was yet to start. "You're going to have to manage our accounts from now on and keep them updated, so if you agree, I want to offer you a job as part of our PR team. What do you say?"

"If I get an increase, then why not?" her laughter rang out in the room.

"I thought you might go there, so I've prepared myself." he grinned at her. Once she'd left, he turned to Jackson. "How are you doing?"

"I couldn't be happier right now." he pulled Raymond in for a hug.

"You know there will be fallout from your mother, don't you?" When he'd first discussed his plan with Jackson, he'd immediately agreed. This was not the way he'd pictured their relationship moving forward, but he loved Jackson and wouldn't have put this plan in motion, if he didn't feel like they were in it for the long run.

"Don't worry, I've had my phone ringing off the hook, since the story went online. She'll probably be storming the castle this evening." He pulled back from Raymond. "Will you be okay, though?" he was worried that his mother may do something that would hurt Raymond in some way.

"They don't call me the Inquisitor for nothing." he laughed. "Come on, let's go home so that we can face the dragon."