Live With Me

Chapter 17

Nia is not having a fun time.

She's been keeping the public updated as much as she can since Kara, Lena and Ms Grant got taken away to go and meet the President as per Ms Grant's orders but keeping up with the influx of questions and comments is a task that she needs help keeping up with.

Franklin has been trying to help her, but since he's been taking her direction on it, having him do anything leads to her being asked a million questions and then she's too busy answering those to get any proper work done herself. She has to give it to the poor guy, in any case. He really is trying.

The phones have been ringing off the hook and she's had to enlist a whole bunch of interns to answer them to try and deter people from calling over and over, specifically other media stations. They barely have the story of what's going on with the group taken to The White House as it is. They don't have enough information to clarify anything to anyone else properly. If anything, they would love to have someone to call to explain the details to them.

On top of handling that, when she went to HR to tell them that she and Franklin were taking over this project and that they needed to set up someone else to run the company temporarily, they wholly misunderstood and assumed that she was telling them that Ms Grant put her in charge of the company so now she's scrambling to do precisely that.

She has the support of pretty much everyone in the office, but it's clear that they are only helping because they pity her and are tired of watching her run around like a chicken with its head cut off. A lot of her day is spent running around trying to figure out how to get everything organized and the two people who know the best way to run this place are both gone.

Franklin knocks on the glass door to Ms Grant's office to announce to Nia that he's there. She's been camping in there for a little while now to try and get some peace and quiet, working at the glass coffee table and eyeing up the desk nervously. She knows she could sit there if she wants to, but it feels wrong and she has the distinct feeling that Ms Grant will know if she does.

"Hey, Franklin." She greets him with a tired smile that doesn't get anywhere close to reaching her eyes.

"Sorry to interrupt, but I have a list of all the messages taken from the interns working on the phones. I flicked through, and it looks like most are just people wanting to know what's going on, but there's some from investors and some from suppliers, so I feel like those should be looked over." Franklin grimaces as he explains. "I know that's not what you want to hear."

"Not at all." Nia agrees. "I have no idea what I'm doing, Franklin. Can you try and find someone who can deal with that? Someone with more power than me?"

He shakes his head sadly. "You're the person around here with the power. There's nobody here more capable than you."

"That's unfortunate."

"I know."

Her eyes brighten and a devilish smile makes its way onto her face as she's stuck with a moment of realization. "You're right, Franklin. I'm the one around here with all the power, and as that person, I will insist that you take care of that, and I also apologize. Just stall the investors. Ms Grant will handle that when she gets back. As for suppliers, do whatever it takes to keep them with the company. We can't print anything if our ink or paper suppliers back out. Threaten to sue them if you have to; channel your inner Cat Grant."

"Nia, I don't think that's a good idea." Franklin attempts to argue. He sets the list down on the table before rubbing his sweaty palms down his pant legs and trying to back off.

"I do. I'm the most senior member here as of this moment and I have a lot of faith in you, my dear friend. Good luck." She smiles widely, her eyes twinkling and her hand grabbing the list to thrust it in his direction somewhat aggressively.