Him & I

Welcome to the Fishbowl

Everybody's business is everybody's business
And that's a big business now
Who's gonna be the first to get the story out?
——Welcome to the Fishbowl, Kenny Chesney

Cait didn't need Grayson to let her know about the media. The company headquarters had been fielding calls from the press all afternoon. She met with Jeff Kline and Mitch McGill, since her father wasn't available and this was most certainly a family matter.

Jeff Kline had spoken to Ben Brafman and Ben had confirmed that a copy of Gillian's pre-sentence investigation report had somehow been leaked to the media. Jeff explained that a report was done any time an offender was sentenced, detailing not only the crime, but the victim impact, any extenuating circumstances and the offender's home life, family situation and propensity for recidivism. Those were all things that a judge could consider in selecting a sentence within federal sentencing guidelines.

In Gillian's case, the report had detailed the fact that her twelve year old son would be cared for by his biological father, Jack Callahan. And leaking that information to the media was like throwing a bucket of bloody chum to hungry sharks.

"I thought custody matters were sealed," Cait sighed, looking at the two men across the table.

"The custody case is," Jeff told her. "But this is part of the criminal case. The report usually isn't public, but it probably would have all come out after her sentencing anyhow. Someone just gave the press a head start."

Cait locked her jaw.  She'd spoken to her father, who had immediately taken Connor to his Park Avenue residence.  They'd finished their shopping, so he and Joan were helping Connor redecorate the room that he'd selected.  And her father had told her he was shutting off his phone.  He wasn't going to spend the day dealing with the media.

Cait looked at Jeff and Mitch.  "Do we need to get our PR staff on this?" she asked.  "We can't stay quiet, can we?  It'll only cause them to lurk longer."

"They've drafted a statement," Mitch told her.  "They'd like to put it out right away.  But we wanted you to see it first, since your father isn't here."

Cait glanced down at the paper they handed to her and read the statement.

As a privately held corporation, Callahan Global Industries has always been a family-owned and operated enterprise. The company and its founder, Jack Callahan, value family above all else. At this time, the entire Callahan family asks for respect for their privacy as they welcome a new member. Callahan Global remains committed to its core mission of global infrastructure development and the company will continue to grow and move forward. Beyond that, neither Callahan Global nor the Callahan family will have any further comment on today's events.

Cait sighed. "Can you just give me ten minutes? I'll be right back."

Jeff and Mitch both nodded and Cait left the room, statement in hand. She went to the office beside her own, the one inhabited by her best friend.  She walked in and wordlessly threw herself into the chair across from Rae's desk. 

"How're you doing?" Rae asked, looking up from her grant applications and raising an eyebrow at her best friend.

"Peachy," Cait snapped.  "Can you read this?  I need an opinion from someone I trust.  Because right now I want to take a red marker and change it to say 'leave us the fuck alone'."