Dane said, giving him a reassuring smile. “Leah just had a bit of a reaction to the perfume. It’s not a problem. She’s all good again now.”
Jefferson’s cheeks turned bright red. “A bit of a reaction doesn’t excuse bowing out of our pre-launch event. This is important. We need all these people to be excited when they leave here tonight, and before they leave, we need to have them posting about the perfume all over social media.”
He narrowed his eyes at me, his gaze sweeping down before catching on the rash on the side of my neck. “A bit of a reaction? That doesn’t look good. People are going to think we’re trying to poison them with this scent if they see that.”
I sighed. There was nothing left to do at this point. I couldn’t talk myself out of this and I didn’t want to anyway. I was sick of pretending, bowing, and scraping to this man. He was my boss, and as such, I knew some bowing and scraping was to be expected.
But I didn’t think people usually had to change everything about themselves just for the sake of a job. He was trying to force me into a mold I just didn’t fit into, and that was after he was the one who had desperately wanted me for this gig.
I didn’t think I was that important, but I also didn’t think I always had to bite my tongue. Even if that was the right thing to do, which I didn’t think it was, I couldn’t do it anymore. I was tired of feeling like I had no voice and that I would disappoint everyone if anyone found out who I really was.
It was an aha-moment for me. One in which I realized that it was bullshit. People didn’t want to be fed lies, and even if they did, I wouldn’t be the one to feed it to them.
I knew what Jefferson had in mind for the campaign, but I hadn’t signed up for a year of being a puppet. My contract didn’t specify any of this crap—I’d gone back and checked. It said nothing about personality traits or portraying myself in any particular way. There was nothing in there about always being sweet, subservient, or about keeping a certain image whenever I was in public.
“No one is going to think you’re trying to poison them, Mr. Killen,” I said, stepping up before Dane could swoop to my rescue once more. “I have allergies. Just like millions of other people on this planet, there are certain things that trigger my allergies. Perfume is one of those things in my case.”
Jefferson’s gaze snapped to mine, but I held up my hand to show him I wasn’t done yet. At the same time, I bent over and started taking off my shoes.
“I’m not ashamed of my allergies. No one should have to live in fear of consequences over something they can’t control,” I said as I slipped the heel off my foot. “More than that, I’m not ashamed of who I am, and who I am is a struggling romance writer with a bad attitude who hates nylons and high heels.”
Straightening up as soon as both shoes were in my hand, I realized that our conversation was no longer private. Almost everyone in the room had caught on to the fact that there was something happening over here, and some had even taken out their phones.
“The perfume is amazing. It’s incredible, and I don’t even think it needs anyone to market it,” I said honestly. “As soon as people smell it, they’re going to want it. Every woman who’s not allergic to it will be falling over her feet to buy it. You don’t need to be America’s Sweetheart or the girl next door to pull it off and to love it. Hell, you don’t need to be a sweetheart at all.”
Please let me not have just tanked the entire campaign. People had been filming my little speech, and while it hadn’t been my intention, I knew it would be posted online and used as an ad in and of itself.
Jefferson was staring at me like I was a rhino with a knobbly vibrator for a horn. His shock soon gave way to anger, though. I didn’t know him very well, but even I could see the storm brewing in his eyes.
Dane must’ve seen the same thing, because before our boss could formulate a single word in response, he excused us