Bite into the onion
Deep into the water
Deep into the dark
Deep into the places
Stories have to start
Peel open the layers
Go in for the kill
Bite into the onion
Taste it for the thrill
Robert Huntingdon III stared out the office window, absentmindedly listening to the drone of voices. They were only twenty minutes into the meeting, but he was already having a hard time concentrating on the conversation around him.
He knew he was supposed to be listening closely, seeing as it was his fate that was being decided, but his head was pounding and his mind kept drifting elsewhere.
The only reason he had agreed to this meeting in the first place was because his grandfather had insisted. He knew better than to cross his grandfather -- and rarely did.
As the only grandchild of the earl of Huntingdon, he was the sole heir of the Huntingdon fortune – a fate he had come to consider a curse rather than a blessing lately.
The Huntingdon corporation, a family business of real estate development and constructing, had been receiving a constant flow of bad press over the last couple of months. A business deal gone wrong resulting in a lawsuit. Apparently, the situation had reached the point where damage control was deemed necessary. A PR firm had been hired to portray the company as both green and conservative to counter the increasingly shrill and well-documented accusations of exploitation and disregard for the environment.
As the chairman of the company, grandpa Huntington, was to be promoted as a trusted leader and a gentleman of high moral standards and family values. And as the only living relative Robert was expected to play the rôle of the polite, and well mannered grandchild. They would face the enemy with an united front...whatever the hell that meant.
Robert Huntingdon had no interest in the family business what so ever. Robert or Robin as he preferred to call himself was a writer, a book collector, and most recently, a columnist for Nottingham Evening Post, all of this under the pseudonym of Robin Locksley. Although he was not usually paid much for his published pieces, he persisted in the faith that some day he would profit from his writing. In the meantime he lived a quite comfortable yet restricted life under his grandfather's guardianship.
His decision to take a different career path from the one his grandfather had laid out for him had come at a steep price. One, it seemed, he would never stop paying. Instead of more freedom, he had wounded up with less.
To make a long story short, Robin had, despite strong protests on his part, been summoned to a meeting with Phil Stephensen, PR agent and professional image consult. To say that he was sceptic about this whole arrangement was an understatement. He had to give grandpa Huntingdon credit for being thorough though. His stab of layers, financial advisors and PR gurus had done their homework and showed up at the meeting well prepared with an eleven pages long analysis of the "dilemma" complete with diagrams, charts and everything.
Impressive but not very exciting….
It didn't take many minutes before Robin was bored to the point of slipping under his chair. Let's just say this was not his idea of a creative meeting. He was on the verge of falling asleep when a certain word filtered through the fog in his head and caught his attention. He snapped back to the conversation like a bucket of cold water had been thrown in his face.
"Excuse me, what did you just say?!," he asked, his voice low and tight, as he turned his attention back to the middle aged man dressed in a horrible Macaroni-blue business suit.
"I was just explaining to your agent that I think it would do wonders for your image to be seen publicly with a girlfriend."
"And the agreed with you?," Robin questioned glaring at Much Miller, his "agent" and good friend, seated on the other side of the table.
"Well, he has some good points… There is a lot at stake here Robin. You should at least hear him out." Much, suggested, nervously glancing down at the table.
"You can't be serious?! Geez, I have said it before and I'll say it again… who I choose to spend my free time with is my business and my business alone!!"
"I know this may sound a bit out of line Mr Huntingdon but bear with me a moment, okay…" Stephensen suggested and pushed his glasses back up on the bridge of his nose before he continued.
"It's not just about the bad press anymore. You have very successfully managed to keep a low profile over the last couple of years. I don't blame you for wanting to keep your private life out of the public eye, but your absence makes it seem as if though you have turned your back on both the company and your grandfather and it's hurti-.. "
"This is absurd! I have already agreed to attend a few social functions alongside my grandfather. I don't see what my love life has to do with anything…" Robin interrupted loudly, rubbing his temples in frustration.
"You promised you would keep an open mind," The PR agent, Stephensen, commented with barely restrained impatience. "Seriously Robin, would it kill you to bring a date to the next public event you go to?! It's all about the image you're projecting and I'm telling you a stable relationship would look good in a situation like the current one."
"He doesn't have a girlfriend," Much offered helpfully, ignoring the angry glares that were sent his way.
"No girlfriend…Okay, we'll have to find someone else for the job then. I'm sure something can be arranged. Didn't I read somewhere that you are schedule to make an appearance at some charity event next month?," the PR agent asked as he shuffled through his papers.
"Aha here it is," he exclaimed as he found the note he had been looking for. "Let's see, august the 20th…. That's gives us a little over three weeks to find him a date," he said to Much as he begun putting his things back into his briefcase. Apparently this meeting was over as far as the PR guru was concerned.
"Mr Miller… Much… thank you for your co-operation and Robin, it was nice meeting you. No hard feelings I hope…I know I can't tell you what to do but I really wish you would consider it..."
"Yeah, sure... what choice do I have?! I'll be hearing about this for weeks." Robin muttered under his breath as they shook hands.
"Oh, one more thing before I go, do yourself a favour Robin and choose someone that isn't too perfect, okay?! If I were you I would go for someone with the "girl next door" kind of vibe. You know someone down to earth with flaws and emotional baggage. The media would love that, trust me."
And with that Stephensen left the room, leaving Robin alone with his thoughts (and his traitor friend).
