Annihilate Me 2: Vol. 1 Read Online Free Page A

we’ll receive FDA approval,
and that when the drug is released, it will only lift Wenn’s profits
higher.   We’re going to be fine,
Jennifer.   I’m not worried.   The press might have chosen to focus
solely on today’s unfortunate numbers, but through them, in the next hour, I’m
going to make everyone aware of just how solid Wenn is, and how strong it will
remain, because Wenn is nothing if not diversified.”
    “Like I said—you’re a
genius.”
    “What I have is a team of the best
people.   You’re one of them.   So, as my consultant, how do you feel
about this direction?   Am I on the right
track?”
    “The key will be in how you present
the information.   It must be direct,
positive, swift, and upbeat.   Don’t
make any excuses.   The world works
in fifteen-second soundbites —remember
that.   If you say anything negative,
that’s what they’re going to run with—so don’t go there.   They’re going to ask you about the
phone.   Of course they are.   So let them.   When they do, take them to school and
offer up the number of units Wenn has already sold.   Then, before anyone can ask another
question, move on with everything you’ve just told me.   Barrel forward.   Don’t let anyone interrupt you.   You must sell the facts of how Wenn is
nailing it through all of its many facets.   People need to understand that the idea that Wenn is at risk just
because of a damned phone is absurd.   Give them the same concrete details you’ve given me.   And then, just end the conference.   Collect your papers, thank everyone for
coming, and get the hell out of there.   Ignore their attempts to ask additional questions, because they’ll just
be leading questions meant to fuel their fire.   Keep it short and sweet.”  
    “So, who’s the real genius here?”
he asked.
    “You were going to do that anyway.”
    “Actually, I was prepared to go in
and defend our phone.   Then I was
going to mention the rest of it.   But you’re right.   If I
defend the phone, I’ll come off as reactive and defensive.   And that’s what they’ll play.   I need to cram that conference with
nothing but positive information, and leave them with that.”
    “I spoke with Ann earlier.   She said that the board had left.”
    “They’re here somewhere.   They’ll be at the press conference.”
    “Are you sure?”
    “Unless they plan to go to war with
me, they kind of have to be there.   I don’t see them not being there.”
    But an hour later, when we
assembled in front of the press in the lobby, my worst fears were
confirmed—Alex didn’t have the full board behind him.  
    When he spoke to the press, he did
so with enthusiasm, despite the fact that he only had me at his side and the
four members of the old guard Blackwell had mentioned earlier.   The other three members were AWOL, and I
knew that would send a clear message to the press that Alex, though full of
optimism and facts, didn’t have the board’s full support.   Reporters would take note of
that—and in my gut, I knew that they’d run with it regardless of what he
said.   It was the negative piece of
the equation that I’d hoped to sidestep because I knew that it was this that
the business world would latch onto.

 
 
    *   *   *

 
 
    Later that evening, when the day
was behind us and by the time the markets had closed, Wenn’s stock—which
had plummeted forty-three percent before Alex’s press conference—had rebounded
by nine percent.
    “We aren’t out of the woods yet,”
he said to me when we stepped into our Fifth Avenue penthouse.   When we married, we gave up Alex’s
apartment at Wenn and purchased a new home on the corner of Fifth and
Sixty-First Street to give us a fresh start.   “But it’s something.   The entire board didn’t show up to offer
their support, so we’ll need to see how that plays out.   I’m afraid it won’t be good.”
    It was early evening, and beyond
the windows that