Payback

"A compulsory psychological evaluation by a designated therapist is required for all employees of Bowman Corporation. Please schedule your appointment soon." More details will be communicated at a later date. 

Staff members who were directly affected by the unfortunate incident would receive due compensation.

On this note, all employees at the headquarters of Bowman Corporation are to proceed on a thirty-day paid vacation. 

These are difficult times for Bowman Corporation, but I believe we will pull through.

Thank you all for being safe.

Till we communicate again… 

President 

Iris Bowman"

The host read the leaked email from the CEO of Bowman Corporation, as it was. She left out nothing, nor did she add any either.

When she noticed that the three other panelists of the afternoon show were as dumbfounded as she was, she blurted out without a second thought, "This feels too good to be true. Does this seem like a letter from a junkie to you? You didn't ask me, but I'm gonna say it, anyway. Only a level-headed person can make this decision."

She waited for the others to say something, as they were bashing Iris earlier for using her influence to frame her boyfriend for drug possession and abuse. Everyone in the studio, except the host, Clarissa, believed that they needed to hear Iris' version of the story. She even admired the woman more because Iris never made any comments after the video went viral. 

The public backlash was huge, but it didn't seem to affect her a single bit. Clarissa felt that only a level-headed person could do what she did. She even believed that Iris might be heartbroken at the moment, hence, the public needed to cut her some slack. 

"I don't believe the other shareholders and board of directors are aware of this letter. Who knows where it was typed?" One panelist blurted out, hinting that Iris might have decided independently. Clarissa was speechless at the person's boldness.

"Clarissa, I think your admiration for the CEO of Bowman Corporation is clouding your judgment. Let's be real here. Which multinational corporation would make such a hasty decision? Do you know the amount of money they'll lose by doing this?" The only female panelist pointed out. 

Her other male counterpart added, "I wouldn't be surprised they'll receive another email stating that she was withdrawing this. Maybe she even wrote this while high on drugs."

The man didn't care about the implications of his words. Hence, Clarissa stopped them before the third person could add more fuel to the flames. She realized that the panelists could have possibly briefed to slander Iris. She felt disgusted that her producer could make the panelists gang up on her this way. It was unacceptable to her.

"Viewers all over the world, I apologize for the quality of guests on this afternoon's show. I promise you, we dissociate ourselves from these slandering comments." She then stared straight into the camera and added, 

"Ms Bowman, if you're watching this, please sue his ass for defamation. You may not care what the public thinks about your reputation, but I promise you, I do."

After acknowledging the sponsors of the mid-afternoon show, Clarissa gave the closing remark and ended the show about thirty-five minutes before the scheduled time. She was ready to receive a query letter from her boss, but not what she faced later. 

"Clarissa, you're fired. How dare you pull that stunt just now? Who the heck do you think you are? You admire Iris Bowman, and so freaking what? Wake up, little girl. Your role model is a junkie." The producer didn't give her any way out.

Clarissa blinked her tears away and declared with conviction, "Fine. The late afternoon show is my idea. You want to fire me from this station? No problem. I'll leave with my show. Good riddance to bad energy."

When Clarissa said this, she had her heart in her mouth, but she didn't give her boss the chance to see how shaken she was. 

"Don't come back begging me, little peacock. You got a chance to be off the street and you feel you're better than everybody, huh? Get the fuck out of the premises before I call security." 

With all the deals she made with the various sponsors before the show began, she was sure to have tons of contract termination fees to pay. If the companies chose to use extreme means, they could even sue her for breach of contract. 

Clarissa leaned on the steering wheel of her boyfriend's car and cried silently, "This doesn't look good." She blurted, after wiping the tears from her face. 

==============

"Who the heck does this little girl think she is? How could she get high and send out such a silly writeup?" 

Mr Logan hit the armrest of his chair violently and picked up his phone to call his assistant. However, the young man walked in with an obvious smile on his face. He just received the best news of the year. Who wouldn't love a paid vacation they didn't deserve? 

"You fool, wipe that smile off your face!" The young nan did exactly as he was told, and dramatically replaced his smile with a frown. 

Seeing that he couldn't go back and forth, Mr Logan went straight to the point. "I need to call an emergency meeting. Call our allies and let's see how many we can pull together." 

After speaking, he expected the young man to get to work at once. However, he stood confused for a while before reminding him, 

"Errmm, boss, if you want to bring up the email President Bowman sent to all employees, I'll suggest you reconsider." He didn't mince words, and his boss realized there may be something he didn't know. 

Mr Logan felt that as a shareholder with ten percent shares in the Bowman Corporation, he deserved a heads up before such a letter was disseminated. 

"Speak." He demanded, not impressed with his assistant's slow reaction just because of a lousy vacation. 

"There was an emergency meeting with all shareholders yesterday. You were with…" He refrained from saying, "an escort." Even after he called Mr Logan so many times, the boss rather switched off his phone so he could concentrate on his escort. 

"What I mean is, you decided not to join. You said you'd prefer to read the outcome of the meeting in your email. So, I sent it afterwards. I guess you didn't get the chance to read." 

The assistant's words were a slap in the face, and he couldn't bear it anymore. He was with a woman when he should have been deciding about the company like his other colleagues. It was shameful, yet he didn't plan on hearing that from his subordinate. 

"Get out." 

==============

Iris stared at the footage displayed on her screen intently. She was a little stumped for words as Petra took the initiative to forward a video to her with the caption, "I bet you'd love this" 

After watching Clarissa roast the panelists, she was impressed with her assertiveness. At least there was a reporter who didn't chase clout. Meanwhile, Petra wasn't done yet. The hacker added the backstage footage of Clarissa getting fired, as well as footage of the presenter crying in her car. 

"Clarissa, huh? I guess it's payback time. Don't you think so?"