Spinning scandal is what Sahr Youssef does best. When Zain Hashemi's father hires her to fix his playboy son's image, that's all he's supposed to be: another troubled client. That is, until the friction between them shifts - into chemistry.
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Sahr spent the next few days after her meeting with Aqeel running her firm as usual. She took meetings, worked with other clients, and drafted a plan for overhauling Zain's image.
It was quite the undertaking. Normally when Sahr was dealing with a client, all she had to worry about was the client and the media. That was it. Now she had to worry about a client, the media, a company, its board of directors, and whatever parties wanted to see Zain and Aqeel fail.
What the hell have I myself gotten herself into?
Yet despite the enormity of it all she didn't back down. In fact she thrived on the challenge. She was a problem-solving junkie. The harder the problem the bigger her high.
Currently her problem could be sorted into two distinct categories. The first was everything she needed to pull to gain a better understanding of what she was dealing with: the company, its operations, its bylaws, various board members, and Zain's current image. That was the easy part.
The hard part would come second: getting Zain to listen to her. Which was why it was so important that she had everything prepared before she met with him. The less he felt he had to do, the less whiny he would be. That's how you handled difficult clients; they can't complain if they have nothing to complain about.
*****
Zain Hashemi liked to think that he was a pretty chill guy. He minded his business, didn't get into fights, and got along with almost everyone. But he was not getting along with his father right now.
"What the hell dad?!?" he yelled at Aqeel.
"Zain, please, keep your voice down. This is my office." his father said.
"Why? Afraid one of your employees might hear you?" Zain snarked.
Aqeel didn't say anything. He just looked at Zain with a steely gaze.
"Ok fine. What the hell dad?" Zain said, lowering his voice, but the anger still remained. "You dragged me into that meeting, you dropped that bomb on me, and now you want me to meet with that girl, again? What. The. Hell?"
"Zain, language." Aqeel said with a stern look on his face.
"No don't "Zain, language" me. I wanna know why you can't just take no for an answer. I don't wanna run your company, I don't wanna change my image, and I don't wanna meet with that girl."
"Well that's unfortunate," Aqeel said "seeing as I've already scheduled another meeting with her."
"You what?!?"
"ZAIN! Volume!" his father's face was positively thunderous now, and even at the age of twenty-six it was scary enough to make Zain reconsider his approach.
Zain sighed, lowering his voice again. "Look, I'm sorry for yelling, but I don't want to do this. I- I just don't."
"Why not?" Aqeel asked.
"Because...I...don't..."
"What an eloquent response." Aqeel said sarcastically. "I would've expected something more from literature major."
Zain's eye twitched at his dad's jab, but he kept his cool. "Exactly," he said, trying to use his point to his advantage "I'm a literature major. I don't have the educational background to run this company."
"That would be true," Aqeel said "if it weren't for the business minor you hold as well."
Fuck me Zain thought. So that's why he convinced me to go for the minor. The old man's been planning this for a long time.
Smiling, Aqeel continued. "Forget about the education for a minute. Anything you don't know you can learn. I'm not saying you have to become CEO today. Just start by familiarizing yourself with the company, with the fundamentals, and when the time is right you can transition to a bigger role. Until then just get used to the work, and work on your image. So when the time comes the board will vote you in without any problems."
Zain sighed. He wanted to argue back, he really did. But without a solid reason beyond I don't want to he had no choice. His father would hound and badger him until he gave in. And Zain had no doubt his father had quite a few arguments up his sleeve beyond his son's lack of an eloquent response. Aqeel Hashemi was resourceful and persistent, which was what'd helped him win so many times in business. And by the looks of it that's what would help him win this argument too.
Checkmate Zain. He wins. Again.
"Alright," Zain said "I'll do this, but it'll be on my terms."
Aqeel raised an eyebrow, amused at his son's attempt to negotiate. "And what would those terms be?" he asked.
"A month-"
"Ten months." Aqeel interjected.
"A month." Zain said.
"Ten months." his father fired back.
Zain sighed. Clearly he was gonna have to give a little if he wanted his father to budge. No way in hell could he do this for ten months.
"Three months." he said, trying again.
"Eight months." his father replied.
Motherfu-
"Six months." he said. "I'll do this for six months. I'll listen to what you say, I'll work with that girl, and I'll give it my best shot. But at the end of those six months, if I find even one legitimate reason why I don't want this, you back off. Ok?"
Aqeel was quiet for a moment, considering his offer. "You'll give it your all?" he asked
