Page 75 of Saved By the CEO

Oh well.

“So the better angle is to acknowledge the inconvenience in plain language,” I continue, before I can lose my nerve, “and then move into what BenCo is doing to reduce the impact. Clear signage, temporary access points, delivery windows for local businesses, the updated pedestrian route. It shows that we’ve thought about the actual people who live and work there, not just the construction timeline.”

Marissa nods. “Exactly.”

Legal Guy studies the slide with one hand resting on his chin. “I don’t hate it.”

“Alert the media,” I mutter.

Andrew coughs once into his hand. Marissa’s mouth twitches. Daniel does not seem amused, but Daniel from Development has the personality of a white sheet of paper, so I try not to take it personally.

“What about affordability?” someone asks from the other end of the table. I think his name is Steven. He looks like he plays golf on the weekends. “Are we addressing that directly?”

Marissa clicks to another slide. “Prepared response is here.”

Oh.

That one is mine too.

Not entirely. She’s edited it, made it cleaner, less Carly, more Communications. But I can still hear myself in it.

Andrew leans forward slightly.

“Carly?” Marissa says. “Same question.”

I look at the slide, then at the table. “We shouldn’t lead with price point.”

Maybe-Steven lifts his brows. “It’s a development project. Price point matters.”

“It does,” I say. “But if someone asks whether Westbrook is going to make the neighborhood less affordable, and our first answer is about market rates, we’ve already lost them. That’s not really what they’re asking.”

“What are they asking?”

“They’re asking if they still belong there.”

The room goes quiet.

Okay, that sounds a bit dramatic. No one gasps, and you can’t hear a pin drop. It’s not a courtroom drama.Unfortunately.But something shifts anyway.

I look back at the slide. “So we shouldn’t answer like we’re defending something. We should answer like we understand why people are worried.”

No one says anything for a moment.

Then Marissa says, “That’s the angle.”

After that, the meeting continues. People talk about timelines, holding statements, local business outreach, and what not to say if a reporter brings up displacement. I take notes, because that is still my job, even if part of me keeps staring at the words on the screen and thinking,I wrote that.

When the meeting finally ends, everyone gathers their things. Marissa closes her laptop and looks at me across the table.

“Thank you,” she says.

I give her a smile that probably looks normal from a distance. “Of course.”

She hesitates, like she might say something else, but then Legal Guy asks her a question and the moment disappears.

Good.

I cannot handle more moments right now.