Suddenly, I Am Rich

”Glad my misery entertains you.” Gray shook his head.

”Oh, it does. But fine, let’s be serious for a second.” Mara leaned casually against the edge of his desk with her arms crossed. She leaned a little closer to him as if scolding him.

”You can’t ignore this, Gray. Publicity is publicity, whether you like it or not. The trick is choosing the right ones.”

Gray narrowed his eyes at her. ”And you already have a plan for that?”

”Of course I do.” Mara straightened up and pointed at herself as if she were proud of herself. She quickly went to fetch her laptop and turned the screen to Gray. In there was the picture of Prime Daily Shows.

”Alright. Look at this. Forget about the small channels that only want to ride the Everett name. I know they wouldn’t be that interested in you but just Conrad. Instead, it’s nice for you to go here.” Mara pointed at the picture.

”Prime Daily Shows is national level. Even if it feels overwhelming, one good appearance there could set the tone for how the public sees you moving forward.”

Gray exhaled slowly before he annoyingly ran a hand through his hair.

”You make it sound easy for me...” he sighed and shook his head.

”I know, right?” Mara muttered before shrugging her shoulders. She turned her laptop back to her and placed it down.

”It’s so easy that you’ll just need to prepare yourself. Maybe exercise how you speak. Then there’s also a little media coaching. Then, how to dress up. How to answer. Just a little list. I know.”

Gray stared at her in disbelief. His lips parted when he realized how much preparation he needed to have.

’Damn, I’m not ready for all that.” Gray quickly shook his head.

After a few seconds, Gray let out a frustrated groan and leaned back in his chair.

”Mara, no. That’s too much. I’m not built for cameras or spotlights, and I’m definitely not going to change myself into someone else just to talk for a few minutes.”

Mara tilted her head, studying him as if he were being stubborn on purpose. But when she saw the sincerity in his eyes, she sighed.

”Gray, you don’t have to become someone else. You just have to learn how to be careful of your words and actions when the nation’s watching. That’s all. It’s just small details.”

”Small detail?” he repeated incredulously. ”That’s exactly the kind of thing I don’t want to do, Mara. You’re asking me to sit in front of millions and pretend like I’m comfortable.”

”It’s not to pretend,” she tried to explain further.

”I’m just saying that you can be yourself. Yourself, but the version of you that knows how to be careful. I’ve seen you do it, Gray. You think you can’t, but you can.” She stepped forward and tapped the desk between them for emphasis.

”When will you have the next opportunity again is not now.

Gray pinched the bridge of his nose. He became silent for a moment. He hated how convincing she sounded. He hated even more that she was also right.

”I don’t want to do a media circus, Mara,” he finally muttered.

”Then don’t,” she said without hesitation. ”What about just two interviews? Maybe a big one and a small one. Just do ones that are carefully chosen.” Mara tried to negotiate with it.

Gray glanced up at her. He squinted his eyes as he looked at her. Mara fought back, and the two of them just stared at each other for a few minutes.

Then, all of a sudden, Gray sighed in defeat. He avoided his gaze and sighed another time.

”Alright, I’ll do 2. That’s it. Not 3, not 4, and definitely not 5.”

Mara’s grin broke out instantly. She clapped her hands in excitement as a bright smile appeared on her lips.

”Alright! Perfect! We’ll do two then! I’ll immediately go through the shortlist and find the best options, alright?”

”Alright...” Gray could only shake his head at her sudden good energy.

”You look way too happy about this,” he muttered dryly.

”Because I am,” Mara shot back, already grabbing her laptop again. ”Trust me, Gray. This is going to be fun.”

’Fun...’ Gray shook his head. He was doubting it. But for the first time, he didn’t feel entirely doomed.

Or maybe it was just waiting for him.

- - -

After a few days, the first thing Gray noticed when he woke up was that his phone had been buzzing nonstop.

At first, he thought that it was some kind of group chat or maybe an update from Joel about the store. But when he finally rolled over and checked his phone, the notifications weren’t about sales reports or schedules.

They were from his social media.

Gray squinted his eyes at the screen. He was not quite believing it. He had a few notifications from people mentioning him, following him, and a handful of messages he had no intention of opening right away.

It didn’t take long for him to realize why.

Right on top of his feed was an article. It was bold and one of the articles on top of the trending lists.

”Young Businessman Gray Everett to Appear on Prime Daily Show.”

Gray rubbed his eyes. He was half-hoping that he was misreading it. But no, the words stayed the same.

He clicked on it, and sure enough, the article was filled with a mix of facts and speculation from the people. In there was his name, his sudden presence in the business world, and his ownership of a grocery chain.

’Damn...’

And, of course, the reason why people were so shocked about it. It was because his upcoming guesting was on the most-watched talk show in the country!

”Damn... this is unbelievable,” Gray muttered under his breath, dropping the phone on the mattress as if he didn’t want to look at it.

”...” However, his curiosity still got the best of him. So after a few more minutes of silence, he opened his phone again, this time scrolling more slowly at the articles.

The comments were... well, a mix of things.

”Who even is this guy? Never heard of him.”

”Is this another Everett? Guess the family tree keeps expanding.”

”Lol. Did I just see a 20 year old getting an invitation on this show?”

”When I was 20 years old, I barely have a serious life.”

”Pft. I can’t believe this.”

”If he’s young and running businesses already, then props to him. That’s no joke.”

But what unsettled him most were the ones fixating on him. Not the grocery chain. Not his work. But just him.

”Wow... he’s actually kinda cute. Who let him be a CEO at that age??”

”Damn. This guy is actually hot.”

”Finally, a businessman on TV who isn’t pushing fifty.”

”Gray Everett?? Why haven’t I seen this man before?”

’Time for me to have this sugar papi.”

”Damn...”

And then there were the DMs.

His messages blew up overnight since the news of his guesting broke out.

When he scrolled through the previews, he saw that some were just simple greetings. There were some compliments that leaned a little too far forward. And a few were from influencers he vaguely recognized.

Gray leaned back in his chair and rubbed his temples.

”So this is what Mara meant by publicity...” he muttered.

She wasn’t exaggerating anything at all.

It wasn’t long before his phone lit up again. This time it was with Mara’s name flashing across his screen. Gray sighed and answered it.

”You’ve seen it?” she asked immediately, her voice too energetic even if it was still too early in the morning.

”Yeah,” Gray said flatly, ”Thanks for the warning.”

”You knew this was coming, don’t play dumb,” Mara shot back. ”The second we confirmed with Prime Daily, the news was bound to break. Pft... You’re trending, Gray. Do you know how rare that is?”

”Unfortunately,” he muttered.

Mara laughed out loud.

”Hey, don’t sulk. This is good. People are curious about you. They want to know who you are. That’s exactly the kind of momentum we want going into the show.”

”People are curious about me for the wrong reasons,” Gray argued. ”They’re more interested in my face than what I’ve built.”

”So? Let them be. Curiosity is the door. What you say in that interview will decide what stays in their heads. Think of it as a stage, Gray, You’re setting the script before anyone else can write it for you.”

Gray pinched the bridge of his nose again.

”I didn’t sign up to be some celebrity, Mara. I just wanted to run my business.”

”Oh well,” Mara just laughed again. ”Though, whether you like it or not, people will connect you to the store. You’re the face of your store now, Gray@”

Gray just stayed quiet and shook his head.

”I guess I have no choice then,” Gray just sighed. ”I’ll do the interview just normally, okay? And I’m not replying to those DMs.”

”Pft— sure, sure.”