Shiv entered the offices and Kat saw her approaching the office that Kendall, Roman and Gerri were in. "Wait–", Kat tried. "I'll be two minutes", Shiv said, entering the room anyway. Kat sighed. "Why did I take this job?" she muttered to herself.

Kendall, Kat, Roman, Shayla and all the crew walked through the halls, making their way to the conference room. "So, my only concern would be, to brief this meeting, is it a little too aggressive for a temporary CEO?" Karolina said. "That is a good point", Gerri agreed. "Yeah, well, we've got a very aggressive drop in our share price, so I think that's appropriate, good?" Kendall replied. "So brief this wide and brief it fast, okay?"

"Okay"

"Uh, yeah. Great", Karl said. Kendall clapped his hands loudly as he entered the room. "Alright! Alright!" he exclaimed. "Morning, morning, morning. Hey, hey, hey. My people. It's great to see you all. You know my brother and I, CEO and COO...". "COO", Roman echoed and Shayla had to fight the urge to laugh.

"Gerri, Karl, Karolina"

"I'm actually gonna stand up, if that's alright. My back is fucked. I have a new trainer, so..."

"So, I just wanted to get the gang together early in my tenure to say, uh... "Yo". You're probably all wondering about my dad. He's doing okay"

Roman groaned as he reached for a glass of water. "Motherfucker"

"We're hoping for a full recovery"

"He's, like, a thousand percent better, though. He's like a bull in a rhino hide"

"Uh-huh. Yeah. Slow and steady"

"This morning he put on a sock, so..."

"That's right. Uh, this morning he tried to put on a sock. And welcome to Tom Wambsgans, who was managing Resorts South and Central and is now sitting up with the grownups"

"Hey. I just want–", Tom began.

"So, what I want to announce to you all this morning is a new strategic vision. We have a great firm here. Multifaceted. Parks, cruises, telecom, live entertainment, sports–but at the heart, media. TV, movies, books, newspapers. And what we're fighting for is eyeballs, eyeballs which we convert to our customer base, eyeballs which we crate up and sell to advertisers. Right? And bottom line, we're losing...to monopolistic disruptors. Alphabet, Facebook..."

"Internet. Fucking game-changer, man", Roman added.

"That's right, the internet"

"Internet"

"But, uh, we are still just– just– in a position to leverage our brands into something in the new landscape. But if we don't, we're gonna be like the biggest fuckin' horse trader in Detroit, 1909. Okay? We need a more dynamic strategy. Now, let's call it, for the sake of clarity, the Strategy of a Thousand Lifeboats. Vaulter is a lifeboat, ATN citizens is a lifeboat. There are no bad lifeboats"

"VR could be a lifeboat"

"VR's a bubble, but yeah. No bad ideas"

"Porn could be a lifeboat"

"Except that. That's a bad lifeboat". He laughed. "Hey, thanks, Rome. Look, this isn't a brainstorm, all I'm saying, everyone's invited. Okay? I want each and every one of you to be innovating, challenging, being bold, being disruptive, bringing me new, original, multiplatform content. Bring me more in the interactive and digital space. Bring me franchisable IP. Bring me a thousand lifeboats. Bring me a fucking armada of lifeboats. Because steady as she goes hits the iceberg"

"Alright. Thanks, everyone. Lifeboats! Whoo!"

Everyone started clapping.

Shayla caught up with Roman as he was leaving the meeting. "So, that was a fucking disaster", she commented.

"What? No, it wasn't"

"Roman, were we in the same room just now? You both sounded like fucking idiots, and you're in way over your heads. Do you even know what you're doing?"

"I'm COO. Chief Operating Officer"

"Do you even know what that means?"

"Yeah, something's operating, I chief it"

"So, you don't know you're doing"

"Why do you care? You worried about me?"

"Not you, just my paycheck"

"Come on, stop being such a downer. You actually have a real job now. I have an office"

"Gee, Rome, tell me more"

"Shut up"

He led her to his office, opening the door and letting her walk in. "What do you think?" he asked her.

"Yeah, it's an office, for sure"

"Can you get me some lunch?"

"I guess so. Roman, don't do something gross in here, okay? This is a professional work environment, not your fucking playpen, alright?"

"Stop lecturing me and go get me lunch"

"What do you want?"

"Surprise me"

"You're being weirder than usual. I'll spit in your food"

"I'll still eat it"

"Gross"

"Bye"

Roman was sitting at Kat's desk as they looked at her computer. Kendall approached them. "Hey. Talk to me", he said. "Down three points, and there's an AP headline "CEO tells staff Waystar headed for iceberg", Kat replied.

"Not iceberg, lifeboats. I said lifeboats, not iceberg! Jesus! Karolina"

"That's what we're pushing", Karolina said.

"Push harder"

"Will do"

"Excuse me, I'm gonna take a walk to put some attitude on this. I'll be back"

Shayla came back to the office, carrying Roman's lunch. She walked into his office to find him wiping the window with some tissue. "What are you doing?" she asked, making him jump.

"Jesus! Nothing"

"I have your lunch"

"Okay"

He walked to his desk and sat down. She put a container of pasta salad in front of him and then made her way to the door. "Wait. Where are you going?" he said.

"To eat my lunch"

"Eat with me"

"Why?"

"'Cause I want you to. That's an order"

"Seriously?"

"Seriously"

She groaned and sat down opposite him. She looked at him curiously for a second before starting to eat. He looked up at her for a second before starting to eat. "Did you jerk off in here?" she questioned, looking around.

He didn't respond.

"Roman! What the fuck?!"

"I had to christen the office and now, I'm officially open for business"

"You sound like a prostitute"

"Do you really think I can't do this?"

"I never said that. I said you don't know what you're doing. That's not the same thing. I know you're capable of doing this, Roman. That's what's so frustrating about you. You could do all of this really well if you just tried a little harder"

"Bullshit"

"No, not bullshit. I'm serious. You're smart, Roman. I wouldn't say it if I didn't mean it, you know that"

"You really think so?"

"I know so"

When he knew she wasn't looking, he smiled before going back to eating. Her phone buzzed and she checked it. "Oh, shit", she muttered.

"What?"

"The stock's gone below 130"

Kendall, Roman, Shayla and Gerri were in Kendall's office. Kat was still outside at her desk. "You know sometimes you leave the party and you wonder what everyone's saying about you?" Kendall said. "With me it's usually "Who's that young Han Solo and how do I get his dick in my ass?" Roman said. "No, I actually think it's "Who's that little freak and how do I get him to leave me alone?" Shayla corrected.

He mimicked her underneath his breath and she rolled her eyes.

"Like, I know what they say about me", Kendall continued. "What?" Roman asked and Kendall showed him stats on his phone.

"That. See that? That's how much people don't like me"

"Hey, that's me too. Don't leave me out"

"The truth is, we call their bluff, which may not be a bluff, and the debt becomes public, and we lose control", Gerri said. "Or we get the stock up, which we can't, because we can't "magic" that, or we pay the bank back, which, I mean to realise that much cash...stock sell-down, which is horrible. There is no good option".

"Can I suggest something?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I suggest we all take our shirts off?"

"Okay. Kendall?"

"They can write a fucking algorithm to run this place, but that's not the answer. That's not us. So...break shit up". He started unbuttoning his shirt. "Like, just disrupt". He stood up.

"What are you doing?" Shayla asked.

"Takin' my shirt off. That's all". He took his shirt off"

"Shayla, make him put his shirt on", Gerri said. "I wish I could", Shayla replied. "Shirt off", Roman ordered. "Shirt off". "Shirts off", Kendall said, starting to unbutton his shirt but he stopped at two.

"How about your jacket off? Come on, man"

He took his jacket off. "Yeah, alright. Alright"

"Good. That's all. Let's go. Okay"

Kendall stood on the table. "So...worst position, we sell down the stock, we survive"

"Maybe we cut off a title or two from physical production, news-paper wise. Online only"

"I like that"

"That is a $20 million dollar solution to a billion dollar problem", Shayla pointed out.

"Yeah, but it's the right direction of travel. That feels right to me"

"If you want stuff that works for the price: layoffs", Gerri suggested. "Yum-yum. Blood! Yes!" Roman exclaimed. "See? Shirts off shit". "I guess it could be a package. Layoffs, sell-offs", Kendall said. "Structured retreat?" Shayla added.

"Well, yeah, but with a philosophy"

"Okay"

"Yeah", Roman agreed. "Okay, I mean, I guess we just have to ask or, you know, tell Dad". Kendall stepped down from the table.

The next day, Kendall approached Shayla. "Hey", he greeted.

"Morning"

"Yeah, right, morning. We're going on a call with Mr Polk in an hour or two and I want you to be in there"

"Why?"

"You have good insight. I noticed it last night"

"Thank you"

"You're really overqualified for the job you're doing right now"

"Yeah, it was meant to be a stepping stone"

"Doesn't always turn out that way. That is something we can discuss in the future, I'm sure"

"Really?"

"Yeah, really. I'll see you in my office for the call"

Kendall, Roman, Shayla and Gerri were in Kendall's office. "Good afternoon", Mr Polk greeted them. "Thanks for making time for us, Mr Polk", Kendall replied.

"Not at all. We've been looking at the terms we can offer, I think you've seen what we've put together"

"I have. I have. It's a very brutal structure"

"Well, these are the terms we think we can offer right now. I mean, I don't know, the margin you're making, you might even say you were...well, I mean, "extortion" is an ugly word, but, you know, so is "buzz saw castration"

"Look, I think we should keep things professional, don't you?"

"Uh-huh. Sure. Sure. And professionally, we're going to repay"

"As in..."

"We're good. Everything's golden. We don't need you. This can all stay private, and I'll be looking elsewhere for a banking partner as we go supersonic. Goodbye"

"Mr Roy–"

"And fuck you"

The call disconnected and Kendall smiled.

hope you enjoyed! comment your opinions!