Page 82 of Mercury Rising

“He wants to do a shoot with the kids at that place you’re at.”

“Are you kidding me? Why would Oluf want to do that?”

“He thinks it is a worthy cause and wants to help.”

“I’m not sure about an ad campaign, babe. There are rules here.”

“Can’t you use your ways of persuasion?”

Mercury cackled. “I do have very powerful ways of persuasion, it is true. Let me see what I can do.”

He terminated the call. Nick would never agree to that. Still, it was a credit to the campaign that it had reached the likes of Oluf.

Mercury wandered into the house. Hassan and Brooke were engaged in a fight to the death. Eddie and a couple of the other kids were cheering them on. Mercury joined them.

Shit, they were both good.

“Blimey,” he said, shaking his head.

Eventually, Hassan won. They all clapped him on the back.

“Shall we go and chill in the garden?” Eddie said.

“I’d better get some other work done,” Mercury replied.

He walked into the office. Nick sat hunched over his laptop.

“We have some budding Olympic stars out there,” Mercury said. “Phew, it’s hot.”

Nick remained silent.

“You haven’t frozen, have you?” Mercury asked. “Do I have to reboot you?”

He poked Nick playfully in the ribs. Nick leapt to his feet, knocking his mug to the floor. It shattered into pieces.

“Oh fuck,” Mercury said. “Nick, what’s going on?”

He took a step closer as Nick held his hands up.

“Are you going to use one of your ways of persuasion on me?” Nick asked. “To get me to agree to letting one of your acquaintances exploit those kids you claim you care so much about? You are so far out of line.”

Each word hit Mercury like a missile.

“Wow,” he said, taking a step back. “No prizes for guessing where you got your information from. I didn’t see Gavin slithering around. It appears he was there nonetheless.”

“Gavin reported a potential issue to his superior. That is in line with our processes.”

“Fuck your fucking processes. He did that out of spite.”

Nick ran his hands through his hair. “You’re deflecting from the issue. I’m not having the kids used for rich people to make even more money.”

“Okay for your information, I said to Jeannie it wouldn’t fly. Then she said to use my ways of persuasion so I laughed and agreed. It’s the rules of the game,” Mercury said, putting his hands on his hips. “You say you’re working on it so the designer or whoever doesn’t think it’s a straight rejection. If they ask again, we say it’s a no-go. Is that clear enough for you?”

Now he’d run out of words, the sob that was bubbling in his chest threatened to take hold. Mercury sat in his chair and set about his work. To his credit, Nick looked full of remorse.

“Hey,” Nick said, gently turning Mercury’s seat around.

“I’m swapping this thing for a kitchen chair,” Mercury replied.