Joel blinked at that. He chuckled and quickly hid his phone in his pocket as if he was caught doing something bad.
"Right. We’re working, boss. Of course." He cleared his throat and stood up. "I’ll go check the shelves and the employees as your good staff."
Gray shook his head and chuckled lightly. Joel gave him a joking bow before walking past him. Just as he reached the door of Gray’s office, his phone buzzed again. This time it was a notification from Mara.
[Mara:] Tell our boss. I’ll call him.
With it, Joel turned to look at Gray for the last time.
"Mara told me she’ll call you, Boss."
Gray exhaled through his nose, "Alright." He suddenly felt relieved. That means Mara was probably taking care of it now.
Joel did a salute pose before finally leaving.
A moment later, Gray’s phone really received a call from Mara. Gray accepted the call, pressing the phone to his ear.
"Mara?"
"Gray," Mara spoke at the other side of the call right away. From the background, he could hear the faint typing of a keyboard. It seemed like she was in the middle of doing her work while in a call with him.
"I already saw everything. Don’t worry, I’m handling it now."
Gray leaned back in his chair, "Good. Because my phone hasn’t stopped vibrating since this morning."
"I know," she said with a slight teasing voice. Even if you can’t see her face, you would know that she was smiling. "Your inbox looks like a war zone. I already checked your email, even the messages sent through the branch’s official page." She sighed.
"It’s chaos."
"Tell me about it," Gray muttered.
"I’m in the middle of declining all the interview requests one by one," she continued. "Local news, online blogs, small media channels... some even had the nerve to send you a calendar invite without asking."
Gray blinked. "Seriously?"
"You’d be surprised how many people think they’re entitled to your time," Mara said, annoyance slipping into her voice for half a second. "But I’m turning all of them down. Every last one."
"Good. I don’t have the time for interviews. Or the desire to even be in one." Gray nodded to himself.
"I know," she replied. "Which is why I’m rejecting everything... except..."
She abruptly stopped typing.
Gray frowned at it.
"Except what?"
There was a second of silence on the other end, as if Mara was choosing her next words carefully.
"There’s one request I don’t want to decline," she finally said. "Or rather... I shouldn’t decline."
Gray’s frown deepened. "From who?"
"GNN World." Mara exhaled slowly.
Gray’s eyes slightly widened. "The GNN? As in the biggest international news network in the world?"
"That one," she confirmed. "They rarely do features on small entrepreneurs, but the clip went global overnight. Someone from their directive sent a formal request asking for a short statement or a brief interview segment."
Gray leaned back again, staring at the ceiling like it might give him answers.
"Of all the places... why them?"
"They said someone recommended it to them," Mara said carefully. "Also, the news is not just trending locally. It’s also trending internationally. People abroad are talking about ’the grocery CEO who punched an abuser.’"
"Damn... that’s amazing," Gray muttered, but his voice sounded like someone who absolutely did not find anything about it amazing.
"I was able to decline everything else," Mara continued, "but for GNN... declining it might backfire. They’re too big, and the exposure could be beneficial. Or at least... safer to acknowledge."
Gray rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I don’t really want any interviews..."
"You know, you don’t have to give them a full interview." Mara’s tone softened slightly as if she already thought of his reaction beforehand. "Maybe I can ask them for something simple. A short written statement. Or like just a 3-4 minute interview?"
Gray didn’t answer right away. He just stared at his desk, fingers tapping against the wood. He was still hesitating about it.
"Mara..." he began slowly, "I don’t know. I’m not exactly the type who wants to sit in front of a camera and talk about punching someone you know..."
"Gray." On the other side of the call, Mara let out a very unamused sigh.
He could practically feel the stare she would’ve given him if they were face-to-face.
"You’re being stupid."
"What?" Gray ’s jaw fell to the ground.
"You heard me." Her voice was flat, blunt, and just a bit annoyed. "This thing is already big. Huge. You going viral is not something we can undo. People are sharing the videos internationally. The story reached practically anywhere." She clicked her tongue.
"And besides," Mara continued, "this could boost our sales even more. Do you know how many people said they want to visit the store just because of what you did? Imagine what will happen if GNN features you even for three minutes."
Gray paused and sighed.
"..."
That... was actually true.
He hated that it was true, but still.
"This is the kind of publicity money can’t buy," she said. "People love a hero. Especially a humble, reluctant one who punched a wife-beater in front of a full audience. You don’t need to talk a lot. Just show up, give answers, and boom, our reputation skyrockets."
Gray exhaled slowly, running a hand through his hair.
"It’s not that easy for me," he said, sounding tired. "All this attention is already too much."
"I know," Mara replied, her voice softening for a moment. "But this is business. And honestly? This might be good, really good. Especially for us. For the branch."
He leaned back, staring at the ceiling again, as if the answer would magically show up there.
He still didn’t like the idea. But still... he thought about how it could boost their sales and help stabilize the store since it’s just the opening. He knew that it was important and the any publicity now is good for them.
That part made him quiet.
"Well, what about i think about it first?"
It wasn’t a yes. But it wasn’t a no too.
"Good," she said. "That’s all I needed for now. Think fast, though. GNN is waiting."