Forgiving You: A Bluebell Valley Novel Read Free Page B

would compete with the market and bring the prices down. It was still something that needed a lot of work, but he knew they could do it.
    A knock on the door brought him back to reality. Austin closed the tabs he was working on, wondering why Lisa hadn’t announced the person who was coming in. The door opened before he could say anything.
    “William, what can I do for you?” Austin asked, focusing his attention on his friend.
    “Hey, Austin. Well, there’s something I need to talk to you about,” William said as he came closer to Austin’s desk and sat in front of him. “Hear me out, please, before you reject what I’m going to say.”
    Austin frowned, not understanding where his friend was going. Was this the surprise Lisa was talking about? It wasn’t a good one. He was expecting a beer and he didn't see any.
    “Can you get to the point?” Austin asked. He hadn’t finished his first cup of coffee yet, so he happened to be a bit cranky. He didn’t want to play games with William.
    “There’s this new TV show that’s going to start this fall. It’s called ‘Billionaire’s Secrets,’ or something similar. They want to interview successful people and show how they got there, starting from their childhood.”
    Austin was listening very carefully, dreading where it was going.
    “They want you to be the star of their first episode,” William finally admitted.
    “Absolutely not.”
    “Come on, Austin! I told you to hear me out. I think it’d be great for your career. People love you already and they want to learn more about you. You could go back to your hometown for a few days, let the camera crew follow you around and answer a couple questions, that’s all.”
    “I said no.”
    William sighed and stood up. Whatever he was planning to say next, Austin was determined not to flinch. He didn’t want to go back to Bluebell Valley, and he especially didn’t mean to do that with a camera crew following his every move. It was already bad enough to have paparazzi in New York City, where his headquarters was located, but he didn’t want to bring them to his hometown.
    “Are those Jones’ papers?” William said, pointing to the stack on Austin’s desk that Lisa had brought a few minutes ago. “Have you taken a look at them yet? Apparently, after the accident in Mumbai, a lot of people have lost faith in you. They don’t trust you as much as they did, and they don’t trust your products.”
    Austin stared at William, knowing the man was right, but he was still mad at him for bringing that up. What had happened in Mumbai truly was an accident, but it had killed ten local workers and now those deaths were on his conscience. The headlines had been horrible: “Cole Technologies is Failing: 10 Deaths in India Due to Faulty Solar Panels.” His investors had big trust issues with him now and sales were going down. Even if Cole Technologies had made solar energy cheap and accessible, customers also wanted to know it was safe. He had to gain people’s trust again, and that wasn’t going to be easy.
    “Come on, there must be a better way than having a TV crew follow me everywhere,” he pleaded. “Maybe like spending time fixing those panels?”
    “People need to trust you, Austin. You need to fix your image and you can’t do that by hiding in your labs. Trust me. You need to get out there and show you care. Your customers, as well as your investors, need to know you have their back. You have to get personal with them.”
    “That’s why you want me to go back to Bluebell Valley?”
    “Is that your hometown? Bluebell Valley? I wasn’t sure what it was called. But yes. And I’ll come with you to make sure you only show them your best side.”
    “Do I even have a choice?” Austin asked, leaning back in his chair. He crossed his arms over his chest, his eyes still on William. His friend was standing in front of the window, looking down at Central Park.
    “Not really, no.”
    “Let’s get that done as