Today

Every news channel and social media expert picked up on the news quickly. Professor Nikola Tesic, once the golden boy of global research, had crashed and burned spectacularly.

CEO of NAPPA Inc. Accused of Lying to the Public

And that was one of the more flattering headlines.

“From Prisoner to CEO,” “Cosmic Rise and Fall of Professor Tesic,” and “Is Tesic Tied to the Mafia?” were some of the other, not so flattering ones.

Niko didn’t have much media experience, but he knew that once this was out there, there was little hope for him remaining at his spot as CEO. The truth was relative these days, and nobody really cared about the truth. Nobody cared that he had fought for freedom in his country, a country ruled by a dictator. It was just an unlucky coincidence that this dictator was working together with several leaders from the Western Bloc. They tolerated anything to keep him on their side. Nobody cared that he had suffered terrible losses because of that, not even talking about the physical and mental toll it had taken on him, that they had almost broken his willpower. Still, this time, he was willing to fight for his life’s work. He wouldn’t let this one slide.

After the meeting, he was quick to disappear. It seemed silly now that he just ducked away from the questions, but at the moment, he’d just felt the urge to flee. He wasn’t as slick as Ryan. He wasn’t ready to tackle a room full of journalists just waiting to tear him apart.

He ignored Priya’s attempts to contact him and went to bed. How the hell did they even know about it? She had told him the files had been destroyed.

The next day, his phone was bursting with messages, missed calls, and social media pings. He felt lost. But the moment Ryan called, he rushed to the phone, almost tripping over the couch.

“Are you drinking again, Niko?” Ryan asked, worry etched on his face.

“No, of course not,” Niko lied, his eyes darting to the empty beer bottles on the kitchen counter. He silently scolded himself – stay in control! And don’t let Ryan hear your slurred speech.

“I didn’t want to disturb you; I thought you might want some alone time. Listen, I have some bad news.”

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

“What? Did your cat die?” Niko smirked. “I’m sorry, Lee, this has been just too much.”

“Don’t worry about it, mate,” Ryan said. “So, I’m just gonna be straight. There was an emergency board meeting this morning.”

“What? And I wasn’t invited? That’s against the protocol!”

“I know that, and I have expressed my concerns several times to Marsha.”

“Marsha?” Niko scoffed. “I think of her still as General Meyer.”

“Come on; you know how important of a board member she is, Nik. Please don’t make it harder than it is.”

“Whatever. What did Marsha say?”

“Well, plain and simple, they are doing damage reduction. They were able to launch several news and social media articles denying these claims.”

“You know that half of this isn’t true, don’t you?”

“I know only what you’ve told me, Niko, and you know that I fully trust you. But they don’t care what the truth is. They only care how it would make the company look.”

“Well, I say, fuck them.”

“I say that, too. But hey, look at the one upside. The product itself is in everybody’s mouth and didn’t get any kind of taint. Well, truth be told, it is mostly yourself everybody’s pissed at. So the board also decided that the launch of the NanoChip will go as planned.”

“So, NanoChip, huh? That’s the official name?”

“Yes, the marketing department approved the name you suggested. They said something like, ‘It’s super unimaginative, but straight to the point.’” He laughed. “I still think it sucks. Anyway, in order to let the storm pass, the board has apparently decided that you need to lay low for a while.”

“What does that mean, for a while?”

“I personally hope only for a couple of weeks. I want you back out there with me ASAP. Who else is gonna handle all the product recalls?”

Niko had to chuckle. “But wait a minute—who will take over my spot in the meantime?”

“Well, they’ve kind of asked me to be an interim CEO. But I will, of course, say no if you want me to.”

“No, no, that’s okay. If it has to be anybody, it should be you.”

“I appreciate it, Nik. Listen, I gotta go, but we’ll keep in touch, all right?”

“All right, man. Take care. Please keep me in the loop on what’s happening.”

“Will do, buddy. See you.”

Niko went back to his sulking. This was the news he had expected, but not hoped for. In today’s world, making even one mistake in a false moment could lead to your whole career being ruined.

He looked outside of his window from his HDB apartment in Singapore. After coming back from Puerto Rico, he’d returned to his old flat. For his post as CEO, he would have been able to keep living there while commuting to the US two days a week to meet their most important clients.

It was funny actually, the possibilities of today’s travel. He remembered the long overnight flights to his favorite holiday destinations in the US and Southeast Asia with his parents. He used to cuddle up with his brother and watch outside the window, hoping to see something outside because the only thing he couldn’t stand was seeing nothing.

He pulled out his phone, scrolling through the countless messages and notifications. Priya’s name popped up again, her text filled with concern. He felt a twinge of guilt for ignoring her, but he couldn’t bring himself to respond. Not yet.

He looked outside again. As usual, rain. Still, he decided to go for a walk. Doing something was always better than doing nothing. And the rain, though annoying, suited his mood.