“No, nothing like that,” Jason said.
“Okay, I see,” Katya said. “Does she still work at TakeOff?”
Jason glanced at Mack. “We’re currently discussing her employment status.”
“Got it,” Katya said. “So none of this has anything to do with the fact that Isabel and Mack had a relationship, is what you’re saying.”
What the hell. How did Katya even have an inkling about what had happened between him and Isabel? And how was Jason going to get them out of this?
“Katya, can you excuse me for just one moment? Thanks.” Jason put the phone on mute before she could even respond. To Mack, he said, “Dude. How the fuck does she know about that? I thought you said no one knew.”
“I have no fucking idea,” Mack said. “Unless…I mean, it’s possible she’s been talking to Isabel. But how would she even know to go talk to Isabel? And why would Isabel talk to her? It makes no sense.”
Jason shook his head. “Well, I think we just deny at this point, right? Or…do you want to say that you had a consensual relationship, it ended amicably, you don’t know where this is coming from? Et cetera.”
“Maybe that’s a better way to go,” Mack said. “Makes Isabel seem jealous, right?”
Jason shrugged. “I think it just puts us in charge of the narrative a little more. I’m going to get back on the phone with her before she starts getting suspicious that she’s been on hold too long.” He unmuted the call. “Katya? Hey, sorry about that. Yeah, so, listen—Mack and Isabel had a brief, adult, consensual relationship that ended amicably. That’s all I can say about that.”
“I see,” Katya said. There was something in her tone of voice that Mack didn’t like. It was a tone that said I know you’re lying. “All right. Is there anything else you’d like to add about what happened or about Isabel?”
Mack shook his head. Jason said, “No. If there are specific things that end up in your piece that you think Mack or someone else at TakeOff should respond to, I’d appreciate it if you gave us a call back.”
“Yes, of course,” Katya said. “I appreciate your time.”
“Thanks.” Jason hung up. Mack was having trouble reading his face. He certainly didn’t look as confident as he had before the call.
“What do you think?” Mack said.
“I think…I think that we just continue to deny, deny, deny. Look…at the end of the day, people are going to believe what they want to believe, but I think that our story is a more convincing one. Who’s Isabel Taylor? She’s nobody. You…you’re Mack McAllister. It’s just, like, not even a question!”
Mack smiled. He needed this affirmation. For a long time, he had felt invincible, and maybe this was, actually, a good way for him to check himself. It was so important to stay humble, to remember that everything he had worked so hard for could be gone so quickly, that he was only in control of what he could be in control of. How did you know what the light looked like if you never saw the darkness?
“Hey, by the way…” Jason said. “Any word from Gramercy?”
Gramercy. No, there had not been any word from Gramercy, not since they’d sent him the term sheet. Should he be worried? He didn’t think he should be worried, but then again…Jason knew as well as he did how much runway they still had left, and it wasn’t a ton. Mack was visualizing their cash on hand getting depleted in front of his eyes, the numbers turning into gibberish, like that weird numbers display in Union Square that didn’t make any sense. “Yeah, just waiting on lawyers. You know.”
Jason seemed satisfied with this response. “All right, man. I have a coffee with a potential product guy at the Ace. Friend of a friend.” He fist-bumped Mack. “We got this. Don’t forget that.” Jason started to leave the office.
“Hey, I just thought of something,” Mack said. “Sabrina.”
“Sabrina?” Jason said. “What about her? We’ll figure out exactly what her role is, don’t worry.”
“No. I mean, her husband works at TechScene,” Mack said. “Remember?”
“Oh,” Jason said. “Right. Of course. It’s probably time we had a chat with her about this, don’t you think?”
“I do,” Mack said. “I really, really do.”
23
To Smell the Truth
HE’S LYING, KATYA typed to Dan on Slack. he is a lying liar.
Just try to keep him on the phone, Dan typed back. As soon as Jason called, she ran into a meeting room for privacy, and now she was sitting in front of her computer with her phone on speaker, taking notes in a Google Doc in one window and Slacking Dan in another. Dan seemed a little disappointed that it was Jason, not Mack, who had called back, but Katya could tell that she was on speaker and told Dan, I think Mack is probably listening to the call, so I’m going to behave accordingly.
She had already asked Jason specifically about what happened the other night at the drinks for Casper Kim, and he had deflected. Or not exactly deflected but given her a very subjective version of events. He was calling what Isabel had said an “outburst” by an employee who was a “problem,” which had almost made her laugh out loud. Isabel was the problem? That was an interesting way to frame it. And now he was trying to tell her that Isabel was upset not because she had been on the receiving end of harassment from her boss, but because she wasn’t doing a good job and they had “layered” her. Katya didn’t know what this meant, but she figured there was no harm in asking. “Layer her?” she said.
“It just means that like…instead of firing someone, you hire or promote someone over them.”
Classy move, she thought. She typed to Dan on Slack: they’re acting like Isabel is just pissed bc she got layered.