400 Days After Fina

Day 483

400 Days After Fina by JellOfAllTrades
Chapter 27

I ended the disastrous call with Melissa Perez of the Hera Foundation and dialed my marketing head's number. Francine picked up almost immediately.

"Hi, boss!" She greeted cheerfully.

"Nakita mo na ba yung balita?"

"Tungkol saan?"

"Maria Perez is in the hospital." I grit my teeth, knowing that we'll get a lot of negative press if we release her ads on TV after she's reported to have suffered a heart attack. "We need to pull out her ads and make a replacement before our scheduled launch next week. Melissa's going to be the central figure now."

There was a short pause as Francine processed what I said. "May plans naman na tayo for Melissa's solo ads, gusto mo bang yun na lang yung gamitin natin?"

I pinch my nose bridge, blocking out the painful pounding in my ears. "Yes. Send me the details and I'll coordinate with the Foundation."

"Sure. Anything else?"

"Forward mo na rin lahat ng project details natin concerning Melissa's campaign."

"Okay."

"That's all, thanks."

I ended the call, leaned on my chair, and closed my eyes. Maria Perez, despite being a perfectionist, is a lovely lady and while I'm sure we can gain from the definite rise of curiosity her hospitalization will cause, it's not exactly the image we would like to show the people. Melissa pulling the plug on her mother's ad campaign is the best course of action for now. We'll just have to rush everything in time for the launch next week.

My computer pinged and when I checked the notification, Francine's project information for Melissa is now in my inbox. I rang Kate's phone and she quickly picked up.

"Yes, ma'am?"

"Magoovertime ako,"

"Overtime rin po ba ako?"

"Okay lang ba? May irurush kasi tayong ad ng Hera Foundation this week."

"Okay lang po, ma'am. Wala naman akong plano tonight."

"Salamat," I muttered and remembered Angel. "Inform mo si Angel at baka hintayin ka nun sa bahay niyo."

"Sige po," Kate sounded suspicious that I brought up her roommate's name but I ended the call soon after.

I opened Francine's email and began studying her plans regarding Melissa's campaign. I've already checked the project details before but since the original plan was for Maria to pass the torch to Melissa, we'll have the make changes to remove or at least lessen Maria's presence in the ad.

I picked the phone and called Kate once more to instruct her to schedule a meeting with the marketing team early tomorrow morning. After the call, I debated whether I should invite Melissa to the meeting tomorrow and eventually decided to send a text invitation instead. That way, Melissa will have the time to think about the invitation without being rushed to provide an answer. After all, her mother is in the hospital, she has other things to attend to.

My phone rang and when I picked it up, it was Francine.

"I'm stopping by, we need to talk in person." Her voice sounded worried and I feel like my head is going to explode.

"What's the problem?"

"I'll tell you when I get there."

Francine ended the call and I call Kate to inform her that Francine is coming and to not disturb us when she gets here. While I waited, I studied the plans once more and noticed the multiple shooting locations. If we're going to continue with this plan, we'll have to shoot in an orphanage and two different hospitals within less than a week. The logistics will be a nightmare.