Bobby rubs his eyes and leans forward. After drawing a deep breath, he finally speaks. “I’m being accused of sexual misconduct.”
Gina blinks. “I’m sorry… what?”
“Her name is Eva Stone.” There’s a tremor in Bobby’s voice. “She’s an analyst with the company. She’s saying we were… involved. It’s obviously not true.”
Gina stares, words jumbled in her mind out of order. “Involved? What does that mean?”
“She’s claiming we had an affair. She’s lying. I don’t know why she’s lying, but she is lying. HR informed me—”
“When?”
“When?” Bobby frowns.
“When did you find out? When did you have this conversation with HR?”
“I met with Goddard before lunch.”
“You’ve known about this for hours?” The pulse in her neck is throbbing. It upsets Gina, learning that Bobby has discussed this with the head of HR before she even knew about it. It doesn’t help that Goddard isn’t an Almanac—that never sat right with Gina, having an outsider as upper management.
“Gina, I—” Bobby rests his hand on hers. She pulls it away.
“You’re saying she’s making this up?”
“I’m saying I didn’t do this.” The tremor is gone. Now, his tone is firm, unwavering.
“Did you fire her?”
Bobby blinks. “I can’t fire her.”
“Why not?” Bobby is CEO. He can do whatever he wants.
“Think of the optics. She accuses me of sexual misconduct, and I fire her? Can you imagine the backlash?”
Gina opens her mouth and then closes it again.
“With all this #MeToo business,” Bobby continues, “she could sue.” Gina doesn’t give two figs about a lawsuit. She’s about to say as much to Bobby, but he continues, “There’s more.” Bobby takes a deep breath. He sounds pained. “She wants me to step down as CEO. If I do, she won’t come forward with this, officially.”
Step down? Bobby has been CEO for four years. Gina still remembers the day Charles passed the baton over to him. Bobby had been elated by his father’s endorsement. As CEO, Charles had been popular, but hard to please. And the company had been struggling. But Bobby had welcomed the challenge. It had paid off: he had turned Alma Boots around. The idea of Bobby stepping down is unthinkable. Alma Boots is like his second child. And there wouldn’t be anyone to replace him. The CEO is always a Dewar—and Nick has been working at the company for all of two minutes.
“But why would…” Gina pauses, remembering the woman’s name. Eva Stone. It sounds sexy, like a movie star’s name. “Why would Eva want you to do that?”
Bobby shakes his head. “I don’t know. I don’t understand any of it. She’s saying she doesn’t want to see Alma Boots associated with a scandal. All she wants is my resignation. But I’ll tell you what I told Goddard: she won’t come forward, not officially, because to do that you need proof and she has none.”
Gina feels her muscles relaxing. No proof.
“So… what? She has a vendetta against you?” Vendetta. The word seems silly, almost comical. Like something she’d come across in one of Calan’s comic books.
“The way I see it, it all comes down to three options.” Bobby releases a breath. He sounds calm and measured. This makes sense: Bobby’s strength is planning, strategizing. Gina pictures Bobby meeting with Goddard in one of the spacious conference rooms of the iconic 30 Rockefeller Plaza building.
He goes over his theories.
Number one: Eva Stone is lying for personal gain. The most obvious reason is money. Maybe she wants a payout.
Number two: Eva Stone is lying for someone else. A third party is paying her to fabricate this story. Or coercing her. The most likely culprit would be Souliers—they’ve been circling Alma Boots like hungry sharks for months, but Bobby keeps turning them down. Perhaps they think that an interim CEO would agree to a sale.
Number three: Eva Stone is batshit crazy. She actually believes she had an affair with Bobby. There are dozens of mental illnesses that can cause hallucinations.
“That’s the most dangerous option,” he says. “I can’t go around calling a woman crazy.”
“Not even if she’s saying you had an…” Gina can’t bring herself to say the word. Affair.
“No, but someone else can do it. An unimpeachable, objective third party. Which is why I’m opening an investigation to get to the bottom of this.”
An investigation. This is good. A guilty man wouldn’t want an investigation. Gina bobs her head, slowly. She trusts her husband. Of course he didn’t have an affair.
“We’re meeting with a few firms tomorrow. Quietly. Nick called in a favor and got us an appointment early in the morning. Our hope is that by the time this gets out we’ll have a defense ready.”
“OK,” Gina says. “How can I help?”
Bobby gives her a weak smile. “Just by being you.” He reaches for her hand again. This time, Gina doesn’t pull away. Bobby leans back against the sofa cushions. He looks tired, worn out. “The timing couldn’t be worse.”
“Because of Souliers?”
“Yeah. We’re living a PR dream right now. It would be a shame to lose the public’s trust over something like this.”
Gina hadn’t even considered that. Alma Boots has always been a popular brand, but fear of a sale has caused people from all across the country to unite in patriotism. The company is now beloved. Social media is filled with pictures of men, women, and children, both regular folks and celebrities, showing off their favorite pairs of Alma Boots shoes. They tag the company and use hashtags like #AlmaBootsIsAmerica and #madeintheUSA and #MadeByAmericanHands.
Gina remembers one particularly moving Facebook post in which a woman had shared three pictures: one of her as a small girl in pigtails wearing her first pair of Alma Boots’ classic sheepskin boots, one as a teen wearing a pair of their limited-edition tan, wide-calf leather boots, and one as an adult wearing one of Alma Boots’ fuzzy moccasins. Alma Boots is about more than shoes or fashion, she had written. It’s about growing up American, in America. It’s
