America 1982-Chapter 188 - 71: The Long-Awaited Care
"Sophia, you’re his secretary. You need to pay attention to anything related to him during this period. I don’t care whether he’s paying you or not, but if you’re just accompanying him to take naps on his trips, I’d suggest to Tommy that he replace you. The young people from the White Shoe Society at Stanford Law would be very willing to take over your job..."
With a full head of silver hair, Delia emanated a powerful presence as she sat in the conference room of the Four Seasons Hotel in San Francisco. She did not look at Tommy but directed her words at Sophia, leaving Sophia somewhat at a loss.
Tommy, who had been signing some documents Delia had brought, interrupted upon hearing Delia’s words, "No, let her stay as my secretary."
"Maybe Susan could do a better job than her," Delia said, casting her gaze at Tommy, who was still signing.
Tommy closed a document he had finished signing and opened the next one to review in detail, "After Actor loses the lawsuit in Boston, I’ll arrange for Susan to take a long, long vacation, long enough for her to attend community college, and then come to Stanford for further studies. Susan deserves a better life, not just to follow me around as a mere secretary."
"You should listen to the advice of others, Tommy," Delia emphasized.
Tommy, after signing his name, slid the document across the table to Delia:
"I will listen to advice that I believe is helpful to me. Thanks for your advice, Delia, but I’ll repeat this one more time, Sophia isn’t going anywhere. She’ll stay right next to me."
Seeing how the temperature in the boardroom seemed to drop in the blink of an eye, the person caught in the storm still hadn’t realized why Delia was targeting her so harshly.
Confused, she looked at Delia, "Ms. Case, have I done something wrong? You can tell me directly. I will take care and make sure not to make the same mistakes again."
"Who prepared the interview content and topics for Chicago?" Delia took out a videotape from her bag, turned on the TV and VCR in the conference room, inserted the tape, pressed the remote control, and after a burst of static, the video of Tommy’s interview on "Good Morning, Chicago" began to play.
Sophia, glancing at Tommy who seemed unconcerned, said to Delia, "No one helped him prepare. He completed the entire interview off-script, and I think his performance on-site was fantastic, even better than scripted appearances. The live audience was very impressed with him, and there were even TV viewers who called in asking what kind of business Tommy was in. The host praised him several times after the interview, almost convinced to sign with Actor Corporation to help sell their software."
"You showed empathy for black people on the program, didn’t you, Tommy?" Delia didn’t look at Sophia, but instead addressed Tommy, "You think you were very successful at stirring up the passion of black people with emotion." 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚
Tommy didn’t deny but nodded affirmatively, "Of course. I was trying to hoodwink that black host into making money for me, but the guy didn’t bite, using my lack of industry experience and influence as reasons to reject me outright. But I did well on the program, at least the black people there had a good impression of me."
"The better you perform, the bigger the trouble you’re in. You’re a member of SSD, don’t tell me you don’t know that SSD is a white elite student organization in colleges. With a simple move, they could use this against you. When they expose that you were once sworn into your membership wearing those white robes of the 3KKK, who historically have burned black people, guess how those blacks who had a good impression of you would see you? Do you think the other side won’t release this news? You would be seen as a hypocrite, a phony, by those blacks. Your mask would be stripped away, maybe even shaking up the support base you’ve worked so hard to build. Maybe Actor Corporation will still win, but for Lotus Corporation, merely tarnishing your reputation is a victory. They’ll extensively spread your hypocrisy, your racial discrimination, and under public pressure, Actor Corporation will inevitably cut ties with you, and in the end, you’d be out. Without you, Actor might even reconcile with Lotus, right? And because of you, SSD might end up being stigmatized," Delia, a bit agitated, pulled out a cigarette and put it in her mouth:
"We discussed this before, not to talk about detailed cases, not to curry favor with everyone, just to chat about your dreams, what you’re doing – why couldn’t you stick to the plan and prepare your speech as we discussed?"
After addressing Tommy, Delia turned to Sophia:
"This is why I’m dissatisfied with you, Sophia. When he gets too excited, you’re not just standing by his side to flaunt a tall secretary to others. You should constantly think about potential problems at every step, and as soon as you realize them, immediately inform him. For instance, when he plans to go off-script, you should have promptly stopped him from doing that."
"I’m sorry, Delia. I..." Sophia began, her voice low after listening.
Tommy picked up his coffee and took a sip, "No need to apologize. Do you think Sophia could have stopped me from doing what I wanted to do? Delia, first off, I haven’t tarnished the reputation of SSD, and I have never worn a white robe. I don’t deny that SSD had racist undertones when it was founded last century, but since 1930, there hasn’t been any record of SSD burning black people. Through the years, SSD has coexisted peacefully with black people, not absorbing them, but without hostility toward them. Otherwise, how could it still exist today? If it truly harbored hatred for people of color, it would have been forcibly disbanded by Stanford a long time ago. Let’s face it, we’re in California, where people of color are everywhere. Trying to score a pure white girl here is hardly easier than earning three S honors at college. SSD has always been very friendly to people of color, especially women of color with honey-toned skin, so friendly that countless women of color have shared a bed with SSD men for in-depth exchanges."
