Tidal Wave

Chapter 3: Back At It Again

"I can't believe in 2016 this kind of shit is still happening!" Olivia whispers to herself.

"As if I'm in this situation again! Another man who gets a little bit of power and doesn't know how to keep it in his pants. And then he has the audacity to get his people to contact me to get him out of the mess he made for himself. I am the Head of the god-damn Human Resources Department and your staff have just accused you of inappropriate sexual conduct at your multi-million-dollar corporation!" she exclaims. "I am NOT your momma and you're not trying to get out of first period math class!"

Olivia slams the cupboard door in her kitchen after grabbing a wine glass. She crosses over to the liquor stand and surveys the various liquor bottles that face her. Olivia picks up the bottle of vodka and fills her wine glass halfway before placing the bottle back on the stand. After a few minutes of staring at the half-filled glass Olivia walks over the refrigerator grabs two thin slices of fresh lime and the remaining sparkling water and tops up the wine glass. She sits down at the dining table takes a sip of drink and turns on her laptop.

It has been about ten years since her days working as a "fixer" at the most prominent celebrity crisis management firm L.A. & Co. She had really hoped she put those days behind her. Gone were the days of late night stake outs, disingenuous meetings, unannounced visits and burying true stories in order to surface more salacious yet fictitious rumors. She knew she was done with that life and was settling in nicely with the monotony of her job as the Head of Human Resources for Tidal.

She had the perfect balance of still being enmeshed in the entertainment world but was able to keep a low profile with less hands-on responsibilities. She was simply expected to review various job applications here and there, keep up to date on the most valuable health benefit plans, and most importantly make sure things were running smoothly when it came to overall employee relations.

Tidal was a fairly new company when she signed on. The staff was young and the size was small. Majority of the team were already friends and/or family so the likelihood of any real issues was slim. It was exactly what Olivia wanted and needed when the opportunity came her way.

But after a huge launch party where Jay Z announced the major artists that were going to be featured on Tidal right out of the gate there was a massive influx of investor interest, which resulted in exponential employment growth in a very short amount of time.

The thought was, Now that we can afford to have the right people help us take a good idea and make it into game changer, why not?!!?

Within six months the small, young music company that Olivia had planned on slowing down with was now a massive enterprise. And this massive enterprise was beginning to bring some serious issues to the surface. The types of issues Olivia thought and hoped she had left behind.

Of course she heard the rumblings of inappropriate behaviour happening at Tidal. Not just with Jay but with a whole slew of people. Everybody is always talking about who is sleeping with who.

From her days at L.A. and Co. she knew that less than half of rumors are true. The reality was it's usually the up-and-comers, the has-beens, the assistants and interns who end up sleeping around and it tends to be with each other. The executives and the A-Listers simply know how the game works and let rumors run wild to keep their name in the press...well until it seriously begins to impede on their real life. Otherwise, only the real scumbags actually use their money and power to take advantage of young, impressionable associates.

And this wasn't just another entertainment studio this was more of a tech start-up. And it wasn't just executive it was Jay Z, Sean Carter, father of Blue Ivy Carter, loving husband of the Queen B herself Beyonce Knowles-Carter!

So as far as Olivia was concerned until an issue with employee misconduct came directly to her office and literally sat on her lap she was happy to turn a blind eye... or so she thought.

Being thrown into this new wave of chaos was beginning to spark something in her. Something that felt vaguely familiar. Something that felt more impactful than sitting behind a desk and staring blankly at her computer screen.

As Olivia took another sip from her glass the adrenaline began rapidly coursing through her veins. That smug look on Jay's face as he left the board was imprinted in her memory.

"Ugh. That smug bastard"! She whispered to herself

All those beautifully filtered pictures of Jay with Beyoncé and Blue on Yachts and on private jets with beautiful international landscapes canvassed behind them began flashing through her head. Every sip of her drink brought up a new and concerning question.

Sip - How could he do this to Beyoncé?

Sip - How could he do this to Blue?

Sip - Does Beyoncé know? Is she in on all of it?

Gulp - Do they have a secret open relationship?

As Olivia lifted the remainder of her drink in hand to her head the memory of the pathetic young woman crying in the bathroom stall made her hesitate.

Ugh that poor girl. She thought. I have to help that girl!

Memories of her own self as young twentysomething began to peak through.

Olivia rushed back over to the liquor stand, poured herself another few ounces of vodka, crossed back to the refrigerator to get another piece lime, squeezed it once into her glass and headed to couch.

She decided to start researching any and everything she could find about Sean Jay Z Carter.