“Mr.
Soldier Boy, this is your drink.”
The interview was still ongoing, and the camera flashes kept firing.
A staff member carefully navigated through the cables covering the floor with a tray and placed a drink on the table next to Benjamin.
Benjamin was being hounded by one reporter after another.
These reporters were so damn talkative that Benjamin was starting to get irritated.
His expression was as hard as iron.
Then, he reached out and picked up the cup.
The instant his fingers touched the rim, his expression changed instantly.
Hot?
He brought the cup to his nose and sniffed it: it was sweet, with a warm caramel aroma.
Coca-Cola, and it was hot.
Someone had served him a glass of hot Coca-Cola.
“Is this fucking good?”
Benjamin stood up abruptly, his chair scraping loudly against the floor behind him.
He smashed the cup against the floor, shattering the glass and splattering the warm, dark brown liquid everywhere.
Some reporters in the front row recoiled in fright.
The flashes stopped for a moment and then started firing again at an even more frantic pace.
After all, other superheroes were kind and refined, at least in front of the cameras, but…
Soldier Boy…
Some of the younger reporters, who weren’t very familiar with Soldier Boy, snapped photos like crazy.
“Fuck!
That’s so fucking amateur!
I want it cold, ice, ice!”
The employee’s face went pale and he backed away repeatedly, about to step on the broken glass on the floor.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, sir!
I’ll get you a replacement right away…”
“And bring an iced Coca-Cola to my son too.”
Benjamin pointed to the side, where Homelander was sitting upright in his chair.
“If you bring another hot drink, you’re fired.”
The employee practically ran off.
Homelander looked at the broken glass on the floor, the corners of his lips twitching, but he didn’t dare to burst out laughing.
Some reporters covered their mouths, though their shoulders trembled.
The floor director let out a groan through his headphones, and the PR team had already begun frantically drafting an apology statement.
“PR department, don’t apologize.
Is hot Coca-Cola fit for human consumption?
What do you think?
Fuck them all!”
After adding that, Benjamin sat back down.
He adjusted his suit straps, as if nothing had happened, and tilted his chin toward the stunned reporters below.
“Next question, hurry up, don’t waste my time.”
…
After the press conference, Benjamin went straight back to Vought Tower.
The elevator doors closed, silencing the noise and flashes of the reporters.
He leaned against the elevator wall, closed his eyes, and rubbed his temples.
Dealing with the media was more exhausting than fighting a war.
Especially that exhausting cup of hot Coca-Cola.
Not even a dog would drink that.
Homelander didn’t return with him, mainly because Translucent had been missing for two days.
He wanted to investigate.
Translucent wasn’t exactly a good guy, and it wasn’t that he cared, but that an adult man disappeared into thin air inside Vought Tower—and a member of The Seven at that—troubled him. Read the latest chapters at novelping.com.
Because previously, he had shot and killed a staff member who was blocking access to the files.
Thus, Homelander could find surveillance footage and intelligence information without any problem, with no one stopping him.
…
The next morning,
Benjamin stepped out of the elevator with his first Coca-Cola of the day, ice cold.
As he turned the corner of the hallway, his steps suddenly slowed.
Starlight was standing in front of the floor-to-ceiling window at the end of the hallway, her back to him.
She wasn’t wearing the discreet suit she usually wore, but an outfit he had never seen before: a deep V-neck that reached almost to her navel, a skirt so short it barely covered the top of her thighs, and her entire back, from her shoulder blades to her waist, was completely exposed.
Her blonde hair was styled in large wavy curls that fell over her bare shoulders.
One of her hands rested on the window frame, and her shoulders trembled slightly.
Benjamin approached and, before he could say anything, saw that her eyes were red.
Her mascara had run with her tears, leaving a faint black mark on her lower eyelid.
“What the fuck are you wearing?”
Benjamin’s voice wasn’t loud, but his tone was icy.
He looked her up and down, frowning.
“Dressed like a slut.
You’re a superheroine; what’s the point of dressing so provocatively?”
Starlight’s lips trembled.
She rubbed the corners of her eyes hard with the back of her hand, trying to make her voice sound less shaky, but she couldn’t.
“It was Madelyn.
She said my suit wasn’t commercial enough, that the public doesn’t want to see a fully covered heroine.”
“The PR department gave me the new suit.
They told me that if I didn’t wear it, I would be hurting Vought’s interests and disappointing the fans who support me.”
After a moment, she took a deep breath, and her voice faded.
“I refused.
But she said that in the contract with Vought, the suit design is a corporate decision, and I have no right to refuse.”
“She also said…
that The Deep is gone and The Seven is now understaffed.
If I don’t cooperate, there are plenty of people willing to replace me.”
Benjamin didn’t speak.
He placed the iced Coca-Cola on the windowsill, then turned and walked to the other end of the hallway.
Two interns who were moving equipment in the hallway saw him coming and immediately pressed themselves against the wall to let him pass; one of them nearly dropped the cardboard box he was carrying.
Ashley’s office was in the corner of the hallway.
She was sitting behind her desk, reviewing a press release on her computer screen.
Hearing the door open, she looked up and met Benjamin’s face: expressionless, but with an oppressive aura capable of freezing blood.
The pen in her hand dropped.
“Mr.
Soldier Boy, do you need something?”
“Did you approve Starlight’s suit, goddammit?”
Ashley swallowed with difficulty.
“It was…
it was a direct order from Madelyn.
I only executed it; I have no decision-making power…”
“You’re the head of PR and you have no decision-making power?
Then what are you good for?
You’re useless.”
Benjamin stood in front of her desk, enunciating each word clearly.
Ashley’s face went pale.
Because it really wasn’t her decision. The source of this chapter is g.com.
Benjamin said:
“I’ll give you ten minutes.
Bring Madelyn to my office.”
Ashley nodded desperately.
When Benjamin turned to leave her office, her fingers were still trembling; it took her three tries to dial Madelyn’s number.
When Madelyn arrived, Benjamin was in the office waiting for her, and they had also called Starlight.
Starlight had already put her original suit back on, and that revealing, provocative-looking suit was thrown on the floor.
Madelyn opened the door, saw the new suit on the floor, and then saw Starlight standing behind Benjamin, with her usual smile on her face.
“Mr.
Soldier Boy, regarding Starlight’s suit, I can explain…”
“Explain what?”
Benjamin turned around, his voice low, but he interrupted her immediately.
“How did you turn a superhero into a prostitute, into a stripper?”
“She’s barely over twenty, she fought her way from Des Moines to New York, passed all your selection filters, and beat countless competitors to be here.”
“She has superpowers, she has guts, and, fuck, the night before last she beat up two harassers with her own hands.”
“And then you tell her no, your skills don’t matter, your courage doesn’t matter, you have to show your tits to the public first?”
“Why don’t you come to work naked?”
Madelyn’s smile froze.
“This is the result of a market study.
Superheroine merchandise sales…”
“Don’t give me that market study bullshit.”
Benjamin stared at her.
“If you’re so capable, why don’t you design a deep V-neck for A-Train?
Did you ever make Translucent wear a thong in front of the camera, or have Homelander go out to save people or do photo shoots naked?”
“Why does Starlight have to dress like this?
Because she’s a woman?
Because you think a woman’s body is worth more than her skills?”
“Fuck you!”
Madelyn suppressed her rage.
Benjamin shouted: “Ashley.”
Ashley, who had been shrinking in the doorway, practically jumped.
“Yes!”
“Starlight’s suit: make it according to her original design.
Let her wear what she wants.
If anyone dares to criticize her body again, I’ll throw the desk out the 56th floor window.”
“Yes, yes, sir.”
Ashley nodded like a woodpecker.
“I’ll do it right away, right away.”
Madelyn wanted to say something, opened her mouth, but under the weight of Benjamin’s gaze, she finally closed it.
Her face turned livid as she turned and walked out of the office.
The sound of her heels hitting the floor was twice as loud as usual, but Benjamin didn’t even look at her.
Starlight stood in a corner, watching how Soldier Boy used the most vulgar language to say what he thought.
He said her skills were important, her courage was important, she herself was important, not her breasts, not the publicity…
When he said those words, each syllable was as rough as sandpaper, but they burned in her ears in a way that made her want to cry.
Her eyes were still red, but not from feeling wronged.
“Thank you, Mr.
Soldier Boy.”
“Become a true superhero.
If anyone dares to threaten you, come to me, as long as what you do is right.”
Starlight nodded.
She was very grateful that Soldier Boy was at Vought.