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My chest was starting to feel tight—did the whole office know there was something going on?
“I won’t say anything, because I don’t think anyone else has noticed how disheveled she looks when she leaves your office after those long visits. However, as your assistant, I feel like you should know that it’s becoming kind of obvious.” Her voice had this chiding element that made me feel as though I was a child all over again.
“Thank you for pointing it out, but there’s nothing going on between the two of us.” I didn’t know why I even bothered to lie—it was clear by the look on Brittany’s face that she wasn’t buying into it.
“Right.” She rolled her eyes just as there was a knock on the conference room door. “You should be careful, Eli. You don’t want this to get out.”
I narrowed my eyes at her. “Are you threatening me?”
She rolled her eyes again. “No. Like I said, I’d like to continue to work for a clean company—no scandals.”
Before I could say something in return, whoever was knocking on the door opened it.
“Good morning, you two,” Chris greeted us. “I waited by the front desk, but I’ve never been the patient type.”
“He’s just in a mood this morning,” Harlee quipped from behind him, tsking her tongue. “Chris sometimes just wakes up on the wrong side of the bed.”
“I know the feeling,” I grunted, rolling my shoulders.
“Can I get either of you coffee?” Brittany asked, her tone light and airy. “I apologize for being absent from my desk.”
“I’ll take a vanilla latte,” Chris answered her without even meeting her gaze as he slipped through the doorway and took a seat in the chair adjacent from me.
“I’m good, thanks.” Harlee nodded, holding up her own cup of something. I wanted to assume that it was coffee, but who knew anymore these days.
Brittany gave them both a smile and slipped out of the room, leaving me to a meeting that I couldn’t recall the reasoning for. Shit.
“We were hoping to meet with you this morning to discuss future projects,” Chris began, jarring my thoughts back to the note I had made in my planner—right.
“I’m hoping that this means you want to continue using my production company.” My phone buzzed in my pocket, but I ignored it, keeping my focus on my client and her manager.
“Well, that’s the thing,” Harlee began. “I think you already know that Olivia is leaving, and I felt like she represented me the best here.”
Of course.
My mouth went dry as I wondered if the blonde-headed bombshell was the reason behind my phone going off.
“But, that being said, I am based out of New York most of the time, and I think it would be too difficult to fly back to Los Angeles just for creative meetings. I’d like to stay here with Whiss Productions.”
I nodded slowly, taking a deep breath. “I feel like there’s more to this than just you letting me know you intend to continue using us.”
A sly smile crept across her face. “Well, of course. I’d like for you to agree that all script and ideas be sent to Olivia for feedback—and she get a small percentage from everything that we pay to you, as she was the one who solidified the deal in the beginning.”
My jaw twitched in response. I did not agree to arrangements like this. It would mean paying a stipend to someone who was more or less not involved in the slightest. However, Harlee paid big…
“What percentage are you thinking?”
“Thirty percent of your profit.”
My mouth dropped open. “Absolutely not.” I didn’t care how fucking hot Olivia was or how great of an asset she had proven to be when it came to Harlee…that just wasn’t going to happen.
Her brows were sky-high. “And why not? I said from profit, not from total job cost.”
I shook my head. “I just don’t agree to terms like that.”
“Okay, so what about twenty percent?” Chris chimed in this time, his face expressionless. “Harlee’s not going to stay with your company if Olivia doesn’t get some sort of compensation.”
I met his eyes. How the man stayed sane negotiating such ridiculous terms was beyond me. “Five percent.”
