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"She bought me a new dress!"
"I… I want to meet with your boss."
"My boss?"
"It is the only way. You have a relationship with her, and she likes you. I have money, and I can guarantee her some creative freedom. Nothing gets made without her say-so or mine. She can still be with the little guy but gets a payday too. I cannot see any other way around this. You are the key to this, Teal, and I am prepared to work with you to make this happen."
"You're forgetting one thing," she says.
"What is that?"
"How do you know I'm prepared to work with you?"
THE BOMBSHELL HITS
Isit on the toilet and try not to give in to the horrible feeling running through my body. I can't leave the bathroom in tears or no one will take me seriously. In this industry, in almosteveryindustry, you have to be stronger as a woman. Show a little emotion, and you will not be taken seriously by anyone.
And to complicate matters, Logan is in the building too. I don't know if that is a good or a bad thing yet. I take a deep breath and unwrap the kit from the plastic. I start to pee and stick it under me, trying not to get bodily fluids on my hand.
When I am done, I go to the sink and place the pregnancy kit on the countertop. I wash my hands twice with soap and dab at the kit with a paper towel. I'm terrified that someone will come in and see what I am doing.
I check the instructions once more. It never said anything about time crawling to a standstill while you are waiting.
The seconds tick by on the clock on the wall, and I finally go for it when the time is up. I check the lines against the instructions and toss the test into the garbage, followed by the paper towels.
I leave the sanctity of the bathroom and find the meeting room. I don't know what I feel as I walk into the lion's den.
Logan is already in there with Mr. Hodgkins.
"Teal, finally. Have a seat," says Mr. Hodgkins.
I do as I am told, and I feel numb.
"So, can we get started?" asks my boss.
Logan gestures for the meeting to begin.
"All right, Mr. McDonagh, you want to invest in our company?"
"No, I want to help finance the book deal with Miss Morton."
"You have said this before, but I find it an unusual agreement. Why don't we figure out how you can invest in the company, and we will, of course, put that money toward retaining Miss Morton as a client."
"I did not believe it would be so hard to have someone take my money, but here we are."
"And I didn't think I would have someone try to come in here and snatch this client from right under my nose. I know what you want, Mr. McDonagh. You want the hottest new book of the year and can't get it by yourself, so you come crawling to me. You want to give Miss Morton creative control, and no one gets a say in anything until you and she signs off on it? Do you believe we would take that deal?"
Logan sighs. "Yes, I do because if you do not, you lose out on the client too. I know you are not stupid, but you must know that Charlie Morton will not continue this relationship."
Mr. Hodgkins stands up to address the room that consists of only two other people. "The way I see it, you have no contacts or power in the publishing industry, and we have done all the work to get this far. Do you really expect to swoop in and take all the glory?"
Logan stands up too. "From where I am standing,youhave done nothing. I believe it is Miss Hudson whom Miss Morton has a relationship with, and if it were not for her, you would have lost the client already. That is your only play, is it not? Send Miss Hudson out to dinner with your client in the hope that she prefers a sexy young woman to a bunch of cash?"
Mr. Hodgkins looks over at me as if I have revealed a trade secret to Logan.
Logan sighs. "With me on board, you can have both. However, I must protect the work. We can discuss how to proceed with the work once we have the IP rights, but I will not whore out the writing as you do with your employees."
Mr. Hodgkins laughs, and I know it is over. He lifts a finger and wags it at Logan as if scolding a small child. "You think you can come in here and make demands because you have money. You talk about integrity, sir, but you have none. I believe we are done here."
