Total pages in book: 155
Estimated words: 147128 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 736(@200wpm)___ 589(@250wpm)___ 490(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 147128 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 736(@200wpm)___ 589(@250wpm)___ 490(@300wpm)
When I fell asleep on the couch that night with my notebook in my lap, I felt lighter and somehow a bit more positive about things. And if I had a smile on my face it was not because I was thinking of William Carter right before sleep took me. Not at all. Because I’d never do that.
5 Charlie
The next day Michael Ashton was flying in from California and we were to have a discreet meeting as the core team to get all the details.
While being around William wasn’t as nerve-racking as the day before – and I managed not to embarrass myself in front of the whole office – somehow having him in my space was still a bit mystifying and alien. I kept catching myself studying him as he worked in his office and still avoided him in general. I also learned that he was a pacer. I watched him walk up and down in his office as he was on phone call after phone call.
As we kept waiting for the client to show up, we heard news that his flight had been cancelled and the meeting had to be pushed back a day.
My dad wanted William in on two other meetings, so for hours they were away from the office, but from what I’d heard from Gayle, we weren’t getting those potential new clients because William wasn’t convinced they had problems we wanted to work on.
The only time I spent more than a few minutes by his side was in the afternoon when he came back to the office and we were calling Laurel Nielson, the celebrity I was working with, to get me off the hook. I watched him talk to her for less than five minutes and, when he hung up, I couldn’t hold it in and started laughing.
‘You just said yes to her!’ I accused him, forgetting to be nervous and smiling widely.
‘I didn’t…’ he started, his brows drawing together. ‘What the hell just happened?’
‘She got you,’ I replied, quieting my laughter. ‘You should see your face.’
His brows drew even closer and his forehead creased as he looked at me. Slowly, I stopped laughing, the big grin still intact, but I wasn’t sure what he was thinking. Was he pissed at me? I wouldn’t think so, but…
Sure, I knew details of his old life, his family and his favourite colour – if it was still green, that is – so, yes, I knew back then. But now? I wasn’t sure.
‘What did she say to you?’ I asked as I got up from my chair, keeping my smile to a minimum.
‘I actually have no idea. I also have no idea what her situation is, she rambled some, but I didn’t understand a word. She was trying to negotiate with me for you.’
‘And you still said yes?’
His scowl got worse.
‘So you basically gave me to her. Did you even get anything out of the negotiation?’
‘I… she confused me. I’m going to call her again tomorrow and fix this.’
‘Instead of doing that, would it be okay if I kept working with her? She is a handful, but I actually want to work with her. Help her.’
He sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. ‘Tell me a little about her situation then.’
Looking up, he motioned for me to sit again, but I shook my head.
‘I have a thing I need to get to. I’m already late as it is.’
He checked his watch. ‘I understand. Okay, Laurel Nielson? Do you have time to give me a quick rundown at least? I don’t believe this is a crisis situation that is happening at the moment, am I wrong?’
‘You’re right. She was at this talk show last month and the host came onto her backstage. He visited her room to say welcome and good luck, which he does for every guest, so nobody thought anything of it, and then when she started talking publicly about what happened in the room – he got a little handsy or tried to get a little handsy, that part is a mystery – on social media way after everything happened, somehow they turned it on her. The guy is married and old enough to be her father so nobody believes her. In return he accused her of coming onto him and Laurel lost it. She kind of made a mess of everything, got drunk and got on camera and eventually lost her role for a new TV show. Her agent was fuming and they hired the wrong company initially, which made a complete mess of the situation. She fled to Spain to take a few weeks off. She isn’t big yet, but she was on her way there and all of this happening is killing her career before it even started.’
William leaned back in his seat, carefully studying me. I squirmed in my place and broke our eye contact.