by B. B. Hamel
“You too, Mr. Asshole.” She gives me a devilish little smile, pulls her hand away, and leaves my office.
I watch her go, grinning ear to ear.
I’m glad she’s staying, and although it won’t be cheap, I know I can swing it. The board will understand why I’m fighting to keep her, although they won’t understand the full picture.
Fact is, I want her around because I’m stupidly attracted to her. I’ve always been into her, for a very, very long time. And now finally I’m close enough to do something about it, and I’m not about to waste my chance.
I ruined what we had when we were younger, but I won’t make that mistake a second time.
Remi’s about to find out just how much I want her.
3
Remi
I feel a little dirty leaving Justin’s office that day.
Actually, I feel totally disgusting. I don’t know why I agreed to stay or why I thought to ask for more money, but he gave me everything I wanted. I probably could’ve asked for more, but I stopped myself.
I don’t understand it. I was ready to tell him to go fuck himself, that I’d never work for a bastard like him, but as soon as I saw him in person, smiling at me with those gorgeous eyes and full lips…
I couldn’t do it. I’m such a little chickenshit, but it’s the truth. I couldn’t do it.
Of course, there are a ton of reasons why I didn’t go through with leaving. I’ve put in a lot of time at this company, and apparently the board does like me even if they don’t trust me. And I do believe that Justin won’t stay here forever.
Which means I could be in line for CD, assuming I make the board realize I’m loyal to the company, and not just to Diane.
True to his word, I get an offer letter on my desk before the end of the day. Everything is in there: ten percent raise, extra vacation days, even a line about greater creative freedom. I compile my list of brands and send them over before signing the letter and slipping it under his door.
I go home, feeling like I just made a deal with the devil.
“What do you think of him?”
Howard frowns at me from behind his thick black glasses and runs a hand through his mop of brown hair. He’s a heavyset guy and wears a vintage gaming t-shirt plus well-worn jeans to work every single day.
He’s the head of digital, so he gets away with it.
“He seems decent,” I say, although it physically hurts me to let the words escape my lips. “I mean, they brought him on for a reason.”
Howard frowns. “Aren’t you pissed about what they did to Diane? I mean, you were her… you know.”
“I am pissed,” I admit. It would be stupid to pretend like I’m not. “But I want to move forward. I think Justin’s going to be a good director.”
“Yeah, maybe.” Howard sighs and shrugs. “Guess it doesn’t matter. Might as well get along with the guy, right?” His eyes brighten for a second. “Hey, isn’t he your age?”
“He sure is,” I say. “Youngest CD in company history.” I want to throw up in a trash can.
“Good for him,” Howard says, a little vague. We start to move toward the conference room as people pack themselves in.
“Really, he’s decent,” I tell him. “I plan on acting like it’s business as usual. I know it sucks Diane’s gone, but she told me she wants us to keep moving forward and doing good work, so…” I trail off as we step into the crowded room.
“See you later,” Howard says as he goes around to the other side to sit with the tech half of the company. I sit down next to Martin, one of our lead designers. He gives me a little tight smile. He’s a small man, thin mustache, wears a lot of turtlenecks.
“What’s this all about?” he whispers to me.
“Just a general intro meeting,” I say.
“For the whole company?”
I shrug. “Guess so.”
“Young man must be trying to make some power moves already,” Martin says. “Get us all in line.”
“Maybe,” I admit. “Or maybe it’s just a meeting.”
He raises his eyebrows, but doesn’t fight the point. More people drift in before Justin stands up from a chair off to the side and walks to the front of the room.
I glance around as he starts speaking. Martin is right, nearly the whole company is here, minus support staff. Every creative, every department head, everyone is here. Part of me feels like Justin is about to start randomly firing people, just to make a point, but that’s not fair.
I have to at least try and keep my personal feelings for him out of this, even if those personal feelings are pretty damn strong.
“This is going to be a special year,” Justin’s saying. “I know I’m a new face, and I know my predecessor was very respected. Frankly, I looked up to Diane in many ways, everyone in the industry did. But she’s gone now, and I’m her replacement.”
He clears his throat, looks around. His eyes drift over everyone and I swear he lingers on me, just a second too long.
“As such, I’ll be making some changes.” Martin glances at me, a little smile on his lips. “First, we’ll be increasing focus on the digital side of things. We’ll be doubling their budget for the coming quarter.”
Murmurs around the table and Howard looks stunned. Clearly, Justin didn’t prep him for this.
“Next, we’re going to make a push to bring in new clients and to cut legacy accounts. If they’re not bringing in much work and they’re just sitting on our books, we’re getting rid of them. It’s time to clean house, people, or at least to straighten up.”
There are more murmurs. Nobody likes cutting clients, even clients that don’t earn us very much. It’s always a pain in the ass and it never goes smoothly. People get pissed, people complain, and it’s just generally such a big hassle.
“In the spirit of this, I’d like to announce that I am personally bringing in a very sizeable account. We’ll be handling all of Spine Virtual Reality’s materials from now on.”
This gets the biggest reaction yet. Everyone’s heard of Spine. They’re a fast-rising tech company out of Hawaii that’s been taking virtual reality mainstream. Their hardware is amazing and their vision is fantastic, and it’s all lead by this really bizarre woman named Blair Ashton. They’re one of the most highly funded projects in the country, with enormous amounts of cash coming in all the time.
I have no clue how Justin landed Spine, but this is huge. They’re popular and in a hot market, and that means they’ll be throwing a lot of work our way. I can practically see the dollar signs lighting up in the eyes of the digital guys.
“This is just the beginning, folks.” Justin stands up straight, eyeing the people seated in the large room, the buzz now palpable. “There will be more changes, but I want you all to understand something. Optimum will enter the new millennium, and we will do some huge things. I hope we can all do this together.”
He nods once, steps back, and crosses his arms. “You’re all dismissed. Get back to work.”
The room bursts into conversation. That as the shortest meeting ever, but Justin doesn’t seem to care. He sits back down and talks to a board member on his right, laughing softly at something he said.
“That was one hell of a power move,” Martin says, standing up. “The new millennium, huh? I guess he thinks we’re stuck eighteen years ago.”
“Who knows what he thinks,” I say.
“Hm. We’ll see.” Martin waves and heads into the flow of people leaving.
I stay in my seat for a second, watching Justin. I don’t know what he’s up to or what he meant by what he said, but I can tell things are going to change around here. I don’t know if they’ll be good or what, but I suspect they’ll be interesting.
I stand up slowly and start to head toward the door. Before I can leave though, I hear my name.
“Remi.” Justin waves at me. “Can you hang back a sec?”
“Sure.” People look at me as I sit back down at the table. Let them think what they want
.
I wait while Justin finishes his conversation with the old board member. The guy leaves, shambling with the others, and Justin sits across from me. The room’s empty now, except for the two of us.
“First of all, thanks for staying,” he says to me. “Honestly, Remi, I appreciate it. I’m glad you made this decision.”
“Sure,” I say. “What do you need?”
“I want you to take lead on the Spine account.”
I blink, taken aback. “Uh… really? I thought that would be digital’s thing.”
“No, it’s your thing.” He smiles at me, leaning closer. “Think you can handle it?”
A million responses flit through my mind. I want to yell at him, slap him, run away. I want to tell him to fuck off.
“I can handle it,” I say instead, because this is a huge opportunity.
“Good. I know you can.”
“Send me whatever I need.” I stand up and he leans back in his chair.
“We’ll meet with Blair in a few days and go from there. She makes all the final decisions, unfortunately.”
I frown a little bit. I don’t want to ask, but I can’t help myself. “Is she as… interesting as people say?”
“You’ll see.” His grin gets broader. “I think you’ll like her.”
I frown a little. “Okay then. Keep me updated.”
“I will.”
I turn away from him and leave the conference room, not sure what the hell I’m getting myself into. His handsome face and gorgeous eyes are practically mocking me as I make my way back toward my office.
4
Justin
Blair Ashton sits across from my desk, her legs crossed, her pitch black hair nearly hanging in her eyes. Her bangs are straight cut and her teeth look like they’ve been filed into fangs, and there’s a rumor that she’s a vampire.
I know she’s not a vampire. She told me so the first time we met.
She’s wearing all black, which is pretty normal for Blair. She’s thin, almost emaciated, and her fingers are constantly twitching like she’s typing at some invisible terminal. I have no clue how old she is, and I don’t think anyone else does, either. I’ve heard she’s fifteen, twenty-six, and seventy, so I’m just assuming she’s around my age until proven otherwise.
As far as I can tell, she appeared out of nowhere, her company fully formed. Spine VR’s tech ranges from portable glasses-type augmented reality stuff to the fully immersive virtual reality units that basically are so realistic, people never want to leave them.
In interviews, Blair insists she’s never tried her own tech and never will. It’s too dangerous, she says.
Everyone thinks she’s insane. I think she’s the sanest person I’ve ever met.
All of her idiosyncrasies, all of her weird little rumors, it’s all giving her company more attention. She’s the product as much as her actual products are, and people buy her stuff because they’re fascinated by her. She’s either truly insane, or she’s the most calculated evil genius in the world.
Which makes me wonder why the fuck she wants to hire a full-service advertising agency, but I’m not going to question it. I was trying to sign her back when I worked at my previous job, and it wasn’t until I got this CD job that she suddenly decided to take me up on my many offers to take care of her company.
She clicks her teeth and stares at me. For a second, I think she’s a wild animal with nothing going on behind those eyes.
“Thanks for coming in, Blair,” I say finally, breaking the short silence. She never seems to mind silences, but I find them totally agonizing with her staring at me like that. “I know this wasn’t an easy decision.”
“Diane Graves used to work in this office.” Her comment is abrupt, her shift in logic hard to follow. It’s pretty normal for her. “Did she sit in that chair? Was her butt right there?”
I can never tell if she’s joking or not, so I always take her seriously. “No, I replaced all the furniture and redecorated.”
“Good, have to take control.” She leans toward me, looking up through her thick, dark bangs. “Did you fire anyone yet? To assert your dominance?”
“Fortunately, no,” I say. “I didn’t have to resort to that.”
“Turned them instead?”
“Turned someone important to the staff, and I think they’re all falling in line.”
She nods slowly and seems happy with that answer. I clear my throat, very uncomfortable with the turn this conversation has taken.
Before I can steer it somewhere else, she starts talking again, almost like her voice is disembodied. “I like your dad’s movie.”
I wince a little. “Which one?”
“The first one.”
I sigh. Amazing was a smash hit years ago, one of the highest grossing animated films ever. It was about two rats that get superpowers and fall in love while battling evil robots. It’s actually pretty good, but I despise that movie more than anything else in this world, for unrelated reasons.
“I’m glad you like that one,” I say.
“Changed my life. Made me want to be a rat.”
“A… rat? Not, have superpowers?”
“No,” she says flatly. “Made me want to be a rat.”
“Oh. Well. That’s good.”
She grins at me, suddenly and viciously. “Superpowers are so overrated, Justin. I’d rather be able to scurry around, invisible to everyone. I’d rather happily live on trash. That’s reality.”
“Of course.” I have no fucking clue how to respond to what she says sometimes.
“That’s why I decided to come here,” she says. “Because of that movie. I thought, if you’re the son of the man that brought it to life, then you might be able to bring my vision to life.”
“I can do that,” I say, suddenly eager. This is what I wanted to talk about, and I see an opening. “I have an amazing team surrounding me, some of the best in the business. I actually want you to meet one of them.”
She frowns, just a little. “I’m not in the mood for more humans today.”
“You’ll be happy with this one.” I stand and walk past her, over to my office door. I pull it open and wave at Remi. She’s sitting in a chair across the hall, waiting with her portfolio tucked under her arm.
“You okay?” I whisper to her.
“I’m good.”
I wish I had more time to prep her, but it’s been a crazy few days. I’m just hoping Blair’s reputation precedes her enough that Remi is braced for some weird-ass shit.
“Remi Brooks, meet Blair Ashton.”
Blair stands, sweeping to her feet. She stares at Remi’s outstretched hand for a second before Remi lets it drop.
“Ah, nice to meet you,” Remi says.
“Brooks.” Blair’s voice is toneless, flat. “Same Brooks that his father stole from?” She motions to me with her head.
I wince, like someone just kicked me in the shin. Remi looks horrified for a second before getting herself together.
“Yes, the same one,” she says finally. “We don’t like to talk about that.”
“I understand. Your father lost a lot of money because of his father.” Blairs cocks her head. “The offspring of the writers of Amazing. This must be my lucky day.”
“Uh, yeah, definitely.” Remi looks at me for support but I can only shrug at her.
“Blair’s a fan of the movie,” I say.
Remi sighs. “We didn’t have much to do with the final product. My dad only helped write the script, everything else was Justin’s dad.”
“Still. I’ve heard, in forums, in the deepest forums where the fandom is strong, that your father was the real brains behind the movie. Is this true?”
Remi looks at me again, but this time it’s not panicked. This time, there’s a flicker of anger.
“I think it’s true,” she says. “But he doesn’t talk about it much.”
“Yes. I know. To the chagrin of many, many people.” She sighs, but it comes off like a c
hild pretending to be upset. She sinks back down into her chair and I lead Remi around.
Remi sits next to Blair ad I get behind my desk, not sure where the fuck this is going to go. I’m pissed that Blair had to go ahead and remind Remi about all that shit. I mean, that’s why she hates me to begin with, but she doesn’t need to hear it out loud.
She doesn’t need to be reminded that my dad fucked her dad out of millions.
“Blair, Remi here is going to take the lead on your branding,” I say. “She brought in her portfolio for you to take a look through, if you’d like.”
“I’d be happy to show you—” Remi starts, but Blair reaches out and snatches the portfolio away. She’s surprisingly quick.
Remi glances at me again as Blair flips through the pages. She makes absolutely no sound and her face gives nothing away. When she’s done, she hands the portfolio back.
“I want both the offspring of the Amazing authors to work on my account. I want them to work on it together.”
I frown a little. “I’d be happy to help, but working directly with clients isn’t exactly—”
“Both of the offspring,” she repeats. “I wish to bring the two halves back together.”
I look at Remi, almost pleading with her to back me up, but she’s not looking back.
She’s staring at Blair with rage in her eyes.
“I won’t work with him,” she says softly, but the anger bleeds through her tone.
Blair smiles at her. It’s the most awkward, forced thing I’ve ever seen, but also somehow calming. It nearly humanizes her.
“I understand your position,” she says, “but understand mine. I am offering your company potentially millions of dollars in billing, and this money is entirely contingent on you and him working together.” Her wicked smile gets bigger. “So you will do it.”
There’s silence in the room. Remi stares at Blair, looking angry, and I’m afraid she’s about to lose her temper. I want to speak up, stop her from ruining this. We can work together, it won’t be that hard. I’ll stay out of her way and let her take the lead, I’ll do whatever she needs. I just can’t lose this client.