Corrupted Chapter 4 Read online

  “Susan, I want you to sit in on this and tell me what you think.”

  Antonio didn’t know what to think of that. Was Susan’s inclusion a good thing or a bad thing?

  Before he knew it, he was seated at the table explaining his work to both of them, while the other Williams & Klein professionals looked on.

  Susan read through some of his work on the table before nodding and smiling.

  “So, what do you think?” Vincent asked her pointedly.

  Antonio continued to wonder why he gave his assistant so much clout. Was she secretly the one who influenced all of the decisions? That made him nervous again.

  Susan commented, “After the last Twilight movie, I think a werewolf series would be really hot right now.”

  Vincent nodded back to her. “So do I.” Then he looked to Antonio. “You could call it The Heat. Don’t werewolves have a higher blood temperature than humans?”

  Antonio was all smiles. “Yeah, they do.”

  “But I don’t know about the no sex clause with the Twilight series,” Vincent added. “These werewolves need to get it on, at maybe two hundred degrees.”

  They all chuckled at it.

  “But then they would melt,” Susan joked.

  “No, they’d turn into sexy balls of fire,” Vincent countered. “But how hot are they?” he asked Tony.

  “Between one hundred and five and one hundred and eight degrees.”

  “And weren’t they all Native American and Latinos playing the parts in the Twilight movie?”

  Antonio nodded. He was pleased they weren’t talking about changing his Latino angle.

  “You don’t think that would limit the audience though?” he asked to make sure.

  “Weren’t all the first vampires Italian?” Vincent questioned himself. “Or at least it seemed that way to me.”

  Susan shook her head and grinned at him. He was forever making off-the-wall comments. “The legend of the original Dracula was from an East European country of Transylvania,” she informed them.

  “And where did the werewolf stories originate from?” Vincent asked Antonio.

  “Just from old farm lands with villagers who were terrified of real wolves.”

  “So, how does a Puerto Rican become a werewolf? Do they have wolves down in Puerto Rico?”

  Antonio laughed, a bit anxious and overwhelmed about it. He would need to explain everything.

  “Well, I don’t know about werewolves in Puerto Rico, but in my book, the first Puerto Rican is scratched by a werewolf while on a skiing trip in upstate New York. He then brings the curse back home with him, where he roams in the woods of New Jersey.”

  Vincent looked again at Susan. “So, what do you think? You think he has an idea that we could sell?”

  Susan thought about it and looked back to Antonio.

  “Are these werewolves only going to be in New Jersey, or can they travel to other states and cities? That was another clever part of the legend of Dracula and vampires, their ability to travel.”

  “Yeah, they were always on a boat somewhere right,” Vincent joked again.

  “Well, basically, in their human form, a werewolf can travel wherever he wants to,” Antonio told them.

  “He also needs to have a clear motivation. I mean, what is he after, a perfect mate?” Susan asked.

  Vincent began to smile and shake his head. “It always comes down to the mating game, doesn’t it? Well, it’s obvious we have something to work with here. But you still need to flesh it all out. Do you have a literary agent or a lawyer?”

  Antonio grinned, reflecting on Double D’s story.

  “I know I need to have one,” he answered.

  Vincent nodded. “I can’t make any promises, but I can give you a few leads to call. Just leave us with all of your contact information.”

  “Definitely,” Tony responded excitedly. He wrote it all down on the back of one of Vincent’s business cards and kept another for himself.

  “So, I guess you guys have a long day in here,” he assumed as he packed up his things. It was close to ten that morning, and his cell phone began to ring with a call from Darlene.

  Antonio read the number and thought, That’s perfect timing. She calls me just as I’m finishing up.

  “So do you,” Vincent responded to him. “You’re not leaving here early are you? I mean, you still have a dozen or so publishers to see, right?”

  Tony nodded to him. “Yeah, I’ll probably look around with Darlene check out the rest of your guys today. We all went out to the club after the publishing party last night. And they were all great, but Darlene and I were the only newbies.”

  He wanted to get past the secret of him and Darlene knowing each other, especially if they all ended up at Williams & Klein. Maybe Vincent would think of a two-for-one deal. Antonio was pulling out every card that he could think of.

  Vincent nodded back. “Okay, so, you all got to hang out together. That’s cute. But it rarely remains that way. You usually have your new authors marching in while some of the old ones are headed out the door,” he hinted.

  Antonio immediately thought of the scorned black woman and her drunken husband at the publishing party. He didn’t know her full story yet, but he could imagine that she was on her way out the door. You don’t have that kind of public fight with the higher-ups at the company and expect to be around long. The basics of getting along was understandable in any business.

  “Well, we don’t want to hold you up any longer. I’m sure you have a busy day of publisher interviews ahead of you. Just remember who has the power to sign you without needing a second or third opinion first,” he hinted again.

  Antonio continued to grin and appreciate him. “I’ll be sure to remember that.”

  As he stood up and headed away from their booth, Vincent looked to Susan and whispered, “Is he gorgeous or what? I don’t think he even knows it.”

  Susan asked him, “So, what are you trying to do now, sign only young and good-looking authors?” She was only pulling his leg.

  Vincent answered, “Why not? It works for the music industry. You think all those pretty, skinny kids on American Idol can really sing better than all the fat and ugly kids of the world? No. But it’s all about imagery. These days, you can’t count on just talent alone.”

  Susan had gotten used to his comments on male or female attractiveness. She considered it part of his vision as an editor. You had to be able to recognize as much human stimuli as possible in order to edit various content. She also had her assumptions about Vincent’s personal life, and knew some of it. Nevertheless, she remained loyal to his leadership with a simple grin and a nod.

  “Yes, Antonio is a very attractive man,” she agreed.

  “And Latinos are in right now,” Vincent commented. “We may be able to work with him.” He then slid the business card, filled with Tony’s personal information, inside of his suit jacket.

  Susan took note of it and held her tongue. However, she did have a question to ask him.

  “So, is he one of your five out of seventy-five?”

  Vincent chuckled at her tease. “Maybe.” And he left it at that.

  On Antonio’s way out of the Williams & Klein booth to call Darlene, he bumped into Lauren Grandeis, the super sexy PR rep. She was dressed to impress again, in another multi-colored silk dress with high-heeled black boots that made her as tall him. She held a brown leather carry bag over her left shoulder.

  Lauren snapped the fingers of her free right hand and pointed at him.

  “You were at the publishing party last night at The Imperial Room.”

  “Yeah, I was.” He recognized her from the event as well. The tanned beauty had worked the room furiously.

  “What’s your name?” she asked him.

  “Antonio Martinez.”

  She pulled out her business card in a flash. “Have you ever thought of modeling or acting on Broadway?”

  Antonio shook it off, but his grin remained. He was lov
ing all of the positive attention and feedback he was getting that morning.

  I should have dressed like this and come here a long time ago, he mused.

  “No, I haven’t thought of modeling or acting on Broadway,” he answered.

  “Well, give me a call and we’ll talk about it. I may be able to get you a few auditions.”

  He looked down at her card to read her name and view her contact information.

  “Okay . . . I’ll think about it.”

  “You do that. And make it fast.”

  Like a human hurricane, Lauren rushed into Vincent’s personal and business space at the Williams & Klein booth, flaunting all of her glamorous appeal and kissed him on the cheek.

  “Hey love, I can’t stay long, but I’m here to stop by and show my face for a minute before I head back to Times Square for a new Broadway promotion.”

  “Are you at least sticking around to see Jackson at his signing?”

  “Do I need to? You give books away for free in here. So there’s no money to be made.”

  Vincent laughed and got her point. Giving away free books was already a promotion. Lauren’s frankness allowed them to get along with each other perfectly. She was effortlessly raw in her opinions, similar to his own. Susan recognized their similarities as well. They were both brown people who had risen to the top of their perspective fields through audacity, talent and hustle. And she admired both of them.

  “What time is his signing anyway? You all keep changing his schedule.”

  “It’s at one o’clock,” Susan told her.

  Lauren cringed. “Oh, I’ll be long gone before then. I have a late lunch meeting at one. But Jackson’s a big boy, I’m sure he can handle himself here without me.”

  Susan heard her boast and thought, Hardly! Nikola is itching for an ugly crash and burn. He needs some serious management.

  “So, what’s the latest with Darlene? Is she here today?” Lauren inquired.

  Vincent shook it off. “She’s not here yet, and I haven’t heard from her. But I’m sure she’ll pop up soon enough. You know, the kids went out and partied last night,” he commented. “So, she’s probably running late.”

  Lauren said, “She’ll need to learn how to party and still get up in the morning. I’m still working with Jackson on that. You only need four hours of sleep when you’re on top. You can get the rest back when your career is over or when you’re and.”

  Susan smiled and shook her head. Lauren was definitely obnoxious.

  “What about your sleep?” Vincent challenged her. He didn’t bother to sleep long either.

  Lauren answered, “I’ll always have a career, darling, so I’ll catch up on my sleep with I’m dead.”

  The woman was brutal, but that’s what made her so hard to ignore.

  In the middle of Lauren’s boasting, Chelsea Christmas strutted into the Williams and Klein booth, wearing shiny silver from head to toe. She was glittering from her silver head wrap, to her custom-made, two-piece silver outfit, and down to her five-inch silver heels.

  “Hey y’all, I’m ready for my eleven o’clock book signing,” she cheerfully announced. She was good and early and ready to go. All eyes were on her now.

  With her back turned at the moment, Lauren was the last to spot her. She turned and eyed the petite black woman’s shiny silver outfit and uttered, “What in the world . . . Are you trying out for the next Star Wars movie wearing that?”

  Chelsea grinned it off. “Maybe I am. But at least I know they’ll see me.”

  “Yeah, you’ll blind all of the Jedis as the Emperor’s secret weapon.”

  Susan chuckled at it, but Vincent kept his cool. He was rather impressed with the outfit. Chelsea was one of his favorites. Unlike some of his other authors, she was willing to do whatever was necessary to keep her career going.

  “You always find ways to stand out,” he told her.

  “Yeah, that outfit is a real attention-getter,” Susan chipped in.

  Chelsea did a pirouette in her heels. “Oh, thank you, thank you.”

  “Go get ’em, girl,” Vincent patronized her.

  “Oh, that’s what I do, baby. I gets ’em all.”

  She had created her own show as Lauren Grandeis watched her in envy. Chelsea Christmas had popped up and stolen her fire, and the flamboyant PR rep did not like it.

  Even the Williams & Klein brass arrived in time to catch Chelsea’s show. Thomas Richberg and Arnold Dutch walked up together with coffee cups and briefcases in hand, and were blinded by her outlandish style.

  “Great Scott!” Tom commented.

  Arnold looked on and grinned, saying nothing. Many of his authors had been entertaining over the years. The jaded executive had seen it all before. So he acknowledged her with a simple grin and a nod.

  But Tom was enlivened by it. “You wake us right up this morning, better than the coffee,” he joked.

  “Well, that’s what I’m here to do, to wake them all up,” Chelsea announced.

  Not to be outdone, Lauren stepped up and greeted the publishing brass with her own style. “Hey guys, it’s beautiful to see you again this morning.”

  “Oh, hi, Lauren. What brings you out this morning?” Arnold asked her. She allowed him an opportunity to pull his attention away from Chelsea’s obvious circus show. That’s what he considered it. It was all a Barnum & Bailey circus act, and he wasn’t buying it because he already owned it. Chelsea Christmas was under contract.

  “I was just dropping in to say hi,” Lauren told him and grinned. And she was pleased that he had given her his full attention. Real money spoke louder than clothes in her book.

  Vincent observed the scene and didn’t expect to see Arnold Dutch there with them that morning. He figured the brass wanted to see him in action and speak to him again about his plans. And it must have been urgent. So he quickly plotted out his move for more privacy.

  “Susan, why don’t you walk Chelsea up to her signing. I’ll be fine for a few hours,” he hinted to his trusty assistant.

  Susan eyed the publishing brass as well, and she understood that Arnold Dutch was most likely there to speak to Vincent. He surely wasn’t there for anyone else.

  “Oh, okay, I’ll do that,” she agreed with a nod.

  Right on cue, Arnold gave Vincent a look and sighed with the impatience of stalled business. He wanted to get their conversations over with, and he was so eager to do so that he arrived there in person to force the issue before the weekend. Vincent predicted as much as soon as he saw the top executive there that morning.

  This man is all about his business! he mused. He won’t even let it wait until we’re back in the office next week.

  Arnold liked it that way. He wanted to catch Vincent off guard and before the ambitious editor could prepare for him. But Vincent was always prepared.

  Well, it didn’t take long for the three men to find themselves in a private, follow-up conversation about the future of their publishing plans. The talented editor had been pushing for a significant raise and position, and he had spoken of company loyalty instead playing a bidding war to provide his services elsewhere.