A Fresh Start

I would be more than willing to work with you and arrive at terms that you’re comfortable with. The ‘job’ – perhaps we should call it a ‘role’ – would involve travel, and you would make a great deal of money. It would be enough to support you for a couple of years at some comfort if you’d like to take some time off and do nothing but write.

If either of you decide to call it off, there will be what everybody else will call a settlement, and what we will call a severance package. If you don’t decide to do that, it’s a lifetime offer. Honestly, it’s a better deal than most marriages I have seen. You won’t be going into it with delusions that would invariably be shattered in a couple of years. You will have the time, space and resources to do what’s important to you.

Grace, I do understand how unconventional and unusual this is. I know that it’s asking a lot. It’s unfair to use your dream as leverage, but we can help you realize your dream of being published. We can make sure that you’re read and considered seriously, though you will stand or fall on your own merit after that.

If you need to take a couple of weeks to think about this, it’s fine. You can call me or email me any time you want to. I can meet you, too, if you like. But Alan feels that he has done what he was supposed to, and now the ball is in your court.

I know that seems harsh. He’s a good person, Grace. He’s just very unusual.

Once again, let me apologize for how this was handled by Alan, and I hope you will consider this.

Yours,

Rachel Smith.

Grace pursed her lips and read it a couple of times.

At least Rachel seemed nice, thought Grace. She would be easy to work with. How had she managed to deal with Alan for so long? The man seemed fairly impossible.

Was she really considering marrying him?

Grace had to admit that she was.

Well, she would take a week and think about it. She would trust her instincts and her heart, and do what felt right at the end of a week. She wasn’t going to jump into it without thinking about it well and thoroughly.

What followed was the week from hell at work. Katie seemed to have it in for Grace. She’d gone from sweet as pie to the wicked witch of the west in a heartbeat. She piled more and more work on Grace, until she was ready to scream and sob.

Doggedly, Grace put her head down and worked harder than ever, but the Barden Marriage Offer, as she was beginning to call it, started looking more and more attractive with every sh*tty manuscript she was made to re-edit because she hadn’t figured out the ‘core’ the first time around.

She knew what was in the core, thought Grace resentfully as she went through it again. Just like an apple, it was cyanide.

The idea of marrying her favorite author and escaping this life seemed more and more attractive.

Besides, she would be the envy of his huge female fanbase. There was something about him, even now, that made her heart beat faster.

She still had a crush on him.

As the days rolled by, Grace found herself cradling a new fantasy – that the marriage, if she gave it a real go and put in all her effort, might turn into something real.

She knew, in her head, that she was probably setting herself up for a real fall. But she couldn’t stop herself from thinking it.

There was a connection between the two of them, Grace insisted to herself, and Alan had felt that, too. Otherwise, why would he have asked her, of all the women he could’ve asked? He must’ve considered many and chosen her.

If that connection was there, then surely, if they spent enough time together, they could explore it and see where it led. It might turn into more. If they were already married, they might even try to make it work.

Grace caught herself dreaming of the day when Alan Barden would realize that he was attracted to Grace, sweep her into his arms and make sweet love to her, making her his wife in every way. She found herself dreaming, and hoping, and on the day the week was up, she woke up knowing that the dream had become important to her.

It had become so important to her that she couldn’t let it go. She couldn’t give it everything she had and try to make that happen.

The tipping point came when, that day at work, Thom walked in, as if he’d never screwed up at all. He made a beeline for Grace’s desk.

“So, Grace. I hear you stole my thunder.”

Grace raised her eyebrows.

“I’m not sure what you mean, Thom. I have work to do.”

Thom laughed. It was a nasty sound.

“Oh, butter won’t melt in your mouth now! But you went to the reception, impersonated me and got my invite. Oh yes, I know all about it.”

Grace raised her chin and met his eyes, making no effort to mask the disdain in her dark brown ones.

“I wonder how you know, Thom, since you never bothered to show up at all. You never showed up for any of the work, in fact, so I wonder what your problem is. I saved your skin. If I hadn’t gotten there and put out all the fires that were raging on your watch, Keys would’ve lost their biggest client. If anything, you should be thanking me.”

Everybody went quiet. They had never seen Grace like that – never heard her speak like that. This was new, and boy, it was delicious. It would keep the gossip mill turning for weeks!

Thom’s face had turned an ugly, mottled red.

“You’re going to pay for that. Thank you? You took all the credit after I’d done all the work! Just like a woman.”

Grace laughed.

“Are you a meninist now, then? That would explain a lot. Now shoo, the adults need to work. You might want to stop by Andy and pick up some slack. Your work has been dumped on us for a couple of weeks now. Where were you, getting massaged at a spa by the beach? It must be nice to get ahead, piggybacking on everybody else’s work, and still be so completely lacking in self-awareness that you think others are taking credit for your work! Well, lying on a beach getting a tan – and by the way, you’re burnt, not tanned – isn’t work. Buzz off now.”

Grace turned away and got back to work. She knew he was looming over her. She paid absolutely no attention to him.

As she’d known he would, he went away. As she’d known he would again, he went straight to Katie. Ten minutes later, she got called into Katie’s office.

“Grace, please have a seat. Thom came in here and told me what just happened. I have to say, I’m very displeased with you.”

Grace’s eyes flashed.

“You’re displeased with me? He’s the one who’s been shirking his responsibilities and making life miserable for everybody else! We’re all overworked thanks to him, and you’ve dumped the worst manuscripts on me. I know why you’ve done it, Katie, and I don’t appreciate it. I saved everybody’s asses. I did such a good job that Rachel is thrilled. She’s never sent a positive email like that to the firm before. You want to punish me for it, for attending the event after I’d done that much work? How unfair is that?”

“I gave you an order, to be back at work after the prep was done,” said Katie, her face flushed with anger and embarrassment.

Something snapped in Grace.

“I’m done following your orders, then. If you give such horrible orders, I see no reason why I must follow them, when I know that they’re so unfair.”