Will
"There they are!"Dylan says, rushing across her large corner office in our direction. "My favourite young couple."
She gives me two quick air kisses, then does the same for Arabella. When she finishes, she stares at Arabella for a moment. "You had a chemical peel, didn't you?"
Arabella starts to say something, but Dylan cuts her off. "You don't have to tell me. I did exactly the same thing when I turned thirty—took four layers of skin off and had to hide in my flat for three weeks. But trust me when I tell you this — thirty isso much youngerthan you actually think, and you look amazing, by the way,” Dylan says, raising her voice and sing-yelling, “Truly, truly, GORGEOUS!”
She leans in and focuses in on Arabella’s forehead. “There is just the one tiny line there, but no one else is going to notice, I promise you. I'm only saying it becausemy jobis to notice these things. Now, you two have a seat and let's talk because I have themost excitingopportunity for you, you are going to be jumping for joy in a few minutes."
Whatever she’s about to offer, there is no way in hell we’ll be jumping for joy. Dylan is pretty much the worst person I’ve ever met—calculated, cold, and conniving. Her decisions are made purely based on what’s going to make the biggest splash and the most cash with no thought (and I meannone) to consequences for the human beings involved in her schemes. We’re going to say a hard no to everything she offers. I take Arabella's hand as we cross the room to the round meeting table in the far corner. We settle ourselves in side-by-side chairs and wait while Dylan makes her customary stop at her minibar for a can of Red Bull. "Can I get either of you one?"
When we answer in the negative (See? Our first no!), Dylan sweeps across the room, cracking the can open and taking a long swig of her drink before sitting down. "Okay, now I think we all know that the contract Will signed—although a heroic thing for him to do at the time—has not exactly been easy on either of you. I've been working our number one man here incredibly hard these last six months as we launch the network and things have been incredible.Beyondincredible, really. But I also know that there is one thing we could do that would boost our ratings and give us the international visibility that would take ten years to establish. And it will most definitely be the answer to your problems as well. Can either of you answer me this question: Other than the Olympics and the World Cup, what do you think the most-watched television event has been in the last twenty years?"
"Prince William and Kate’s wedding," we both say at the same time in deadpan voices.
Dylan looks taken aback. "Well, that's no fun. I didn’t think you’d get it. But anyway, yes. Royal weddings are theabsolute best wayto get people around the world in front of their tellies. Now, a little bird told me that the rights to the wedding—including the lead-up events—are still available, and it is the opinion of the executives here at ANN that ours is the perfect place to share your joy with the world while also increasing our viewership. Our early numbers indicate a possibility of a 1200% increase in regular viewers should we secure exclusive worldwide rights to the big event.”
She takes a quick swig of her drink, then continues. “Veronica, Victor, Kira, and I aresoexcited about this idea that we would like to offer you something that may be more valuable to you than cold hard cash—an offer that the Godfather himself would call ‘too good to refuse.’ What would you say to having your weddingpaid for and produced byyour network family here at ANN?"
"No," we both say at the same time.
She sits back and gives us a skeptical grin. "What? Did you two decide to say no to anything I offered before you came in?"
"Well, if we did, you can hardly blame us," I say. "After what you tried to do to Arabella's family…"
"Water under the bridge," Dylan says. "The princess and I had a lovely conversation at the wrap-up show and we decided all is forgiven. Didn’t we, Your Highness?"
"Forgiven, yes, forgotten, no."
"Fair point, but picture this: the cost for the entire wedding covered by the network, pleasing taxpayers all over the kingdom. We bring on the world's best event planners to takeall the pressureoff the two of you so that you can continue doing the important work you do while the big wedding machine is running in the background. And the most enticing bit of my offer—don't shake your head. No. Donot.You haven’t heard the best part. The moment the wedding is over, we tear up Will’s contract and he's a free man.” She pauses dramatically and gives us an open-mouthed smile. “Yes, a FREE!! MAN! Think aboutthat.You two can finally start your life together with Will calling the shots on his career instead of yours truly."
Well, this sucks arse. It’s like scratching a winning lotto ticket for a million bucks on Christmas morning, only to find it’s one of those novelty ones your jackass uncle got you as a joke. She’s offering me what I want most—to tear up the crap contract I signed with ANN. It means I won’t have to work for peanuts anymore. No more shirtless photo shoots with baby animals or shirtless videos of me scuba diving, parasailing, and rock-climbing (even more painful than it sounds). No more of this schedule that is so jam-packed I’m lucky to see Arabella once every month. It means I could leverage my new-found fame and pole-vault myself to the next level—getting paid what I’m worth, calling my own shots, and sayingnoto any and all ‘opportunities’ that make me a laughingstock among Arabella’s upper crust frenemies.
And I have to decline.
I'm definitely going to need Arabella to be the one to say no to this because I honestly don't know if I have the strength to make my mouth form that word. Here I am being offered everything I've been wanting for the past six months, but the offer isliterallycoming from one of the worst people on the planet.Come on, Arabella. Say no. Say no and we’ll fight for the time off and fully-dressed promotional material, then we leave and forget that this opportunity ever presented itself.
But Arabella doesn’t say no. Her mouth opens, then shuts, giving Dylan the chance to keep going.
“Now, we very much wish to continue working with Will, which should be made obvious by the recent wrap on the ANN corporate jet. Do you love it? I bet you love it.”
“Not a bit,” I say.
“That’s because, in addition to being so handsome, he’s modest,” Dylan tells Arabella. “Of course he secretly loves the wrap.Everyoneloves the wrap. Did you see it?”
“No.”
“Oh, youhaveto see it. It’s epic. What could be more masculine than a giant Will on a jet?” She gives a happy sigh that makes me feel slightly violated, then says. “First thoughts on this incredible, once-in-a-lifetime offer?”
I have no thoughts other than the ‘hell yes’ my brain is screaming at me. No, forget it. There is no way Arabella will—or even should—say yes to this. It’s a hard no.
Arabella crosses her arms and sits back. "Why should we trust you?"
Huh, that’s not a no, is it?
"Simple. Because we both want the same thing—for you to have an incredible wedding and to be able to start your life together." She tips back the can, finishes her drink, then tosses it into the bin near her desk. "The truth is, I've been feeling the teensiest bit guilty about how much money we’re making off of Will, given how low his salary is. Now, I know you've made a small fortune from Merrill and the other companies you’re promoting, but still, somehow it just doesn't feel quite right. This would be a very fair trade-off. I give you a gorgeous wedding, free of charge—an absolute fairy-tale that will have people talking for years to come. I getmassiveamounts of exposure for the network, which will allow us to land some very lucrative global streaming contracts that I have on my radar. And after you've had your honeymoon, I'll come back to you with a new contract that gives you everything you deserve from whatever network you partner with—buckets of cash, more flexibility, and control over production decisions."
"No more shirtless videos?" Arabella asks, seeming to suddenly remember what our goal was in the first place.
