‘Shall I do it?’ I offer. I’d kick myself if I didn’t already have one member of the family en route to a doctor.
‘Thank you, Lisa,’ she says, as I reach into my bag for a pen. Unfortunately, it’s only as I click the top that I realise the only one at my disposal is a battery-powered Spider-Man biro thatflashes when you write. I briefly attempt to hide it behind my hand, but it just looks as if I’m stopping someone from copying my answers in a spelling test.
‘Let’s start with daytime, shall we?’ says Andrea.
At this point, my pen starts flashing, first red, then blue. I glance up quickly and realise that Zach is looking at it, then me. He raises an eyebrow. I purse my lips. Then, I click on the end decisively and vow to ride this out with as much dignity as if I was holding a Mont Blanc fountainpen.
Chapter 9
The first part of the meeting involves a discussion of the Autumn schedule, a new adaptation ofAnne of Green Gablesand a recently green-lit reality project based in a cosmetic surgery clinic, pitched as ‘ERmeetsReal Housewives of Beverley Hills’. There’s a review of our competitors’ performance and a lot of discussion regarding a feature inDeadlineabout what’s in the pipeline over at Netflix.
When it’s my turn to present, I push aside any unease and try to ignore Zach’s ominous words. ‘I might as well tell you . . . I do have concerns.’
How is he going to play this? Am I about to be stitched up? Or might he have dwelled on what I said and decided it’s not worth making an enemy of me, especially given that he’s only here for a short time?
‘I’ll begin withOur Girl In Milan,’ I say. ‘As you all know I’ve been working on this for six months and it’s a project that we’re lucky to have a chance to be involved in, given the intense interest from our competitors. The minor rights issues I mentioned last time we met have now been ironed out and if we can keep everything on time and on budget, we can assign a slot alongside a key date in the fashion industry calendar, creating significant PR opportunities.’
I can hear my own heartbeat thundering in my ears. Zach says nothing.
‘All this effectively means we’re ready to give this the go-ahead, assuming everyone around this table is happy.’
‘Really great work on this one, Lisa,’ interjects Andrea. ‘This is very exciting. We’ll all look forward to seeing it come to fruition.’
‘Thank you.’ I am reaching for the mouse when a voice makes my spine prickle.
‘Before you move on, could I make some observations?’
It sounds like a question, but it isn’t. Zach’sobservationsare going to be made whether I like them or not.
I look up and glare at him. For a short moment, the atmosphere feels charged, almost gladiatorial.
‘Could you please skip back one or two slides, Lisa?’ His softly melodious voice is in sharp contrast to my rigid smile.
‘Certainly.’
I click as Zach leans in, his eyes on me. Some knot forms in the hollow of my chest. In the moments that follow, I pray for kindness, for him to say, ‘What a great idea, Lisa, you nailed it!’
‘I realise I’m late to this party, but it would be wrong of me not to share the fact that I have some reservations about this concept.’
Bastard.
Andrea blinks. ‘Really, Zach? Then you must share away,’ she urges him.
‘Well, at its most basic level, this is an area that’s been done before too many times. It’s unoriginal,’ he says, bluntly.
‘That’s ridiculous,’ I interject. ‘This concept is brand new.’
‘Apart fromThe Face,American Beauty Star,Model Behaviour. . . and any number of copycat shows sinceAmerica’s Next Top Model? Does the worldreallyneed another one of those?’
‘I see what you mean,’ murmurs Angikka.
‘AnotherAmerica’s Next Top Model?’ I say, unable to believe my ears. ‘Would that be the incredibly successful franchise that spawned 22 seasons, dozens of spin-offs and still regularly hasviewing figures that exceed 1.2million? Frankly, if you think you could do better than that, I’m sure we’d all love to hear it.’
‘Well—’
‘Either way,’ I say, cutting him off, ‘I fundamentally disagree with the idea that this is some kind of copycat project. It’s completely different. The only overlap is that it features models. But no single show has exclusive rights over the subject matter.’
Zach is unfazed.
