“Thank goodness.” I sighed in relief. “I’ve got important stuff on there.” The latest version of theTwin Rosesproposal deck was stored on that laptop, and I hadn’t saved it anywhere else. “How long until it can be fixed? I must be ready to work as soon as RJ gives the feedback.”
“Oh, a few hours,” Noah assured me. “I just need to courier it to the specialist and – oh, hi!” His eyes immediately went starry, and I didn’t even have to guess who was standing behind me.
“Hello, Vivian.” I wheeled around to see her, leaning against the door like a poster girl forTatler.
“RJ needs his phone upgrading,” she said with a yawn.
“Of course,” Noah said, shoving my laptop to one side.
“I’ll get right on that,” Riley growled. “Noah, you’re to fix Lucie’s laptop.”
Noah gestured at Vivian. “But—!”
Riley stomped past him and extended a hand to Vivian for RJ’s phone. “Let me check this is backed up before I call our provider.”
“What happened to your laptop?” Vivian said.
Wow, Vivian showing an interest in my life – whatever next? “Faulty driver,” I replied.
“My.” She arched a perfect eyebrow. “I hope you don’t lose any work.”
“Don’t worry,” Noah said, before I could start a fresh panic. “I’ll back everything up, including your important stuff.”
“You know, I’m about to package some things of RJ’s for the courier,” Vivian said in an uncharacteristic moment of helpfulness. “Noah, why don’t you come help me?”
“You—?” Noah jumped up like a kid at Christmas. “You want to do something with me?”
Vivan’s smile was cool and taut. “Yes, I do,” she said. “We can have a nice long chat.”
Noah looked to Riley, eyes wide with excitement. “Is that okay?”
“Sure,” she said dully. Noah skipped out the door with Vivian before Riley had even finished sounding out her one-syllable reply. “Am I dreaming, or was that Vivian being, like, nice?”
“No, that was real,” I confirmed. “Does that ever happen?”
“Ugh,” she groaned. “We’ll let you know when your machine is fixed, in the meantime I’m off to check the sky for flying pigs.”
A little later, RJ called Elliot and me into his office. “I haven’t finished reviewing your work,” he said, stifling a yawn. “BetweenWoodstockand the movie … I’ve been lax. I apologize.”
“Woodstock?” I repeated, vaguely remembering them discussing this on my first day.
“The TV drama we’re producing,” Elliot explained quickly.
“About the famous music festival,” RJ added. “HBO is paying through the nose. We’re talking Emmys, Golden Globes, for sure.”
“Wow.” Any other word seemed obsolete.
“Sherman still giving you shit?” Elliot asked RJ.
“By the spoonful,” RJ said. “He thinks he’s invincible.”
“The director,” Elliot murmured. “He was also RJ’s assistant, before I came along.”
“He has a few awards, so what?” RJ glanced at his trophy shelf. “Big whoop, we all do. But he needs to know who got him started. Loyalty matters, you know? And if I have an opinion, he owes it to me to listen.”
I could feel Elliot going rigid next to me. “So, what do you want us to do?”
“Honestly, I don’t know.” RJ rubbed his face. “Tan’s got me doing a heap of phone interviews today and my head is wrecked.”
