Page 78 of We Met Like This
“You want me to open it?” she asked.
“Will you?”
“I was hoping you’d say that.”
Behind me, Oliver had sat up as well. I wanted him to puta hand on my back or run a finger down my arm, anything to remind me of what had just happened between us. Anything to keep my brain from jolting back into the reality of my overwhelming life. He didn’t. He swung his legs to the floor, stood, and disappeared into the bathroom.
On the phone, I heard the zipper-like rip of a cardboard envelope being opened.
“It looks like a contract or something.” She flipped through pages, or at least that’s what it sounded like she was doing. “Oh, here are some tabs.”
“Like thesign heretabs? Rob wants me to sign something?”
“No, it looks like a copy of an old contract. Did you sign something when you started there?”
I thought back. A shiver went through me and I pulled the blanket up and around my shoulders. “Yeah, I think I did.”
“Oh…” she said.
“What?”
“He’s tabbed the parts that talk about how you aren’t allowed to solicit his clients now that you’ve left.”
“Solicit?”
“Reach out to, offer your agenting services to, you know, that thing we talked about doing.”
I knew whatsolicitmeant, it had just taken my mind a second to understand it in this context. “Does it mention anything about our shared clients?”
“Yes. They’re included in the no-soliciting section.”
“And the people he’s rejected?” I asked.
“You’re not allowed to use personal information about authors you’ve gained through working at his agency if you find yourself as his competitor.”
“He knows I’m going to open my own agency?”
“Or work for another agent,” she said.
“Oh, right. That’s probably what he thinks I’m going to do.”
“It’s possible one of the editors you talked to this week spilled the beans about you becoming an agent.”
“Possibly. So much for the head start I thought I had.”
“How is he going to know?” she said. “He’s not going to remember every author who ever reached out to him.”
“Like I said before, the publishing world is very small. Things have a way of coming out.”
“This doesn’t say anything about any authors, past or present, reaching out toyou. Just that you can’t reach out to them. I guess you’re going to have to put yourself out there and hope they come.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose to stop my stinging eyes.
“Margot, this changes nothing. You can do this.”
I nodded even though I knew she couldn’t see me. “I can’t believe he sent that to me. He’s the one who screwed me over, not the other way around.”
“We knew Rob was an asshole. He’s very good at proving it.”
