Page 81 of Rewrite the Rules

“Your assistant, huh?”

“It’s not like that.”It’s totally like that.“Come on,” I say heading out of his office.

Roland follows behind me and I hear is patronizing snickers. “And this new Lewis is making a lot more sense now.”

twenty-eight

Adler

Isquint at the computer screen trying to gauge if Ted’s video stream is frozen.

Ted Arnett is a legend of an agent. According to Tessa, he is a cutthroat asshole with a Midas touch. His bedside manner is lacking, but he knows how to push you to be the best. Which is how I ended up on his calendar this Friday evening. Earlier this week I emailed Ted my character descriptions and a fully fleshed-out synopsis. His return email was simple and to the point:Pencil me in on Friday at six o’clock. We need to talk.

Ted puts a fist to his lips and clears his throat so I know this virtual Zoom meeting is not glitching. The connection has not skipped. He’s speechless, but not in a way that makes me think anything warm and fuzzy is going to come out of his mouth.

“You hate the idea that much?” I ask as prickly heat fills my cheeks.

Ted pulls back the sleeves of his neat suit with the polished cufflinks. He leans into the screen like he has a juicy secret to share. “Addie, I don’t want you to take this personally. I tend to get right to the point. Life’s too short, right?”

I nod, horrified.Not good.

“It’s not that I hate your idea. It’s just that there’s nothing impressive about it. At all.”

“Okay…could you be a little more specific? What’s not impressive?”

“The characters, to start. Then the plot. Where they meet. That whole part about their first date on the yacht—ugh. Get rid of that. The twin brother—he’s gotta go. Oh, and the big fight over the baked potato—doesn’t land for me. And then finally the surprise wedding at the end? Boo. That’s gotta go too. But from there you can rework it.”

I take notes with my lucky golden pen, but somewhere around the baked potato I stop scribbling. I don’t need notes to remember this conversation. “Just to be clear, you’d like me to take out the characters, the beginning, the middle, the end, and then rework it from there?”

“You got it.”

“So, start over?”

“That about sums it up.”

“Hey, Ted? I’m kind of taking it personally.”

Ted roars in laughter, startling me. “Right there! That’s what I want, Addie. It was yourvoicethat soldToy With Me. This?” He picks up a printed copy of the email I sent him with character descriptions and a painfully thorough synopsis. He drops it back on the desk. “This is trying way too hard. There’s no depth. I don’tfeelanything. I don’t root for the characters, there’s nothing witty or charming about them. I don’t care that they exist.”

Wow.“Well, at least you’re not sugarcoating anything.”

He raises an eyebrow and rubs his jaw. “Thatwasthe sugarcoated version.”

Ow.“It’s the best I have on such short notice. I don’t know what you or Tessa want me to do.”

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. A collaborative series with some of the biggest names in the business? There is not a new writer in the world who would be offered this opportunity, and honestly, I don’t think you can do it.”

My shoulders slump as I take his words like a slug to the cheek. He sings my insecurities out loud as if ripping my heart out is merely elevator small talk.

“Well, judging by how much you hate it, you might be on to something. You know, I appreciate the opportunity but I didn’t actually come begging for this. If you don’t think I can do it then—”

“Addie.” Ted’s eyes narrow as he focuses on the screen. They are a little off angle so I know he’s staring right into my eyes and not at the little camera lens. “Prove me wrong. This is the swift kick in the ass you desperately need. I stayed late at the office on a Friday to deliver it to you.Prove. Me. Wrong.”

I exhale. For a moment I thought I was off the hook. Getting fired is far easier than getting better. The latter is a daunting road.

“How?”

“That’s up to you to figure out. Look, I’ll push the timeline as much as I can. You need to relax and let it flow. Get me a draft as soon as you can but take enough time to make it good.”What?

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