My Dad Said

                                    

                                          
I was too excited to explain the email to my parents. I just forwarded it, I needed advice. They called me immediately upon receipt. 
                          
"It's T News, dad. Tabloid, T." 
                          
"You need a good lawyer in that state. In fact, I know someone."
                          
"Dad, I..." It was useless.
                          
"Don't you go to this meeting without a lawyer, don't sign anything." 
                          
"I know, dad." But that wasn't true. T News wanted a meeting with me. Something about discussing ideas for The Heartbreak Club. I'd pretty much sign anything they put in front of me. I wondered what they had in mind. Maybe Byron Hillcrest would mention it on air. 
                          
"I'm serious, Emma. Now, take this name and number."
                          
I begrudgingly took dad's advice. Not because I'm wise, but because I'll do anything to avoid getting lectured by him. 
                          
Day of the meeting, I showed up at the T News offices. Dad's lawyer friend was to meet me there. 
                          
"Tony Costa," I heard him check in at reception. I looked in his direction.
                          
"No. You're not serious." Who was I asking? Life! The universe. Whatever you call it. 
                          
"Emma Wilson," he said. 
                          
"My dad said his friend Anthony Costa was coming to help me." 
                          
"Your dad said? Should we use that in negotiations?" 
                          
My foot tapped, my nostrils flared. 
                          
"Anthony Costa, my dad, is on the golf course. I can leave if you'd like, but he's not coming." 
                          
"No. It's fine, I guess," I grunted and groaned. 
                          
I did my best to not fall all over myself when the T News executives entered the conference room. I shook their hands excitedly and laughed at their jokes. Tony was elusive and arrogant. So embarrassing. 
                          
"Emma, you've done something very special with The Heartbreak Club." 
                          
"Thank you," I blushed. 
                          
"How'd you come up with it?"
                          
My apartment flashed in my mind, sweat pants, ice cream, funky t-shirt (pew). 
                          
"Um, I've always liked to write so I just took what I was going through and wrote about it." 
                          
"It's real?" They all made eye contact. My stomach left my body. They thought it was fiction and I'd just exposed myself. 
                          
It turned out, they liked the format. A group of people sharing their heartache, being relatable. They wanted to pilot a TV show based on it, with me as the host. They slid a contract across the table. I just needed a pen.
                          
"Give us an hour," Tony intercepted the paperwork. "And I'll have the Pad Thai from Anurak's. Emma, you hungry?"
                          
I was stunned. What was he doing? 
                          
"Make it two," he said and dismissed them. 
                          
He seemed oblivious to the fact that he was ruining my life. He began to read through the contract with a red pen in his hand. 
                          
It seemed like forever before he was ready for them to return. As if it wasn't bad enough already, he practically threw the marked up packet at them. I was reeling. 
                          
"Fix it," he glared at their lawyer. 
                          
"This is industry standard," the man protested. He was thin and pale with thick glasses. He certainly looked smarter than Tony. Ugh. He looked more like a boxer than a lawyer. And it seemed he'd throw a punch over the document. 
                          
"Fix it." His eyes never moved. The T News group shuffled out of the room again. I wanted to go with them. 
                          
"Was all that necessary?"
                          
"They're pigs, Emma." 
                          
"Oh and you're an angel? You're all lawyers." 
                          
"You sign that and they own The Heartbreak Club. Your URL, the trademark, merchandise, they own it. You wouldn't be able to say Heartbreak Club if they so dictated."
                          
"Oh," I guess I hadn't realized that. 
                          
"They don't have to represent you accurately either."
                          
"I don't know what that means."
                          
"They could film you and cut it up, they could script you and anyone else to create whatever reality they want. They could use your likeness in a movie and skew all the details." 
                          
"Oh," I was defeated. "Thanks," my eyes on the floor. 
                          
"Don't worry, I'll get you out of here shortly. I'm sure you have coffee to throw on people and pizzas to steal." 
                          
"Hey!" My face was burning, I was on the verge of tears. 
                          
"Alright, calm down. I'll lighten up. You have to forgive me, I come from a whole family of attorneys. New York attorneys." 
                          
Uhh was he outdoing me on my own schtick? 
                          
The network met his terms and we were on our way out. I insisted he let me buy him dinner in the near future since he wouldn't take a payment. He took me up on it the next night. We opted for curry near my apartment. 
                          
"So your parents are lawyers too?" I asked.
                          
"And grandparents, uncles, cousins." 
                          
"Wow, I bet Thanksgiving is lively." 
                          
"That's any given Thursday at our house." We both laughed. He wasn't so awful. He was actually attractive, if I was being honest. 
                          
After dinner, he walked me home. At the door he stopped and turned me around.
                          
"For the record, I think that guy is an idiot," he said. He nearly had me pinned to the door. 
                          
"What guy? The lawyer?"
                          
"No, the one you write about." 
                          
"You've read it?" I gasped and cupped my mouth. He was looming over me with his palms flat to the door on either side of my head. Did he know how to be this incredibly sexy or was he a bully, shoving it in my face? 
                          
"Research for the meeting," he said, his gaze intense. For a moment, I felt like...Caden who?
                          
"Oh, you had to then," I whispered. 
                          
"I enjoyed it," his breath in my ear. Wait? What? He enjoyed it? 
                          
"You got off on my," erm, whadaya call it? "Heartbreak?" 
                          
His eyes were on me so hard I could feel them. His tongue traced his bottom lip before biting it. A smirk. Was he laughing at me? 
                          
"Your honesty," his face changed to a boyish grin. "It's different, it's hot. It's almost like seeing you naked." 
                          
Heat rushed through my body. I was squirming in confusion and speechless. 
                          
"Almost," my words so breathy, it sounded like it started with an h. 
                          
"I'll wait to enjoy that another time," he didn't kiss me, he touched the top of my head with his lips and turned to leave. "See you on set."
                          
"On set? You're going?"
                          
"Yeah, I have to look out for you, my dad said," he looked back and winked. 
                          
Inside, I leaned back against the door. I was smiling. It was a strange cocktail of emotion that left my stomach tingling. Nerves, excitement, nakedness.