*
ping!
*
Dominic looked up from his work and clicked on the notification.
Meeting with Evelyn @ 5 PM.
An end of the day meeting, with no other details. He swallowed. He'd only been with Phantasmic Press for a month, and was already getting called in for a meeting with his boss? This was either very good...or very bad.
"Hey! Joining us for lunch?" He jumped when Alyx clapped him on the back, leaning in over his shoulder. "Whatever you're doing ain't more important than...oooh what's this?" They leaned in closer. "Big meeting with the boss, eh? Lucky you, newbie."
"Why is that lucky?"
"Oh please. You, me, and everyone else in here has had a crush on her since their first day. Maybe it's the skirts. Or maybe it's being so intimidated you can't help but be attracted to her. You know, fear is an aphrodisiac." They paused, posing thoughtfully. "Nah. Probably the skirts."
Dominic flushed. "I don't think...I mean, I haven't..." He cleared his throat. "And if I'm in trouble?"
They smiled. "Oh no, if she was mad at you you'd know it. Trust me."
"Then what's up with the late meeting?"
"Beats me." They pulled back his chair and tossed his jacket at him. "But for now we gotta go. It's Taco Tuesday at that truck over on Charles, and you do
not
want to miss it." Dominic pulled on his jacket and anxiously ran a hand through his hair. Alyx punched his arm. "Don't worry dude, you've still got a few more hours to have your nervous breakdown followed by your miraculous recovery. But for now: the tacos are calling my name! Like, I can literally hear them screaming. Let's go."
Dominic chuckled. Alyx was never bothered by anything, but maybe they were right. It was probably nothing to worry about.
***
At 4:57 PM Dominic stood outside of Evelyn's office, anxiously checking his watch. At 5:00 PM he took a deep breath and knocked on the office door.
"Come in."
He stepped into Evelyn's office. It was smaller than he expected: the large, impeccably organized desk took up most of the space, and in front of the desk sat a single armchair. One wall was lined with bookshelves stocked with trade magazines, style guides, and galleys; the other with low cabinets housing some of the company's best selling titles:
Wet Hot Summer
,
Point of Contact
, and a number of classic regency titles from the 90s. A TV sat on top of one of the cabinets. The back wall of the office was bare except for a tall window on either side of the desk overlooking the city as the sun sank below the skyline.
Ah, so these are the perks that come with top level management.
She was sitting behind her desk when he walked in. She did not look up from her work as she greeted him. "You're punctual, I like that. Have a seat." Dominic sat in the armchair and straightened his tie. She was engrossed in making notes on the marketing kit he'd spent last week working on.
Well, at least now I know what she wants to talk to me about.
He thought back to Alyx's advice, repeating it to himself like a mantra:
If she's mad at me, I'll know it.
But how?
Evelyn closed the folder and leaned forward. He met her eyes but quickly dropped his gaze to her lips—
no, no good
—dropped his gaze further—
too far!
—before settling on her nose. Nothing about her nose was as piercing as her eyes or as, well, distracting as the rest of her. He straightened his tie again.
She smiled and leaned back in her chair. "At ease Mr. Fuller. Surely you don't believe all the scary stories Alyx and the others have told you about me?"
"Well, actually they haven't told me much of anything, which is what worries me."
"Why does that worry you?"
"I don't know what to expect. And I don't like surprises."
"And why not? Surprises can be quite pleasant" She smiled. "You, for instance. I won't lie I wasn't quite sold on your application, but your interview was promising and frankly the work you've done for us thus far has been more than adequate."
Dominic let out the breath he was holding, trying not to appear so noticeably relieved. She noticed.
"I didn't invite you here to reprimand you, if that's what you're worried about. I invited you here to ask for your help."
"
My
help?"
"Yes. I have a special project that requires special attention, and I think you're just the person to handle it. You're familiar with our forthcoming title from Lily, yes?" She placed a hand on the file she had been reading when he entered.
"Oh, of course. I finished drafting the jacket copy on Thursday, but if you have any edits I—" She held up her hand.
"The copy you wrote is fine. Tell me, what did you think of the book?"
"Well, I mostly skimmed it...we don't have time to read every title in the catalog, but I did enjoy it. It was well-written, engaging, sexy—"
She laughed. "Please, spare me the buzzwords, Dominic. I've heard my fair share of them today. Besides, with the amount of care you've taken with this marketing packet, I'll wager you more than skimmed it."
A brief blush colored his cheeks. But what was there to be embarrassed about, anyway? This was his job, after all. "I did skim it...at first. But by the end of chapter four I just couldn't put it down. I stayed up all night to finish it."
"And what was it you found so compelling?"
"I mean at first it reads like your typical romance." He relaxed, gesturing as he continued. "It's your regular girl meets boy setup. But by the end of that chapter...I didn't expect the turn it took at all. And when Veronica really steps up and takes control I found it very empowering and...sexy."
"Ah, that buzzword again. But this time you mean it."
He grinned. "That is what we do, isn't it?"
"It is. And do you like a woman who takes control?"
Well...he certainly hadn't been expecting that.
"I...sometimes. I mean, I respect a woman's agency and her ability to, uh, take control of a situation and think every woman can and should, uh, have agency in their personal and professional lives and that women want to feel powerful—I mean, they *are* powerful and I..."
Well, fuck.
Evelyn smiled. "Yes, you can just say yes. Anyway, that's the reason why I want you on this project." She stood and walked around her desk, leaning back against it. "As you know, most romance publishers market almost exclusively to women. And that's all fine and dandy but I think we have an excellent opportunity here to expand our audience." She picked up a remote off her desk and clicked on the TV. "I had the digital team whip up this little promo video. I'm curious to hear your thoughts." She pressed play.
On the screen, a young, attractive woman was preparing for her day. This is what Dominic had imagined reading the early chapters of the book. She dressed, took the train to work, sat through what had been described as "a meeting as dull and tortuous as it was unnecessary," came home to an empty apartment and heated up a microwave dinner. The blue/gray tones of the scene faded to black, and text scrolled across the screen.
When there's no time for intimacy...do you take matters into your own hands?
The next scene briefly depicted a passage from the book he remembered well: a nearly pornographic description of Veronica masturbating, only for her to cum and reflect on how her moans echoed in response to themselves in the emptiness of her bedroom, how the infrequency of her personal intimacy made her feel even more that she was making love to another version of herself, "like she was her own one night stand."
Her final moan echoed and faded with the screen's transition back to black.
...or do you seek fulfillment in another's arms?
Cut to the meet cute, when Veronica and Justin meet in a bar that looks like it serves overpriced drinks. Cut to Veronica pressing Justin against the wall outside the building and dropping to her knees...
Discover fantasy...
Flashes of a woman in leather, a head between her thighs, wrists bound in silk rope...
...desire...
...
bodies pressed together, chests heaving with stolen breaths...
