"He'll see you now," said the executive assistant, her blues eyes energetic behind the red rims of her designer glasses.
She reminded Sarah of herself three years ago, when she'd finally landed her first Hollywood gig as an assistant. She guessed the woman hadn't been in show business long; her countenance lacked the familiar lines of cynicism.
Sarah zipped the front of her hoodie before entering the Executive Producer's corner office. Phillip sat pounding something out on his laptop, the sleeves of his crisp white shirt rolled up to his elbows. Sarah admired his massive oak desk and picturesque view of L.A. beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows. If she played her cards right, she'd be sitting in his Italian leather chair within a year.
"How's our girl?" Phillip asked, not bothering to look up from his laptop.
The feminist in her tried not bristle whenever he referred to grown women as "girls." Phillip came from oil money and she struggled not to hold his strictly conventional upbringing against him.
"Exceeding my expectations," Sarah said.
When Mikki had been selected as the Bachelorette, Sarah struggled to accept the decision. The lawyer was confident, gracious and smart as a whip - the exact woman she had been fighting to bring on the show since she became a producer. But she was well into her 30s - and African-American. She initially had no idea how to market Mikki to middle-aged housewives in the Midwest, the bread and butter of their audience. Her biggest challenge was to to highlight her intelligence and beauty, while retaining her down-home charm. The line between admiration and jealousy was thin.
"Good to hear," he said, finally gracing her with his attention, though his gaze went straight to her breasts before moving upward. He smiled to himself. Or was that a smirk?
"The men we expected to fall for her are right on track," Sarah said. "The Mikki-Ronnie chemistry will definitely appeal to career women."
"What about Peter?" Phillip asked, throwing her for a loop. "We haven't seen enough of him on screen."
Peter had been a last-minute addition, Phillip's only pick among the candidates. She had been in a rush to get everything ready for the first shoot and had barely given the crude man a thought. She figured he was just there to appeal to the corn belt audience. Now, she wished she'd paid more attention. He was turning out to be a sharp thorn in her ass.
"Considering he's drunk most of the time, I doubt he's a forerunner," she said.
"Maybe you should reconsider." His smile failed to reach his eyes.
It was more of a request than a recommendation. A buzz interrupted them before she could respond.
"Steve is here," the assistant's voice blared from the intercom.
"Send him in," Phillip said.
Sarah was sure if she'd been the late one, Phillip would have made her wait until the meeting ended before granting her entrance.
"Sorry I'm late," Steve said, dropping into the seat next to her. "I had to put out a quick fire for Mikki, but all's been handled."
Sarah noticed his slightly flushed cheeks and the beads of sweat along his brow. "Anything I need to worry about?"
"Not at all." Steve avoided her gaze.
She made a mental note to find out what was up with him. The last thing she needed was for her host to go rogue. She planned on this being the highest rated season yet and not even Steve would get in the way of that.
"Now that we're all here," Phillip said, leaning forward, "there are a few things I'd like to discuss."
Sarah suppressed a sigh. Phillip had many talents, but producing a reality show wasn't one of them. His suggestions usually led to longer hours for her and the crew, only for him to change his mind when it came for the final cut.
"As I was saying before, Peter has been noticeably absent and I can't quite figure out why," he continued. "He's the most screen-worthy of the bunch."
"If by screen-worthy, you mean prejudice and rude," Steve said.
A smile lilted on Sarah's lips. Steve was usually easygoing and laidback, able to build a rapport with strangers with almost no effort. But behind the amiable exterior was a man who refused to take anyone's shit. She hoped to one day do the same without the threat of being labeled a bitch by her male counterparts.
"This is reality TV," Phillip said, abandoning the fake smile. "Diplomacy makes for dismal ratings. We need to spice things up a bit and Peter is the only one capable of doing that. Plus, everyone's got a right to express their personal opinions."
Sarah noticed a slight shift in Steve. She jumped in before he said something he would regret and ruin his chances of becoming a producer, which she wanted for him almost as much as he did.
"Given the current climate, we might want to steer away from any confrontations about beliefs and the like," she said. "Our audience is here for romance, not politics."
Sarah wasn't afraid to push the envelope and do what needed to be done to create the petty, drama-filled moments people loved to chat about on Twitter. But Peter was a ticking bomb. She couldn't be sure what kind of garbage he would spew if they actually gave him more time with Mikki. She'd already spent hours editing his personal footage and had found only a few minutes of him not being a complete asshole.
"Who said anything about politics?" Phillip asked.
Sarah harbored no misconceptions about her boss's political leanings. She wouldn't be inviting him to have dinner with her feminist colleagues any time soon. Which was all fine by her, as long as his primitive beliefs didn't interfere with her job.
"In the end, this is about the ratings," Steve chimed in. "The popularity of the first two episodes has surpassed our expectations by a mile. Mikki is the reason people are tuning in every week and we need to keep her happy. If she's going to have more time with Peter, it should be of her own accord."
Steve had been an advocate of Mikki's from the very beginning. Even when Sarah had doubts, he organized a diverse focus group of housewives and professionals to prove how popular Mikki would be among a broad spectrum of demographics. She looked between the two men. Steve and Phillip were at an impasse, neither likely to budge an inch. She wondered at the former's insistence. He usually disagreed with these kinds of tactics, but she'd never seen him this adamant before.
Phillip leaned back, throwing his hands up in mock surrender. "Looks like it's two to one. I'll back off, for now." And with that, he went back to his laptop. She and Steve took their cue to leave. Sarah doubted this was the last she'd hear about Peter, but for now she was satisfied to just to get back to wrangling insecure men.
"Thanks for your support," Steve said as they headed to the elevators outside of Phillip's office. He sounded kind of surprised, which annoyed her for some reason. It wasn't like she'd never had his back in the past.
"Don't worry about it," she said flippantly. "You were right about the ratings and at the end of the day that's all that matters."
They boarded the empty elevator together. His spicy cologne filled the small space, making her wish the elevator was crowded so she'd have an excuse to get closer to him.
"You don't fool me," he said. "Behind that indifferent exterior is a true romantic. You can't work on this show for as long as you have and not believe in love."
"It's not that I don't believe in love. I just think anyone who comes on a reality show expecting to find it is either a moron or still believes in the tooth fairy."
Steve laughed wholeheartedly. "Well, if anyone can break through that wall of cynicism, Mikki can. I'll be the first to admit that some of the Bachelorettes have joined the show for less than sincere reasons, but she's not one of them. Her heart's in the right place. She really is an extraordinary woman."
