I had arrived in New York the previous evening. After a long flight from Los Angeles and had to wake up early to make this meeting. I was a young up and coming writer working on a few small shows and had completed various TV scripts. I was well respected and many people in the industry thought I could do wonders. For now though I was still working my way up the ladder and waiting for my big break. I was working on the script for the pilot of a comedy series. Not my original work and it was god awful. With the way TV networks have been making decisions as of late, it would probably be picked up by one of the big four, get a few episodes before getting canceled never to be heard from again.
MTV had given me a call and asked me to come in and help them for their new show Eye Candy which had premiered back in January and found modest ratings. The producers thought the show could do better and I guess and my reputation was growing.
"Mr Bryant." The secretary called my name "Mr Johnson will see you now."
"Thank you." I smiled politely and smoothed my clothes to make sure I looked presentable. Carrying my laptop case, I knocked on the heavy door.
"Come on in Duncan."
The office was incredible. In the middle of Times Square and the view was spectacular, corner office with floor to ceiling windows. MTV really knew how to spend money and impress. Johnson was a large man that filled out his suit quite well. He smiled widely knowing how impressed I was with all the fixings of his office.
"This is a spectacular office sir."
"Call me Greg. Have a seat. How was your trip?"
"It was fine, thank you. Red eye from L.A to New York is always fun." He laughed, a big and hearty laugh. Surprising considering that the joke was not that funny. Was I getting buttered up for something?
"Thank you for making it a first class ticket, and my hotel is more than enough"
They had given me an humongous suite at a very posh hotel in midtown. They were really going out of their way to get me and I was not sure why. I was still up and coming, they held this kind of treatment for the big guns.
"You're very welcome. We treat talent very well here. And we are hoping that you decide to accept our proposition and work closely with our crew to take Eye Candy to the next level."
"I watched a few episodes on the plane. It's good stuff. You have a great lead." They really did. Victoria Justice was beautiful and her acting continued to get better every episode. If she made the right choices and had the right people watching her back she would have the chance to do very well.
"We agree. She has been great for us, and really dives into this role."
"With that being said, the dialogue could be a lot stronger, and some of the supporting cast could be better developed and given more dimension."
"I see you're already hard at work." He slid a contract over in my direction. "This is what we are offering."
I was taken aback. The salary and signing bonus were almost quadruple my quote. Like I said I was just starting and hadn't done anything major as of yet. Eye Candy had the chance to be very great, and this much for just a staff writer seemed odd.
"I'm sorry Mr Johnson."
"Greg!" He reminded me.
"Greg. I'm sure people don't tend to raise an eyebrow at such a generous offer. I can't help but wonder, I'm a lowly staff writer. Why are you offering me so much?"
"Oh Duncan, we are not hiring you as a staff writer. We want you to be the lead writer and work closely with the show runner, to make Eye Candy the very best it can be."
Well that shut me up. I was shocked and pleased. Was I really ready to take on this type of responsibility? Hollywood was a tough place and a shot like this didn't come very often, but also this would be my first big project. If I failed it would be on my resume and would make it incredibly difficult for me to get another chance.
"This is really not the offer I had been expecting. I thought you just wanted me to work on the staff and make re writes, not basically be co show runner."
"We love talent here at MTV and we think that you have the necessary skills. I understand this is a huge step for you, so why not take a couple of days and think it over. You can stay at the hotel and we will give you a car so you can take in the sights and enjoy the city."
That didn't seem too bad. Two days in New York with a great suite, why not?
"Okay that seems fair. Thank you Mr... I mean Greg." He smiled and shook my hand.
"I'll see you here on Monday, let's say 10 o'clock?"
"Sure no trouble."
The car drove me back to my hotel. The whole ride I couldn't stop thinking about all of this. I was truly overwhelmed. I was only 25 and was given a chance to do something that I would love. Taking this job meant moving to New York. Not that I loved L.A, but I had moved around a lot as a child and was hoping to finally stay in one place for some time. I had lived in New York as a teen and loved the city. I still knew some people from my time in school here but no one I was overly close to. And what about Mark? So many things to consider. I needed to get some rest. I got to my hotel, changed and got into bed. I would get up later and figure things out.
I was asleep for what felt only ten minutes when the room phone rang. I was frustrated and wondered who the hell could be calling me.
"Hello." I answered the phone very grumpily.
"Hello, is this Duncan?" A very sweet voice said through the receiver. It sounded familiar but I couldn't place my finger on it. I must admit hearing it did calm me down some.
"Yes, this is he. Who am I talking to?"
"Hey Duncan, this is Victoria." No wonder I recognized the voice. It was Victoria Justice herself.
"Oh, Hi, how are you?"
"I'm fine thank you. Did I wake you?"
"Oh yea, I came in late last night from L.A, I was just taking a quick power nap."
"Yes that red eye is a whole lot of fun."
"I keep hearing that, but I still have not had much fun."
"Maybe you're just not doing it right!"
"Hey I fly with the best of em. I have my neck pillow and the fluffiest slippers you have ever seen."
"You're a fluffy slippers kinda guy?"
"The fluffier, the better."
