Friedrich Nietzsche, if you can pronounce that, once said, "Family love
is messy, clinging, and of an annoying and repetitive pattern, like bad
wallpaper." I like to think it's more like the day after a hangover. You've
puked out the poison, swear you're never subjecting yourself to it again
and yet you find yourself going back for more abuse. Every time.
The Unassuming Nephew's POV
Folding chairs suck.
They're not made all that great, they're uncomfortable as hell, and I'm pretty
sure they are made in China, for little people.
Not that there's anything wrong with that, but seriously, can't Carlisle afford
better fucking chairs for this place?
Anyway, I was sitting in one of the ridiculously small folding chairs that lined
the outskirts of the sound stage at the station, balancing it on its back legs as
my feet used the railing in front of me for leverage.
I was fairly certain that if I had let go of the railing, I could just wobble there for
at least a few seconds.
The set was as quiet as the few moments right before a bad storm hits and I
gotta tell ya, I was a little nervous. Not to mention, the clock moved at the
slowest pace…ever as I sat there with the rest of the actors and crew, waiting
for Tanya to arrive.
Supposedly, this was like a thing at the station. Tradition. People didn't read
the reviews on their own, it was done as a family.
'Cause that's a GREAT idea.
I actually laughed out loud as I thought of the word family in relation to my
uncle's business and looked around me.
If these people were family, they were the most dysfunctional family I'd ever
encountered.
And that included the Addams Family.
Like, an evil, bizarro-world type of Addams family.
Ones that dress normal and cut each other's throats to get ahead.
Emmett's curious gaze caught my eye and I regained my composure, setting
the chair back down on all fours.
All fours…
I closed my eyes and reached out, trying to imagine Bella's naked form in front
of me with her soft skin and absolutely meticulous shape…because if I
assumed I was Gomez, then she...Bella that is...was Morticia Addams.
Rrrrrrrawr.
Talk about Vampiric fantasies.
A noise woke me from my day dream and I realized it was the object of my
sick and twisted hallucination arriving finally.
She walked in as though my dick was a siren call to her and I felt really guilty
thinking about her like that.
For a minute or two.
Until she saw me and smiled.
She was probably thinking the same thing I was.
How incredibly monotonous this place was and when could we meet back up
at her place. Although I really needed to like, take her out for coffee or
something because if we kept this whole, doing nothing but having sex thing,
pretty soon she'd start feeling like a kept woman...or, maybe since I had no
money, and she was the rich one in the couple...I'd start feeling like a
kept man.
Which, actually, I think I'd be okay with.
But anyway, my point is, the most excitement we'd encountered all morning
was when Mike Newton walked in and wanted to know if the bagels had
arrived yet and pretty much everyone screamed for him to shut up at the
same time and someone even threw one at him just to make him happy.
Either that or they just couldn't stand the guy.
Poor dude, he just never learned.
When James walked in, everyone muttered a bit and got all jazzed up but
then they noticed it was just him and went right back to meandering.
Until Mike spoke up. "How do you think it went, Halloway?" he asked James,
who cleared his throat and everyone gathered around as though father Moses
was getting ready to tell us an old tale about floating down the Mississippi
River on a bamboo raft or something.
I stood up and joined them because in all honesty, I figured if he didn't like it,
the critics probably didn't either.
I stood in the back though, no need for him to think I had any interest in what
his opinion was.
Crossing my arms, I lifted one of my hands and put my thumb nail into my
mouth and bit down.
James put his brief case down and let out a dramatic sigh and I reached into
my pocket to get my iPhone out.
I typed into the phone: "You're gonna grill the limo driver on the who the red
head is, right?" to Emmett.
"Check, dude," he said from right next to me and I jumped.
A little.
"Is Rose still up for lifting his cell phone when Alice is busy with him on
wardrobe?" I asked him quietly.
"Yyyyyyep."
"Excellent."
We nonchalantly bumped fists as I heard some random comments from the
crowd and decided to pay attention to what James was saying. I
had justcaught the end of his sentence and just about blew a gasket.
"...I mean really, Isabella, you fumbled quite a bit at the end there."
What the fuck?
"Excuse me?" I heard Bella retort.
I pushed my way through the crowd and nearly shouted, "What in the hell are
you talking about, James, she was goddamn brilliant, it was him that mutilated
his lines," I nodded to Mike, who scowled.
"What do you mean by THAT?" Mike whined.
"What does he MEAN by that?" Bella piped in, backing me up and I think
somewhere, in the back of my mind I might have worried a little bit about the
interaction between the two of us but in all sincerity, I think I was speaking for
most people there when I questioned James's idiotic accusations.
I looked and saw her then…and she was lethal.
And I liked it.
"Isa…," James said to her at one point, and she shot him a look that I could
have sworn would shoot daggers into his retinas.
Can ya blame her?
He held his hands up in surrender. "Bella…really, you haven't exactly been
making this whole thing easy, darling."
DARLING?
"Wait just a goddamn minute, James," I snarled at him.
"Pah-lease," he laughed.
"Please nothing!" I yelled, throwing my hands up into the air, teetering on the
verge of hysteria at his flippant fucking attitude about Mike's screw ups. "That
was ALL Mike, James…Bella covered his…ASS, F…Y…I."
"What in the hell are you talking about, Masen…" Mike started, then said
sarcastically, "Oh yeah, sorry…CULLEN."
That's it.
"Really Mike?" I vigorously pulled the sheets out of my back pocket and
roughly flipped through the pages to show Mike what I was talking about, and
then pointed to the lines he was supposed to say.
"ScapeGRACE, Mike…the line was scape. Grace…not scapegoat for Christ's
sake, we went over that line all goddamn week."
"Ooooh, yeah," he chuckled. "…heh…that's actually pretty funny when you
use that word."
"Yeah. That's. The. Point."
"Well excuuuuuuze me," he said sarcastically. Then he walked away
mumbling something about getting some water.
Goddamn prima donna.
All hell started breaking loose in the crowd after that.
There were remarks about me being a Cullen and how that was gonna fuck
the whole project up…and about how Mike was a complete idiot and that he
was pulling the show down with his incapabilities. There were also jabs about
James being a dick.
I think Emmett threw that one out there.
And ridiculous shit about how Bella was only there because of her nomination
in the Emmy's the previous year.
Which was…fucking ridiculous.
I mean, isn't that a good thing?
Like I said, Addams Family.
Then everything just, stopped, when a loud whistle sounded.
You know, those loud as fuck ones that only people who know how to put their
finger and thumb to their mouth can make?
Yeah, I can't do it either.
We all turned to see Tanya standing at the double doors at the front of the
station.
"Wound up a little today, are we?" she teased as she walked toward the angry
mob of writers, actors and dick weeds.
James and I made some serious, I wanna fuck your ass…UP eye contact but
then both broke it when Tanya walked in between us, pulling her newspaper
out of the bag that hung from her shoulder.
She sat on the edge of one of the desk props on the sound stage and people
started settling down again, listening for the news.
She opened a can of Diet Dr. Pepper and took a sip.
Goddamn if she wasn't good at making us wait.
I scowled and went back to biting my thumb nail.
Then she finally started to read.
"Anyone who is anyone in the entertainment business knows the name
Carlisle Cullen. It was no surprise that his most recent venture took the air
waves this week but what was surprising was the genre he seems to have
decided to take on.
That didn't sound good, but no one said anything yet, they were still hanging
on to every word Tanya read aloud, so I tried to re-direct my attention to her
again.
Bella's eyes were transfixed and if I wasn't mistaken, I could have sworn she
looked like she was holding her breath or about to be sick.
One or the other.
I made a quick note of where the nearest trash can was.
Just in case.
"Mix together a narcoleptic cop, a hot assistant, who also happens to be one
smart cookie, crime solving, just the right amount of sarcasm plus a dash of
word play and you've got yourself the next big thing since Seinfeld."
That was good, right?
That sounded good.
Smiles were creeping out of the faces around me and Bella seemed to
breathe again.
"Yes, readers, no one was as surprised as this critic that a show like this
would turn out to be so incredibly funny."
A few noises erupted out of a few, but other than that, no one said anything
yet, they were all still waiting, and I was bursting at the seams.
"What truly took me by surprise though, was the break out comedic talents of
the year in my opinion…by the very famous for her dramatic roles, Isabella
Swan. She not only stole the spotlight in my opinion, as her spunk and wit
shined through, but she also saved her co-star, otherwise known for his action
roles, Mike Newton from a small blunder at the end of the show."
I…TOLD you!
"Another surprise that WESME has apparently had up its stealthy sleeve, is
the until now un-known newest writer on their staff, Edward Cullen, who not
only is distantly related to the television guru, but also appears to have his
genius genes for writing brilliancy."
I was taken a little aback at hearing my name mentioned like that.
I was gonna have to buy a copy of that paper.
"If you're not watching 'Maximum Steele', you're missing out on taking part in
the next big hit of the decade, ladies and gentlemen. I give it an A+."
Tanya lowered the paper and looked up to meet my deer in the headlights
gaze and she smiled at me.
Everyone just sat there for a minute or two, taking it all in until Mike broke the
silence by stating to us all, "I wouldn't exactly call it a blunder."
Then it was like all the tension from that morning just broke out and let loose
and laughter filled the room.
People slapped me on the back and congratulated me and I barely heard
what anyone was saying because all I saw was Bella, on the other side of the
crowd.
And she was beaming.
I matched her expression and finally started to move.
I started to go to her, no longer giving a shit about who saw us, what they
thought or how much trouble they could start for me. I wanted to scoop her up
and swing her around and congratulate her on a job well fucking done.
And then lay one on her like there was no tomorrow.
I was about half way there when I saw James approach her.
They were both smiling and laughing and I guess they were just caught up in
the moment like the rest of us, but part of me felt the overwhelming urge to go
kick that guy in the nuts.
I debated for a minute about continuing on over to them. I mean he'd seriously
killed my Bella buzz one too many times, but I also didn't want to kill whatever
buzz Bella was having herself, so the question was, what was more
important?
Just then, Carlisle himself interrupted the group celebration going on and
announced, "Tanya, James…" and then, "Edward."
He didn't look happy, considering and I wondered if he'd been there for the
reading that whole time or if he had information the rest of us didn't, or what.
I also had no idea what the hell it meant that he'd called our names out until
Tanya and James stopped what they were doing as though they'd been
paused by a remote control and followed Carlisle up the stairs to his office
area.
So I followed.
Not having any goddamn idea what to expect.
I was pretty sure Bella was watching me but I was way too nervous all of a
sudden to look at her and try to read her face.
I was the last to walk in to Carlisle's office where James and Tanya were
already sitting in each of the comfy chairs that were across from Carlisle's
desk.
Carlisle was also sitting, writing something down on a piece of paper.
I figured I had to look awkward, just standing there, so I eyed Tanya and
James to see what they were doing.
Nothin', just...waiting for Carlisle.
"Do we…" I started to ask if there was something we should be doing but
Carlisle interrupted.
"Tanya, beginning tomorrow, Edward will be Show Runner, I want you to start
his training as soon as possible."
He was still looking down, still writing.
"I figured as much, C, I'm already on it," Tanya answered, very matter of
factly.
"A wha…?" I started, but noticed I'd stepped on something.
What IS that?
I looked down.
Fucking gum?
I reached down to pull it off as I lifted my shoe and it stretched between the
carpet and my sole.
Great.
"What?" James lurched forward in his chair, but didn't get up and my head
snapped up to see what he was so pissed about as I tried desperately to get
the sticky substance off of my shoe.
"You're making," he waved a hand backward at me. "An inexperienced,
INTERN your Show Runner?" he laughed maniacally and then added, "Are
you nuts?"
Carlisle lifted his eyes to James but didn't say anything.
I was still trying to figure out what this meeting was about.
"Um, what's a…" I was trying again but also losing my balance as I stood
there, twisting and twirling the gooey shit around my finger.
It was fucking never ending, this thing.
"Are you questioning my decision, James?" Carlisle asked him.
"Abso-goddamn-lutely I'm questioning your decision," he retorted and then
decided to pull out all the stops, I guess. "Are you going to be bringing on ALL
of your nephews, or should this be the only one I expect?"
If the knowledge James had just thrown out there shocked Carlisle, he didn't
show it.
In fact, he hadn't even looked at me since I'd walked in, so I was one
confused puppy as to why I was even there.
I finally got the gum all off of my shoe and was left with only one dilemma.
Where to chuck it.
"Can I just…ask…one little…" I started as I looked around for something,
anything to throw that damn piece of gum away into, but seriously, it was like I
wasn't even there.
Carlisle had leaned forward onto his forearms that rested on his desk in front
of him and looked James right in the eyes and said, "James, try not to take
this personally, but, Fuck. You."
There's seriously, gotta be a trash can around here somewhere.
I looked around some more.
Ah!
"Excuse me?"
"You heard me, James," he told him, then looked over to Tanya as I found my
way over to the receptacle I'd found.. "Tanya, have you ever known me to
promote someone without good reason?"
Promote someone?
"Did you just…?" I asked, to no avail, flicking my fingers at the empty trash
can desperately, but the damn gum just…wouldn't…come…OFF.
Jesus!
"No, sir," Tanya said.
"When did…?"
"And have you ever had issue with any of the promotions I've made at this
station?"
"Absolutely not, sir."
I didn't even get my mouth open before he spoke to James again and it was
really just as well, I was still busy scraping the gum from finger to finger as it
dangled limply above the trash can.
"So when I say Edward is the new Show Runner, James, he's the new Show
Runner…" he was getting louder and louder. "...and if you have a problem
with that, you can pack your shit and leave this station, I'm sure we'll find
another Producer…though he or she may not be as talented as you, but they
certainly won't question my god. Damn. DECISIONS."
I snuck a peek over at Carlisle then.
He smoothed his hair with one hand while he fixed the pencils that he'd
moved with the pounding of his fist onto his desk just then with the other and I
have to say, that was the loudest I'd ever heard Carlisle get since I'd met the
man, and I was impressed.
James's jaw was tight and I couldn't even enjoy the moment of victory I should
have been having because I was still trying to understand just exactly what it
was I should be feeling victorious about.
He didn't say anything, he just got up, nodded to Carlisle and left the room,
making a disgusted sound through his nose as he passed me.
Carlisle's receptionist took that opportunity to make her way over to me and
grab the gum from off of my fingers with a paper towel. Then she threw it into
a container she was holding and whispered to me while nodding at the empty
receptacle I had been fighting with, "That's…not a trash can."
"Sorry," I whispered back, then I wiped my hands on my pants as I
straightened myself up and walked back over to where Carlisle and Tanya
were sitting and plopped down into the free chair.
"Anything else you need from me, C?" Tanya asked and he once again
became the man I knew, smiled at her and said, "No, Tanya, thank you."
She also got up then, took the paper Carlisle held up to her that he'd been
writing on and she turned to go but not before winking at me and mouthing,
"Congratulations," on her way out.
When the doors closed I was left, just...sitting there, awestruck, confuddled,
bewildered and just about everything you might associate with shell shock and
Carlisle wasn't looking at me again.
And my fingers were still sticky.
Now Carlisle was typing something on his computer and I was about ready to
start in with the questions again when he finally spoke to me, ending his email,
or, whatever it was, turning to me.
"I take it you told your friends about being my nephew?"
I laughed.
A little nervously at first but then it actually turned into a genuine laugh,
remembering how they'd all accepted me even before I'd accepted myself.
"Smart move, son," he said and then moved on to his next subject before I
could even process him calling me 'son' again.
"Do you know what the Nielsens are, Edward?"
"Uh, yeah? Who doesn't?" I snorted.
I mean seriously…duh.
Carlisle smirked a little and then picked up another piece of paper to read to
me.
"Last night our Nielsens ratings doubled, Edward…do you have any idea what
that means?"
"Ummm…" That I can afford some wet towels to get this freaking gum off of
my fingers?
He didn't wait for me to get smarmy again.
"It means you're a goddamn genius and our station is about the blow the roof
off of NBC, CBS and ABC combined!"
He clapped his hands and laughed as I kinda let out this weird noise that
sounded like something between hysteria and a cry for help.
He told me how proud he was of me and we talked a little about the show
and…James and he was now the second person to warn me about how the
guy is good at what he does, but is also a very dangerous person to fuck with,
so to be careful.
I guess even Carlisle couldn't protect me from ALL sides, after all.
Hopefully it wouldn't come down to that.
I got up to leave finally and then stopped. "Oh," I said as I got to the double
doors of his office. "One more thing, Carlisle?"
He looked up and raised his brow at me, waiting for my question.
"What does a Show Runner do, exactly?"
is messy, clinging, and of an annoying and repetitive pattern, like bad
wallpaper." I like to think it's more like the day after a hangover. You've
puked out the poison, swear you're never subjecting yourself to it again
and yet you find yourself going back for more abuse. Every time.
The Unassuming Nephew's POV
Folding chairs suck.
They're not made all that great, they're uncomfortable as hell, and I'm pretty
sure they are made in China, for little people.
Not that there's anything wrong with that, but seriously, can't Carlisle afford
better fucking chairs for this place?
Anyway, I was sitting in one of the ridiculously small folding chairs that lined
the outskirts of the sound stage at the station, balancing it on its back legs as
my feet used the railing in front of me for leverage.
I was fairly certain that if I had let go of the railing, I could just wobble there for
at least a few seconds.
The set was as quiet as the few moments right before a bad storm hits and I
gotta tell ya, I was a little nervous. Not to mention, the clock moved at the
slowest pace…ever as I sat there with the rest of the actors and crew, waiting
for Tanya to arrive.
Supposedly, this was like a thing at the station. Tradition. People didn't read
the reviews on their own, it was done as a family.
'Cause that's a GREAT idea.
I actually laughed out loud as I thought of the word family in relation to my
uncle's business and looked around me.
If these people were family, they were the most dysfunctional family I'd ever
encountered.
And that included the Addams Family.
Like, an evil, bizarro-world type of Addams family.
Ones that dress normal and cut each other's throats to get ahead.
Emmett's curious gaze caught my eye and I regained my composure, setting
the chair back down on all fours.
All fours…
I closed my eyes and reached out, trying to imagine Bella's naked form in front
of me with her soft skin and absolutely meticulous shape…because if I
assumed I was Gomez, then she...Bella that is...was Morticia Addams.
Rrrrrrrawr.
Talk about Vampiric fantasies.
A noise woke me from my day dream and I realized it was the object of my
sick and twisted hallucination arriving finally.
She walked in as though my dick was a siren call to her and I felt really guilty
thinking about her like that.
For a minute or two.
Until she saw me and smiled.
She was probably thinking the same thing I was.
How incredibly monotonous this place was and when could we meet back up
at her place. Although I really needed to like, take her out for coffee or
something because if we kept this whole, doing nothing but having sex thing,
pretty soon she'd start feeling like a kept woman...or, maybe since I had no
money, and she was the rich one in the couple...I'd start feeling like a
kept man.
Which, actually, I think I'd be okay with.
But anyway, my point is, the most excitement we'd encountered all morning
was when Mike Newton walked in and wanted to know if the bagels had
arrived yet and pretty much everyone screamed for him to shut up at the
same time and someone even threw one at him just to make him happy.
Either that or they just couldn't stand the guy.
Poor dude, he just never learned.
When James walked in, everyone muttered a bit and got all jazzed up but
then they noticed it was just him and went right back to meandering.
Until Mike spoke up. "How do you think it went, Halloway?" he asked James,
who cleared his throat and everyone gathered around as though father Moses
was getting ready to tell us an old tale about floating down the Mississippi
River on a bamboo raft or something.
I stood up and joined them because in all honesty, I figured if he didn't like it,
the critics probably didn't either.
I stood in the back though, no need for him to think I had any interest in what
his opinion was.
Crossing my arms, I lifted one of my hands and put my thumb nail into my
mouth and bit down.
James put his brief case down and let out a dramatic sigh and I reached into
my pocket to get my iPhone out.
I typed into the phone: "You're gonna grill the limo driver on the who the red
head is, right?" to Emmett.
"Check, dude," he said from right next to me and I jumped.
A little.
"Is Rose still up for lifting his cell phone when Alice is busy with him on
wardrobe?" I asked him quietly.
"Yyyyyyep."
"Excellent."
We nonchalantly bumped fists as I heard some random comments from the
crowd and decided to pay attention to what James was saying. I
had justcaught the end of his sentence and just about blew a gasket.
"...I mean really, Isabella, you fumbled quite a bit at the end there."
What the fuck?
"Excuse me?" I heard Bella retort.
I pushed my way through the crowd and nearly shouted, "What in the hell are
you talking about, James, she was goddamn brilliant, it was him that mutilated
his lines," I nodded to Mike, who scowled.
"What do you mean by THAT?" Mike whined.
"What does he MEAN by that?" Bella piped in, backing me up and I think
somewhere, in the back of my mind I might have worried a little bit about the
interaction between the two of us but in all sincerity, I think I was speaking for
most people there when I questioned James's idiotic accusations.
I looked and saw her then…and she was lethal.
And I liked it.
"Isa…," James said to her at one point, and she shot him a look that I could
have sworn would shoot daggers into his retinas.
Can ya blame her?
He held his hands up in surrender. "Bella…really, you haven't exactly been
making this whole thing easy, darling."
DARLING?
"Wait just a goddamn minute, James," I snarled at him.
"Pah-lease," he laughed.
"Please nothing!" I yelled, throwing my hands up into the air, teetering on the
verge of hysteria at his flippant fucking attitude about Mike's screw ups. "That
was ALL Mike, James…Bella covered his…ASS, F…Y…I."
"What in the hell are you talking about, Masen…" Mike started, then said
sarcastically, "Oh yeah, sorry…CULLEN."
That's it.
"Really Mike?" I vigorously pulled the sheets out of my back pocket and
roughly flipped through the pages to show Mike what I was talking about, and
then pointed to the lines he was supposed to say.
"ScapeGRACE, Mike…the line was scape. Grace…not scapegoat for Christ's
sake, we went over that line all goddamn week."
"Ooooh, yeah," he chuckled. "…heh…that's actually pretty funny when you
use that word."
"Yeah. That's. The. Point."
"Well excuuuuuuze me," he said sarcastically. Then he walked away
mumbling something about getting some water.
Goddamn prima donna.
All hell started breaking loose in the crowd after that.
There were remarks about me being a Cullen and how that was gonna fuck
the whole project up…and about how Mike was a complete idiot and that he
was pulling the show down with his incapabilities. There were also jabs about
James being a dick.
I think Emmett threw that one out there.
And ridiculous shit about how Bella was only there because of her nomination
in the Emmy's the previous year.
Which was…fucking ridiculous.
I mean, isn't that a good thing?
Like I said, Addams Family.
Then everything just, stopped, when a loud whistle sounded.
You know, those loud as fuck ones that only people who know how to put their
finger and thumb to their mouth can make?
Yeah, I can't do it either.
We all turned to see Tanya standing at the double doors at the front of the
station.
"Wound up a little today, are we?" she teased as she walked toward the angry
mob of writers, actors and dick weeds.
James and I made some serious, I wanna fuck your ass…UP eye contact but
then both broke it when Tanya walked in between us, pulling her newspaper
out of the bag that hung from her shoulder.
She sat on the edge of one of the desk props on the sound stage and people
started settling down again, listening for the news.
She opened a can of Diet Dr. Pepper and took a sip.
Goddamn if she wasn't good at making us wait.
I scowled and went back to biting my thumb nail.
Then she finally started to read.
"Anyone who is anyone in the entertainment business knows the name
Carlisle Cullen. It was no surprise that his most recent venture took the air
waves this week but what was surprising was the genre he seems to have
decided to take on.
That didn't sound good, but no one said anything yet, they were still hanging
on to every word Tanya read aloud, so I tried to re-direct my attention to her
again.
Bella's eyes were transfixed and if I wasn't mistaken, I could have sworn she
looked like she was holding her breath or about to be sick.
One or the other.
I made a quick note of where the nearest trash can was.
Just in case.
"Mix together a narcoleptic cop, a hot assistant, who also happens to be one
smart cookie, crime solving, just the right amount of sarcasm plus a dash of
word play and you've got yourself the next big thing since Seinfeld."
That was good, right?
That sounded good.
Smiles were creeping out of the faces around me and Bella seemed to
breathe again.
"Yes, readers, no one was as surprised as this critic that a show like this
would turn out to be so incredibly funny."
A few noises erupted out of a few, but other than that, no one said anything
yet, they were all still waiting, and I was bursting at the seams.
"What truly took me by surprise though, was the break out comedic talents of
the year in my opinion…by the very famous for her dramatic roles, Isabella
Swan. She not only stole the spotlight in my opinion, as her spunk and wit
shined through, but she also saved her co-star, otherwise known for his action
roles, Mike Newton from a small blunder at the end of the show."
I…TOLD you!
"Another surprise that WESME has apparently had up its stealthy sleeve, is
the until now un-known newest writer on their staff, Edward Cullen, who not
only is distantly related to the television guru, but also appears to have his
genius genes for writing brilliancy."
I was taken a little aback at hearing my name mentioned like that.
I was gonna have to buy a copy of that paper.
"If you're not watching 'Maximum Steele', you're missing out on taking part in
the next big hit of the decade, ladies and gentlemen. I give it an A+."
Tanya lowered the paper and looked up to meet my deer in the headlights
gaze and she smiled at me.
Everyone just sat there for a minute or two, taking it all in until Mike broke the
silence by stating to us all, "I wouldn't exactly call it a blunder."
Then it was like all the tension from that morning just broke out and let loose
and laughter filled the room.
People slapped me on the back and congratulated me and I barely heard
what anyone was saying because all I saw was Bella, on the other side of the
crowd.
And she was beaming.
I matched her expression and finally started to move.
I started to go to her, no longer giving a shit about who saw us, what they
thought or how much trouble they could start for me. I wanted to scoop her up
and swing her around and congratulate her on a job well fucking done.
And then lay one on her like there was no tomorrow.
I was about half way there when I saw James approach her.
They were both smiling and laughing and I guess they were just caught up in
the moment like the rest of us, but part of me felt the overwhelming urge to go
kick that guy in the nuts.
I debated for a minute about continuing on over to them. I mean he'd seriously
killed my Bella buzz one too many times, but I also didn't want to kill whatever
buzz Bella was having herself, so the question was, what was more
important?
Just then, Carlisle himself interrupted the group celebration going on and
announced, "Tanya, James…" and then, "Edward."
He didn't look happy, considering and I wondered if he'd been there for the
reading that whole time or if he had information the rest of us didn't, or what.
I also had no idea what the hell it meant that he'd called our names out until
Tanya and James stopped what they were doing as though they'd been
paused by a remote control and followed Carlisle up the stairs to his office
area.
So I followed.
Not having any goddamn idea what to expect.
I was pretty sure Bella was watching me but I was way too nervous all of a
sudden to look at her and try to read her face.
I was the last to walk in to Carlisle's office where James and Tanya were
already sitting in each of the comfy chairs that were across from Carlisle's
desk.
Carlisle was also sitting, writing something down on a piece of paper.
I figured I had to look awkward, just standing there, so I eyed Tanya and
James to see what they were doing.
Nothin', just...waiting for Carlisle.
"Do we…" I started to ask if there was something we should be doing but
Carlisle interrupted.
"Tanya, beginning tomorrow, Edward will be Show Runner, I want you to start
his training as soon as possible."
He was still looking down, still writing.
"I figured as much, C, I'm already on it," Tanya answered, very matter of
factly.
"A wha…?" I started, but noticed I'd stepped on something.
What IS that?
I looked down.
Fucking gum?
I reached down to pull it off as I lifted my shoe and it stretched between the
carpet and my sole.
Great.
"What?" James lurched forward in his chair, but didn't get up and my head
snapped up to see what he was so pissed about as I tried desperately to get
the sticky substance off of my shoe.
"You're making," he waved a hand backward at me. "An inexperienced,
INTERN your Show Runner?" he laughed maniacally and then added, "Are
you nuts?"
Carlisle lifted his eyes to James but didn't say anything.
I was still trying to figure out what this meeting was about.
"Um, what's a…" I was trying again but also losing my balance as I stood
there, twisting and twirling the gooey shit around my finger.
It was fucking never ending, this thing.
"Are you questioning my decision, James?" Carlisle asked him.
"Abso-goddamn-lutely I'm questioning your decision," he retorted and then
decided to pull out all the stops, I guess. "Are you going to be bringing on ALL
of your nephews, or should this be the only one I expect?"
If the knowledge James had just thrown out there shocked Carlisle, he didn't
show it.
In fact, he hadn't even looked at me since I'd walked in, so I was one
confused puppy as to why I was even there.
I finally got the gum all off of my shoe and was left with only one dilemma.
Where to chuck it.
"Can I just…ask…one little…" I started as I looked around for something,
anything to throw that damn piece of gum away into, but seriously, it was like I
wasn't even there.
Carlisle had leaned forward onto his forearms that rested on his desk in front
of him and looked James right in the eyes and said, "James, try not to take
this personally, but, Fuck. You."
There's seriously, gotta be a trash can around here somewhere.
I looked around some more.
Ah!
"Excuse me?"
"You heard me, James," he told him, then looked over to Tanya as I found my
way over to the receptacle I'd found.. "Tanya, have you ever known me to
promote someone without good reason?"
Promote someone?
"Did you just…?" I asked, to no avail, flicking my fingers at the empty trash
can desperately, but the damn gum just…wouldn't…come…OFF.
Jesus!
"No, sir," Tanya said.
"When did…?"
"And have you ever had issue with any of the promotions I've made at this
station?"
"Absolutely not, sir."
I didn't even get my mouth open before he spoke to James again and it was
really just as well, I was still busy scraping the gum from finger to finger as it
dangled limply above the trash can.
"So when I say Edward is the new Show Runner, James, he's the new Show
Runner…" he was getting louder and louder. "...and if you have a problem
with that, you can pack your shit and leave this station, I'm sure we'll find
another Producer…though he or she may not be as talented as you, but they
certainly won't question my god. Damn. DECISIONS."
I snuck a peek over at Carlisle then.
He smoothed his hair with one hand while he fixed the pencils that he'd
moved with the pounding of his fist onto his desk just then with the other and I
have to say, that was the loudest I'd ever heard Carlisle get since I'd met the
man, and I was impressed.
James's jaw was tight and I couldn't even enjoy the moment of victory I should
have been having because I was still trying to understand just exactly what it
was I should be feeling victorious about.
He didn't say anything, he just got up, nodded to Carlisle and left the room,
making a disgusted sound through his nose as he passed me.
Carlisle's receptionist took that opportunity to make her way over to me and
grab the gum from off of my fingers with a paper towel. Then she threw it into
a container she was holding and whispered to me while nodding at the empty
receptacle I had been fighting with, "That's…not a trash can."
"Sorry," I whispered back, then I wiped my hands on my pants as I
straightened myself up and walked back over to where Carlisle and Tanya
were sitting and plopped down into the free chair.
"Anything else you need from me, C?" Tanya asked and he once again
became the man I knew, smiled at her and said, "No, Tanya, thank you."
She also got up then, took the paper Carlisle held up to her that he'd been
writing on and she turned to go but not before winking at me and mouthing,
"Congratulations," on her way out.
When the doors closed I was left, just...sitting there, awestruck, confuddled,
bewildered and just about everything you might associate with shell shock and
Carlisle wasn't looking at me again.
And my fingers were still sticky.
Now Carlisle was typing something on his computer and I was about ready to
start in with the questions again when he finally spoke to me, ending his email,
or, whatever it was, turning to me.
"I take it you told your friends about being my nephew?"
I laughed.
A little nervously at first but then it actually turned into a genuine laugh,
remembering how they'd all accepted me even before I'd accepted myself.
"Smart move, son," he said and then moved on to his next subject before I
could even process him calling me 'son' again.
"Do you know what the Nielsens are, Edward?"
"Uh, yeah? Who doesn't?" I snorted.
I mean seriously…duh.
Carlisle smirked a little and then picked up another piece of paper to read to
me.
"Last night our Nielsens ratings doubled, Edward…do you have any idea what
that means?"
"Ummm…" That I can afford some wet towels to get this freaking gum off of
my fingers?
He didn't wait for me to get smarmy again.
"It means you're a goddamn genius and our station is about the blow the roof
off of NBC, CBS and ABC combined!"
He clapped his hands and laughed as I kinda let out this weird noise that
sounded like something between hysteria and a cry for help.
He told me how proud he was of me and we talked a little about the show
and…James and he was now the second person to warn me about how the
guy is good at what he does, but is also a very dangerous person to fuck with,
so to be careful.
I guess even Carlisle couldn't protect me from ALL sides, after all.
Hopefully it wouldn't come down to that.
I got up to leave finally and then stopped. "Oh," I said as I got to the double
doors of his office. "One more thing, Carlisle?"
He looked up and raised his brow at me, waiting for my question.
"What does a Show Runner do, exactly?"
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