Page 10 of You & I, Rewritten

Outside of the obvious physical attraction I have to the man, it has been amazing to get a small glimpse of his work ethic. It is so apparent to me how much he cares about the success of this company, but more importantly, he seems to genuinely do everything within his control to ensure the success of our authors…especially the smaller ones, a quality that I think is so rare in our industry.Or at least overlooked.When everything is numbers-driven and reliant on sales, performance, and marketability, it’s easy to forget that at the core of what we do are real people, something that Graham has made sure to remind us of on more than one occasion in my short time on this team.That’s why he’s going to love this book, dummy.

I enter the conference room early, ready to fight like hell for Lana’s book if need be, and start to mentally go over the notes Klair gave me last night.Let your passion shine through. Let your passion shine through. Let your passion…

“Good morning, Will.” Graham’s cool tone snaps me out of my new mantra, igniting a whole new set of nerves that I don’t really want to be dealing with right now.

“Good morning!” I all but sing.

Bleh, too eager.

Why does this man turn me into a blubbering idiot? I swear I’m competent and it would besonice if I felt like Graham was getting to see that. Am I reaching for the stars here?

The rest of the team files in, quickly taking their usual seats upon realizing that Graham is already at the head of the table tapping his pen against his notebook, the physical embodiment of agitation.

“Alright, let’s get started.” Graham has his meticulously overwhelming to-do list in front of him. “Audra, where are we with the covers for the new YA series?” Before Audra can answer, Klair comes not-so-gracefully into the office, a box of delicious goodies from the bakery around the corner in her hands.

“So sorry, everyone,” she whispers, clearly embarrassed for showing up late to yet another meeting. “I was dealing with a shellfish emergency on the phone with the caterer for our New Voices in Writing Gala.” Looking toward Graham as she takes her seat next to me, she adds, “I brought treats to make up for my tiny tardiness.”

“Is there anything you need from me for the event?” Graham doesn’t appear to be bothered by her interruption.Thank goodness.

“Oh no,” she waves off his offer to jump in. “I’ve got it handled…but I appreciate the offer!” Graham and Klair have one of the best working relationships in the office. Let’s be honest,everyonehas a great working relationship with Klair. But somehow, she’s the only one who gets this version of him, and knowing a little more about their history, it totally makes sense.

“Well, let me know if and when you need anything from me.” Looking around the table, he adds, “…or from the rest of the team since this is an event for all of us. Anyway, where was I…Audra?”

Graham proceeds to tick off items on his list as the team provides their updates. He grills Mark for statuses on several upcoming releases, taking extensive notes as Mark rambles on. He goes over the budget with Jane briefly before circling back to Audra with a few adjusted timelines he needs them to pass along to their authors.

Besides the so-called “shellfish emergency,” Graham listens intently as Klair goes over the upcoming event she’s been leading the planning efforts on. He clearly trusts her professional judgment and overall vision because he rarely interjects and when he does, it’s him offering his assistance to take things off of her plate.

“Before we wrap up, any new business?” He looks around the table at each of us, lingering when his gaze meets mine.

Ow!Klair kicked me under the table.Oh…New business means me!

Clearing my throat, I sit up straight in my chair.Let your passion shine through.

“I actually have something, Graham.” He’d already anticipated the meeting was concluding but reopens his notebook with a cocked eyebrow. I take that as my sign to continue.

“Recently, a manuscript came across my desk that I really think we should consider. It’s titledI Should Have Told You Thenand written by a fresh, new voice, Lana Taylor.”

The entire team is giving me their full attention, but all I care about is the expression on Graham’s face.He’s soooo difficult to read.

“She’s written a shocking and reverent portrayal of grief, regret, and familial trauma,” I continue. Graham looks down, now disinterested.Breathe.

“And while there’s still a lot of work to be done, which I’m willingly and enthusiastically signing on for, I can confidently say I’ve never quite read anything like this. Breaking free from the endless stereotypical rom-coms and political so-called thrillers, this book fills every gap missing from our current roster: humanity, resolution, and second chances. It’ll sell itself.”

His eyes darted back to mine, looking at me intently with the slightest smirk on that face of his. My insides melt.

“I’m definitely intrigued,” he says while jotting something down in his notebook. “In the interest of time, can you get me a few revised chapters by the end of the week?” Turning his attention to Klair, he adds, “Let’s make sure Ms. Taylor receives an invite to the gala. Can you work with Will to make sure he’s prepped?”

“You know it,” Klair says, her words exuding excitement.

Did I just pull this off?I look at Klair and she gives me a thumbs up.Yes!

We all begin to exit the conference room with Graham’s various marching orders. Klair already starts bombarding me with details about the gala—dates and times and dress codes—but all I can think about is that my pitch made Graham smile. And how the sight of said smile, regardless of how slight it was, makes me feel like I’m going to collapse on the spot in a pool of happiness.

“Will, can you hang back for a second?” Graham’s voice interrupts my lingering thoughts of his smile and rips me right back to reality. Klair hovers in the doorway, her eyebrows raised in concern but I give her aI got thiswink as I turn to face Graham once more.

“Of course—what’s up?” I do my best to lean casually against the conference table despite having no clue as to what kind of conversation this is going to be. His demeanor has shifted from the very poised man who was just leading our staff meeting to someone now looking down and weirdly fidgeting with the binding of his black notepad.

Graham slowly raises his gaze and I’m met with a heartbreaking softness I could and would willingly get lost in. “I think it’s safe to say we got off on the wrong foot and I’d like to change that. I know I haven’t given you the warmest of welcomes…”Excuse me, what?I definitely wasn’t expectingthat.“…especially during our little scavenger hunt. I was dealing with a personal matter but that’s no excuse.”

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