Page 66 of The Woodcarver's Model
“I had a meeting with one of my clients,” she said as she sauntered to the window overlooking a quaint little café across the street. She would treat herself to a nice coffee when this was done. “He was surprised at the number of cuts you made to his article.”
“Well, the article was a rather lengthy one, as I recall. And he did sign a contract that stipulated the editor’s right to make cuts for reason of size.”
“Size, yes, but not in such a way as to change the author’s viewpoint. And when did you start dealing with the writers directly when they have competent representation? I hope you haven’t lost faith in my abilities, Cedric?” she said with just the right wounded tone to her voice.
He moved in to reassure her.
“No, my dear. Nothing of the sort. It was merely a matter of timing. If we were going to get the piece into the next issue we had to act quickly.” He placed his arms around her waist, pulling her close. “And every…second…counted.” As he bent to kiss her, she drove her epoxy-hardened talons into his crotch, grasping onto his low-hanging fruit like an eagle onto a fish, and twisted.
Cedric’s scream was only drowned out by Brenda’s shout of “I quit!” and the sound of her phone hitting the inner office door.
“If I ever hear of you manipulating another article for the sake of promoting your other business ventures, I will go to your wife with everything you’ve been up to, and I mean everything. And don’t forget—I have the videos to prove it. She’ll cut you off without a dime…and your precious balls.”
Estelle stormed out through the empty outer office and across the street where she treated herself to a lovely French roast. As she sat and sipped her coffee, she smiled. It had been a long flight, but it had been worth it to see the look on his face. No one took advantage of one of her clients like that and got away with it.
She had planned on catching flight 8076 to Toronto via Vancouver, but realised that if she stopped off in that city for a few days, she could touch base in person with a few film people she knew. She had an idea that she wanted to run by them. Besides, it would make it easier to write the trip off. After all, costs associated with taking revenge on a badly behaved ex-lover were not covered by the Canada Revenue Agency as deductible expenses.
Chapter Twenty-Two
“Jesus! Put out some safety cones for Christ’s sake. Are you trying to kill someone?” Rob screamed from the truck which he managed to stop a few yards from the drilling rig.
“Ricky! Did you put out the cones like I told you to?” yelled Frank, who had just barely been able to leap out of the way.
“I was going to do it after I helped Marco.”
“Fucking idiot,” Frank mumbled as he walked over to Rob’s Suburban. “Hey, look, buddy, I’m sorry about that. Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” Rob said. He was still gripping the steering wheel.
“Sorry, I got this new kid working with me. Sometimes I don’t think his head’s screwed on right.
“Ricky, stop starin’ and put out those conesnow!”
Ricky begrudgingly pulled some orange safety cones off the mount welded to the front bumper of the truck. He walked them past Rob’s truck, not making eye contact with anyone. They could hear him throwing them down one by one when he was around the corner out of sight.
Rob stepped out of the Suburban.
Frank stood his ground. “We’ll get the truck out of the way as soon as the drill rig is secured. It’ll just take a few minutes.”
“Good. I’m in a bit of a rush.”
“No fucking kidding,” Ricky mumbled as he walked past, back towards the truck.
“Jerk,” Rob muttered.
“What the fuck did you say?” Ricky yelled, pumped up on the humiliation he was fed by the others.
Rob felt the tension in the air. He sussed out the situation. The kid didn’t look like a fighter, but the runt of the litter was often the one you had to watch out for.
The kid approached him. His eyes were on fire. His upper lip curled like a mad dog’s. This kid had a fight building inside him and he was going to let it out.
“What’s wrong, little man? Not feeling so strong outside of your big truck?”
“Ricky!” Frank snapped, but Ricky wasn’t hearing anything. He was locked in on the one guy he thought he could beat, and he was going to make him pay.
The boy shoved Rob by the shoulder. Rob almost lost his balance. He could fight back, but if the others got into the fray, he’d be a goner.
Ricky shoved again.
