Pitching Ideas
“Where are you?” Belkin’s voice was gruff in her eat.
Tm on my way to talk to my editor. I told you. I’d come to you when I was done my meeting Presley was da gruff back to Belkin.
“I will meet you there. I have an update for you”
“It can’t wait until I meet you at the holding cells in the casino?”
“No.”
“Good grief,” she muttered when the phone went dead. She looked to her driver who was watching her in the rearview mirror and shrugged. “Do you think I’ll ever get used to dealing with cranky mob bosses?”
“You are one of them now, Miss.” Her driver grinned at her.
“Fair.” She nodded her agreement and then turned her attention back to looking out the window. She missed being able to walk everywhere and to have anonymity and freedom to come and go as she pleased. What was only a thirty–minute walk from her home to her editor’s main office, was now impossible to navigate on foot because she needed to travel with guards, paparazzi were chasing her since Liborio’s death was announced and not to mention Cruz being his overprotective self. There were no more quick jaunts to the coffee shop or going for a jog in the morning to clear her head. Now it was running on a treadmill in Cruz’s gym or having someone from her security team get her a coffee.
She pouted as she watched the traffic crawling by. It was taking almost as long to drive the short distance as it would have taken to walk because the traffic was so congested. By the time she reached Consuela’s office, she was left with only a minute to spare.
Consuela’s assistant ushered her into the room and the woman immediately was on her feet and pulling her into a tight hug. “You look tired, beautiful but tired. Tell me all this exhaustion is from rounds of mind–blowing s*x with a giant ogre of a man.”
“It’s from finding out I’m now the leader of a multi–billion–dollar company which was run by a man far more evil and wicked than most.” She hugged Consuela back, “and mind–blowing s*x with a giant ogre of a man. The guys call him Kong.”
“No!” Consuela giggled.
While there was six years in age between them, Consuela was a far more worldly woman than Presley ever had been. She’d traveled the world multiple times in her life always in search of inspiration and excitement. When she’d signed Presley’s first book while she was still in college, Consuela knew the younger woman was going to make it big in writing world and pushed her towards greatness. Presley considered her a great
friend.
“There is a request for your book to be made into a movie. My bosses are at me to convince you to let it happen.”
“The movies are never as good as the book. I’ll lose a lot of me, the storyline and the sharp dialogue if it gets turned into a movie. Not to mention, I guarantee Narnurs would not have two c***s if it was made in Hollywood and if they did, it wouldn’t be classy.”
174
< Pitching Ideas
Consuela shrugged as she plunked into her seat behind her desk, “I bet they could make it work. Who would you envision playing Narnurs if you could pick anyone in the world.”
“Cruz.” She snickered as Consuela snorted. “Imagine it.”
“His legal team has finally died down over the cover.”
“Because I blow him every time it comes up.” Presley pointed to her jaw, “I’m starting to get a jawline to rival a man’s from all the exercise this is getting.” Her words made Consuela burst into loud laughter.
“It’s a good cover. Keep doing what you’re doing so we can keep it.”
“Definitely.” She sighed, “I’m exhausted Consuela but I have so many good ideas and storylines. Usually, I can float a few ideas around, pick one and then dedicate myself to it. I’m not one of those who can write more than one story at a time. I dedicate myself to the one. This time though I have so many ideas and I can’t pick one to go with and I want to write
“Give me your top three. We can work on it.”
“Space cowboy and mafia princess.”
“Doesn’t that feel a bit close to home?”
“No. Close to home would be my idea for a mafia princess who gets sucked into a–video game and ends up with a half–ape, half–man hybrid who needs to protect her from the bad guys in the video game. When she wins the game, her prize is him getting to come out of the game and live in the real world with her.” Consuela opened and closed her mouth multiple times and then covered it with her hand. “It’s so insane it might be good.”
“Right? I want to write it, but I’m worried about how Cruz is going to react when I tell him I need him on another cover.” She sighed wistfully.
“Third option?”
“Gritty earthly police officer investigating a serial killer who turns out to be a vampiric alien from another world who survives on blood. He doesn’t mean to kill his victims but if he doesn’t eat, he will die.”
“How do you come up with this stuff?”
“I don’t know. Yesterday I was in the shower looking at Cruz’s body wash and it has mint in it and all I could think of was using mint leaves as a garnish in this vampiric alien’s bloody Mary.”
Consuela shrugged, “I like the video game one. It’s the most original and not a line you’ve worked with before.
”
“Maybe I can write it so the male lead’s superhero video game strength is a powerful finger or tongue. He can get the woman off with his one d**k and muscular tongue.”
Consuela pointed a pen at her, “your fans will love it.” She narrowed her gaze on Presley, “you’re holding out on me. There’s another one. What is it?”
“Fine.” She looked up to the ceiling and gave an exaggerated groan, “what about,” she rubbed her finger between her eyebrows, “if I go completely in an opposite direction from the detective, superhero thing and write a sweet romance story about the girl next door and her brother’s best friend.”
Consuela lifted an eyebrow. “Now it’s really close to home.”
Pitching Ideas
“I’m not the sweet girl next door. It would take a lot of creative energy for me to write someone sweet and
innocent.”
“Presley, you write murder and mayhem better than anyone. You really want to deviate from what you know brings you bank?”
“I don’t need bank.” She shrugged carelessly. “I have contractual obligations to give you three more books over the next six years but,” she made a face, “I don’t need to do it for the money. Liborio Bartoli made me the richest woman on the planet.” She noticed the panic on Consuela’s face, and she held up her hand, “no, no, don’t think I’m going to breach or cancel my contract. I’m not. I know you and many people in this company rely on me for an income and after all the love and support and effort you’ve shown me over the years, I’d never do you dirty. I’m just,” she whispered, “I feel like there is so much dark in my world right now, I want a bit of light. Can’t I write a bit of light?”
“Let’s talk about your sweet romance.” Consuela nodded, “what if, the brother’s best friend is really an alien.” “What about a robot? A cyborg. A sentient being but he was created by his single father who always wanted a child after his wife died? Nobody knows he’s a robot until she catches him fixing a wire or something. She’s the only one who knows his secret.”
Consuela was beaming now as she leaned back in her seat and kicked her feet. “Yes! Do it. I’ll get approval for the outline and iron out your advance and while you don’t need the money, the advance is something we’ve done since book three. I don’t want to stop doing what is right. Get me your outline and I’ll pitch it.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Really. I trust you Presley. You’ve never written anything which hasn’t made me look good to my superiors. If you told me you wanted to write a story about lizards f*****g I’d be fine with it.”
“That’ll be the next story.”
A loud bang on the door made them both jump.
“It’s probably Belkin.”
“Belkin?”
“My new Russian friend. Belkin is his last name. I don’t know his first and I’m not sure I’m ready yet, but he said he’d meet me here and he’s not a patient guy.”
“He’s bratva?” Consuela made nervous movements.
“How do you know the term?”
“I read as much smut as I peddle,” Consuela whispered at her, “however, my grandmother on my father’s side was Russian. My mother’s family might be Venezuelan, but my father’s mother was a scary b***h who used to smack me with the same spoon she stirred her soup with. Apparently her entire village was owned by the bratva. She used to tell me horror stories as bedtime tales.”
“You’re going to love this guy then.”
She got up from the seat when the knock sounded harder. She pulled the door open and sure enough it was Belkin looking pissed off at being made to wait. “Belkin. Please come in and interrupt my business meeting like my work doesn’t hold value or importance.”
“Can she be trusted?” he pushed past Presley and closed the door with a decisive click. He shot a look at
3/4
< Pitching Ideas
Consuela, his eyes narrowing.
“What kind of f*****g question is that?” Consuela asked bitterly. “I’m not a pakhan barging into someone’s office like he owns it, asshole. It’s my office. If you don’t like it, take your conversation elsewhere.”
“Who are you calling asshole?”
“You, pakhan,” she mocked his title.
“You two are so going to f**k,” Presley muttered under her breath as took her seat back. “What do you want
Belkin?”
“Estrella’s husband has asked to meet with you. He wants you to grant permission for his divorce. It seems Liborio wouldn’t allow people in his family to divorce unless he approved it. He really ran his farmily with an iron fist. It is quite impressive. The man wants custody of his daughter.”
“I really hate Estrella, but I’m not convinced tearing a little girl from her mother is the right thing to do.” “He sent video evidence of Estrella earlier today beating the child. Since she is on lockdown in her home, he left her to watch the little girl while he ran into town. He’d added video to the house during Estrella’s last assignment for Bartoli thinking something was off with the housekeepers since their daughter was becoming more and more sullen. Turns out, it was her own mother, not the housekeeper. Normally I don’t give a s**t, but she smacked this child and threatened to put her in the brothel Liborio rescued Estrella from when she was younger. She threatened to sell the child because ever since she gave birth to her, Liborio no longer looked at her the same and she blames the child. I want the kid away from her. Authorize his divorce and full
custody.”
“Are you ordering me, Belkin?” Presley c****d her head to one side. “Doesn’t sound like a very collaborative
request.”
“We can say it’s me calling in my favor for rescuing your ass off a ship destined to your slavery as a brood
mare.”
She laughed at Belkin, “deal. Then we’re even.”
“Yes.”
“Perfect. Arrange the divorce for him with full custody but bring Estrella to me here in Vancouver.”
“Done.” Belkin nodded and then turned back to Consuela. “You are having dinner with me at eight. I will pick you up from your home. Wear something which will come off easily. Presley is right. We are definitely going to be fucking.”
After he stormed out of the office without waiting for her response, Presley looked at Consuela. “Are you
okay?”
“I think I just came.”
17
