16
Jillian woke up early and began writing. Brian slept in since he was currently unemployed. After two hours of writing erotica, Jillian found herself completely wet and for the first time on a weekday anyway, she had somewhere to turn. She headed upstairs. When she walked into the bedroom, Brian was walking out of the bathroom naked and drying his hair with a towel. She said, "Oh, good you're clean."
"Why?"
"I feel like blowing you."
"Writing again?" he asked with a fake frown.
"Do you have to make that same joke every time?"
"Sorry, I'll stop."
She walked up to him and took his penis in her hand. It was already growing before she touched it. She said, "You don't have to. I still think it's cute, but it'll probably wear thin pretty soon." Jillian kissed his chest as she continued stroking him.
He asked, "Purely out of curiosity, what were you writing about?"
"A scene where this married couple has anal sex for the very first time."
"Sounds hot."
"It was."
She cupped his balls as she shimmied her hips. "I kinda feel like doing everything too."
"Really?"
Jillian nodded and then the doorbell rang. She sighed. "Keep it hard, and I'll be right back." She headed for the door and then turned back. She paused and gave him a sexy look. "Maybe we should even go around the world." He smiled.
She rushed to the foyer with her mind wandering, and the heat boiling up in her loins. When she opened the door, she found a young man standing there. He asked, "Are you Jillian Grayson?"
"Yes."
He handed over a large envelope. "Have a nice day."
Five minutes later, Brian was still in bed and still in a state of excitement. He was just about to go look for Jillian when she appeared in the door wearing a frown.
"Where were you? I can't keep it hard forever."
She shook her head and then shot back, "What?"
"What's wrong?"
"I'm being sued."
"For what?"
"Over the novel. Natalie is claiming that I created a character based on her without her permission. She's suing for defamation and invasion of privacy."
"What?" Brian asked.
"Your ex-girlfriend is suing me and my publisher for four million dollars."
"Holy shit. How can she sue? The legal team cleared you, right?"
"Yes, but I guess anyone can sue anyone."
Brian nodded as he stared straight ahead with his erection still pointing to the ceiling. Jillian glared down to it. "What the hell are you doing?"
He gave her a sheepish look as he began, "I'm, uh…Do you still want to go around…the…" She glared at him, turned, and headed toward the door. "How about just halfway around, you know to take your mind…" he shut up when she was out of sight. He whispered, "F*cking Natalie."
Jillian called the publishing company and asked for the division chief of her imprint. She reached the chief's assistant. The assistant said, "Debra's in a meeting. Can I take a message?"
"It's Jillian Grayson."
"Oh, Miss Grayson. We've actually been trying to reach you. Let me transfer you to the conference room."
A few seconds later Jillian heard, "Jillian. So I've got you on speaker. We've got Howard and Melissa from legal along with Dan Peterson, the company president. We've been discussing the lawsuit."
"Hey, Dan."
"Jillian," Dan replied. "I'm so sorry about this."
"So who is this Natalie Brookhart? Do you actually know her?" Debra asked.
Jillian paused in confusion. "Yeah."
"How?"
"She's the ex-girlfriend of my fiancé."
"Why is this the first we're hearing about this?" Dan asked.
"Wait. You guys know all about this. Albert told me everything was cleared through legal."
"Who's Albert?" Dan asked.
"Her agent," Debra replied and said louder, "Jillian, we don't have anything on this. We're completely blindsided here."
"There must be some mix-up. Albert had all the information. He told me he submitted it to legal and—"
"Look, Jillian, this is the first we're hearing about any of this. Just tell us whether the character in your novel was based on this woman or not?" Dan asked.
"Well, yes, but…"
"Jillian, this is Howard Adams. Are we correct when we assume that you don't have a signed authorization from her?"
"Uh, no, I—"
"So is it loosely based on this Miss Brookhart?" Debra asked.
"We changed her name and the college, but everything is based on true events." Jillian raddled off quickly.
"So the question is would a reasonable person be able to determine that the character is based on her?" Melissa asked.
"I don't think so," Jillian replied.
"So the cover picture of the ballerina. We assume Miss Brookhart cannot put herself into that position."
"She can. That cover was Brian's idea," Jillian replied nervously and then quickly regretted mentioning him.
"Who's Brian?" Dan asked impatiently.
"Her fiancé," Debra replied loudly. "The technical virgin thing, now that is all your creation, I assume." There was no reply from Jillian. Debra asked, "Jillian are you there?"
"I'm here."
"The virgin thing?"
Jillian sighed then said, "That's all her. That's her name for it. It's all true or as far as my son and Brian have told me."
In the conference room in New York, Howard, Melissa, Debra, and Dan sat around the small table with the speakerphone in the center. Everyone looked shocked.
"Your son?" Dan asked loudly.
Jillian said, "Yes, he was dating her for a while as well. Secretly and behind Brian's back. You see Brian kind of fell for Natalie when he saw her do this thing they all called the leg thing. She was known around campus for this particular move and—"
"Isn't that the title of the novel as well?" Dan interrupted.
"Yes, that was Bri—I mean yes it is."
"I do like the title," Debra said, and Dan glared at her. She shrugged.
"So you also stole the title from her."
"I did not, I mean…"
Dan sighed and then began, "Let me see if I have all of this straight. You based a character completely and wholly on a young woman who was not only dating your son, but also your fiancé. The cover image is a picture of a unique ballet move that Miss Brookhart is known widely for doing. Oh, and you also used a title that anyone who knows Miss Brookhart would immediately identify with her."
The four waited with their heads cocked for her reply. After five seconds Jillian said, "Well when you say it all like that it sounds kind of bad, but…"
All four people in the room exhaled, and then Dan said, "The good news is it's selling very well. So in the event that we're required to offer a settlement in the six-figure range we still might break ev—"
Back in Miami, Brian stood listening as a switch went off on Jillian. She interrupted, "I will not give that money-grubbing whore a penny." His eyes widened as he listened to only her side of the call.
"Please tell me you don't use language like that in the book referring to Miss Brookhart," Howard said.
Jillian lost her anger as she said, "Uh, there might be something along those lines in there."
Debra said, "I think I remember the phase, anal whore in reference to the Rebecca character."
"Thank you, Debra," Jillian said in a tired voice.
Dan scolded, "Look Jillian, don't speak to anyone about this. Don't give any interviews. Don't use the term anal whore, and don't even mention Miss Brookhart's name."
"This makes absolutely no sense. My agent assured me he had the clearance from legal."
"We never gave it. You'll need to discuss that with him," Dan said.
Howard said, "Regardless, Miss Grayson, I assure you that without a signed release from Miss Brookhart, this office would not have given clearance for this novel. And given the nature of terms like…anal whore…I would venture a guess that Miss Brookhart would never have signed such a release."
Dan added, "We'll look at all our options and get back with you." The line went dead. Jillian pulled the phone from her ear with her mouth wide open.
Brian quietly asked, "Do you want some wine or something?"
She nodded. "Make it a martini." He took off toward the kitchen.
Jillian's blood boiled as she dialed another number. When the call was answered she said, "Get him for me…I don't care if he's in with Barack Obama discussing his next children's book. Put me through now."
Seconds later Albert picked up the call, "Jillian, what—"
"The publisher and I are being sued by Natalie Brookhart."
"Really?"
"I just got off the phone with Debra and Dan. The lawyers were there and said that you didn't inform them about any possible legal issues related to the Rebecca character."
"That makes no sense. I definitely—"
"Cut the shit Albert. Tell me what's going on here."
He paused, sighed, and then began, "I knew they would require a release, and I knew that Natalie never would have signed one."
Jillian shot back angrily, "So then I should have pulled all that out of the book."
"I considered suggesting that, but then, quite frankly the story would have sucked."
"What the hell do you mean?" she asked, insulted.
Brian returned with her drink. She look a big sip as Albert said, "You take Natalie, I mean, Rebecca the superflexible, technical virgin, anal-sex loving, man manipulator out, and all you have left is a story about two tennis-obsessed, incredibly annoying complete losers."
She said really loudly, "Those two tennis-obsessed annoying losers are based on Brian and I!"
Brian’s face dropped as he listened in. He shook his head and then headed out of the room.
"You know what I mean," Albert said casually.
"I really don't," she shot back.
"Look, I figured only two things could happen…and both of them were good. Natalie never finds out, and the book sells well because it's fabulous or…Natalie does find out, sues, and you get so much publicity that the book sells like crazy."
"I don't know. You should have bounced this off me."
"When Kathryn Stockett was sued by that maid over the book The Help, the book shot to number one on Amazon and stayed there for months. The maid sued claiming that the character was based on her, and the judge dismissed the case."
"But did Katherine refer to the maid as an anal whore in the book?"
"She could have. I never read it," he shot back quickly.
"Do you really think she did?"
"Probably not, but—"
"This is bad. I know this is bad."
"Just trust me. Everything will be fine. Do you remember James Frey? A Million Little Pieces."
"Sure."
"Oprah selected it for her book club and sure he sold some books, but when Oprah yelled at him on live television, then he really sold some books—a lot of f*cking books."
"So you're saying I should piss Oprah off?"
"Could you? Do you have any idea how to pull it off? Maybe we could—"
"Albert, shut the f*ck up."
"All right," Alert said softly, and then he added, "Trust me on this one."
Jillian exhaled deeply. "Okay, but what do I tell Debra and Dan?"
"I'll take care of them. And if anyone asks for an interview, you should give it. I'll e-mail you a list of talking points."
"Jim said to not talk to anyone about this."
"I'll clear it with them and get back to you."
"Wait, you have them contact me directly if they want me to give interviews. I'm not sure this trust we once had has been repaired quite yet."
"Fair enough. Hey, the book has been selling great so far."
"I know, but all that money might be going to Natalie."
"It won't."
"You know I really don't need this shit. I'm getting married in less than a week."
Albert said, "Oh my God, I almost forgot about the wedding."
"Will I see you there?"
"I wouldn’t miss it. Now just try to relax."
"How can I?"
"Have a drink or two."
"Okay," she replied then put down the phone and chugged her martini.
Albert Blair sat in his office thinking. He picked up Jillian's wedding invitation from the desk and rubbed his chin. He glanced down at the background check report for Natalie Brookhart and smiled. He picked up the phone and dialed a number.
"Tim, are you available this weekend? St. Barts. Great! I'll messenger over the ticket." He hung up the phone and then screamed, "Gladys get in here."
Five seconds later his assistant rushed through the door with a pen and pad ready. Albert said, "I need two round-trip plane tickets from New York to St. Barts leaving this Saturday and returning Monday. Put one in the name Tim Dale and the other is for Natalie Brookhart. Wait—put two in Natalie's name and make them first class. She might want to take a friend. And book a hotel for each of them Saturday and Sunday nights at the same hotel I'm staying in." Gladys wrote it all down, and then he continued, "I need all that ASAP. Messenger Tim's over to him, but I need Natalie's hand delivered today. Call Jason."
Gladys stood there waiting for more instructions. He glared at her. "Don't just stand there." She rushed toward the door until he said, "Wait. Have you seen my speedboat catalog anywhere?"
She turned back to him and shrugged. He groaned as he dismissed her with the wave of his hand.