Kylie walks in, setting a stack of files down in front of Brad, and he slips his glasses on as he opens the first one.
“Okay, great,” he says absently, and I know we could have said, We’re doing pretty shitty, Brad. You’ve put us both on edge. A week ago we were cruising down the road toward a stellar bang, but now we’re trying to seek out each other’s weaknesses and exploit them, and he would have had the same reaction. Brad really is a dick. I’m glad Evie gave him that dog-food bar.
“We’re going to talk about clients today,” he says, flipping the tops of a few pages down as he riffles through client sheets. “There will probably be a few more, but right now we’re just here for the big ones.” He looks up at me. “Carter, you’re going to work on Dan Printz, correct?”
I nod. “I’ve already reached out to his team. We’re playing phone tag.”
I feel Evie shift beside me, and there’s something in her posture . . . some stiffness that wasn’t there only a few seconds ago. Her foot is no longer pressed to mine, and out of the corner of my eye I see her slowly fold her hands across her middle.
Is she . . . is she pissed that I stepped up to try for Dan Printz?
My chest seems to sink in as the sequence of emails unscrolls in my memory. Evie emailed, throwing her hat in the ring as well, and Brad handed him over to me. At the time, it was only one string of emails in the hysterical post-merge blur of my inbox, but now it occurs to me Evie probably saw my email as completely underhanded.
Oh shit. Was it? Wouldn’t she have done the same?
I blink into focus, catching what Brad is already saying. “. . . assume you have people who will transition here from CTM, including Emil and a few others, so for the time being I want to start you slowly, focus on reassuring everyone that it’s business as usual. But adding Dan would be a big coup.” He sorts through a few papers and then glances up at me, and I nod, letting him know I’ve heard him. He looks back down again. “The first new player on your list of P&D clients will be Jett Payne. Jett starred in a few indies and was added to MTV’s biggest series a few years ago. His character was killed off in the finale when he was offered a larger part with a network show, and, in my opinion, he’s primed to blow up. Your TV experience will come in handy, but talk to Joanne about him. She’s helped folks transition back and forth there.”
He slides the file across to me and I scan it, jotting down a few notes.
Dan is a heavy hitter in features, Jett is an up-and-comer. So far, so good.
“Next for you, Carter, is Jamie Huang, reality show darling.” It’s impossible to miss the mocking in his tone, but outwardly, I ignore it. Reality television is one of the largest markets in the eighteen-to-twenty-nine demographic, and Jamie’s show consistently runs in the top five. She has a huge social media presence, and while that means nothing if people don’t show up and buy the thing you’re selling, from what I’ve gathered, her fans do. A friend of mine met her briefly and mentioned that she was eager to move into film.
“Jamie’s manager is Allie . . .” He searches his notes. “Allie Brynn. She’s good—Jamie has had a fast rise and a wild online following, but she’s as dumb as a bag of sand.” Evie clears her throat—meaningfully—but Brad doesn’t seem to notice. “Allie keeps her in line, and her main job is to get Jamie to do whatever you want her to do.”
“Got it,” I say, noting Allie’s name. I’ve worked with managers extensively in the past. For the most part, they make my job easier.
“Alex Young is one of our biggest clients, Carter, and I think he’d do well on your list,” Brad continues, and I feel my heart speed up. Alex is a singer-songwriter whose breakout album debuted at number two in the UK, and he’s poised to become a massive US star.
My palms are sweating.
“I’m giving him to you because of your theater and music background in New York. You’ll be working in collaboration with the music team here and I’ll get that over to you, but people are poking around him for features. Personally, I think there’s no rush there and you can be picky. You’ll have fewer clients than Evie at first, but I think Alex is going to be right up your alley.”
I take a moment to glance from Alex’s file to Evie, and she looks impressed. We can do this, I think. We have complementary strengths, and we can sell Brad on the idea of us as a team. A wild little part of me daydreams that we could become something like our own specialized subdepartment if we mesh really well.
“Have your assistant get me your current list—only the folks who are sticking around after this merge—and we’ll update and go from there,” Brad says, and I nod, reaching for my phone and firing off a message to Justin.
“Evie,” Brad says, and she straightens in her chair. “I know you’ve got a pretty heavy list already and are working on contracts for Adam Elliott and Sarah Hill. That’s amazing.” He shakes his head and seems to add somewhat begrudgingly, “Well. I’m thrilled.”
Great. Both Adam and Sarah are A-listers, already chest-deep in the industry. Brad glances back to Evie’s folder, open in front of him. “The first one I’m going to give to you is Marian Isaac.”
I hate the way my first response to this is to want to laugh, because although Marian will bring in a ton of money, it’ll be no picnic for Evie. Marian is a model turned A-list actress who’s known for being a nightmare. She’s demanding, she’s often rude to interviewers and fans, and some of her screaming matches with her last director are legendary. I’m not surprised some other agent used the merge as an excuse to trade her off.
Evie nods, expression largely unreadable, but I’ll admit she doesn’t look particularly surprised. Evie could talk a grenade out of exploding, Brad had said. This is exactly what he meant.
“She was recently dropped from Lorimac,” Evie says.
“That’s right.” Brad laughs. “She made them three million dollars last year and they still dropped her like a hot potato.”
“Who was handling her before?” she asks.
“Chad.” Brad gives a sardonic grin. “He was happy to pass her off.”
“Oh, I’m sure he was.” Evie laughs knowingly, and something itches inside me to enter this banter so I don’t continue to feel like the newbie.
It’s just that I have no idea who Chad is.
Brad leans in, giving her a confident nod. “I have zero doubt that you’re the one to handle her.”
This feels like a sharp stab.
And I’m growing uneasy, because aside from her current list, he’s given her a big name, with the probability of signing two more, and all three of these clients are huge commissions.
Why the hell was I starting to feel bad about jumping in and taking Dan Printz?