Chapter 33 #3
“That’s great for job security. It seems that everyone who works for him really enjoys what they do. But you sound a bit apprehensive. Do you think Mr. Cunningham is setting expectations too high?” Kenny inquired.
“No, that’s not it, necessarily. Mr. C is the smartest businessman I’ve ever met; and I met a lot of successful people while I was on tour.
Everything he touches turns to gold. He leads by example and people work hard for him.
He’d never dabble in something he wasn’t confident was going to be prosperous. ”
“What’s the hesitation about then? Are you not satisfied in your role in all of it? You have a job a million guys would kill for.” Kenny didn’t want to put J.P. on the spot, again, but the journalist in her couldn’t help but ask follow-up questions.
“I love my job. If you can call it that. It sounds cliché, but it never seems like work.” He laughed before taking a more serious tone.
“For a while now, Mr. C has been talking a lot about succession plans and setting up his corporation for a seamless transition in the event he ever walks away, which I never see happening. He wants me to take on a larger role, much larger role in the organization. And I guess that’s an overwhelming thought for me,” J.P. said while glancing toward the sky.
“Like, second in command type of role?”
J.P. drew his attention back to Kenny. “He hasn’t come out and said it in so many words, but yes, that’s what he has in mind.”
“Congratulations, J.P.! I understand why that’s intimidating but what an opportunity. For someone you have so much admiration and respect for, to have such faith in you that he wants you to carry on his legacy, that’s huge!”
Kenny hoped these words didn’t come out insincere or rehearsed.
She believed what she said but wondered if J.P.
perceived it that way. The conversations she had with interview subjects were always deep and intimate and she truly cared about their emotions, thoughts, and feelings; but it had been some time since she had a heart to heart with someone who she wasn’t going to put on national television.
Someone that, whether she wanted to or not, she was developing a personal connection with.
There was a line between personal and professional, work and play.
But she had lost all sense of how to navigate the line when it came to him.
“It’s a funny thing, Kenny. I’ve thought that.
I’m not afraid of the hard work that comes with his success.
I was born a competitor. I’m a boot on the ground, all-hands-on-deck kind of guy.
The fear is disappointing him. Or failing his legacy,” he said somberly.
“The guy is like a freaking unicorn. This is all off the record, right? Or whatever the phrase is that people invoke like the Fifth Amendment when they say something to a reporter but instantly regret it?” He laughed as if trying to lighten the mood.
“I’ve never said any of that out loud. And I’ve never called another man a unicorn. ”
“Your secret is safe with me.” She swept her right pointer finger and thumb across her lips and flexed her wrist toward the yacht basin like she was tossing away the key that zipped up J.P.
’ s secret into the water; that would be washed into Calibogue Sound and eventually make its way into the Atlantic Ocean.
“But maybe you should give it a try and see what happens.”
Kenny coyly smiled, imparting the same words of wisdom on J.P. that he shared with her when she disclosed her book debacle.
“I see what you just did there. You don’t miss much, Kennedy, do you?”
“Did you just call me by my real name?”
“It seemed like a good opportunity to call you by your first and last name, but I don’t know your last name. So, your full first name had to suffice. Anyway, how are things going with your romantic comedy? I don’t think I should be the only one on the hot seat tonight.”
“I’ve decided to give it a valiant effort.” She straightened her back and firmly planted her feet on the ground.
She imagined she looked like the Speaker of the House sitting behind the president of the opposition party at a State of the Union address, who wanted to believe everything the leader of the free world said but wasn’t fully on board.
“Good for you. I admire people who can go outside of their comfort zone,” J.P. asserted. “Can you tell me what it’s about? Or do authors keep those details private until the swanky launch party?”
“A swanky launch party isn’t quite on my radar. I’m not a household name like Carrie Bradshaw,” Kenny quipped. “I’m at the stage in my publishing career that I’ll be canvassing independent bookstores begging them to stock their shelves with a copy or two.”
“Even smart girls like you compare themselves to fictional characters like Carrie Bradshaw? Guys get a bad rap in the commonsense department but at least we aspire to be real men—like Matthew McConaughey or a Manning brother,” J.P. shot back.
“Touché. I do have a few thoughts swirling around up here.” She lifted her hands to the sides of her head and started making circles. “But I haven’t settled on one, yet.”
“Let’s hear these ideas that are ‘swirling around up there.’ I was never much of a writer. Term papers were the bane of my existence in school, but books always fascinated me. How people take simple thoughts and create stories about people and places . . . it’s pretty cool if you think about it.”
“Are you saying that I’m cool and fascinating?” Kenny blurted out, knowing that it was the additional sips of beer that were talking.
“Maybe.” J.P. grinned. “I guess it depends on what kind of people and places you’re dreaming up for this romantic comedy that the ladies of Sea Pines are going to be running around the plantation with copies of next summer.”
“Fine. Just remember, this is stuff that someone wants me to write. The type of books I want to write are much deeper, smarter, and more intelligent.”
“I get it. You’re not the warm and fuzzy, get swept off your feet, fall head over heels, kind of girl.” Her rolled his eyes.
She took a pause at hearing those words come out of his mouth. She wondered if she’d be happier being a little more of that kind of girl and a little less the overly cautious and practical one that she always was.
“These are the top three contenders, as of now. An aspiring actress from Toad Suck, Arkansas, works two jobs and saves her earnings for a year so she can make the trip to Park City, Utah, to volunteer at the Sundance Film Festival. She’s assigned to help at a bus stop for the shuttle system that transports festival goers from theater to theater.
There, she befriends one of the regular passengers, whom she eventually learns is one of the most revered film directors in the industry.
He casts her in a film he’s directing, she wins an Oscar for her performance, they fall in love and live happily ever after. ”
“That sounds like it has real possibilities. Park City would be a cool setting. But Toad Suck? Where did you pull that?”
“I never heard of a famous person coming from Toad Suck, so I thought it sounded like a real stretch for this young girl from an obscure place to strike it big at life and love. That’s the whole point of these chick flicks, right? For the seemingly impossible to become possible.”
“Absolutely, I love it. But you mean to tell me that you didn’t make up that name? Toad Suck is a real place?” J.P. asked with his eyes wide in disbelief.
“Oh yes, it’s a real place. The story goes that there was a tavern in Perry County along the Arkansas River where local fisherman would suck down so much beer that they’d swell up like toads. I bet Gregg Russell didn’t know that. Reporter nerds acquire a lot of bizarre trivia, too.” Kenny laughed.
“That’s as obscure as knowing that fly fisherman Brian Vaughn broke a world record in 2018 when he caught a thirty-five-pound crevalle jack in Calibogue Sound.
We would dominate at bar trivia,” J.P. said, beginning to think that the two would be compatible in more ways than winning at a game that would score them a free basket of chicken wings on a Tuesday night. “What else have you got?”
“How about this? A student who is getting his MFA in photography from RISD—Rhode Island School of Design—is scheduled to go on a class trip to a game reserve in South Africa for a few weeks to work on his wildlife portfolio. But when there is a mix-up with his passport and required travel vaccines, he bitterly ends up backstage at New York’s Fashion Week.
Things get worse when the Chanel models fly in from Paris and there is a language barrier. ”
“This guy seems to be in a win-win situation. Surrounded by beautiful women he’s forced to get up close and personal with and they don’t speak English.
So, he doesn’t have to pretend to listen to them complain about how difficult it is to walk up and down a runway? I see no dilemma.” J.P. shook his head.
“You’re such a guy.” Kenny rolled her eyes.
“You didn’t let me finish and you’re missing the point.
“Things begin to turn around when the CEO of the fashion company arrives in New York. She’s the brains behind the company, who lives in London and speaks English.
She’s not tall or waif-thin or glamorous in anyway; she doesn’t have a sexy accent, but she does tell the photographer that the models have been swooning over him.
In an unlikely choice, the photographer falls for the plain Jane CEO, not the beautiful models. And the two live happily ever after.”
“I’m sure the CEO was slightly attractive. She might not be a model, but she still works in fashion. It must be some type of requirement?”
“Are guys really that superficial?” She glared.
“Don’t answer that. The last contender is about a highly decorated former combat pilot who starts flying international flights for United Airlines in and out of Dulles International Airport after he was honorably discharged from the army and falls in love with a TSA agent. ”
“Let me guess, they live happily ever after.”
Kenny shot him daggers that quickly morphed into a smile. “The last one isn’t my favorite. At first, I had the TSA agent being a flight attendant but that’s too cliché, like a doctor falling for a nurse. It’d all be very predictable.”
“Agree. I’m also not a fan of the Washington D.C. airport as a setting. Are they going to get to know each other over an overpriced candy bar from the Hudson News Stand or cold slice of Sbarro’s pizza at Gate A22? As a reader, I’d much prefer to be taken to Park City, Utah,” J.P. stated.
“What about the second scenario?”
“I’d be more inclined to read it if the photographer ended up on a safari in South Africa. You know my thoughts on New York.” J.P. laughed.
She slowly rocked back and forth in her chair and looked up at the clear sky that was brightly lit with stars.
“Thanks for hearing me out, J.P. People say the hardest part about writing is letting other people read your work. But it’s just as hard to share your ideas.
” She brought her gaze back down and turned her head to him.
“Anytime. I like to hear what you’re thinking. Can I get you another?” He motioned to Kenny’s almost empty plastic cup.
“No. Thank you, though. I haven’t been drinking much since I’ve been down here. Another one would go right to my head. I should probably start heading home.” She leaned forward in her chair and tapped Cliff on the head, who had fallen asleep and not stirred since they sat down.
“I should probably get going, too. Mr. C will be in his office with guns blazing tomorrow. He’s all hyped up about the Jekyll Island opportunity.
And he called for an impromptu Employee Appreciation Weekend.
Like I said, he doesn’t do anything small, so it’ll be a busy few days of entertaining the staff. ” J.P. popped to his feet.
“You have fun with that. I’m happy I ran into you . . . again. And thanks for the drink.” She started to walk away.
“Kenny, wait.” J.P. took a step in her direction.
Alarmed by the sound of her own name, she halted and spun around so her face was almost resting on J.P.’s chest. She took a step back and looked up.
“Can I take you to dinner? How about next Wednesday? There’s a great seafood place off the plantation on New Orleans Road. It’s called Charlie’s. I think you’d really like it.” J.P. looked so deeply into Kenny’s eyes that she felt like he was staring through them.
“That sounds great, I’d love to go to dinner with you,” she softly responded.
“Great it’s a date,” he confidently said as he leaned in and gave Kenny a kiss on the cheek near the corner of her right lip crease.