Chapter 40
forty
. . .
BLAIR
I’m having a hard time finding the motivation to walk through the doors of TWA now that I know I won’t be here much longer. Plus, I ended up spending the entire weekend at Wyatt’s house, and when we weren’t naked, he spent hours listening to me get more excited about the possibility of opening my talent management agency.
Lance moved our one-on-one catch-up meeting to today, so I couldn’t avoid coming in this morning. Stella meets me at the elevator with a coffee, and while I’m grateful, it’s not normal for her to do so.
“I’m suspicious. What’s going on?” I ask her.
“Something is up today. I went to see if I could move your meeting with Lance so you could join another meeting, and his assistant refused to flex. Said his schedule was carefully planned out today and he had back-to-back meetings.”
My eyes scan the floor as I take a sip of my coffee and look for anything unusual. Most people are here, but it is Monday and after ten o’clock, so that is pretty typical.
“Maybe he’s taking off later in the week and is trying to get all of his meetings done before he leaves,” I suggest.
“Maybe.” She doesn’t look convinced.
“I’ll see what’s up when I meet with him. Did you figure out my schedule with the other thing?”
Stella assures me we’re all squared away. Just as I settle in and flip my computer on, Naomi walks in.
“What are you doing here?” I ask her. “I thought you said you were going on vacation?”
Naomi gives me a quick hug and hello. “Meeting with Lance. But the good news is I’m now on permanent vacation.” She leans back and kicks her feet up on the chair next to her, and I take that as a cue to get up and shut my office door.
“Stella, I’m going to need a minute with Naomi.”
The door closes behind me, and I knock down Naomi’s feet and take a seat next to her.
“He just fired you?”
“Oh, hell no. I would totally sue his ass if he did that. No, he informed me that my role has been eliminated to help streamline redundancies and reduce costs. It wasn’t a reflection of my work here at TWA and was strictly a business decision, blah, blah, blah. I’m certain he was reading from a script.”
“When is your last day?”
“Today? I don’t really know, but they are delusional if they think I’m going to continue working here like nothing has happened.”
Naomi leans forward and puts her hands on my knees. “He literally said, I know this is a lot to digest, so feel free to take the rest of the day off .” She pulls away, laughing like she’s heard the best punchline to a joke.
“What is the severance? What about non-compete?” I ask her.
“I’m not sure yet. He read through some high-level info, but HR is supposed to reach out in the next twenty-four hours with specific info. From what I could understand, we’ll be allowed to move to any agency, which is nice, but our clients won’t necessarily follow us. And I need to confirm the severance. He said I’d be paid out for the remainder of my contract, but mine was expiring at the end of the year. I’m going to need more than a few months’ pay for all the years I gave him.”
Same here.
“You’re well respected in this industry, Naomi. If someone wants to follow you, they will. I’m sure there are others out there who wanted you to be their agent, but maybe TWA turned them off.”
“I appreciate that, Blair, but I know how this business works.”
Just then, my calendar notification goes off.
“Do you need to go?” Naomi asks.
“I’m supposed to meet with Lance in five minutes.”
She’s quiet as we both realize what I’m walking into.
“That sucks, babe. I didn’t think they would ever let you go.”
I don’t hear the rest of what she’s saying. Everything around me stops, and I’m suddenly nervous. I knew this was happening, but I didn’t realize it would be today. Everything I haven’t thought about comes rushing forward as if they are competing for a gold medal.
I haven’t given my clients a heads-up.
What if people hear about it from the trades before I can tell them?
What about Stella? Will she be impacted?
I’m surprised at the hurt feelings that surface. I’ve given my blood, sweat, and tears to this agency, and I’m great at my job. I’m furious that they would just toss me out so easily.
“Can you stay here?” I ask Naomi.
“Sure, hon. I’ll be right here.”
I walk down the hall and tap on Lance’s door.
“Blair! Come on in. How was your weekend?”
This man is unbelievable. If he’s really letting me go, he has some nerve with the small talk.
“It was great. What can I do for you?”
“Have a seat. Please.”
I sit across from him, with his desk between us. He leans forward, places his elbows on his desk, and clasps his hands in front of him. My eyes dart over every move he makes, trying to read his intentions.
“Blair, I’m just going to cut to the chase. It’s no secret the business is struggling. We’re still recovering from the pandemic. Movie audiences continue to decline. Streaming services can’t figure out how to make money, and the writers’ strike didn’t help. All of this has impacted TWA’s bottom line, too, and there’s even more pressure with this merger.”
The chase he did not cut to. I just nod and let him continue. Naomi’s right. He’s definitely reading from a script, but I’m almost positive he’s memorized it. Or maybe there’s a teleprompter behind my head. It’s not out of the realm of possibility—I didn’t get a good look around the room before I sat down.
“I’m sorry to tell you, but your position has been eliminated.”
“When is this effective?” I ask.
“HR will reach out after this meeting to share all the specifics.”
“What about Stella?”
“This decision doesn’t impact Stella. In fact, Brian needs a new assistant, so we’ll be moving her over to his desk.”
I feel relieved that Stella won’t lose her job, but I vow to hire her the second I land on my feet again. “Who else knows about this?”
“We’re notifying affected employees all day today, and then tomorrow, I will let the office know we had to make some tough decisions. Please hold off on letting your team know any specifics until I’ve had a chance to send a note.”
Lance stands and extends his hand to shake mine. I stand and reach out. “I’ll be honest, Blair. I figured Wyatt would have told you everything already. It was his idea to lay off employees with contracts expiring soon.”
I can feel my heart beating in my chest, but I don’t say a word because I’m not sure what Lance’s angle is here. He’s fishing for something, though, and I won’t take the bait. And he’s trying to cause drama by suggesting my fate was at the hands of Wyatt. What I won’t share is how Wyatt already admitted that some of his ideas inadvertently put a target on my back. It wasn’t intentional. How would he have even known about my contract with TWA?
“Thanks again, Blair. You’ve always been the consummate professional. It’s been a pleasure to work with you. You will be missed.”
I’m not sure if it’s the shiny joker grin on his face, the amount of contradiction in what he’s saying to me, or the sudden relief I feel now that I don’t have to work for him anymore, but something in me snaps. Holding my breath, I nod and stride for the door, eager to exit before the laughter threatening to burst forth can escape. It would be highly inappropriate and very unflattering. I’m not a fucking idiot. I know I have to play the part of a professional yet wounded employee until I’m back in the safety of my office.
Stella’s confused face causes me to break, and I drag her into my office, where Naomi is waiting. As soon as the door shuts, my shoulders shake with the absurdity of the situation, and I howl with laughter. When Naomi joins in, clutching my arm, I know Stella thinks we’ve lost our minds.
“It’s nothing personal,” Naomi snorts out.
“Except you’re redundant,” I chime in, doing my best Lance impression.
“What is going on?” Stella yells.
That catches both Naomi and me by surprise, and we settle down enough to fill her in on what’s happening. I swear her to secrecy since I’m technically not supposed to tell anyone on my team until tomorrow, but there was no way I would have kept this from Stella. I haven’t signed any NDAs. I also tell her she’s safe but not to get too comfortable because I’m coming for her as soon as I can.
“I’m calling Jess,” Stella says as she dials on the speakerphone.
“Oh, now she calls me,” Jess spits out once she’s on the line. “After going MIA all weekend, she wants to talk.”
“You’re on speaker. Stella and Naomi are in here, too,” I tell her so she knows now isn’t the time to talk about my weekend. I should’ve known an audience would only hype her up more.
“Perfect. Then you’ll only have to give the details about banging Wyatt all weekend once!”
“And here I thought you’d want an exclusive for your podcast,” I say to force the subject change, and it works.
“Well, fuck. You win. Spill it.”
We give Jess the details about the meetings Naomi and I had with Lance this morning, and Stella shares that more have been planned throughout the day. This implies that a few more top leaders are likely being laid off. It’s not enough for a full story, but this is Hollywood, and there’s nothing more exciting than a social post that starts: Happening Now and ends with Updates Ongoing .
“I’m hanging up so I can chase this story,” Jess says, “but drinks later so we can hear more about Blatt.”
“What is Blatt?” Naomi asks.
“We’re not doing that,” I say.
“It’s their ship name! That is so cute!” Stella says.
“It’s the worst!” I say.
“It sounds like a bug hitting a windshield,” Naomi chimes in.
“You’re welcome,” Jess says, and then the line cuts out.
Naomi stands, gives Stella and me each a strong, tight hug, and makes a promise to call in a few days once she’s finished celebrating her freedom from TWA.
After Naomi leaves, I notice that Stella is still planted in my office. Then I realize that while we were all joking about leaving, she wasn’t.
“Hey, you ok?” I ask her. “You know I’m serious about hiring you as soon as I land somewhere. And you know Brian. He’s harmless. You’ll be just fine.”
“Oh, I’m not worried about that. I mean, without a doubt, you better come get me as soon as you can, but I was actually thinking about something else.”
She stands and looks like she’s going to leave without finishing her thought, but then she surprises me with her next words. “What did it feel like? With Wyatt? The connection you had with him the first time, and is it different now? I just was curious. What made you feel like he was the one for you?”
I think about her question for a minute because it’s hard to find words for something as intangible as emotions and intuition. A warm smile spreads across my face as I recount my journey with Wyatt.
“I don’t know if I realized it at first. In the beginning, he made me feel understood and cherished. He still does. And that felt different. I’d never experienced those feelings with anyone else before. I’ve always felt like he sees the best parts of me, even when I can’t. And now there’s this unshakeable foundation of mutual respect and support. When I’m with him, it’s this incredible mix of comfort and excitement, like coming home and embarking on a new adventure all at once.”
“And you love him,” Stella says. It’s not a question.
“I’m completely and madly in love with him.”
I realize I want him to know exactly how I feel, too.