A New Beginning
By Tvdfanpam
Chapter 4
Christian in the House
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or get paid to write this story. I just enjoy playing with them!
A/N: A big thank you to everyone who reviewed my story! I tried to reply to everyone that was logged in. Thank you to all the guest reviewers, I really appreciate all the excitement with my new story.
"Let's start at the beginning, shall we?" Christian said, getting down to business. "Miss Steele was here to interview for an intern position. What happened to change that?"
"Our funding was cut for the intern program and we were just informed of that decision this morning. We already had hired two applicants and were planning on hiring two more. Since we can only have two now, we thought that since Miss Steele had written a book in college, we could still hire her but as an author. We are looking to expand into the Preteen E-Book market and saw this as a prime opportunity to do that." Jack said leaning back in his chair.
"Had you already read Miss Steele's book? It was my understanding that she brought a copy to the interview."
"When we called to check her references, her Professor told us about her book and emailed us a copy."
"Wouldn't it have been better to inform Miss Steele that the positions were filled instead of luring her here under false pretenses?"
"It all happened very fast. She was already in route to the appointment." Said Elizabeth. "We were just trying to get her hired anyway we could."
"Her Professor entered her book in a contest and it won first place in the Preteen E-Book category." Jack said. "We wanted to publish it."
"I just talked to the Chancellor at the University. He told me that Miss Steele's book has won several awards on the college level and that Penguin Books was going to offer her a contract for her book series. I think you saw this as your opportunity to steal her away from them without her even being aware of their offer. It was going to be announced at graduation." Said Christian sitting back in his seat. Ana is stunned into silence next to him.
"How could you possibly know all that? We just found out two hours ago!" Jack said, throwing his hands up in the air.
"I donate millions of dollars to the University. Money talks, it just took one phone call to the right person. Do you have a contract ready to offer to Miss Steele?" Christian asks.
"Yes, we do." Shelly spoke quietly.
"I certainly wasn't expecting that!" Said Ana finally finding her voice.
"May we see it?" Ana sits up straight and looks at Christian, wide eyed. Mr. Hyde looks at Ana who nods her consent. He hands it to Christian who looks it over with Ana. "What is the deadline for signing this contract? He asks casually.
Mr. Hyde squirms a little in his seat. "We were hoping to have it signed and accepted by Miss Steele today."
Christian calmly folds his hands together on the table top. "I see. So you wanted her to sign a contract without any representation or time to read over the contract and consider it?"
Jack Hyde squirms more in his seat. "We were willing to give her until the end of the day to make a decision."
"Usually, a party has 30 days to review the contract before signing or declining the offer. I called my lawyer and he will be here momentarily to review the contract to see if it is even legal." Christian reads through the first several pages. "I can already see several revisions that need to be made." He says not looking up from the page.
"Just by skimming the first few pages, I see several problems:
1. Miss Steele's percentage of the book sales needs to be bigger.
2. She should have the right to approve any changes made to her original work.
3. She should maintain creative control of the characters, also any future books in the series.
4. Any products produced as a result of the books, she should have last approval on.
5. She should have control over any future movie or screen play rights.
Ana sits beside Christian in stunned silence. He noticed she is ghostly pale. "Would you please excuse us for a moment?" Christian helps Ana up and they walk out of the room. He turns to her to her. "Are you okay? Do you need some water?"
"No, I'm okay, Christian. Just stunned by all that is happening. I had no idea they would try to offer me a deal on my book. I knew I was going to be offered something from Penguin Books but I didn't know what it was. They're based out of New York and I thought it would be a job offer, not a book deal."
"What do you want to do? Do you think you might want to sign with them? You were so excited to come here today." He asks gently.
"I was excited to interview for the intern position. I am terrified about the book deal. I need to talk to my dad and also to a lawyer and I need a Literary Agent. Do you think you can buy me some more time? I do want to consider it. I knew I wanted to publish my book, I just thought it would take longer to do it."
"It sounds like they know a good thing when they see it." He said smiling at her. "Let's go back in and see if they will allow you to leave with the contract to review on your own. My lawyer can look it over and revise it and hopefully you can come to an agreement if this is what you want?" He looks her in the eyes and reaches out and rubs her arms. "I know this is overwhelming, but you need to take a deep breath and go with your gut instinct. That's what I do in my business dealings and I have never been wrong." He tells her seriously. She smiles at him.
"You are making a great first impression on me." She says taking his hands. "Thank you so much for helping me. I am not sure what I would have done if I hadn't met you today." She leans up on her tip toes and kisses him softly on the lips. "You have given me the courage I need to do this. Let's go back in, shall we?"
Another Note: I know nothing about publishing or contracts, I am winging it. Sorry if it is all wrong. This is a fantasy, LOL.