Author's Note: I apologize for the wait between chapters. There were times during the course of writing this chapter that I was tempted to scrap it and start over, but after taking several mini breaks, I believe that I am happy with how this chapter turned out. Hopefully the wait for the next chapter won't be as long considering I've already started to write chapter 8 and things are coming together now. Now on to chapter 7, hopefully it won't disappoint anyone. :)


Chapter Seven
Encounters of Many Kind

"So, you had dinner with her over the weekend?" Becks asked through the phone as Daniel was talking to his friend as he entered the Meade building.

"Yeah, it was nice. Like I said before, she's not like every other woman you've seduced," Daniel reminded.

"Whatever, man. Have you landed her yet?"

Daniel could feel a lump form in his throat. He cleared it before he spoke. "Not yet, but I'm working on it."

"Like I said, she sees us as two of a kind, my friend."

"If you say so, but I see things starting to go in my favor," Daniel smirked as he walked up the elevators in the lobby. He pressed the up button and waited impatiently for the elevator to arrive. After a few seconds had passed, he began to repeatedly press the button in hopes of the elevator to arrive faster without much luck.

The editor-in-chief of Mode had arrived at work fifteen minutes early on a typical dull Monday morning, but today was different considering Julie would once again work into the offices of his magazine. Daniel wondered how she would act toward him considering they really hadn't talked after their date.

"Yeah, right…you wish," Becks scoffed.

"Hey, Becks, since I just got here at work, I am about to get in the elevator, and it's going to kill my signal. Let me call you back later."

"Later…loser," Becks said with a laugh before he hung up on Daniel.

The elevator arrived just in time as Daniel closed his phone and shoved it into coat pocket as he made his way into the waiting elevator. Letting out a heavy sigh, the boss of Mode pressed the button for the 28th floor upon entering the elevator. He leaned back against the wall of the elevator as it began to ascend upward toward his floor.

How would things be with Julie? He wondered as he remembered how she had mentioned that mixing business and pleasure wasn't usually how she liked to do things, but with the way their evening ended, how could she not at least acknowledge it in some way?

Before he knew it, the elevator came to a stop and the doors opened and Daniel had to take his usual walk from the elevator to his office. He noticed Amanda was at her desk filing her nails being the typical Amanda he had grown used to.

The editor-in-chief walked through the hallway before he got to his office where he noticed his assistant was at her desk with stacks of paper, a hole-puncher, and whatever else that made Betty's desk look like a mess.

"Betty, what are you doing?" he asked quietly as he approached her desk.

"Oh, Daniel! I wasn't expecting you to be here early. Well, I am just putting together copies of Julie's draft proposal for your editorial meeting--What are you doing here early?" Betty asked as she realized that her boss wasn't due at work at least another fifteen minutes.

"With the importance of this issue, I just needed to get here to ensure that everything's perfect for the meeting."

Betty eyed him suspiciously before she went back to sorting and stacking copies of Julie's draft proposal for Daniel's editorial meeting. "If you say so…"

"What? This is huge considering my father has decided to sit in for this meeting, and he wants size up Julie for himself."

"Well, I guess that works considering this issue is just as huge as the first issue you put out once you took over Mode," Betty reasoned as she began to the reports into their own cover.

"Once you get a chance, could you get me my bagel and coffee, Betty?" He flashed a smile before he went into his office.

"Sure, Daniel, I'll get right on that."

Betty put the finishing touches on the last copy that was needed for the editorial meeting before she got up to get her boss' usual bagel and coffee.

--

Julie sighed as she walked through the doors of the Meade Publications building. With her purse and briefcase in tote, she walked over to the elevators in the lobby. There was a small crowd of people getting into one of the elevators, and Julie tried to get to it before the doors closed, but she was too late.

She rolled her eyes with a look of annoyance on her face. This was not how she wanted her morning to begin considering she had that important meeting on the Mode floor at ten o'clock. She wanted to get there earlier so she could give Daniel the finalized list of celebrities for the Hollywood issue.

Julie started to lean over to press the up button between the two sets of elevators doors, but before she could, another woman went ahead and did it for her.

"Thanks," Julie said as she glanced over to see another woman with dark hair.

"Oh, it's not a problem. Your hands were full, and I thought I'd help you out."

"Yeah, of course I would miss the elevator on the morning where I had to get to where I need to be."

"It happens to the best of us," the woman empathized.

Julie laughed lightly with a small sigh as she impatiently waited to for one of the elevators to make it back down to the lobby.

"I need to get to an editorial meeting on the 28th floor," Julie shared as she pulled her purse back up on her shoulder.

"Mode?" the woman questioned as she gave Julie an inquiring look.

Julie chuckled, "Yeah, I am helping them with their next issue."

"You mean, Daniel Meade," the woman corrected.

"Uh, yeah," Julie said as she noticed the woman she was talking to had a Hispanic accent especially with the way Meade rolled off her tongue.

"Ah, the infamous Daniel Meade…"

Julie eyed her suspiciously, but kept her mouth shut about the way the other woman made the comment about Daniel.

"I hope you know what you're getting into when it comes to Daniel. I wouldn't let my guard down if I were you considering he'll only break your heart. He's done it so many times before, and it wouldn't surprise me if he does that to you too."

"And who said anything about me having a relationship with Daniel Meade?" Julie asked with a curious look.

"I highly doubt you'll be able to just walk into his office without Daniel using his enticing charm. He's so see-through…so predictable."

Julie's eyes narrowed as she thought of something to say. "I am pretty sure I can take care of myself. I've dealt with many a man like Daniel Meade before in my past, and I've managed to hold my own so far," Julie retorted with forceful tone.

"If you say so…" the anonymous woman replied before a silence fell between them. She pondered about how she wanted to approach what she wanted to say to Julie. "It's their Hollywood issue, right?"

"Um, yeah," Julie said with a twinge of uneasiness. "Why do you want to know?"

The elevator had arrived and the doors opened as Julie and this other woman made it into the waiting elevator. Julie leaned over to press the button for the 28th floor before she moved out of the woman's way so she could press the button that she needed. Julie noticed that the woman had pressed the button for the 27th floor.

"Oh, it's just I am the editor-in-chief of another one of the Meade Publications. My name is Sofia Reyes and my magazine is MYW…Modern Young Woman."

"Oh," Julie said before she cleared her throat.

"I can only assume you're that high-profile publicist I've heard about."

"If that's what you want to think," Julie shrugged. "It's what I do."

"Well, I've actually been thinking about doing an issue where it focuses on women behind the scenes in the entertainment industry. I've heard you're one of the most sought out publicists in the industry. I am surprised Mode managed to get you to help with their magazine," Sofia mentioned before she took a sip from her coffee cup.

"Things just fell into place," Julie mentioned.

"Your name is Autumn Madison, correct?" Sofia asked. "I would love to schedule a meeting and talk about how you would be featured in my magazine."

"Well, Sofia," Julie began, "I'll be busy with Mode for pretty much the next week or so. I've never heard of your magazine….MYW, was it? Why don't you send some of your previous issues to my office for me to look over and if I am interested, we'll work out a time for to have a meeting about me being in your magazine."

"I think you'd be perfect for my next issue of MYW. I am sure people would love to read about how things are behind-the-scenes in Hollywood."

Julie chuckled nervously considering she wasn't expecting someone to be so head-strong about her being featured in a magazine. She had always preferred being behind the scenes.

"I don't know about that. I've got a lot going on right now, but I'll take everything into consideration. Please feel free to send me some past issues of your magazine, and I'll get back to you. I am sure we'll run into each other again," Julie offered, hoping Sofia wouldn't continue to push her into saying yes about this without putting much thought into it.

Julie's eyes glanced up to see that the elevator was a couple of floors away from the 27th floor, and she softly sighed to herself as she knew Sofia would be gone, and she would be able to focus on the editorial meeting she had to be a part of with Daniel.

"Okay, you do that, Autumn; I'll have some issues forwarded to you within the next couple of days."

"Works for me," Julie smiled as the elevator came to a stop on the 27th floor. "Nice meeting you."

"Same here," Sofia said before she exited the elevator. She flashed Julie a smile over her shoulder before the elevator doors closed.

Shortly after her encounter with Sofia Reyes, the elevator doors opened to the 28th floor and Julie let out a huge sigh of relief. Today, Julie decided to totally bypass the receptionist's desk. Julie had enough of Amanda and her attitude to last her for a while and with the importance of this meeting on her shoulders, there was no way she could put up with Amanda rolling her eyes at Julie with that look of disgust.

Julie walked down the hall toward Daniel's office. She couldn't help but smile when she saw Betty sitting at her desk.

"Good Morning, Betty," Julie grinned as she paused beside her desk outside of Daniel's office.

She noticed Betty had just finished up with straightening her desk. There was a stack of her draft proposal by Betty's keyboard.

"Oh, good morning, Autumn…Julie," Betty said, unsure of which one to address Julie by.

Julie laughed lightly, "Julie's fine, Betty. My friends and family still call me Julie."

"Okay," Betty grinned.

Julie's eyes looked up through the window between Betty's desk and Daniel's office. She noticed Daniel was pacing back and forth in front of his desk and all she could do was chuckle softly.

"Is Daniel nervous about today?" Julie asked as she returned her attention to his assistant.

Betty looked up to see what Daniel was doing and sighed. "Yeah, I am sure. He's made a huge deal about this issue and all. He's had a lot on his mind lately."

"Yeah, I've noticed," Julie noted before she cleared her throat. "Well, let me try to put his mind at ease. I got everyone Daniel wanted for the two covers without much objection so it should be smooth sailing between now and the time the issues come out."

"That's great!" Betty beamed with one of her full smiles. "If that be the case, I'll go ahead and set up the conference room for the meeting. If you two need me, just let me know."

"Okay, thanks, Betty," Julie nodded before she walked up to the door frame of Daniel's office. She drew in a deep breath before she knocked lightly before she entered.

"Yes, Betty?" Daniel answered out of habit as his eyes looked up at Julie. A smile came across his face. "You're not Betty."

"The last time I checked…no," Julie smiled as she walked into his office. She placed her purse and briefcase in one of the white chairs close to where Daniel was.

"Hey Julie," Daniel smiled as he went over to where she was.

"Good morning, Daniel," she grinned as her eyes met his.

The two of them stood there in silence before he brushed past her to close the door behind her. She turned to see what he was doing.

"What are you doing?" she asked as she watched him carefully.

Daniel had a devious look in his eyes. He approached her slowly and the two of them stood together closely. He debated whether or not he should just kiss her, but he looked down at her before he did anything. Their eyes were locked on each other, and Daniel noticed Julie drew in a deep breath.

She pursed her lips together as her eyes were fixed on his. "You know, I don't want to rush this," she reminded. "Today's not about us, Daniel. We've got that meeting in thirty minutes and we need to focus on that..."

"I know that," he reassured her.

"Then why did you close the door behind me?" she asked softly.

"Because I wanted to have a moment with you before this day gets crazy, and we won't be able to talk without being watched," he offered as he reached down to take her hand into his.

Julie smiled at the gesture. "You were always a charmer…"

All Daniel could do was chuckle softly at her remark. "Yeah, but I wasn't always effective when it came to you."

"And that's where the frigid bitch act used to come into play, Mr. Meade," she said with a giggle.

"I guess, you do have a point there," Daniel laughed as he brushed his fingertips along the back of her hand before he brought it up to his lips, and he kissed her hand softly.

Julie smiled as she watched him. She wasn't expecting him to agree to take their relationship at a snail's pace, but she appreciated the fact that he was open and willing to do things the way she wanted.

"You know, Daniel, once this issue goes to press, I probably won't feel that bad about letting people know about our relationship. It's just this issue is going to be huge, and I know you've probably tried to ditch the 'sleep with every other woman' label people expect from you. I mean, you're trying to stay away from that, and I don't want to be the latest notch in your headboard," Julie explained as she began to say more than what she needed.

"Shh…," Daniel gestured softly. "It's okay. I know why you don't want to rush this. It's actually rather nice to go about a relationship the right way as oppose to rushing into it and screwing everything up."

Julie smiled with a nod. She was somewhat surprised by Daniel's understanding. "Let's get through this meeting today. I am sure Bradford wants to meet me for himself considering this issue is essential to Mode."

Hearing Bradford's name brought Daniel to what he needed to focus on for the day…the editorial meeting for the Hollywood issue. "Yeah, he does," he agreed with a weak smile.

"Daniel, don't worry about me. I've heard Bradford can be a shark, but as long as you and I can keep it professional in his presence for the time being, he won't feel the need to question me or my abilities. I mean, I could hold my own long before you came back into my life," Julie mentioned confidently. "I won't give you those flirtatious looks across the table as long as you don't either, okay?" She said as she tried to maintain a serious look before she began to giggle.

"As long as you can control the giggles, we should be okay," Daniel smiled before he leaned down and gave her a quick kiss. "Sorry, I needed a kiss to get me through the day. It's either I kiss you or I stare at your lips all day and we don't need that," he chuckled.

"Okay…you're so silly sometimes," she said as she playfully rolled her eyes at him. "By the way, Betty said that she would be in the conference room setting up for the meeting if you needed her."

Daniel nodded and sighed before he finally went over to his desk. "So, is there anything we need to go over before this meeting?"

"Yeah," Julie said as she tucked some of her loose hair behind her right ear. "I got everyone I promised you and you should be able to get one of the magazine photo shoots done by the end of the week. Let me know if you want to use one of the photographers I know in LA or if you want to use one of your own."

"This is going to be one of the easiest issues I've put together considering I was completely lost a week ago," Daniel smiled as he glanced down at the copy of her draft proposal on his desk.

"Yeah, I was busy all weekend after our dinner getting things together for this issue, Daniel. Eventually, I am going to have to find time to hire my own secretary for my office or I might as well use yours at the rate things are going."

"You know, I wouldn't mind that, right?" he said with a wink.

"I don't think Betty would appreciate that. I mean, I am sure you keep her busy, but I wouldn't feel right if she had to take on being my secretary too. I am sure you aren't paying her enough for that."

"Out of all of the assistants I've had, Betty's the best."

"Assistants?" Julie asked with an arched eyebrow. "You haven't been editor-in-chief for a year yet..." She stopped herself before she had a chance to get out what she wanted to say. "You know what? Never mind, I don't even want to know."

"Let's not and say we did," he offered with a nod.

"So, I assume you've gone over my draft proposal and made your notes on it."

"Yeah, I didn't need to do much work on it," he praised. "I--We shouldn't have any problems with the pitch."

"Okay, good. I have a feeling the pressure is going to be on me more than you," she sighed as she looked down at Daniel's desk.

"Jules, you'll be fine. You've done more than your fair share to get everything that I needed for this issue especially since you got everything done so quickly. Why don't we go out tonight to unwind, okay?"

She smiled at him with a nod as a knock came from his door.

"Come in," Daniel called out as he ran a hand down his tie.

"Daniel…" Bradford said as he opened the door and saw his son with the woman he could only assume was the publicist from Hollywood. "Oh, I am sorry; I didn't realize you two were in a meeting."

"Oh, we were just finishing up, Mr. Meade," Julie said as she turned to look over at the president of Meade Publications.

"Ah, Ms. Madison, I assume," Bradford mentioned as he made his way over to where Julie was standing.

"Yes, Dad, this is Autumn Madison," Daniel said as he watched his father carefully.

"It's nice to finally meet you, Mr. Meade," Julie said with a confident smile. "Your son, Daniel here is pretty impressive as an editor-in-chief." She mentioned with a smile as she looked over at Daniel briefly before she focused her attention back on Bradford.

"Well, Daniel working on his editorial skills so he can someday take over the reigns of Meade Publications," Bradford stated as his eyes were fixed on Daniel with their typical cold expression.

After hearing what his father had to say, Daniel was surprised to hear his father mention the possibility of him moving up in the company to anyone, especially someone who wasn't involved with any of the Meade Publications.

Julie just smiled with a nod as her eyes glanced over at Daniel.

"I am trying to anyway," Daniel chuckled softly, not allowing any awkwardness thicken between the three of them.

"I've seen your proposal, Autumn, if I can call you that, and I must say that it's pretty remarkable considering you just walked into Mode last Friday. As I told Daniel during our meeting that afternoon, I was concerned about if you were able to get all of the celebrities to agree to be on the two separate covers of this magazine."

"Autumn's fine, Mr. Meade. I was just telling Daniel that I've gotten confirmations from each celebrity mentioned in the draft proposal," Julie said as she drew in a deep breath. "Also, by the way things are going, the magazine should have one of the photo shoots done by the end of the week. Daniel and I were just discussing whether or not to use a photographer from LA or a photographer that typically covers photo shoots for Mode."

Bradford looked at her without changing his expression before he turned his attention to his son. "You know, Daniel, Autumn is definitely one of, if not the most productive publicist Mode has ever worked with and I suggest you do all you can to ensure that she's continues to be a part of Meade Publications."

'Of course, Dad, I don't intend on letting her slip through our hands. Like I've told you before, she'll be an asset to our company, and it would be stupid on my part not to keep her around," Daniel stated as he kept his eyes fixed on Bradford before he cleared his throat.

Bradford gave his son an approving nod. "Once this meeting is over, I am hoping it wouldn't be an imposition if Daniel and I took you out for lunch today," Bradford offered, "If your schedule would allow it."

"I wouldn't mind at all," Julie said calmly as she looked over toward her briefcase, trying to make it look like she wasn't trying to look at Daniel. "I don't any more appointments until later this afternoon."

"Then I insist you come with us," the elder Meade concluded as he looked down at his watch. "Why don't I go ahead and head over to the conference room and we'll talk more after the meeting?"

Julie smiled. "Sure, Mr. Meade."

There were a few moments of silence as Bradford left Daniel's office, leaving Julie and Daniel alone together once again. Julie closed her eyes briefly before she sighed softly. When she opened her eyes, she noticed Daniel was watching her with a small smile across his lips.

Daniel watched her carefully, and he was surprised by the openness his father showed toward her. He wasn't expecting for Bradford to warm up to her considering she and Daniel technically didn't know each other or at least that's what Bradford thought.

"I guess it's show time," Julie said as she broke the silence that lingered between the two of them.

Daniel gave her a reassured nod before he went over to his desk chair. He rolled down his sleeves and slipped on his jacket. He buttoned his jacket and straightened his tie as he waited on Julie to gather everything together that she needed for their meeting.

Julie pulled out her copy of the draft proposal as well as some other needed material for the editorial meeting with the majority of the staff for Mode magazine. With everything cradled in her left arm, she walked over to Daniel who was waiting in the wing of his office. She flashed him a smile before she passed by him out the door.

The two of them walked together toward the conference room where Betty patiently waited for her boss to arrive. Julie motioned for Daniel to go ahead so she could have a moment to herself.

Julie's eyes scanned the conference room as she noticed several of Mode's editors as well as Bradford Meade waiting for the meeting to begin. She noticed a tall blonde sitting close to where Daniel stood and Julie could only assume that she was Alexis. Julie took in a deep breath and cleared her throat before she walked into the ring of what she felt was the lion's den.

The Hollywood publicist made her way to the empty chair by Daniel. She glanced up at the clock on the wall before she placed her stack of papers on the table. Daniel turned to look at her with a small, but brief smile as he scanned the room. She could tell that he was waiting on someone.

Wilhelmina Slater, she thought to herself, figures.

Minutes later, Wilhelmina finally waltzed into the conference room with its large circular table and Marc was following close behind. Mode's creative director took her usual seat across the table from Daniel and Alexis.

Once everyone had gotten settled into their seats, the meeting began. Daniel stood at the head of the table as he began to explain the purpose for their assembly. "Now that's we're all here, I'd like to go ahead and start this editorial meeting for the Hollywood issue of Mode. With the help of a high-profile publicist, Autumn Madison, she and I have come up with a concept that involves incorporating several movies that are going to be huge summer blockbusters in two separate issues for the month of May."

Everyone started to buzz at the thought of Mode having two issues for a single month. Daniel paused before he continued on, "Now I know it seems like it's going to be a hand-full considering the amount of celebrities that we'll be dealing with in the upcoming weeks, but each of you have a copy of a draft proposal that Miss Madison has put together in order to have a better idea of how things will work out for having two different covers for this single issue of the magazine."

"Um, Daniel, I hate to interrupt, but I was wondering if you've actually gotten each of your proposed celebrities to agree to being on the cover for Mode," Wilhelmina spoke up as she gave him a typical yet skeptical look with her arms folded across her chest.

"Well, Ms. Slater," Julie said without waiting for Daniel to reply, "as I was telling Daniel this morning upon my arrival, every celebrity mentioned in the proposal has agreed to be featured in Mode."

"But you only showed up here on Friday, you couldn't have possibly made that happen," Wilhelmina said with light laughter.

"Wilhelmina, Miss Madison's been feverishly getting things together for Mode since she left from here on Friday. You do have to remember that she is one of the top publicists from Hollywood," Daniel chimed in while Julie was about to speak.

"Danny, that's seemingly impossible to get Tobey McGuire, George Clooney, andJohnny Depp to agree to be featured in a fashion magazine over the course of a weekend," Alexis retorted. "It's one thing to get all of the women to agree considering this is Mode, but how in the world did she manage to get Johnny Depp to say yes?"

Julie glanced around the table as she noticed the look that Bradford was giving Alexis while she was talking. She was somewhat intrigued to see that the president of Meade Publications would be giving such a look of disgust and coldness to his own flesh and blood.

Also, the look Alexis was giving her brother was one of annoyance where she seemingly couldn't believe that her brother was capable of getting anything together for such a huge spread of this particular magazine. Julie's focus shifted to Wilhelmina in her typical white jacket and skirt ensemble with that look of uncertainty plastered across her face made Julie feel uneasy about working with her all together.

"You know, it wasn't easy considering this is a fashion magazine, but with some tactful planning and talking to him in a strategic manner, I was able to convince Johnny…Mr. Depp that being in Mode wouldn't be a bad career move on his part considering the number of readers this magazine has per month was worth his while," Julie noted as she tried to make up her mind which person to focus her attention on, Wilhelmina or Alexis.

"But what counts is that she got it done and in a timely manner where we aren't forced to scramble to find someone else to fit into the concept of what we want for this issue," Daniel reminded in a slightly defensive tone when it came to what Julie had managed to put together for him and Mode.

"Oh…" was all Wilhelmina could say considering Julie was more impressive than what she would admit to out loud.

Alexis kept her mouth closed with her arms crossed as she observed the way Julie had presented herself. She noticed this publicist wasn't some typical air-head with great legs, but a woman who actually could get her job done; no wonder she was highly-recommended and well worth having her at Mode's disposal when needed. Her eyes were fixed on Julie and now she began to wonder how she could somehow convince her that it was best to work with her instead of her brother, but how was she going to do that?

The rest of the editorial meeting ran smoothly. Daniel proved that he could handle everything with this issue and things were coming together better than expected. He had managed to silent his toughest critics during the meeting and above all else, he could have sworn his father had given him a smile toward the end of the meeting. Daniel finished up his meeting by telling everyone that there was a lot to be done and they should get busy as soon as possible.

Once everyone began to file out of the conference room, Daniel eyed Wilhelmina as she passed by him. He noticed the way she rolled her eyes in annoyance once the meeting was over.

"The meeting went well," Betty said as she walked up behind Daniel. She gave him a huge smile, and Daniel returned the gesture.

"Yeah, it did," Daniel spoke up as he noticed Alexis was talking to Julie.

"This issue isn't so tough now," his assistant mentioned with a notepad in hand with notes she had jotted down during their meeting.

"Well, when things are pretty much mapped out from the start, how can things go wrong, right?"

"Exactly," Betty grinned.

"Okay, Betty, I know this is last minute, but could you try to get a reservation for three at my father's favorite restaurant? He's insisted that we take Julie to lunch today."

"I'll get right on it," she said with a nod before she hurried out of the conference room to get back to her desk.

Daniel walked over to where his sister and the new woman in his life were talking. He silently observed what the two of them were talking about and eavesdropped on their conversation. He felt best that he would save Julie from the trouble of listening to Alexis talk about whatever it was she had to say to make Daniel sound like an idiot.

"I know, Daniel managed to convince you that he's the editor-in-chief of this magazine, but in actuality, we both run this magazine," Alexis said smugly. "My brother has this idea in his mind that he's somehow this wonderful editor, but when it comes down to it, if it wasn't for Wilhelmina, he'd be lost before I showed up."

"And pretending to be dead for two years assuming that you could just leave everything behind without warning is suppose to be considered 'professional'," Daniel interjected as he walked up beside Julie.

He flashed his sister a smug look before he turned to Julie with a smile. Alexis only again rolled her eyes before she walked away from the two in the room she was fed up with for the time being.

"You handled Wilhelmina and my sister nicely," Daniel commended. "I can only assume they thought you were just some air-head from Hollywood who only thought you knew what you were doing."

"Just like you I suppose," Julie smirked, holding back a giggle. "I mean, I can hold my own. I've proven that with all of the people I've worked with."

The two of them were free from listening ears once they exited out of the conference room and made their way back to Daniel's office. They were making small talk as they approached Betty's desk.

"Daniel, a table is already arranged for you at the restaurant your father wants," Betty smiled with a nod. "The reservation is at noon, and I've already called your father's office about it. His secretary said that he would meet you two there."

The editor-in-chief nodded as his assistant continued, "Your town car's waiting down stairs. You and Julie need to get a move on if you want to get there on time."

Daniel and Julie stepped into his office to drop off their stuff from the meeting before they left the office to meet Bradford for lunch.

--

Bradford waited patiently for his son and the publicist who would make the next issue of his most successful magazine more of a triumph than he had originally envisioned. He sat at an elegant table with three place settings as he stared at the two empty chairs around the table. Soon, he rose from his chair as Julie and Daniel approached the table.

"I am sorry to have kept you waiting, Dad," Daniel said as he and his father waited for Julie to take her seat before they took theirs.

"The traffic was horrible today, and we should have left right after the meeting," Julie mentioned as she placed her napkin in her lap.

"Oh, it's fine. I should have told you that I already had a reservation made for us instead of you having that assistant of yours scramble to get a table," Bradford replied in an apologetic tone. "With the meeting, it just slipped my mind."

A sigh escaped from Daniel's lips. "Well, at least we're all here now."

Bradford nodded before he turned his attention to the publicist that he wanted to know more about. He smiled at her briefly before he spoke up. "I see you aren't the type to disappoint," he observed with an appreciative nod. "You've done more for Mode than any other publicist who has set foot through the door."

Julie smiled back at Bradford before she glanced over at Daniel. "Well, things aren't going to come to you without persistence and know-how. I've been in the industry long enough to know how to get what I want."

"You know, Daniel, you could learn a lot from Autumn. She's definitely the publicist Mode needs to be able to get some of the most sought-out celebrities."

"Well, I don't intend of letting her go anytime soon," Daniel grinned, resisting the urge to wink at Julie. "She plays a key part in the future of Mode. You know, Dad, you may want to see if you can buy out her contract with RSM and hire her to work for Meade."

Julie snickered at Daniel's suggestion. "Now let's not get ahead of ourselves, gentlemen. This issue isn't done yet, and I am pretty sure it would a lot of convincing to get me to leave RSM considering I've been a part of their company for years. They would put up a huge fight for me."

"Daniel, Autumn's impressive, but this is just one issue of Mode. I mean, hiring her to work for Meade would be like me handing you the reigns now when you obviously have a long way to go in terms of running a company," Bradford said as he returned to his typical skeptical self when it came to his son.

Daniel gulped as he tried to think of something to say, but his mind went blank.

Julie cleared her throat. "You know, Mr. Meade, I told Daniel this morning that the women's cover shoot should be completed by the end of the week and by the middle of next week, both photo shoots should be done."

Julie carefully watched Bradford as his expression softened with the change of subject. Somehow she knew how to handle Bradford and his way he was especially toward Daniel.

The rest of their lunch was pleasant under the circumstances. Julie had played her cards right when it came to Bradford Meade and the way he felt about business. She had gained Bradford's trust to the point where the president of Meade Publications didn't have to breathe down his son's neck about this issue and how it would turn out.

The publicist would now be more involved with the magazine than anyone had expected her to be, but for the sake of Daniel's first Hollywood issue, she wanted to ensure that everything was up-to-par with the standards she had in mind. Julie saw the Hollywood issue as the object that brought her and Daniel back together, and there was no way she was going to let things fall apart.


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