Zoom mates
By GleefulDarrenCrissFan
Kurt sighed heavily as he adjusted his webcam once again, positioning it so that his whole face could be seen in the frame. He turned on his desk light, and turned the bulb slightly so that the light wasn't overbearing or washed out against the slate gray walls in his living room. He didn't even know what he was doing. Although he was fairly tech-savvy, he had never used Zoom before. He had used Skype before for videoconferencing with his publicist, but Isabelle wanted him to try this app so that they could talk to the new author he would be collaborating with.
Kurt rolled his eyes. He was a good illustrator, and it was an insult that he kept getting paired with these newcomers. This time it was some guy named Lane or something. He was probably some talentless prep boy like that kid Chandler he had illustrated for just to be told that Mr. Kheil had abandoned writing to join his father's company. Typical. He resisted the urge to run his fingers through his styled hair.
Suddenly a familiar face was smiling at him through his monitor and clicked the link to begin the meeting.
"Hello? Kurt? Can you hear me on this blasted thing?" His boss laughed cheerfully as she inspected Kurt's ensemble.
Kurt did the same and smiled as his eyes tuned in to the jewelry "Yes, I can. I can hear you. Ooh! I like that broach. Vintage Eisenberg?" Kurt questioned, smiling at his boss.
Isabelle shook her head. "I never can get one over on you. I thought for sure I'd have you stumped with this one."
"The enameled turtle, circa 1980. You're going to have to go back a little bit further to stump me. Eisenberg is one of my favorites," Kurt chuckled. "So, tell me about this writer I'm supposed to work with. He's supposed to join us, right?"
"Yeah, but I told him not to log in until 9:15. I've already chatted with him, and I wanted to make sure that you could navigate this app without too much trouble. Any questions?"
Kurt nodded. "Yes, but not really about this app. Tell me about him. Does he have any writing credits? I tried googling him, but Anderson is a pretty common name. You said it was Lane, right?"
"Blaine. Blaine Anderson and he has written before, just not fiction books. He's actually a certified school teacher, and he used to write stories for his students."
"Oh, like Robert Munsch?"
"Yeah, like Robert Munsch, although he's much younger, around your age, I presume," Isabelle smiled. "He's really sweet. I think you'll really like working with him."
"At this point, I'm just hoping that he's motivated enough to finish. I'd like to see my name on a finished book one of these days. One that isn't the laughing stock of the literary world," Kurt sighed.
"I'm sorry, Kurt. A story about a unicorn that poops cotton candy sounded like a fun premise. She even wrote the story in crayon," Isabelle apologized.
"Brittany," Kurt chuckled, shaking his head. "Those were the wackiest consultations I'd ever had. I have to admit, it was pretty fun working on that project. And since this guy is a school teacher, Tina won't go nuts trying to edit every word as she did with Britt's work," Kurt laughed. "So, what am I going to be drawing? Has he told you about the characters or the setting or anything?"
"I'll let him tell you. He's logging on right now. Blaine? Can you hear us, Blaine?" Isabelle asked.
Suddenly, the picture shifted to a man with thin wire-rimmed glasses, thick triangular eyebrows, and gelled jet-black hair. His smile was almost blinding as he adjusted his plaid bowtie. "Yes, ma'am. How are you today, Ms. Wright? You look absolutely enchanting," Blaine remarked, smiling his megawatt smile once more.
Isabelle grinned. "Thank you, Blaine. You look quite handsome yourself. Brooks Brothers, isn't it?" Kurt watched as the younger man nodded and grinned. "I approve. Blaine, I have Kurt with us, your new illustrator. He was just asking me about your concept. Care to fill him in?"
Blaine flashed a beautiful smile at Kurt. "Hello, Mr. Hummel. I'm so excited to be working with you. I read the book by Brittany S. Pierce that you illustrated, and I think it was adorable.
Kurt buried his head in his hands. "Oh God, don't judge me by drawings of a mythological creature's droppings," Kurt groaned.
"I wasn't," Blaine replied, smiling. "My students love that book. It's whimsy and fun, and the illustrations are incredible. That's why I requested to work with you."
"With me? You requested me?" Kurt asked, surprised by the author's words and reassuring smile.
Blaine nodded, and then perched his chin on his hand. "Of course I did. You're the reason I signed on with Blackbird Publishing. Ms. Wright assured me that I could collaborate with you."
"Oh Blaine, Ms. Wright was my mother. We're all colleagues now, so please call me Isabelle. Kurt does." Just then, a loud ringing sound interrupted them. "That's me. I need to take this. I've been waiting for Ron to get back to me all weekend. Do you two mind carrying on without me for a few minutes."
"Sure, Ms Wri-, I mean, Isabelle. We'll be fine, right Kurt?" Blaine assured her as he swept his hand across his cheek and pushed his glasses back onto the bridge of his nose. It was adorable. He was adorable.
"Uh, yeah. We'll be perfect," Kurt reassured his boss. "So, Mr. Anderson."
"Blaine," the other man interjected.
Kurt nodded. "Alright, Blaine. Tell me about your vision."
"It's horrible, hence the glasses," Blaine teased, cocking his head and grinning at his joke.
Kurt snickered. "I meant your vision for this book. What are we creating?"
"Well, Kurt. How do you feel about alligators?"