The Art Seminar and Thereafter
By: Kaffy


Chapter 9: The Job

"Well, Caroline, my father liked your stuff as much as I did. We decided to publish your strip in the newspapers for 6 months. Depending on reader response, we'll see about other merchandising." Del smiled across the desk at her.

"What? You're going to publish my strip?"

"Yep."

"Oh my god." Suddenly feeling faint, she collapsed into the chair.

Getting nervous, Dell went to her, "Are you ok?"

"Oh yeah, I'm better than ok…thank you so much Mr. Cassidy!"

"I told you…call me Del."

"Sorry," she grabbed his hand and started shaking it vigorously, "Thank you so much, Del!"

He laughed. "Ok, enough. Let's see, your first strip will be published a month from now…" They spent the next 20 minutes going over the business aspects of her new contract. When they were done, she shook his hand excitedly and left his office.

*~*~*~*~*

Richard sat quietly while he waited, thinking about what this meeting could mean. He could see Caroline every day. He could go to bed with her every night and wake up to her every morning. He could spend his days at class while she worked and spend the nights with her. He smiled as he realized how long the meeting was taking…they wouldn't be rejecting her for an entire hour. When she came out smiling bigger than he had ever seen her smile, he knew it went well. She ran up to him and hugged him tight. He laughed, "Does this mean it went well?"

She nodded in his arms, still holding him tight. "Thank you."

"Me? What did I do?"

"You made my dreams come true… I have a strip and it's going to be published…"

"You did all the work…"

"Because you made me…"

"You would have anyways, it's what inside of you."

"Please just let me thank you…"

"Fine," he sighed, "Thank me…"

"Thank you."

"You're welcome. Now, let's take a walk. I want to hear every that happened."

He grabbed their coats and opened the door for her. "Well, he said his father…" She told him everything that Del told her. His father owned 25 newspapers nationwide and it would be published in every single one. Plus, they were going to give her a small greeting card package to start out with. Her income wouldn't be very much at first, probably around $25,000, but it could increase substantially at the end of six months depending on reader response and other merchandising opportunities. So basically, she would have to be moved in to New York in a month.

"So what are you going to tell your parents?"

"The truth…they know it's the right thing to do."

"I know, but you said they'd worry…"

"Well, they will. But they also know this is something I have to do."

He nodded. He didn't know how to ask his next question. "Do you still want to…"

"Want to what?"

"Well…move in together?"

Fear clenched her throat shut. "I don't know…do you?" she asked, hoping he hadn't changed his mind.

He smiled. "Caroline, I would spend every minute of every day with you if I had the chance, but I don't want to push you too hard, if you're not ready…"

"Oh, I'm ready… I want to spend as much time with you as possible too."

He stopped, making her stop with him and placing a small kiss on her lips. "So, should we start looking for an apartment?"

"Yeah, I guess, but I have to talk to my parents first."

"Will they have a problem with it?"

"Probably."

"Well, then maybe we shouldn't, I don't want to step on their toes."

"Don't worry…they'll be mad at me…not you."

"But because of me…"

"Richard, you don't have to worry. My parents love you."

He smiled. "I'm glad they like me, but if they won't like me anymore because we move in together…Caroline, I want to marry you someday, I don't want them to hate me forever because we couldn't wait for something like that."

She stopped him and looked him in the eye. "Do you want to move in with me?" He nodded. "Well, so do I…that's all that counts. My parents wont' hate you, they'll just wish we were married first."

"What if we were?"

"If we were what?"

"Married."

"What?"

"What if we went and got married today?" he said seriously.

"You're really serious?"

"Yeah…I mean, I love you and you love me. Let's go to the courthouse and get married."

"I can't get married now. I want a big wedding and my family there…"

He looked to the ground. "Yeah, I know…I just love you so much…I want you to be happy…I don't to cause any problems between you and your parents, but if you want to live with me…I don't know…I just love you and want you to be happy."

"You really want to marry me?" She smiled.

He suddenly became self-conscious and started shuffling his feet. "Well…yeah."

They reached his door. "That is so sweet." He unlocked the door and let her in. "But I don't think we should get married to make my parents feel better. Who knows? Maybe they might be ok with it?"

"I'll do whatever you want me to do."

"I'm just going to call them, tell them about the job, tell them we're going to start looking for a bigger apartment tomorrow, and that there's nothing they can do about it."

"You do what you have to do."

She picked up the phone. "I will." She said and dialed the number.

Richard watched as she told her parents exactly what she said she would. As predicted, they weren't happy that they decided to live together, they thought it was improper, but they knew that Richard seemed to be the only one who made their little girl happy, so they gave their approval. They decided that Caroline should stay in New York until they found a place, then they should both fly back to Wisconsin to get her things and move her to New York.



(to be continued)