Chapter 9 Notes: Jess and Jeremy make some progress in their relationship and have a couple of conversations. Jess stresses. Thanks to everyone who is reading, following and reviewing my little story. I'm always interested in your feedback. Your reviews make my day and help keep me motivated! :)
Disclaimer: I own nothing except my own obsession with Gilmore Girls.
Jess was just putting dinner on the table that Jeremy had finished setting. Chris and Matthew had been pushing everyone over the last few weeks to make as much progress with their current projects as possible, so Jess had stayed at the office late to have a call with one of his authors and had just heated up leftover millet patties and sweet potato fries for dinner. He had the feeling that something was up at Truncheon, but he wasn't sure what, and Chris and Matthew had been gone most of this week, checking in by email and over the phone, so Jess hadn't had a chance to speak with them in private. Jess did his best to push thoughts of work out of his head to focus on his foster son.
"So, how was school today?" Jess asked as he sat down across the table from Jeremy.
"It was good. We got our first quarter grades today."
"Yeah? Go grab your report card. You can show me while we eat."
Jeremy finished chewing before he spoke. "Oh, it's not like that anymore. We don't get a hardcopy report card. They just post the grades online on the school website. But, I can pull them up and show you if you want."
"Really? No paper copy at all?" Jess felt a little let down at the news. He knew school had changed significantly since he had attended, and that the majority of what Jeremy did seemed to be online now. But, he had still expected a physical copy for something as important as a report card. He knew Jeremy's report card would be good, and he had been looking forward to putting it up on the fridge to show Jeremy how proud he was of his success in school.
"Yeah." Jeremy was looking at him quizzically. "Why do you sound so disappointed about that?"
"Huh? I'm not. I just thought a paper copy would be nice. To put up on the fridge and stuff."
Jeremy laughed. "Yeah, I've seen that in old movies."
Jess chuckled. "So, how did you do, smart guy?"
"Good. All A's. Well, two A minuses, but those are still in the A family, so I think they count."
Jess smiled proudly. "That's great. Good job, Jeremy. I'm really proud of you."
Jeremy smiled as he picked up a fry and dipped it in ketchup. "Thanks."
"Now, I really feel like your school is short-changing me. My kid gets all A's and I don't get a report card to hang on the fridge. I mean if they're trying to save money or paper or something, they don't have to give report cards to the lazy kids, but it seems like the kids who work their asses off for A's should still get them. Just sayin."
Jeremy laughed. "If it means that much to you, I can try to print something out at the computer lab tomorrow. They have printers there." Jess' printer had stopped working the week before and had yet to be fixed or replaced.
"Thank you, but you don't have to do that. I'll live." Jess tried to keep his tone light. "If the Philadelphia school system wants to deny me this parental rite of passage, so be it. I already missed out on getting to hang up your crappy little kid art projects, and now this." Jess was going for sarcastic nonchalance now, not entirely comfortable with how sad this was actually making him as it triggered thoughts about all the other rites of passage he had missed out on during his foster son's early years and how soon he would lose the boy altogether when he left for college. "But, hey, if that's how your school wants to be…..." Jess shrugged, as if to say what are you gonna do.
Jeremy was studying him seriously now, and Jess felt the discomfort he always felt when he feared he may have embarrassed himself by revealing too much of what he was feeling. He quickly changed the subject. "So, how should I reward you for a good report card? What do parents do these days? Take their A-student children out for ice cream? Give 'em five bucks per A?"
Jeremy smiled. "I seriously doubt anyone in my class has parents who took them out for ice cream tonight to reward them for their grades. Is that what Luke used to do with you back when you brought home your old-fashioned paper report card?"
"Hey, don't mock, kid. And, no, Luke never took me out for ice cream for my report card, but I don't think I ever brought home a grade that deserved a reward. If I had ever brought home straight A's, I think Luke would have bought me a freaking pony."
Jeremy laughed. "Well, I definitely don't want a pony. I think Winston would get jealous." Jeremy's expression turned serious. "Seriously, I'm good. You already reward me enough."
"All right, if you're sure. I just don't want you to feel like you're missing out on anything."
"I don't. I swear."
"I really am proud of you, Jeremy. I want you to know that. I think it's impressive how hard you work at school to get the kind of grades you do. It couldn't have been easy keeping up with your school work when you had to switch schools so many times over the years, especially when everything else in your life was always being changed up on you, too. I really respect how you were able to keep everything together the way you have. You should be proud of yourself for that."
Jeremy looked down at his plate as he nodded. Jess could see a hint of a blush on the boy's cheeks. "Thanks, Jess."
The next morning, Jess went to the refrigerator to get out the eggs for breakfast and stopped short at the sight that greeted him. A ripped out piece of notebook paper, held to the fridge sideways with magnets, with a childlike drawing of two stick figures done in magic marker. The one with 'Jess' written above its head was broader, with a hollow rectangle for a body, shaggy black hair, a big smile, and a book held in one hand. The slightly taller figure labeled 'Jeremy' had a torso that was just one thin wavy line, which made Jess smile at the kid's depiction of his own scrawniness, with short, dirty blond hair and a red line extending from his right hand down to a small brownish blob labeled 'Winston' with black eyes and nose curled up on a few blades of green grass at his feet. In the top left-hand corner was neat printing: 'I don't want you to miss out on anything either.'
Jess was grinning broadly by the time he had taken in the whole picture. He grabbed a pen off the table and returned to the fridge, where he made one small edit, adding '(best kid ever)' after Jeremy's name. He paused for a moment, considering his options, before writing '(luckiest dad ever)' after his own. He took one last look before grabbing the eggs and starting on breakfast.
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Later that week, Jess sat in front of his laptop at the kitchen table, staring at an excel schedule while he lifted a spoonful of chocolate ice cream to his mouth. Or, more accurately, non-dairy, coconut-milk-based frozen dessert. He had gotten in the habit of keeping a pint-sized tub of the stuff hidden behind the frozen vegetables in the freezer when he had lived with Charisse, not wanting to get caught indulging in this vice, but wanting the treat available for the rare times when he found himself up in the middle of the night, stressed and in need of physical comfort. Like tonight. And, Jeremy and Winston were already in bed, so there was no one to judge him. Not that he thought they would. Not that Charisse ever really had either, except in a gently teasing way, and mostly about how obsessed he would be with getting in enough cardio the next morning. And he knew it was much better than how he used to deal with stress in his younger days, pre-Charisse, when he'd use whiskey or gin to take the edge off a lonely and stressful night. But still, it always felt safer to hide his weaknesses, even from the people closest to him.
Jess was reviewing his budget and not liking what he was seeing. His housing costs were too high without another working adult helping him shoulder the burden. He had known that as soon as Charisse had left, but had turned a blind eye to the problem and plowed ahead with fostering anyway, determined to see it through. He could afford to stay in the city if it was just him, in a small one-bedroom apartment somewhere, but swinging a two-bedroom, with how out of control the rents had become in Philadelphia, was tough. And now he was stuck. Even if he wanted to break his lease, he didn't feel like he would be left with any good options. To rent a two-bedroom that he could comfortably afford, they would need to move out of the city, meaning Jeremy would need to switch schools for the second time during his senior year. And, while the last switch was early enough in the academic year that it probably hadn't impacted the kid's education that much, it was now early November, two full months into the school year. Jess didn't want to ask Jeremy to do that.
Jess tried to picture what his life would be like at this time next year, but so much was up in the air. He wondered if Jeremy would go away to college and live in a dorm, leaving Jess paying more than he could afford in rent to provide Jeremy with his own room a few nights a year, on school breaks and holidays. Or if Jess would be living outside the city, with a two-bedroom he could afford, but a location he didn't want to spend the next four years in, alone. Jess tried to avoid thinking about next year as much as possible. It still felt like he had just gotten Jeremy and he didn't enjoy thinking about the boy leaving him so soon. And, being alone again. Now that they were going to go through with an adoption, he was confident that they would stay in each other's lives, but he also realized that the thing that had helped him the most to feel ok again after Charisse left had been having Jeremy to take care of and spend time with. He wasn't sure how he was going to fill the new void in his life when Jeremy was the one who left. He didn't think Winston was going to cut it.
Jess sighed, knowing it was too late to let himself dwell on such depressing thoughts. It never led to anything good at three a.m. He brought his focus back to his current situation, looking over the list of expenses he had already incurred since he had started fostering. First, had been a cell phone for Jeremy, and the addition to his monthly expenses when he added Jeremy to his plan. Then the laptop when he realized how much kids needed to do on computers for school these days and he had gotten tired of sharing his, which he often needed to use for work in the evenings. Then there was Winston. Jess had to admit that he had come to enjoy the little guy's company. But, he had already spent a ton of money there, on adoption costs, pet supplies, food and treats, and one very expensive trip to the vet involving something called a senior panel that had inspired him to add 'Research Pet Insurance' to the running list of to-do's he kept on his phone. He had bought Jeremy some new stuff for his room, nothing major just some posters, a bean bag chair for reading on and a floor lamp to read under. Some more socks and underwear since the kid had arrived with less than a week's worth of each.
He had also seen sizable upticks in his monthly spending on groceries, toiletries and dinner's out. He briefly entertained the idea of having Jeremy sign up for the free lunch program at school, but it felt wrong after he had told Jeremy twice now that he liked packing his lunch for him. And he did. And he felt like Jeremy appreciated the gesture. Jess felt like he was investing in their relationship by doing this one small daily task of caretaking that felt so closely linked to loving parenting. In a way, Jess felt like every time he packed Jeremy a lunch or did some other caring, parent-type task for the boy, it helped erase some of the hurt that Jess still felt over how much parental caretaking had been missing from his own childhood. The idea that he could be someone capable of doing the same small acts of kindness for his child that he had never received from his own parents appealed to Jess. It made him feel like a good person, solid, responsible and loving. He decided it was worth the expense of keeping it in their routine.
Jess knew he been rash with the money he received from the county for fostering Jeremy. He received slightly under $1,000 at the beginning of each month, tax-free, since it was technically a reimbursement for what he had spent caring for Jeremy the previous month as opposed to compensation for services performed. When he had received his first deposit at the beginning of October, he had felt an overwhelming sense that it was only right to share it with Jeremy, in a more meaningful way than just a few bucks a week for allowance. It was his money, too. Jess figured the kid had earned at least that much for suffering through the kind of childhood he'd had. He had taken Jeremy to the bank and signed his name so the boy could open his first bank account with half of the monthly stipend Jess had received. Jess would remove his own name from the account once Jeremy turned eighteen. Jess would keep the other half of the stipend and use it towards the boy's support. Jeremy had objected that it was too much, but Jess had insisted, assuring Jeremy that he wanted to do this for him, that he wanted him to have something put away that was his for when he went to college.
Jess had taken the boy home and shown him how to access his account online and how to create a basic budget, where the majority of the money he received would remain in the savings account and Jeremy would withdraw a small amount for spending money each month and budget it to make it last until the next. Jeremy had nodded solemnly at everything Jess said and started to work on his own budget in excel. He had insisted that if Jess was going to give him this money, he wanted to do more chores around the apartment and also take over the costs related to Winston. Jess had tried to protest Jeremy's amendments, claiming Winston was a household expense, not just Jeremy's responsibility, and that the kid already did enough around the apartment. Jess often found his dirty dishes cleaned and his laundry done before he could get to them. The boy had gone out job hunting again the previous weekend, but hadn't had any luck yet, and Jess could tell he felt awkward about accepting his new windfall. Jess had given in, agreeing that Jeremy could pay for all Winston's regular expenses, food, treats, toys and poop bags, but Jess would still cover the big stuff, like trips to the vet. Jeremy had agreed and added another section to his budget.
Jeremy had thanked Jess, with a serious expression on his face, telling him that this was so much more than anyone else had ever done for him, and how grateful he was. Jess could admit to himself that he loved hearing that, loved how it made him feel like a good guy, a parent Jeremy could look back on fondly later in life. The boy had told Jess that he was still looking for a job, even though Jess had told him he didn't need one, but it was hard for a teenager to find a job in the city. All the places that Jeremy thought might hire a teenager, fast food restaurants, convenience stores, all seemed to be staffed by adults instead, who didn't need to work around school schedules. But, he didn't want to mooch off Jess. He would only take this money if Jess was sure it was ok, and that Jess didn't need it for himself, or to pay for Jeremy's food and stuff. It was ok with Jeremy if he did. Jess had smiled and assured him that he wanted Jeremy to have it. That Jeremy needed to learn to manage his own money, and what better time to start than when he still had a free roof over his head and food on the table. Jess had pointed out that Jeremy was going to be his kid soon and most parents didn't get paid at all for taking care of their own kid, and if they could do it without any help, Jess could certainly manage it with half the money from social services. Jeremy had smiled that grateful smile he always gave Jess over the smallest kindnesses, and Jess had known in his heart that he had made the right decision. He was going to be Jeremy's dad, and he would find a way to keep them afloat and take care of his kid, just like a real parent.
As Jess thought back on that day now, it still warmed his heart. Jeremy was a great kid and he deserved to have a little something tucked away to make him feel safe. Most kids had parents who opened savings accounts for them when they were born, relatives who sent them twenties and fifties in colorful cards on birthdays and Christmas. Some had saved a few thousand dollars by the time they were Jeremy's age. Jeremy had missed out on all that, and Jess wanted to do everything in his power to give the kid as much security as he could to make up for it. Even as his own budget indicated that he was dipping into his savings each month just to make ends meet. Jess thought about the emergency procedure announced on planes that was popularly applied to personal finances in online articles, about how a person needed to secure his own oxygen mask first during the loss of cabin pressure, before he could help his child with his. He was starting to see the wisdom in that. He sighed and plunged his spoon in for another scoop, but the carton was already empty.
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"So, how are your college applications going?"
Jeremy looked up from his spot on the grass, where he was lying next to the dog, giving Winston a belly rub while the dog lay splayed out on his back, tongue lolling out the side of his mouth. They had continued bringing Winston to the park every Saturday morning to walk around and spend some time letting the little guy relax on the grass. Jeremy thought Winston appreciated getting to stretch out on the grass the most. There wasn't much of it in their neighborhood, and it seemed to be what made Winston the happiest. Jeremy liked this part of their weekly routine for another reason, too. He liked the undivided attention he got from his foster father, and the relaxed feel to the conversations they had there. This morning, though, Jess had been quieter than usual. He looked tired and a little rundown, had even nodded off on the grass for a few minutes when they had first settled in. Jeremy hoped everything was ok. He had heard of foster kids being removed when an otherwise devoted foster parent had become seriously ill. Then he felt a stab of guilt for his selfishness at worrying about how a serious health issue for Jess would affect his own situation.
"The applications are going ok. I have most of the forms filled out, and I think I'm good with most of the short-answer questions. I really just need to finish my personal essay and review everything else a few more times to make sure I haven't missed anything. I should be fine, I think."
"I'd be happy to take a look at your essay if you want."
"Oh, uh….yeah?" Jeremy stalled, not sure he wanted to share his essay with Jess, but not sure how to say that either.
Jess laughed lightly. "Yeah. I mean, I've never applied to college or anything, but I do edit other people's writing for a living. I think I could still be useful."
Jeremy sat up then. "Oh, of course you could, I didn't mean it like that!" Jeremy hadn't meant to imply that Jess couldn't be helpful since he hadn't gone to college and gone through the process himself. "I know you would still be useful. I'm sorry! I didn't mean-"
"Jeremy, relax. It's ok. You didn't offend me. You don't need to apologize when you haven't done anything wrong. Ok?" Jess was smiling fondly at him now. "Do I need to start punishing you every time you apologize for something that isn't your fault?" Jess was smirking now. "Like, one demerit every time you give me a superfluous apology, then when you get to ten, you don't get to leave your room for a week or something like that?"
Jeremy knew his foster father was joking about punishing him for it, but he also knew all his apologizing did drive Jess crazy. And he understood, it always felt so weak and pathetically people pleasing even to his own ears, but at this point it was a knee jerk reaction. He knew how quickly the atmosphere at a placement could change when you inadvertently offended a foster parent, and he had learned to be diligent about avoiding saying anything that could be perceived as an unintended slight, and to apologize profusely when he had been stupid enough to do it anyway. And, even now, when he knew Jess was serious about their relationship and about adopting him, and when the man gave him a lot more leeway to express himself than most foster parents had, Jeremy still found himself stuck in the same habits.
Jeremy took a breath to calm himself down, annoyed with himself for his overreaction, and wanting to come across as someone capable of being normal. He infused playfulness in his voice to match Jess' tone. "I don't know. A week's a long time to be locked in my room. I think I'd really miss you and Winston. Maybe you could just smack me around or not feed me instead."
"Deal!" Jess responded with a grin, his voice full of eager enthusiasm as the warm smile on his face belied his words. "Look, it's fine that you apologize to me even when you haven't done anything, Jeremy. You're my kid and I'm not going to take advantage of you for it. But, I worry about you being like that with other people. If you're always taking the blame for everything and thinking you did something wrong, I worry about other people letting you believe that even when it's not true and taking advantage of you. That's all. It doesn't make me mad when you do it. I just think it's unnecessary, and that it's a habit that could complicate your life with people that don't care about you as much as I do."
Jeremy nodded, looking down at Winston. "I get what you're saying. And I agree with you. I don't like that I apologize so much either." He shrugged. "It's just hard to break a habit, sometimes, when you've been doing something for so long."
Jess looked at Jeremy thoughtfully. "I know it is. And I don't mean to make you feel bad about it or anything. I think you're great just the way you are. And if you apologize to me about something trivial every day for the rest of my life, I'll still think you're great and want to be around you."
Jeremy nodded wordlessly, his eyes still on Winston's relaxed face. He never knew how to respond to stuff like this. Jess had said for the rest of his life. They had already talked about adoption so Jeremy shouldn't have been so caught off guard by Jess' phrasing, but he was. The idea of knowing Jess for the rest of his life tugged at his heart and made him feel emotional. He had felt the same earlier in the week when he had seen what Jess had added to his drawing. It had been Jess' first use of the word 'dad' instead of 'parent' in reference to his relationship to Jeremy and it had affected Jeremy more than he would have expected. He had stood frozen, facing the refrigerator with the carton of orange juice in his hands, needing a moment to compose himself before turning back toward Jess.
"Ok." Jess spoke up after a few minutes. "I didn't mean to go off on a tangent like that. I believe we were talking about me proofreading your essay."
Jeremy looked back down at Winston. "Maybe you could look over the rest of the application if you want, to make sure I haven't missed anything."
"Sure, I'd be happy to do that, too. It's probably a good idea to get a second set of eyes on all of it, just to make sure all the i's are dotted and t's are crossed."
Jeremy knew his essay had a dark theme, one that Jess might not appreciate. The instructions had been to write about something significant in his life and he had focused on the worst aspects. The death of his mother, the incarceration and suicide of his father, his years in foster care feeling hopeless and overlooked, the feeling of complete aloneness that had always driven him to do his best in school, knowing that he may never have another person in his life that he could really depend on, so he had to take full advantage of his education to put himself in the best possible position to take care of himself in the future. Jess featured into the essay, too, but Jeremy was aware that it probably wasn't how Jess would expect to see himself. Jeremy had written about finally having someone who wanted to adopt him and how grateful Jeremy was for that, but how he knew he couldn't let his guard down now. How he didn't want to let himself get too dependent on having Jess in his life, because unexpected things happened all the time. Good intentions went bad, adoptions were disrupted, people faded away. Jeremy had a feeling that Jess would be hurt by not being portrayed as the hero of Jeremy's story. And it's not like Jeremy wasn't grateful to Jess for everything he had done, he was, so much, but it still felt too early and everything still felt too uncertain to act like his story had a happy ending.
"That would be great, Jess. I'd really appreciate that." There were college-prep counselors at school who would do the same, but Jeremy didn't want to hurt Jess' feelings by rejecting his offer to help completely. "You could proofread the short-answer questions, too, if you want…..but, uh, my essay is kind of…...personal." Jeremy realized instantly as he watched Jess' face fall that he hadn't worded that as well as he should have, and Jess had taken it as a rejection.
The hurt expression flickered from Jess' face as quickly as it had arrived, but Jeremy could tell Jess had forced it away for his sake. "Ok. That's cool. It sounds like you have everything under control, then. Just let me know when you want me to look at the rest of it."
Jeremy looked down as he slowly moved one hand back and forth over Winston's warm belly. "I'm sorry, Jess-"
"It's fine, Jeremy." Jess' expression was neutral, but his voice wasn't unkind. "There's nothing to apologize for here. I get that it's personal. You don't have to show me your essay if you don't want to."
"It's just that it's about some parts of my life that I haven't told you about, and I don't know. I feel like a lot of it is…...uncomfortable for me."
Jess was smiling at Jeremy now and Jeremy couldn't tell if it was genuine or not. "It's ok, Jeremy. I'm not mad. You didn't hurt my feelings. I get it. It's all right."
"I know it's probably stupid, but I like having you think of me the way I am now, without knowing all the shitty details of my pathetic childhood." Jeremy knew this was true, too, as soon as he said it he recognized the validity of it. It just wasn't the only reason he didn't want Jess to read his essay.
"That's fair. I can understand wanting privacy about your past. Really, it's ok." Jess paused and averted his eyes for a second, and when he looked back at Jeremy, the boy could tell the man was being genuine, and that he understood. "Just please know that there's nothing you could tell me about what you've been through that would make me think less of you or stop caring about you. And, if you ever do want to talk about anything from your past, I'm here to listen. But, no pressure. Ok?"
Jeremy sighed with relief. He didn't want to show Jess his essay, but he really didn't want it to cause problems between them either. "Ok. Thanks for understanding."
Jess was smiling his contagious smile, and Jeremy found himself automatically returning it.
"No problem. I'm an understanding guy." The grin turned into a smirk. "Just promise me that if I'm in it, you don't make me look like Miss Hannigan."
Jeremy laughed. "And, here I thought you'd appreciate being compared to Cameron Diaz. Guess I need to re-write that part."
Jess' puzzled expression made Jeremy laugh more. "What does Cameron Diaz have to do with anything?"
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The following Monday, Chris and Matthew were back at Truncheon. Chris asked Jess in the afternoon if he could hang back for a few minutes after everyone left that day. They had something that they wanted to discuss with him in private. Jess had spent the last couple of hours of the day distracted by what it could be. Chris had been smiling when he had spoken to Jess so he couldn't imagine it was anything bad. But, there had been so much change in his home life lately, that he felt a little unsettled at the prospect of changes at his job, too. He really hoped they weren't going to give him a second chance at buying in as a partner. The timing was all wrong now, too, but he felt uncomfortable about the idea that he would be rejecting them twice. He wouldn't blame them if they moved on and asked the next person on their list, probably Donna, instead of him. He had been hoping for a little more time to get his finances in order to the point that he would be ready to make the investment. But, maybe this chance to own a little piece of something was too good to pass up. Maybe he should talk to Luke about a loan instead of rejecting the offer outright this time.
A few hours later, the office was empty except for Jess, Chris and Matthew, who were sitting around the table in the one small conference room. From the way they were both grinning like idiots, Jess knew this wasn't a partnership offer. This was something bigger than him.
Chris smiled at Matthew. "You can do the honors, if you want, Mattie. I don't want you crying that I stole your thunder later."
Matthew laughed. "You do like doing that to me. Don't think I haven't noticed." They both turned their attention to Jess as Matthew started talking. "So we have really big news! And we wanted to share it with you first. I mean after our families, of course, but first before the other staff, since you've been with us the longest, almost from the very beginning. You have been a part of Truncheon since its humble beginnings. We appreciate the loyalty you have shown us and Truncheon over the years. I mean that. And, this is good news! At least for everyone in this room, not necessarily for everyone else-"
"We sold Truncheon!" Chris cut in, and Matthew turned to him with a frown.
Jess was still processing the news as he watched Matthew turn to Chris accusingly. "You always do that!"
"You were taking too long, man." Chris explained with a smile and a casual shrug. "We all have kids to get home to. This isn't open mic night. No one here has time for your dramatic monologue."
Jess started feeling the edge of panic at what this meant for him, but he wanted to look like a supportive friend to two guys who had been great to him over the last decade plus of employment and friendship. "What? That's amazing! Congratulations! I didn't even realize you were looking to sell." Jess remembered Matthew saying that it was good news for everything in this room, so maybe that meant Jess would still have a job.
Matthew was smiling again. "We weren't shopping around for a buyer or anything, but when the biggest publishing company in the world makes you an offer you can't refuse, what can you do?"
Jess was impressed. "Penguin Random House?"
"That's the one!" Chris said. "Truncheon is going to be a subsidiary. They were familiar with a lot of our stuff. They feel like we've tapped into a niche market that they want a bigger piece of."
Matthew jumped in. "They complimented our eye for curating a collection that is attractive to the hard to reach market of young urban male novel-reading professionals. That's pretty much a quote from the first letter they sent us to gauge our interest in selling."
"That's really impressive, guys. I'm happy for you." Jess still didn't know what this meant for him, and no one seemed to be in a rush to tell him.
"Oh, and we get to bring one employee with us, so of course, we picked you! We didn't even need to think about it." Matthew gushed.
"Yeah, Jess. A lot of the titles they mentioned in our meetings were books that you had chosen and worked on. And they swear that we'll still have creative control over our tiny little corner of the company. We'll still have final say over what we choose to publish under the Truncheon name, since our taste in authors and book selection is what they want Truncheon for to begin with. And you've been a huge part of developing Truncheon's taste. The only change will be that we'll have the financial resources of a major publishing house behind us now."
"The major publishing house! No more flying coach to author meetings on the west coast or staying in cheap motels! Speaking of which." Matthew hurried from the room and returned with a bottle of champagne and three flutes. "I think a celebration is in order!"
"And, we haven't officially submitted you for the position." Chris said. "Because we wanted to talk to you first, of course, but what they were throwing around for pay when we mentioned having a senior editor in mind and how long you'd been with us, was in the range of a twenty to thirty percent bump up from what you make now. So, it's good news for you, too. Like I said, it's not official yet, but that sounds pretty good right?"
"Yeah, definitely." Jess was smiling now, at the idea that not only was his job safe, but that he could expect a much-needed raise as well. "What happens to everyone else?"
"Sadly, we need to let everyone else go." Matthew was distractedly struggling to open the champagne bottle. "They will all get generous severance packages based on how long they've been with us, but we can't take everyone. Penguin Random House, I love saying that name, is doing some internal reorganizing and they're going to provide the rest of the staff for our group from their current pool of employees."
"They're getting that many of their people to move here?" Jess asked, confused. "They don't already have an office in Philly, do they?"
He watched Chris and Matthew exchange looks, and he realized what Chris was going to say before he spoke. "They aren't moving here, Jess. Truncheon is moving to New York."
"Do either of you gentlemen know how to pop the top on this thing?" Chris turned to Matthew to help with the champagne, and Jess realized he was clutching the arms of his chair tightly enough that his hands hurt. He took a steadying breath. Shit.