Jess

He's got a very twitchy mouth, she notices. It's like he's constantly fighting against what his mouth wants to do. On a deeper level, it's more like his mouth's first instinct is to react with emotional honesty but then his brain catches up and tries to hide that emotion.

She knew he was a guarded guy from the moment she met him. But she learned that if you wanted to know what his true emotional reaction was to an event or conversation, look at his mouth. He'll fool you with his eyes. He has a very heavy-lidded look like he's constantly half-bored with what you're saying and at the same time he's half seducing you, because he knows he can.

She thinks the boredom aspect is legit.


"I am so excited!"

They're on their way to meet with Tran, the world-famous Fantasy-Detective novelist and the first writer to ever successfully combine the detective genre with the fantasy world. "Julius Pepperwood: Zombie Detective," is one of the longest running series in the book world today. Jess would devour every new book the moment it hit shelves since she was a teenager and now she's about to meet the author. It's beyond thrilling for her.

She also loves his name. No last name or first initial, just 'Tran.' It's very Madonna or Sting. She wonders if Tran is even his real name.

"Listen, Jess, just let me do the talking. Tran doesn't do conversation, ok?" Nick is gripping the steering wheel with his left hand so tightly his knuckles are white and he keeps rubbing his right hand down over his mouth and chin compulsively.

"Yep, ok, no problemo." She doesn't understand why he seems so nervous. He's been the only one working with Tran for the past ten years; pretty much the moment he joined the company he had been given Tran's contract and built the Pepperwood series up to what it is today…Well, now that she thinks about it, maybe that's why he's nervous. Nick doesn't bring anyone with him on his meets with Tran. It's like his number one rule. That and never go in his office when he's not there.

A few days ago, when word got out that she was going with Nick to meet Tran, her co-worker, Big Bob, had given her a hushed retelling of the one time he brought a person to the meet, a co-worker he'd been dating. A Karaloo, or Coraline, or something like that. Apparently it was a disaster and afterward there were contract disputes, a very public break-up and a delay in the book release for the first time in the series…all of it sounded very dramatic.

"I hope he likes the cover we put together. Do you think I could ask him about the next book? Is that too fan-ish? Will it freak him out if I show him the picture of my boxed collection? I really want to ask him about Carole, and why he had her turned in to a zombie in the last book…"

"No!" Nick shouts. "No to all that, but especially the Carole part. Got it?"

"Okaaaay." Nick's grumpiness was beginning to temper her enthusiasm. And his nerves were seeping in to her system as well. Slumping in her seat, she opens the blue folder containing the cover prints and other marketing materials. She flips through it all, making sure she hasn't forgotten anything. She hears Nick sigh heavily.

"Look, I'm sorry. It's just…he's not going to be what you expect, ok. And he's really important to the company and we can't lose this contract."

"…What's he like?" As she asks, she glances down to his mouth to see it twitching into a half-smile before leveling into a straight line as he answers.

"He's…nice. Great storyteller…I don't know…he's a friend."

Jess can feel the corners of her mouth pull up into what she has secretly deemed, her 'Nick Miller' smile. When he catches it out of the corner of his eyes, he clears his throat.

"But more importantly, he's our number one contract so again, please let me do all the talking."

"You're in charge, Miller!" She nods, doing a quick salute.

"Thanks, sergeant."


A calm, pudgy, Vietnamese man with a deep voice (if he chooses to speak at all) is definitely not what she expects the great novelist, Tran, to be…but it's what's in front of her.

She discovers he is a man of very few words with a steady, unyielding gaze. He lives in a little ranch, the backyard surrounded by a black fence lined with vast vegetable gardens and an old barn with lime-green trimmed windows. Nick speeds through introductions and Tran simply nods in greeting before motioning them out to his backyard to a picnic table set with a wide variety of fruits, vegetables and herbs. Jess stands in awe for a moment, taking in the massive garden and all the smells emitting from it. She'd love nothing more than to slip off her shoes and go exploring among the tangled plants but a frustrated Nick, whispering a harsh, "Jess," breaks her out of the daydream.

They sit and Nick immediately grabs some fruit, clearly comfortable in the environment. She feels a little shaky and immediately forgets the rule of 'let Nick do the talking.'

"So, Mr. Tran…er….Tran…sir…we have several options for covers, all in the standard 'Pepperwood' template…" She moves to open the blue folder but a spotty, wrinkled hand stops her the same time she hears a frustrated, "Jess, what did I say?"

Tran gently extracts the folder from her, placing it on the table over some ripe red tomatoes, and takes both her hands in his, pulling her up to her feet. They start towards the garden and she turns wide eyes to Nick who is busy popping strawberries into his mouth. He glances her way and waves his hand, indicating she should go with the flow.

She happily turns back, obediently following Tran through the rows as he points out various sprouting flowers and ripening vegetables. She crouches at different herbs to smell the leaves and she loses her sense of time. Eventually, after picking at a beautiful strawberry bush, she realizes Tran is no longer with her and glances over to the picnic table to see him in deep discussion with Nick, though it looks like Nick is doing most of the talking. Feeling a little miffed at being left out she quickly makes her way back.

Once she reaches the table, the conversation ceases and she gives Nick a tight smile. Tran however retains his gentle look and reaches for Jess's blue folder. Too eager for his feedback, Jess forgets her displeasure at being left out and quickly sits down on the bench next to Nick.

"So what we did there was put Julius to the back in shadow, with his hat covering his face echoing his current state of mind. He's still obviously depressed and in mourning over losing Carole-"

"I wouldn't say that, Jess."

"Nick, I'm trying to explain-"

"Pepperwood is totally over Carole, he's in the shadows because it's safe there and he's spying on zombies."

"No, Nick, did you even read-"

"Of course I read it!"

Nick snatches the printed images out of Tran's hand, who doesn't seem to mind, watching the two bickering adults in front of him.

"Look at him Jess, he's focused and detecting, not crying over some zombified chick he slept with."

"He was in love with her!" She replies incredulously. "There are three books detailing their relationship."

"No he-"

"If I may," Tran's steady voice cuts in, "I like this cover." He pulls out one of the images from Nick's grip and hands it to Jess. "Now we may move on," he says calmly.

Jess eyes Nick who is glaring steadily at her before turning her attention back to Tran as he flips through the rest of the folder.

Two more hours of discussion…ok some might consider it arguing between her and Nick while Tran snaps green beans…. And most of the essential marketing decisions Tran had to make are complete.

The author rises from the table to walk around and stand in front of her.

"Thank you for joining me here, Ms. Day. It's been a pleasure. It seems as though Mr. Miller has found a worthy partner in crime."

Jess can feel the blush spread across her cheeks. "The pleasure has been entirely mine, Tran."

He smiles and then slowly extends a hand to her face. Her eyes widen and she fights the instinct to recoil but then his hand gently brushes her cheek and she sees some dirt crumbles fall into her lap. Oh my God, she must have had dirt smudged all over her cheek from when she had been absentmindedly playing with the beet roots on the table and then touching her face.

Slightly mortified, Jess laughs softly and brings her own hand to her cheek to finish brushing off the dirt.

"Until next time," Tran says, benevolent smile still in place; he bows slightly and turns towards his gardens.

As soon as he walks away she glances over at Nick to gage his reaction and looks to his mouth.

Bingo. She catches the fond smile he tries to cover up, and with a small satisfied smile on her own face, Jess rises from the picnic table, folder in hand.

After one last strawberry, Nick rises as well, carrying a thick brown accordion folder Jess hadn't noticed before.

"Is that a manuscript for the next book?" They make their way through Tran's front door.

"No."

"Well, what is it? I should take a look if we're doing Pepperwood together now." Once they're in the car Nick turns to her with very serious eyes, hands clutching the brown folder.

"You will not touch, you will not open, and you will not think about this folder. You will most definitely never ever look at the contents of this folder. Understood?"

She rolls her eyes. "How am I supposed to contribute when you won't let me see any of the information?!"

"I'll give you what you need to know!" He responds.

"Nick, you've given me minimal information and such menial tasks that I'm about to go out of my mind with boredom. I'm really good, I can help you! All those nights you stay late, you don't have to do that now!"

"What are you talking about? I gave you the cover. That's huge!" He yells.

"The Pepperwood series has had the same cover template for fifteen years. That was hardly a challenge."

"Well maybe you should ask Big Bob for more challenging things or how about Sanders, you and him get along great."

Holy crap and a half, he's jealous. This ridiculous man-child is jealous of her relationships with her co-workers. She's not even going to acknowledge his idiocy and with a huff, turns forward and crosses her arms, holding her blue folder tightly to her chest but then freezes.

"Uh oh." Tran is standing in front of their car, with a basket full of garden items (so that's where all those baskets in Nick's office come from), that same gentle smile on his face; but now there looked to be a mysterious twinkle in his eyes as they darted between the two of them.

Nick swears under his breath as he rolls down the window to accept the offering.

"Thanks, Tran. I'll call ya," he says gruffly.

Tran simply nods and turns toward his front door.

"No more talking," Nick says tiredly as he drops the basket into her lap.

She picks out a fresh strawberry and nods in agreement, her mind stuck on the mysterious brown folder sitting on top of a wrinkled flannel shirt in the back seat.