A/N: Sorry for the delay! But in my defense, I did at least get a new 4th of July themed chapter up for Moments in Time ;). It was also crazy at work (it's new resident season so my life is miserable when new docs are running amok), but then I took vacation and zoned out for awhile. But I'm back! Here's another jump forward, this time 3 months after the events of the last chapter.
Monday, August 26, 12:30pm
"Regina, relax. Please. You're making me nervous," Emma said as she placed a hand on her girlfriend's knee, which had been bouncing uncontrollably. They sat outside the office of Baron Samdi, Regina's new manager, but a longtime friend of the brunette. She had dropped her agent the year before, as she wasn't really in the mood to audition for things after deciding to focus on getting pregnant, and she had become more interested in the producing and directing side of the business. Instead, she had reconnected with an old friend of hers from college, who was now a successful manager in the industry. He took her on at a good rate, and he had strong casting connections in case she got bitten by the acting bug again and wanted to get back into it in the future. But thus far, he had proven himself to be very useful.
"I'm sorry," Regina sighed. "But it's our first time leaving Ava alone. I just want to get back to her."
"She'll be fine, babe," Emma assured her. "Robin's taking a long lunch and he clearly knows what he's doing. He's fine babysitting her for an hour or two. Plus, you saw how excited Roland and Henry were to have some time with their new baby sister when we dropped her off. It's good for them to bond, especially since they don't live with us full-time."
"I know. But it still doesn't make it any easier to be away from her. I didn't know I could miss someone this much. I know it's silly, but—"
"It's not at all," Emma smiled, reaching over and taking Regina's hand in hers. "I didn't know it was possible to love someone that much within seconds of meeting her. I'm anxious to get back, too."
Regina couldn't help but lean over and quickly peck Emma's lips, but they were soon interrupted by someone's throat clearing behind them. "Oh, Baron," Regina blushed as she stood up to face him. "Hi."
"Hello, Regina," he said in his thick British accent. "And you must be Emma. I've heard such wonderful things about you. It's good to finally meet you in person," he said, turning toward the blonde.
"You as well," she replied, shaking his hand.
"And Regina, you look lovely and elegant as always," he said, kissing her cheek as she moved through the doorway of his office.
She rolled her eyes. "Please. I haven't slept more than two hours a night for the past three weeks, and I still feel like I'm permanently bloated. But it's nice of you to say, regardless."
"And how is the little one?" he asked as he gestured for each woman to take a seat in the chairs opposite his desk.
"Amazing," she sighed dreamily.
"I'm glad to hear it. I'm surprised you didn't bring her with you."
"We thought about it, but we weren't sure how long this would take. She's in good hands…Robin's babysitting her," Emma answered.
"Excellent. Well, I won't keep you, then. Let's get to it."
Both women instinctively sat up straight, sensing the change from casual friendly conversation to business. Regina still felt butterflies in her stomach, unsure why Baron had summoned both her and Emma to his office. Part of her was afraid he was going to give her bad news and that he wanted Emma to be there to support her, especially given that she was only three weeks post-partum, sleep-deprived, and emotional. But, she tried not to be pessimistic.
After all, Kitchen Masters had been an immediate success since its premiere two months earlier, earning the number one spot for the lifestyle network and ranking number one in reality and competition shows airing in the country that summer. She and Robin were already in negotiations for the second season, as the network had already ordered more episodes. They were in the process of finalizing the details for their contracts. She hoped there weren't any new issues popping up.
"As you know," Baron started. "The reality TV genre is a growing market here. Canada tried early on to compete with the US by creating Canadian versions of popular reality shows in the early 2000s, but it didn't really work then. But now that there's more talent and interest up here, particularly centered around Vancouver, Toronto, and Montreal, a lot of the networks and affiliates are interested in trying to either launch their own shows, or produce their own spin-offs from their American counterparts."
"Okay…" Regina said. "Kitchen Masters has already been picked up for another season next summer. We start filming in January, barring any issues with our contracts, so we can extend the competition from six weeks to eight and squeeze a few more episodes out of it, if we want to make it run a bit longer. But you know all this already…"
"Indeed," he said. "I do."
"So, then why are we here, Baron?"
"Yes, and why am I here?" Emma added.
"Well, as I was saying, reality television is on the upswing here, and there are a lot of networks looking to capitalize on that."
"Please tell me you're not about to suggest that Emma and I have some lesbian child-rearing reality show…" Regina said. "Because if you are, you're so fired."
He chuckled. "No, Regina. I'm not an idiot. A few small cable channels did inquire about something to that effect, but I didn't even bother mentioning that to you. I know you, Regina. I'm not stupid."
She raised her eyebrows. "So…?"
"It seems like a major Canadian network wants to try its hand at the dance competition reality game."
That made Emma's ears perk up, and she looked over to Regina, who raised an eyebrow. "We're listening."
"There was a So You Think You Can Dance Canada a decade ago. It only lasted four seasons, likely because it was ahead of its time. It predated all the Dance Moms hoopla and all the other shows in that now oversaturated genre."
"If it's oversaturated, then why is the network wanting to add to it?" Emma asked.
"Because it's not oversaturated here. There's a lot of talent here, and people are feeling a lot of pride in their country…maybe it has something to do with having a pretty and competent Prime Minister. I don't know. My point is, people want to be able to work and compete here. They no longer want to go to the US to do it. And local cities want to bring the industry here, instead of draining all our talent to the US. Imagine if Celine Dion would bring her Caesars' Palace show to Montréal instead of Vegas. That's what some of the networks are hoping to do, just on a smaller scale. And networks are getting creative. Instead of recreating the exact same shows that exist in the US, they want to put their own spin on it, which may help attract viewers from the US and other countries. Americans won't watch if it's exactly the same as what's going on in LA, but if there's a unique twist and highlights local talent, then it opens up a lot of doors."
"Get to the point, Samdi. Is there an offer of some sort on the table?" Regina demanded.
He smiled at her bluntness. "An initial offer, yes. It's not great, but it's a good starting point. The executive producing group of one of the new dance competition shows saw your music video that came out last month," he explained. The music video the women had filmed with Killian and Lily as a result of the contest over a year earlier finally was released the month before. "Regina, they know you were involved in the direction of it and that you were behind the original contest entry. They loved both. They've also been impressed with the episodes you've directed of Kitchen Masters, and your hosting skills. They're interested in having you host, direct, and/or produce their new show."
Regina was not expecting that. "That's definitely intriguing," she admitted.
"And Emma," he continued. "They've seen your work as a dancer and choreographer. They're interested in having you work with the contestants, either in a mentoring role or possibly choreographing or judging the competition, depending on the ultimate format they decide on."
"Seriously?" she asked, legitimately surprised.
"Yes. Now admittedly, I'm sure some of their interest is also in having the pair of you involved. Regina, you still have your die-hard fans who will watch anything you do. And a lot of them love seeing you and Emma together, which guarantees viewers. But Emma, you also have a solid group of fans from the dance world, independent of your involvement with Regina, so you'd be bringing those viewers to the show by lending authenticity — you're not a hired Hollywood type for the role, but you're someone who they can relate to and came up through the dance world. Which is why I think I can negotiate a better deal for you both than what they're offering right now. But, their opening bid isn't anything to scoff at."
Regina raised her eyebrows. "And just what is their opening offer?"
"125k just for signing on for you, Regina, and 75k for Emma, assuming the show is picked up, which they're confident it will be. Then it depends on your ultimate roles, but you're looking at a minimum of 10 to 20 thousand per episode for 12 or 13 episodes. So not huge, but on par with what you'd get even in LA for something like this. The Dancing with the Stars competitors make about that, depending how far into the competition they make it. Regina, I think we can get at least a little more per week for you, especially if you end up wearing multiple hats."
Emma's mouth dropped open in shock. Is he seriously saying he thinks $75,000 and then $10,000 per week is low? That's more than I've made in the past five years for only three months of work, she thought. She looked over at Regina who had schooled her features. She could usually read Regina's thoughts, but when the woman slipped into business mode, she was a complete mystery. Emma had no idea what her girlfriend was thinking at that moment.
"When do they want an answer by? And when would this all start, theoretically?" Regina asked.
"They want the show to air late next spring, so they want to move forward with negotiations quickly. They envision eight weeks of filming the actual competition portion, but another six to eight weeks of auditions leading up to it. Granted, we're talking a day or two per audition, which would be compiled into a few episodes, just spread across a couple months. Their goal is to get the auditions done in January and February, and then do the live shows in May and June. The timing works out for Kitchen Masters, since you'd be wrapped with that before the live shows would start for this. There'd be minimal overlap with the auditions and Kitchen Masters, but we would make sure it's workable."
"Hmmm…" Regina looked pensive. "Can Emma and I discuss this and get back to you later this week with our thoughts?"
Emma looked at her in question. In her mind, there was nothing to think about. They would be stupid not to do it. She was ready to sign on the dotted line.
"Of course," he smiled at both women. "Take your time. And I'll send you all the paperwork I have from them about it." He stood from his leather chair and extended his hand, each woman shaking it before he walked them to the door. "Let me know when you have a decision, or if you have any questions in the meantime."
"We will. Thank you, Baron," Regina said as she exited his office.
Regina could feel Emma staring at her as they walked toward the elevator, but she didn't need to look over at the blonde to know that her mouth was still gaping open. She held back a chuckle as she hit the call button for the elevator. "Go ahead," Regina encouraged as they stepped inside and the doors closed, leaving them alone in the small metal box. "Let it out."
"HOLY SHIT," Emma shouted, running a hand through her hair and across her face. "We're accepting this deal, right? I've never seen that much money in my life."
Regina laughed as she watched Emma literally do a happy dance. "Emma, chill," she said. "It's certainly an intriguing offer, but before we get blinded by the potential payout, we should hear more about the creative direction and who else is going to be involved….make sure it's a legitimate team and not something that may ultimately hurt our careers."
That brought Emma's high down just a bit. "Oh. I suppose you're right," she conceded. "But still, holy shit. This is amazing."
Regina smiled and reached for Emma's arm, pulling her closer by the elbow. "It is. And it could be fun to work together," she said, leaning in so she could place a soft kiss on her cheek, running her hands down her lower back and pulling her close.
"So you're interested?"
"Of course, if it's the right move to make. I'll know more after I look at the info Samdi sends over."
"Okay, good," Emma sighed. "I wasn't sure based on your reaction in there when he proposed it."
Regina smirked. "I never want to give away what I'm thinking. If I'm too excited, he may not want to negotiate as much. Yes, more money for us means more money for him since he gets a cut, so he should in theory want to negotiate as much as he can, but things can fall through during negotiations. Sometimes the folks like to close a deal even if there's more potential money on the table, just to make sure it actually goes through. I don't want him to know I'm that interested just yet. Knowing Samdi, he'll go back to the network before I even give him an answer and push for a bit more to sweeten the deal if he thinks I'm hedging."
"Well, you have one hell of a poker face."
"That's because I'm a great actress," she winked. "Now, how about we go pick up our baby, steal some food from Robin's fridge since neither of us have gone grocery shopping recently, and head home for a quiet lunch?"
"That sounds wonderful to me," Emma replied, kissing Regina's lips as the elevator doors pinged open and walking out into the lobby with a smile on her face.
A/N: This will likely be the second to last chapter, and then there may be an epilogue that'll be a glimpse into their future way down the road. Unless something comes up that gives me an idea to make this last a little longer. Realistically the next chapter won't be up this week, but it should be up the week after. And I have two fics in the works that I hope to publish once this one is done :)