Page 107 of The Perfect Rom-Com

Bryony Page

It took two hours to receive a reply from Jack.

And in it were the simple words:

Dear Bryony,

Absolutely not.

Which was maddening, but no matter.

Fine. He wanted to play the immature, irrational child? I would lean even further into my role as the rational, mature adult.

I simply worked around him and forwarded the manuscript to the rest of the team.

It took approximately thirty minutes to get a series of celebratory messages.

Thank you for your prompt work, Bryony!

Another winner, no doubt. Very much looking forward to diving in.

Received and accepted. Thank you for your submission.

Susanna’s came last. Twelve hours after everyone else’s emails came in. She had dropped everything. Read the manuscript. And her reply to everyone was soothing to my weary, bandaged soul.

Bryony,

You have outdone yourself. This is, by far, the best manuscript you have ever brought to my desk. Thank you for your upstanding work. You should be incredibly proud of yourself. I know I am.

Susanna

And then, just as I was feeling a little happy, just a glimpse of it, I got another email privately from Jack, after which an email thread ensued.

Jack: I am not accepting this manuscript.

Me: Well, this is the one I’m giving. And the team has accepted it.

Jack: We need to talk. Face-to-face.

Me: I am completing my contractual duties and giving you my thirty days. I have looked into the contract we signed, and apparently we need notice in writing. Consider this my notice in writing.

I then deleted his next six emails.

It took a massive amount of self-control, but I did it.

Gloria stood behind me as I did so, rubbing my shoulders soothingly and telling me I was doing the right and brave thing, not because she thought so, really, but because I had asked her to. I needed confirmation here. I didn’t want any lingering doubts.

So she trusted my gut instead of hers and gave me what I needed: unconditional support.

And then . . . this email slipped through the cracks while teaching this morning.

I opened and read it, simply because of the dreadful subject line: Notice of Pending Lawsuit: Bryony Page X Sterling Literary Agency

It read:

Bryony Page,

In accordance with the terms of your contract, section 13 subset 3b: Writer will perform Promotional Services, if any, at the times provided in Part 1 or, subject to Writer’s prior professional commitments and reasonable availability, at such other times as Publisher may reasonably request and, if requested, as part of the Promotional Services, will sit for video- and audio-recorded interviews, which Publisher may reproduce, distribute, display, perform and adapt for promotional purposes. All reasonable expenses incurred by Writer in performing Promotional Services will be paid by Publisher.