I look at him and smirk. “When have you gotten to know me so well?” It’s a rhetorical question. Max laughs and repeats my casual shrug. “Yeah, right,” I mumble under my breath.
We pull up in front of the address Miriam gave me, and I look up at the small building. This publishing company is really small. It’s made up of Miriam who’s the Director, one editor, one proofreader, and a personal assistant. “You ready?”
“I am.”
“Would you like me to come in with you?” Max asks. I silently nod my head. “Then let’s do this.”
We get inside and the personal assistant greets us. Her name is Xena and she’s young and full of life. Her hair is all different shades of pink and she has a piercing above her lip. She asks if we want anything to drink, Max and I both decline.
“Lily,” a relatively young woman says as she comes toward us.
Both Max and I stand, “Yes, hi, I’m Lily and this is my partner Max.”
“Pleased to meet you, ma’am,” Max says as he extends his hand.
Miriam looks at Max and smiles. “The pleasure is all mine.” Right away I look at her and stare blankly. I’ve had no problems understanding Max and his stutter, but I know all new people at first really struggle with him, which is why he’s content to not introduce himself. But Miriam responded to Max and answered him as if she understood. Or maybe she did understand him. Either way, her reaction is already marking her high on my list.
“Please, come into my office,” she pauses and laughs, “And my boardroom,” she pauses again, turns to look at me with an amused look, “And our staffroom.”
“It’s an all in one. Cozy,” I say looking around and noticing the stacks of paper down the other side of the conference table.
“MML Publications is only fairly small in comparison to the top five. But I’m expanding and always in need of editors. However, I don’t hire easily. I have one editor, one proofreader and our PA.”
“I’ve done my research, and I’ve also seen the authors you have.”
“You have?” she asks as she tilts her head and looks at me. “She’s a smart one,” Miriam says to Max.
“She certainly is,” he agrees.
“I’ve also done my research, which is why I approached you. I’ve been keeping track of the books you edit, and every single one of them has made a bestseller list somewhere. And that is impressive. This is what I can offer you.”
I put my hand up to stop her. “Before you tell me what you can offer me, I’m going to tell you what I want.”
Miriam looks at Max again and winks at him. “What would you like, Lily?”
“I’ve had a lot of offers, and I’ve rejected each and every one of them. But these are my terms. I want you to match what I get now for being a personal assistant at the store where I work, and I’m still able to work for clients of my own away from here.”
“I can’t agree to the last part,” Miriam interrupts to say.
“Here’s the thing, Miriam.” I cross my legs in a dainty way, knit my fingers together and place them on the table. “If I can still keep doing edits personally, then I can keep an eye out for new authors. And you never know where you’ll find the next big thing. You yourself have said every book I’ve worked on has gone on to place on some bestseller list somewhere. Wouldn’t you like me to bring them to you, so you can grow your company to be one of the ‘big five’?” I air quote ‘big five’ then sit back in my seat and watch her reaction.
I see her visibly swallow hard. “Are they your only conditions?”
“I’ll work from home when I want and in six months we’ll renegotiate my pay.”
“Well, this has certainly not gone as planned. This is what I was proposing. I’d match the pay you’re getting now. You’d work out of this office Monday to Friday, you wouldn’t be allowed to take on outside work, and we’d renegotiate in twelve months.”
“Hmmm,” I say nodding my head. “Seems you have a way to go to match my conditions.” Inside I’m nervous as anything. But Peter, Dale and Max keep telling me I’m worth so much more than I’m asking for, so stick to my conditions and don’t falter. And if I’m not a fit for MML Publications, then I’ll be a fit somewhere else.
Miriam stands and goes over to the door, which she opens and says to Xena, “Get a welcome package, with all the relevant forms.” I’m doing an internal dance, and I’m trying my hardest to contain my smile. “Welcome to MML Publications,” she says as she holds her hand out for a congratulatory shake.