Conner sat at the table nervously arranging the drafts that he had brought with him. He remembered the CEO's assistant from the contract signing, she was a no-nonsense woman with average looks. He had thought about using her as the example for his character Li Mei, but that resulted in the first no-go he wrote. Li Mei just didn't have enough presence with her as the basis. All Conner wanted was to meet someone who had the right level of presence and still maintained that cold air of indifference. If he could find someone like that, he was sure he could escape from this slump.
"Mr. Carlisle's assistant should be here in a moment," the secretary that led them in said. She was curious why the mysterious RayRay didn't come and why the attractive young man that did come looked so nervous. "Well if you need anything while you wait, I'll be just down the hall on the left." She turned to leave but before she could reach the door the door opened.
Conner watched as the door opened to see a stern face with oval glasses with black hair pulled back in a professional bun and a sharp business suit. His eyes went wide staring at the glacial beauty in the doorway. He was so entranced by the person entering the room that he missed the momentary shock on the secretary's face. "Mr. Lee, Mr. Miles, I'll be presiding over this meeting. Mr. Carlisle's assistant had an urgent matter pop up at the last second so I will be filling in. You may call me Manager Johnson."
The secretary almost burst out laughing at her boss' boss pretending to be a stand-in. However, just as she was about to lose it, she received an icy glare from the big boss so she quickly reigned her laughter back in. "Excuse me, Manager Johnson, I need to get back to work, please let me know if you need anything." She hastily gave the big boss some face and helped her with her cover story while giving an excuse to vacate this dangerous situation immediately.
After the secretary left and the door closed Carly took her place at the head of the meeting table. "Mr. Miles, we've heard some troubling rumors that you've fallen drastically behind schedule. Could you shed some light on the situation? Depending on the reasoning we may have little choice but to terminate the contract."
Conner was enraptured by the presence of this Manager Johnson. 'She is the perfect image for Li Mei... somebody give me a pen and paper,' he thought. Obviously he wouldn't be so rude as to just start writing in the middle of the meeting but he really wanted to at this moment. "The problem lies in the character Li Mei, I just can't seem to capture the right qualities for her. I've been writing the same chapter over and over with different versions of Li Mei but they all felt lacking. I have the twelve drafts that I made right here if you want to review them to see the problem for yourself."
'Oh my god, he has drafts with him and he's offering to let me read them! Calm down Carly do not lose your cool you are the big boss that calls all the shots you must act like it!' She was very conflicted internally, she really wanted to just take those drafts and run away but she did her best to maintain her calm external appearance. "Very well, let me see." She casually extended her hand towards Conner.
Seeing that this manager was willing to take a look at the no-go drafts that he brought, Connor let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding. He handed over the drafts carefully because he was afraid of annoying the fearsome woman in front of him, but he couldn't tear his eyes away from her face. 'I have to study her every action, yes study, that's what I'm doing. Research for Li Mei. Nothing else.'
Carly was so focussed on the drafts in her hands that she failed to notice the intense stare that she was receiving. She gracefully laid each page aside as she moved on to the next. She read each of the drafts and frowned. 'each of these versions of Li Mei are vastly different, he put a lot of work into trying out so many different versions. However, they are all missing the essence of who she is supposed to be. Now I see why he's fallen behind. It looks like he can't find that missing piece to complete Li Mei.' She stood and looked to his editor. "You out!" She pointed at James Lee with one hand and the door with the other.
James was started by this sudden aggression by Manager Johnson but he was afraid of angering her so he immediately scrambled to the door. "Y-yes, right away."
After James left, Carly walked over to Conner's chair glaring at him. As she reached him she placed her high heel on the arm of his chair and leaned towards him, meeting his eyes that were wide open in shock. "What will it take to get you back on track?" she asked in a low, seductive voice.
"W-what?" Conner was so scared of the current situation he hadn't heard the question. He was too focussed on leaning as far away as he could without tipping the chair over.
Frustrated, Carly grabbed his tie pulling him towards her so there faces were almost touching. "I said, what will it take to get you back on track?!"
Before Conner had a chance to answer the door burst open with Jenny rushing into the room. "B-boss w-what are you doing?"
Due to the unexpected interruption, both Conner and Carly jumped causing their lips to meet.