issues have come up.â
âHas the movie been moved back?â I asked.
âNo,â Lena said quickly.
âThen whatâs the problem?â
âI wish I could talk to you in person, but here goes: Yancey B. just got a wonderful opportunity,â Lena said.
âA wonderful opportunity? What are you talking about?â
â
Vanity Fair
wants to put her on the cover. Sheâd be the first African American woman to grace the cover solo. Also, Donatella Versace is designing several gowns just for Yancey B. Isnât that just fab?â
âWhat does that have to do with our shoot?â
âThey want to do it for September and to have an exclusive for thirty days after the issue hits the stand.â
âAn exclusive?â I said, laughing in my best diva voice. âWe already have an exclusive, remember?â
âYeah, but I was hoping youâd reconsider and let us move forward with
Vanity Fair,â
Lena said.
I started to feel warm as I looked around my office for something to focus on. I had to get myself together quickly before I lost my temper. I knew this woman wasnât calling me at the last minute to tell me sheâd already secured another deal for her client.
âLena, why would I want to move my cover back? It doesnât make sense. I thought you turned those other magazines down before you chose
Bling
. We have a deal,â I said.
âI know, Zola, but this is big and I have to look out for whatâs best for my client, and being on the cover of
Vanity Fair
is something Yancey B. has dreamed of all her life. Iâm sorry, Zola. We can still do the shoot, but publication will have to wait until at least thirty days after the
Vanity Fair
cover is off the stands.â
âWoman, have you lost your mind? Do you know how much work weâve put in to pull off this shoot? How dare you call me at this late date and ask me to do this. The answer is no. Hell no. We will move ahead according to plan,â I said firmly. I was willing to bet that Lena wasnât telling the entire story. I was certain there were a few little trinkets lined up for both Yancey B.
and
Lena. Probably a few Donatella Versace originals, and other perks, had made them change their minds about doing the
Bling
shoot.
âSo youâre going to play hardball, Zola?â
âCall it what you want, but Iâll see you in the morning.â
âI donât think you should expect us.â
âWhat?!â
âIf you donât agree to my terms, Yancey wonât be there. Youâll have to find someone else for your cover,â she said.
âI tell you what . . . donât show up. Iâm sure we can find a nice stock photo of your client. I bet there are lots of not-so-flattering pictures out there of her, and Iâll run one on the cover. So, Lena, donât play with me. Iâm the wrong one,â I said.
âYou wouldnât do that.â
âWouldnât I? Try me. Matter of fact, rather than the glowing story we were going to run, Iâm going to take another angle.â
âAnother angle?â
âOh, yeah. I know a little more than you think about your client. Weâve done our homework, and thereâs lots of interesting information floating around about Yancey B. Maybe Iâll have LaVonya the gossip columnist write the story instead of Kirsten Dawson. You canât stop us from running the cover, nor do you have a say on what writer we assign if you break the original agreement.â
âCanât we work something out?â
âWeâve already worked something out. Deal with it,â I said, and slammed down the phone.
2
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On a lovely June morning, I stepped into a dream office on the forty-sixth floor of a Times Square high-rise, and it belonged to me. The office building housed several record companies and a large publishing company. Davis leased two floors for the staff
Lynn Picknett, Clive Prince