Tuesday Tales - Word Prompt Smudge

Welcome to this week's edition of Tuesday Tales to the word prompt Smudge. This is a WIP and is untitled.

Jill followed the blonde haired secretary into the long oval office. In the center of the room was a long table with only five chairs occupied.  Her eyes immediately scoped the room until her gaze met Robbie’s, who sat grinning at her.

“Can I get you a cup of coffee, tea or a cold drink?” she asked.

“No, thank you.”

A tall young man dressed in jeans and shirt and tie, stood. “Come in Ms. Reed. Please take a seat next to Robbie. I’m Mr. Nelson. But you can call me Gary. We are informal here.”

Jill shook his hand. “Please, call me Jill.”

“I planned on.”

Jill sat, turning her chair sideways so she could see everyone sitting at the table. As Gary introduced the producer, director and head writer, Jill made a mental note to remember each man’s name and title.

In front of each of them were a binder, highlighter, pen and two pencils. This setup reminded her of meetings when she worked on the soap, except that she was the one sitting in the head writer seat.  

Gary opened spent the next ten minutes telling the staff about her background and awards she had won through the years. He then proceeded to ask everyone to open their binder.  The first few pages were excerpts of the work she had on the soap. Gary went into detail about her work and about how he spoke to the network head that had nothing but wonderful things to say about Jill, causing her cheeks to heat up.

The door to the office opened and his secretary walked in with a dish of muffins, placing it in the center of the table between them. She proceeded to place a coffee mug in front of Jill and filled it with coffee. Jill looked up to thank her and noticed that her lipstick was smudged on her lips.

Nodding her head in thanks, Jill poured milk into her mug and held it between her hands.

“I’d like you to all go to section two.” Gary turned the plastic covered sheet in his binder before helping himself to a muffin.

Section two consisted of the episode she had written. Robbie reached over and squeezed her shoulder. Jill let out a nervous giggle when she saw her name listed as writing the script. Even though she had written thousands of scenes for the soap, seeing her name as writer of a new series sent chills down her spine.

“Everyone has had a chance to review the next two episodes Jill wrote. I’m hoping to get some feedback on the script,” Gary said, breaking off a piece of muffins and eating it.

“I’m really excited at where the sitcom is going,” Darren, the head writer said.  “Jill took a pilot episode and created characters that the audience is going to care about.  She took my idea and ran with it.”

“I like how she was able to develop characters without seeing the initial character sketches I created,” Blake, the sitcom producer added. “Jill is going to be a valuable part of the staff.”

“It’s hard to believe that I had the luck to meet her on the plane.  It’s something how luck has a lot to do with things. “

“Well you found a gem here.”  Gary patted Robbie on his shoulder. “You did an excellent job. I think we are going to have a winner here. Jill?”

“Yes.”

“Would it be possible for you to continue working on the next few episodes? I’d like to get this back into production in the next few weeks.”

“Sure. I’ll start working it.”

“Before we do anything, I need for you to go to section four in your binder where you will find your contract. You will see we offer a comprehensive package as well as salary. Look it over and have your attorney send it over to me after you sign.”

“I will. Thank you Gary.”

For the rest of the meeting they talked about the sitcom and where they wanted to see it go and

determine if there were enough characters to keep the plot fresh. After working years on the soap, when the characters went dry, Jill would pull someone from there past out or would create a new situation, love interest or secret baby. But writing a sitcom, opened up so much more than the usual drama.

When Gary stood, so did everyone else.  “We’ll meet back here next Tuesday at 8:30 AM for a breakfast meeting.  Be prepared to work on episode two.  The set designer will also be attending. The pilot only had three scene changes. I was hoping to get some scenes taking place on location throughout Manhattan.  Jill had introduced an on location exchange between two of the characters at the park. So put your thinking caps on and be ready to work.”

Robbie led her out of the office.  Once they were alone on the elevator, Jill shouted out, “Yes.”

“I knew they loved your work.”

“I don’t know how to thank you.”

Robbie grinned. “I can think of a way.”

“Tell me,” she flirted back.

He leaned into her, raised her chin with his thumb and kissed her lips.  “Let me show you my special place in Manhattan.  What do you say?”

Before she could answer the doors to the elevator opened in the lobby.

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