“Not at all,” she agreed.
Maggie put her phone on the desk and hit the speaker button.
"Maggie," the celebrity said sharply through the speaker. "Vanessa, was it?”
“Yes,” Maggie answered.
"She has used the photograph taken of us in your boutique,” she told them.
"On the Kitsch Couture social media accounts?" Maggie typed quickly and brought them up. "Michael and I are looking at it on the website now."
"She has also posted across three platforms in the last hour, placing my full name in every caption and a claim that we are personal friends.” Her voice had a hint of anger. “She also claims that her boutique is now in a formal collaboration with Maggie'sOriginals, with another bold claim—the gown she is showing is my next wedding dress.”
“I’m sorry, I did warn you…” Maggie started to apologize, but her client cut her off.
“No, sweetie,” she chided. “Vanessa broke every clause of that waiver she signed right before we had the photo taken.” She gave a soft, triumphant laugh. “She broke every single one."
"That is consistent with what we are looking at," Michael said, leaning toward the phone.
"Mr. Heart," the celebrity answered.
"Yes," Michael responded.
"I have heard a great deal about you from Maggie over the years," the celebrity told him. "I’m retaining you. The signed waiver, the violation screenshots, the retainer agreement, and a written authorization to proceed are already in your inbox. My team sent them across fifteen minutes ago. I would like that boutique closed by the end of the week."
"Understood," Michael agreed, feeling a little lightheaded at the new client he’d just retained.
"I’m not negotiating, Mr. Heart," the celebrity continued. "I am informing you of my position. Do you understand?"
"I understand," Michael replied. "I will countersign the retainer this afternoon and send the first notice to Kitsch Couture in the morning."
"Good," the celebrity stated. “And, I want to have a press conference when this has been sorted out, with both of you by my side.”
“Understood,” Maggie and Michael said in unison.
“Good, keep me updated,” she told them, then paused and laughed once more. “What an exciting day this has been. Let me know as soon as you’ve dropped the hammer.”
Then the line went dead.
Maggie sat back and let out a slow breath. She turned to Michael.
"What now?" Maggie asked. “I did all the bait and trapping, now it’s your turn to turn the legal screws on them.”
"I have a draft of your new divorce contract in my car," Michael told her. "I drew it up the other day. I’ve been waiting to have a meeting with his attorney, but I feel this is a lot better as now we have leverage to force his hand.”
“Okay, are you going to send it to him?” Maggie asked.
"I would like to deliver it directly to him, in person, this afternoon," Michael told her. "Not to his attorney. To Kevin. With you in the room."
"Why?" Maggie asked.
"His attorney will tell him to fight it," Michael answered. "Kevin, if he is sitting across from a draft he is reading for himself, with the evidence on the table, he will sign it. He is not a man who holds up under pressure. He is a man who folds the moment the math stops working in his favor."
Maggie sat back in her chair and looked for a moment, and he could see her brain working. .
"We can go to his office," Maggie suggested.
“Fine by me,” Michael told her. “If you can do it, let’s go.”
