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“I hope the amount is sufficient,” Delaney says. “Because if it’s not I can increase it.”
“No!” I stammer. “No…that…that’s not it! The amount’s fine! It’s better than fine!”
Delaney smiles. “Good,” he says, and takes out a Mont Blanc from his pocket and clicks it, hands it to me. “Just sign on the dotted line and we’re good to go.”
What the hell, I think and start scribbling my signature. It looks strange on that foreign paper. Delaney takes the contract and places it in a tray. “I’ll get my assistant to make copies for you too, so you can take it home and study it.”
I know I probably should have done the studying before signing it but Delaney said it was urgent. Besides, aren’t all of the best life decisions made in haste and on the spot? I can stand regretting what I’ve done but I don’t think I’d be able to bear it if I regret not doing something. Three years is not that long, I can always leave. And my father’s a lawyer; he can probably get me out of the contract if something does go wrong. Delaney gets up and I do too. He walks over to me and I hand him the pen but he refuses to take it back. “Keep it,” Delaney says. “You’ll be doing a lot of signing now.”
“Do you mean more documents?”
“Well, that too. But I meant autographs. Soon, people will know your name, Sebastian. They will know who you are, and we will make sure they never forget.”
“Thanks, Mr. Delaney.”
“Liam,” Delaney says. “Call me Liam, please.”
“Liam,” I say.
Liam shakes my hand again. “It’s a pleasure to have you on board, Sebastian.”
I wonder how the hell I’m going to explain all of this to my parents or my friends. Everyone’s going to act like I made another mistake, because they all treat me like a baby, but I’m not a kid anymore, I’m an adult and I can make my own decisions.
Liam buzzes in his secretary and she comes right in. Liam hands her the contract. “Holly,” he says. “I need you to make several copies of this and send one to Mr. Spanner and one to the client.” I realize I’m Mr. Spanner and it makes me feel a little out of place. “And bring our best champagne, Holly. We’re celebrating a contract signing.”
“Liam,” I say. “You don’t have to do that.”
“Holly,” Liam says and Holly gets the message.
When she leaves Liam turns to me. “And this weekend there’s going to be a celebration in your honor at OBLIVION.”
“OBLIVION? That place is impossible to get in. And don’t they need you to get a reservation months in advance for parties? I know because Holden tried to get them for our graduation party and couldn’t get it.”
“Well,” Liam says. “I have my ways.”
I can’t help but notice that he’s staring at me and it makes me feel uncomfortable. “When’s the client coming in?” I ask to break the tense atmosphere.
“He should be here soon,” Liam says. “Is everything okay? You look tense.”
“No…I’m fine.”
“Sebastian, you’re not fine. Tell me what it is. Are you having second thoughts about signing the contract? Sebastian, the contract is just paperwork. If at any time you decide you don’t want to work with me, or you’re not happy with this decision, I’ll tear up the contract.”
“You would do that? Why?”
“Because I can’t stand seeing you unhappy, Sebastian.”
“Excuse me?”
“Sebastian,” Liam says. “Don’t take it the wrong way, but we’re friends now. And I always take care of my friends.”
“What happens if we’re not friends?”
Liam thinks about it. “You think friendship depends on some contract some lawyer chalked up?” he says. “I told you before, this contract is simply formality, nothing more. Our friendship is more important to me than some business deal or some client. You have to trust me, Sebastian. I won’t let any harm come to you.”
No one’s ever said that to me before. Sure, Teague can be protective when he wants to be but other times, it’s me who protects him from stupid shit he can’t stop doing. It was the same with Holden. I’m sure Daniel would help me any way he could, but there was something about the way Liam was saying all of this that made me feel different. “Let’s hope it never comes to that,” I say. “And I’m sure we can be good friends, Liam.”
“I know we can,” Liam says.
