Wynn opened the glass door for her and she walked in. Old Man Lymon used his cane to push to his feet and she went to him. He greeted her with a kiss to the cheek. The co-founder of Lymon McGraw only came into the offices once a week now. Though in his late seventies, he remained sharp and inquisitive. She’d already briefed those present on her strategy but wanted them to meet Wynn. Bringing a client of his magnitude on board had already earned her praise during the partners’ meeting.
Scarlett introduced Wynn to all three Lymons and watched the interaction between them. The old man scrutinized Wynn but was cordial as he sized up the actor. Little Lymon, her nickname for the youngest Lymon who’d graduated from law school a few months ago, appeared starstruck. Henry Lymon, the son of the old man and father to Little Lymon, fawned over Wynn.
She didn’t like Henry—but the same could be said for his feelings regarding her.
Old Man Lymon had hired Scarlett immediately after she’d graduated at the top of her class from UCLA Law. The son had disagreed with his father’s decision, which made her and Henry get off to a rocky start. Henry Lymon never bothered hiding his feelings, especially where women were concerned. He had to be the most sexist man she’d ever met, thinking women were good for two things—making and having babies. When Scarlett settled a complicated case after only two weeks at Lymon McGraw, saving the firm’s client millions of dollars, she’d been fast-tracked. The old man handpicked her cases as Scarlett racked up win after win. After three years of success, she’d begun to receive offers from top firms in the city and went to the old man to discuss her future at Lymon McGraw. She’d wanted to know where she stood and if staying or jumping ship made sense for her future.
Old Man Lymon cut her a deal. He doubled her already generous salary and revealed he would make her a partner at the end of another year. She’d be able to choose whatever clients and cases she wanted in the meantime. Scarlett stayed, grateful for the opportunity to forge her own path and make partner so quickly. Office gossip got back to her how unhappy Henry Lymon was about the handshake agreement. The old man had made his son toil for seven, long years before he earned partner status. Every time Henry looked at Scarlett, she saw a mixture of resentment and distaste in his eyes.
Her phone buzzed. She touched Wynn’s sleeve. “I’ve got to take this and then we’ll need to be off. Be right back.”
Scarlett slipped out of the conference room. “Cassie. What have you got for me?”
“A full treatment. I just emailed it to you. It’s almost five pages long.”
“What? You’re kidding me.”
“Nope. Breck and I stayed up until four this morning hammering it out. Slept a couple of hours and then after he devoured everything in our fridge, we polished it up.”
Before she left Rhett’s last night, she’d asked Cassie and Breck to kick a few ideas around on how Carbon Man might undergo his miraculous change. She’d hoped to toss some of them out to the execs this morning, tempting them even further with solid ideas so Wynn might be released from his contract.
“I never expected a full treatment from you two.”
Cassie chuckled. “The more we talked, the more excited we became about the idea. We came up with more than a pitch. What I’ve sent tells the overall story, not simply ways to get Carbon Man to look like a new guy. We even threw in a few key scenes and a couple of zingers that could be actual lines of dialogue.”
“I don’t know how to thank you.”
“You can get Wynn freed up to work with us, Scarlett. That’s thanks enough. Already, Breck can’t wait to drive back to Vegas because he does his best thinking on the open road. We kicked around a few things and I believe the script we’d started on will take shape pretty quickly now. Actually, it’ll diverge from what we’d originally planned but meeting Wynn has given us some firm direction. Plus, neither of us has ever thought about writing superhero, big action stuff. This might be our in-road into that genre.” Cassie paused. “I think the treatment is strong enough that by the end of the day, Breck and I will receive an offer from Rylon to write the screenplay.”
“That’s fantastic. You’re fantastic. Kiss Breck right on the mouth for me. I owe you.”
“Glad to do it for family, Scarlett.” Cassie’s tone changed. “You do realize Wynn is going to become family.”
“I know.”
“Are you all right with that?”
“Honestly, Cassie, I think it’s great for him. For me? I don’t know. I’m crazy about him but don’t think we should get involved. He’s my client. I don’t like to mix personal with professional.”
“Don’t make any rash decisions. Give it time.”
“Right now, I need to focus on this meeting. I’ll go print out the treatment.”
“Call me the minute the meeting ends and let me know what happened.”
“I will,” Scarlett promised.
By now, she’d arrived at her office and pulled up her email as they’d spoken. She printed out five copies of the document and then went to Erica.
“A film treatment’s coming off my printer. Would you collate it and get it all prettied up? I need to take it with me to Rylon.”
“Will do,” her assistant said, moving into action.
Scarlett returned to the conference room. “We need to head out, Wynn.”
“It was a pleasure to meet
