the whole time. "Well, much as I'm enjoying the ego boost, I don't think I'd have the temperament for it. All that holding a pose in front of a camera?"
"Sounds right up your alley to me," I mutter. "Showing off before legions of fangirls, being the center of attention . . ."
"I don't know about that," Suzie interrupts, and for once this whole meeting, she actually sounds thoughtful. "I think your boy here is less of an attention whore than you give him credit for, Miss MacIntyre."
"Thank you, Ms. Steel." Max flashes her a wink. "It's good to know someone still sees the real me."
"Or is so blinded by the good looks that they can't see an inch past the facade," I counter.
If anything, his smile just widens. "So you admit you find me good-looking."
Suzie leans back in her chair and mimes eating popcorn as she glances back and forth between us.
For my part, I just roll my eyes. "I said nothing of the sort. Now, Ms. Steel, since you didn't file for a trademark when you began using this saying, we'll need to collect evidence that you used it first. Original recordings would be best, something time-stamped ideally, that we could use to prove the date when you first started using the phrases they stole publicly."
"No problem there. I've got hundreds of tapes. Heck, there's some old VHS ones from back when I was first getting started, rehearsal takes and the like, I think. Would those work?"
"That sounds perfect. So we should set up a meeting—”
"You two should come out to my place," she says abruptly. "I'm up by Napa, just a few hours' drive. I've got shelves on shelves of the tapes, and I've still got a VHS player to boot, so it'll be easy to watch them all there."
"Oh." I blink a couple of times, and exchange a glance with Max. Now that I'm thinking about it, I don't actually have any way to play a VHS tape here. I sure as heck don't have one in my apartment, and I doubt there's any in the office supply storage here at work either. Even we moved away from tech quite that old, a long time ago. Max stares back at me and shrugs, probably thinking the same thing. "Well, sure," I start slowly. "Maybe we could drive up for a morning sometime next week and—”
Suzie snaps her fingers as though she's suddenly getting a brilliant idea. "You know what, I'm actually headed out of town on Tuesday. Why don't you both come up and meet me before I leave, I'll give you the tour, show you the lay of the land, and you can use the place while I'm away. I'll be gone until the weekend, so it won't matter how long you need. I've got a big old office too; you can use anything you need. Make a whole business trip of it, why not, huh?"
"Um. . ." My mind whirs. How long are we going to need? Exactly how many tapes are we talking, here?
Now it's Max's turn to catch my eye, questioning. He must see the confusion written on my face, though, because he takes it upon himself to reply for the both of us. "That sounds like a great idea, Ms.Steel."
She claps her hands together, looking way more excited than someone ought to by the prospect of their lawyers borrowing their whole house for a few days to comb through every video tape they own. "Perfect! And call me Suzie, Davis . If you're going to be my guests, we should be on first name terms, no?"
"Well in that case you'll have to call me Max, Suzie."
"Don't mind if I do." She gives his arm a playful swat, which she subtly turns into a bicep grab, just to check the extent of those muscles she was praising earlier, I guess.
I crack a small smile, unable to help myself from grinning at her antics, even though I'm still not sure how I feel about this plan. "Chloe, by the way," I tell her, feeling like we're introducing ourselves all over again. "Thank you for the offer, Suzie. We'll do our best to take full advantage of your generosity, and get your case rolling as soon as possible."
Is it just me, or are her eyes twinkling with mischief when she glances back at me. "Oh, I expect you to take
"Sounds right up your alley to me," I mutter. "Showing off before legions of fangirls, being the center of attention . . ."
"I don't know about that," Suzie interrupts, and for once this whole meeting, she actually sounds thoughtful. "I think your boy here is less of an attention whore than you give him credit for, Miss MacIntyre."
"Thank you, Ms. Steel." Max flashes her a wink. "It's good to know someone still sees the real me."
"Or is so blinded by the good looks that they can't see an inch past the facade," I counter.
If anything, his smile just widens. "So you admit you find me good-looking."
Suzie leans back in her chair and mimes eating popcorn as she glances back and forth between us.
For my part, I just roll my eyes. "I said nothing of the sort. Now, Ms. Steel, since you didn't file for a trademark when you began using this saying, we'll need to collect evidence that you used it first. Original recordings would be best, something time-stamped ideally, that we could use to prove the date when you first started using the phrases they stole publicly."
"No problem there. I've got hundreds of tapes. Heck, there's some old VHS ones from back when I was first getting started, rehearsal takes and the like, I think. Would those work?"
"That sounds perfect. So we should set up a meeting—”
"You two should come out to my place," she says abruptly. "I'm up by Napa, just a few hours' drive. I've got shelves on shelves of the tapes, and I've still got a VHS player to boot, so it'll be easy to watch them all there."
"Oh." I blink a couple of times, and exchange a glance with Max. Now that I'm thinking about it, I don't actually have any way to play a VHS tape here. I sure as heck don't have one in my apartment, and I doubt there's any in the office supply storage here at work either. Even we moved away from tech quite that old, a long time ago. Max stares back at me and shrugs, probably thinking the same thing. "Well, sure," I start slowly. "Maybe we could drive up for a morning sometime next week and—”
Suzie snaps her fingers as though she's suddenly getting a brilliant idea. "You know what, I'm actually headed out of town on Tuesday. Why don't you both come up and meet me before I leave, I'll give you the tour, show you the lay of the land, and you can use the place while I'm away. I'll be gone until the weekend, so it won't matter how long you need. I've got a big old office too; you can use anything you need. Make a whole business trip of it, why not, huh?"
"Um. . ." My mind whirs. How long are we going to need? Exactly how many tapes are we talking, here?
Now it's Max's turn to catch my eye, questioning. He must see the confusion written on my face, though, because he takes it upon himself to reply for the both of us. "That sounds like a great idea, Ms.Steel."
She claps her hands together, looking way more excited than someone ought to by the prospect of their lawyers borrowing their whole house for a few days to comb through every video tape they own. "Perfect! And call me Suzie, Davis . If you're going to be my guests, we should be on first name terms, no?"
"Well in that case you'll have to call me Max, Suzie."
"Don't mind if I do." She gives his arm a playful swat, which she subtly turns into a bicep grab, just to check the extent of those muscles she was praising earlier, I guess.
I crack a small smile, unable to help myself from grinning at her antics, even though I'm still not sure how I feel about this plan. "Chloe, by the way," I tell her, feeling like we're introducing ourselves all over again. "Thank you for the offer, Suzie. We'll do our best to take full advantage of your generosity, and get your case rolling as soon as possible."
Is it just me, or are her eyes twinkling with mischief when she glances back at me. "Oh, I expect you to take
Similar Books
