A Pie Plate Pilgrimage by William Loewen
Chapter 2 - Westminster Printers
The Westminster Printers office, located in downtown Toronto, wasn’t in the nicest part of the city, but it wasn’t a bad area either. Working there held a certain level of coolness to it without being dangerous. The building was old, but not so old that it held any historic value.
Lydia arrived on Monday morning, expecting the Westminster parking lot to be empty. Luke had told her to come in half an hour early to unlock the doors because he was going to be away, and now she was parking her vehicle beside his. It was also strange to see his car at the office because he was scheduled to board a plane in four hours to begin the promotional book tour. Lydia knew all of this because she had booked the plane tickets and arranged for an airport shuttle to meet him at his home, which she would now have to cancel.
Lydia assumed that the slightly more expensive vehicle on the other side of Luke’s belonged to Gerald Simmons, the company’s CEO. He would have come to town for the party the day before, but he only ever came into their office to talk with the Board of Directors, and that meeting was a few weeks away. Whatever he was doing here, it must be important.
Lydia couldn’t decide what was making her more upset, having to come in to the office needlessly early or not knowing about this apparently urgent meeting. The lights were on in the boardroom, but the door and the blinds were completely closed, so she couldn’t tell who was in there. Figuring she’d be alone for another fifteen minutes or so, Lydia sat down at her desk to catch up on personal e-mails before her co-workers arrived.
Behind the closed doors of the boardroom, four people sat around a large table. Loose stacks of paper and manila file folders were strewn across its surface and everyone in the room had a laptop open in front of them. Soleil Macpherson, Westminster Printers’ most celebrated author, sat quietly as Gerald, Luke, and Melvin Bamford, the Marketing Director, read through a contract proposal she had written. Gerald was nodding sporadically and underlining various points, while the other two were occasionally shaking their heads and circling or underlining various parts of the document.
Very few people in the company knew that this meeting was happening. Contract negotiations were normally a fairly expedient process. Since the beginning of their current business model, the company had never been in a position where they wanted an author to write a second book. There had been a few writers that had hoped to extend their contracts, but in those cases the company, in a position of power, had turned them down. Since Feminine-ism had sold so many copies, the company was eager to re-sign Soleil, but this time the power was not in their hands. Westminster Printers had of course been smart enough to lock her in for any sequels, as per the terms of her initial contract, but the details surrounding that second book needed to be worked out. Even though Soleil had the upper hand, it was in both of their best interests to come to an agreement as quickly as possible. Calling in lawyers or agents would mean more costs for everyone involved, and neither side wanted that.
Soleil spoke first. “I think you’ll see that I’ve made some significant concessions in some areas, but that generosity hinges on my more recent creative additions.”
“They certainly are creative,” Luke began, “but, unfortunately, you are asking us to be flexible on items that are well outside the realm of an author’s jurisdiction. If this is what you call concessions, there is really no point in us meeting this morning to discuss this.”
“Frankly, Miss Macpherson,” Melvin added, “I think it’s terribly unprofessional for you to be adding these conditions at this late stage of the negotiations.” He had little to do with overseeing the development of Feminine-ism but as head of marketing he was often invited to this kind of negotiation meeting. He and Luke were also close friends and rarely disagreed on anything.
“And not only that,” he continued, “but much of what you’re suggesting could be interpreted as a direct attack on Luke. Need I remind you that his commitment to this job and the high quality of his work are a big part of why your book was so successful.”
“Now, hold on a minute, gentlemen,” Gerald said, gesturing for the others to be quiet. Soleil saw this interruption as a surprising affirmation of the feasibility of what she’d written. “I think that most of what’s here is workable.”
“Thank you,” said Soleil, trying not to gloat.
Luke responded defiantly. “Gerald, we both know that writers have no part in the selection of the development team.”
Melvin also chimed in with his opposition. “Our development team system is one of the cornerstones of our rebranding effort. It exists for the sole purpose of allowing the company to put reins on the development of the book.”
“If you look closely at the list, Luke,” Soleil said firmly, “you’ll see that I’ve only suggested current Westminster staff members for the development team. I’m sure that even you would have to admit that they have all demonstrated incredible loyalty to this company. I’m still using the Westminster system and Westminster people; I simply require that I be given some input on the selection.”
“We would listen to input,” said Luke. “Control is what we have a problem with.”
“I’m going to go out on a limb here,” suggested Gerald. “It seems most of this hinges on the request that Luke be replaced as head of the development team.”
“Writers don’t choose the development team,” insisted Luke. “If we let them do that, we may as well just let them hand us what they think is the final draft.” Since Gerald was one of the primary architects of the current model, Luke had hoped that repeating this point would be effective.
“Let’s not forget that it was under Luke’s leadership that this book was developed and under his leadership it became a national best seller,” Melvin added. “I think he’s earned the right to lead this committee through the development of a second book.”
“Did he earn it by showing up late for meetings?” Soleil’s response was quick, as though she had a list of other points like that in mind. Turning and directing her criticism directly toward Luke she continued, “Or how about by asking the same questions over and over again? You tried to pass it off as due process, but it showed everyone else that you were pathetically unprepared for the editing sessions and embarrassingly unfamiliar with the subject matter.”
Luke stood up as though he was about to leave. “I don’t have to take this from you.”
“And I shouldn’t have to put up with your inept leadership anymore either.” Until now Soleil had not outwardly expressed her displeasure for Luke’s role on the development team, but now all of her professional restraints had been pulled back. She turned to Mr. Simmons as she continued to explain herself, “Gerald, I know this looks like I’m just frustrated with the system. I’ll happily admit that I owe a lot to the other members of the development team. Some of them put endless hours of work into the book, and the end product is better for it. Luke, on the other hand, did almost no work, showed terrible leadership and continually slowed the progress of this book. I was on the verge of walking away from the project because of him on multiple occasions, and I’ve finally realized that the prospect of working on another book no longer appeals to me if it means working with him.”
Luke was stunned and could only look at his boss hoping the accusations weren’t being taken seriously. Gerald simply looked back down at the contract, lightly scratching his bare scalp. After a few moments he looked up at Luke. “Let’s pretend for a moment that we take this suggestion …”
“You can’t be serious,” Luke interjected.
Gerald only raised his hand and Luke backed off and sat down again. “If we were to go with this idea,” he began, “besides the tragedy of being replaced, would you have any hesitations about who she is suggesting to replace you?”
“Lydia Phillips?” he asked. “Where should I start? She was the most junior member of the team, she is absolutely clueless about marketing, and has no relevant leadership experience.”
R
“For a committee putting together a book on women’s issues, it was shameful to only have one female staff representative. Lydia made up for it by always putting in more time than was asked of her. She made the team better by fearlessly contradicting her dreadfully ill-informed male counterparts. While the old boys were consulting with marketing panels about the desires of our target audience, she spoke from experience as part of the demographic. She is better educated than anyone else on the team, including Luke, and she always spoke with hope and enthusiasm about the book and my ideas. When I was ready to walk away, Lydia convinced me to stay by reminding me, the author, of the importance of this book and positive impact it could have in our society. She was doing Luke’s job, serving as an intermediary between this company and me. I recently realized that I could not work with a company that let incompetent leaders like Luke get rich from commissions while people like Lydia slave away and get no recognition. This contract proposal isn’t just about me getting more benefits; it’s about you acting like the kind of company I can work with, even if you’re only faking it.”
Luke had lots to say, but he could tell by the look on his boss’ face that Gerald was thinking, and he didn’t like to be interrupted when he was thinking.
“So,” said Gerald, scratching his head a little more, “the only thing that’s missing is leadership.” He paused a little longer and started leafing through his day planner. “Miss Macpherson, when would you be comfortable to begin working on the next book, assuming we agree on a contract?”
“No sooner than four months from now.”
“And Mr. Ferguson is that in line with your market optimization timeline?”
“Yes, that is in keeping with what Soleil and I have already agreed upon.”
“Well then, how about this?” As he spoke, Gerald began putting together his papers and closing up his folders as though whatever he was about to say was a foregone conclusion. “Luke and Soleil, you’ve got a plane to catch, so I’ll make this quick. There is a book project that’s been temporarily shelved that Lydia can head up. We’ll check in on her from time to time and if she can handle the job, we’ll accept your proposal, Miss Macpherson. If not, we can renegotiate then.”
Soleil was quick to agree. “I can work with that.”
“Which project are you giving her?” asked Luke, as though the answer would influence whether or not he could work with the arrangement.
“It’s the one Jenkins worked on a while ago.”
Soleil had never met a Jenkins working for the company, but it didn’t matter much to her. Luke, however, knew that Carl Jenkins had quit Westminster Printers in the middle of his first book project. It was a project Luke had absolutely no interest in being a part of.
“I guess I can work with it too,” said Luke hiding his smugness, knowing the difficulty of the project.
“Okay, then, it’s settled,” Gerald said with a sigh of relief. He was a good negotiator, but that didn’t mean he liked doing it.
“But Gerry, not being on that team will mean a pay cut for me. I’m not sure the company can do that without renegotiating my salary.” Luke was confident that Lydia would fail and this wouldn’t be an issue, but he wanted to make sure his bases were covered.
“Luke,” Gerald was looking him right in the eye, “the terms of your salary clearly state that book commissions are bonuses and you are not, in any way, entitled to them. We have a budget review meeting with the Board of Directors in a few weeks. If you want to renegotiate your salary, you can bring it up there.”
Soleil smiled as Luke cowered back from his aggressive stance.
Luke and Melvin left without saying a word, while Soleil happily shook the CEO’s hand before she left.
Gerald reached into his briefcase for a file folder then bellowed out the door to the three of them who were still in earshot, “If she’s here already, can someone send Lydia in? We may as well get her working on this right away.”