Making Contact

Chapter Eighteen

Zarah Dillinger thanked the barista, shooting him a bright smile, then picked up the steaming hot vanilla latte from the counter and headed over to the bench by the window where Mina Teager sat waiting, taking tentative sips from her own brew while watching her. Zarah knew Mina wasn't really watching her, Mina’s eyes were on Matt, the barista that served her. Zarah took her seat, planted her cup on the table and sat back with a sigh that betrayed her exhaustion.

“Now don't do that,” Mina whispers, “loverboy is still eyeing you up.”

“I'm too tired to even blush, girl.” They chuckled, and Zarah stretched, groaning. “I swear, if I have to look at another report my eyes are gonna just,” she made a popping sound while closing an eye and opening the other as wide as she could. “Oh yeah, that's right, I still have to go back to that shit-hole!” They laughed together again. Zarah popped open one side of her cup the let it vent some more, not wanting to scald her tongue again. Her taste buds were still off from burning her tongue on a cappuccino two days ago.

“You've gotta get out of there,” Mina said, taking a sip before going on, “I told you I could use a sidekick, you know. Your art is the-bomb-dot-com, and I've got a few clients that are coming up to the end of their books.”

“Oh please, my art isn't good enough for a book cover.” Zarah held her cup to her lips but decided to set it back down, let it cool a bit more, after feeling the heat streaming out of it. “You've got plenty of illustrators in your pocket anyway. You don't need another one who isn't half the artist the rest of the pack is.”

“Oh give it a break, girl,” Mina shook her head and sighed. “You gotta stop being so damn hard on yourself.” She looked over at Matt, who was always extra flirty with them and seemed to have an eye on Zarah, and waved. “Maybe I should talk to loverboy over there, you know, maybe he'll give you something nice and hard so you don't have to be so down on yourself like you are.” This time Zarah’s cheeks flushed bright red. She glanced at Matt as he smiled and waved back at Mina, then winked at Zarah as if he knew the words that were just shared between them. Zarah quickly turned away, looking out the big window at the city streets while trying to ignore how hot her cheeks had become.

“For real though,” Mina said, “you've got some great work and talent for it.”

“Thanks, but things are tough right now.” Zarah sipped her coffee. “Seems like it's been harder to make ends meet lately. I'm tired all the time, and feeling rundown. I've hardly had a chance to sit back and relax. I can't take on serious illustrations on top of that.”

“Listen here girly,” Mina leaned forward on her elbows, propping her chin up on the palms of her hands, “I've got this one writer who's still got a long way to go until they finish their book, right? I'll send you what there is of their manuscript so far, you read through it in your spare time, whatever time you have. Even if you just read a little bit everyday on your lunch, that's fine. We've got time. You read through it and take notes of whatever sparks up that creative mind of yours, shoot those over to me, and we'll talk about it, and about you bringing one of them to life.”

“I can't do it,” Zarah whispered, “I'm just too swamped.”

“Listen, listen to me, alright? Like I said, this one’s still got a long way to go, and I've already got the guy a great flexible publishing deal. I know it's gonna be a hit once it's done, and the publisher is drooling besides themselves while waiting for this guy to finish cooking up the story, because they know it's gonna be an epic tale and fly off the shelves as soon as it drops. He has their full support and trust to the point where he doesn't even have a deadline for the thing.”

Zarah raised an eyebrow. “Who are we talking about here?”

Mina looked around before leaning over and whispering, “Eric Francis Friezer.”

Zarah stared in shock.

“That's right, girl,” Mina nodded, “your favorite author is coming back out of the shadows.”

“Wow,” Zarah sat back.

“Come on, I give you the chance to make a cover for the big man himself and this is all I get? You really do need a good boning.” They both chuckled. “Really though, as soon as I get back to the office I'm emailing it to you. Look it over, come up with something, then take your time putting it together. The pay will be worth the hard work, and maybe we can get you a deal at the agency after that.”

“Alright, alright,” Zarah smiled, “wow.”

“Wow,” Mina nodded and smiled, then looked down at her watch. “Oh shit! I gotta go!” She laughed as she got up.

“Oh, me too, geeze,” Zarah gulped down her drink.

“Chug it, chug it,” Mina smiled. They squeezed each other, waved goodbye to Matt, then left the coffee shop and headed their separate ways.

Ten minutes later, at 2:26pm, Zarah settled into her office chair and logged back into her work computer. She opened up her email client and scrolled through the thirty-five messages awaiting her. “All it takes is a few minutes,” she mumbled then sighed, but then perked up at the chime that told her a new email had arrived. She scrolled back to the top of the list, eager to dive into the email she expected from Mina, but then grumbled to herself at the new message from her boss.

“Dear Zarah, it's that time of the week again,” it read. “Swing by whenever you're set for your weekly review. I promise it'll be quick.”

Zarah groaned and minimized the window. “Can't wait to get out of this job,” she thought, while crossing her fingers in hope that Mina’s email would come soon. “I've gotta take her up on it. Not having to deal with that damn pervert always trying to get in my pants with his shitty innuendoes and vulgar eyes, I deserve to get away from that. I can do better.” Zarah sighed and clicked her email window open again, taking another look, but there was still nothing from Mina. She rapped her fingernails on the desk then got up and headed for the ladies room.