When Rhys interviewed at DuPont Publishing, he was aware that Lux Broussard was a client. He wasn't foolish enough to believe he would be paired with a "New York Times Best Selling Author" but a newer author-one that was a little green and needed gentle, yet firm guidance. He should have known that something was amiss when after his detailed answer of how he would work with a "difficult client", the literary agent "leveled" with him.

The perfectly poised and stylishly dressed agent actually tucked his finger into the Windsor knot at his throat and tugged it loose before leaning forward on his elbows. His voice dropped, the tone becoming heavy with seriousness. "Let me level with you, Rhysend. Your resume is impressive. The clients you've done freelance work for, coupled with the publishing house you've resigned from..." he trailed off, allowing for a moment of appreciative silence before continuing on, rather quickly and with a bit of a pleading edge to his words. "I don't feel right allowing anyone to accept this specific position without making an educated decision for themselves, but before you decline, I implore you to please reconsider."

Rhys wasn't going to decline.

DuPont Publishing was the publishing house. They not only had Lux Broussard as a client, but they had a long list of former authors, editors, and agents that inspired Rhys to become an editor, and hopefully one day, a literary agent.

He should have been skeptical during this portion of the interview. He'd never had an interview that was structured quite like this.

"Shouldn't I be the one begging you all to not reject me?" Rhys joked, doing his best to clear the air of the desperation fueled tension that was thickening to near oppressive conditions.

"Let him finish," the technical writer piped up. "It's imperative he finishes."

Rhys' gaze slid from the literary agent to the technical writer. Both men wore the same subtly frantic expression. Their eyes shone with a quiet plea, a silent prayer, and they looked to Rhys as if he were the only god capable of giving them reprieve.

He shifted his gaze back to the literary agent. "Okay...I'll hear you out."

"As I'm sure you're aware, Lux Broussard is a client of ours."

Rhys perked up at the mention of Lux, nodding rather emphatically before he remembered... he was in an interview. He wasn't here to fan-boy with the panel. He schooled his expression, wrangling his excitement back into the box it was trying to escape from, and nodded again, once. "Yes, I'm aware that Lux Broussard, along with many promising authors, are clients of DuPont publishing."

"While we appreciate the lengths you've gone in order to familiarize yourself with our clients," the literary agent paused, a slight grimace flitting quickly across his face, and continued on, "Lux Broussard would be your only client." He fell silent, obviously waiting for some type of reaction.

Rhys remained poised. There was no one way in hell he was going to show his entire ass and geek out over this opportunity to work with his favorite author.

The feel of the room noticeably shifted, the tension easing somewhat. Both the literary agent and the technical writer heaved a sigh of relief that briefly raised Rhys' hackles but once they reiterated he'd only be responsible for one client, his hackles were as smooth as an Easter silk press.

Stupidly so.

"Lux is...in a nutshell-"

"Difficult," the technical writer chimed in.

The marketing manager corrected, "A veritable nightmare," but added, as an afterthought, "a phenomenal writer. But a veritable fucking nightmare."

Rhys was no stranger to difficult clients. He has literally had to chase down an author that ran from him. He'd dealt with his fair share of troublesome clients.

"I know what you're thinking," the literary agent began, "you've had your fair share of difficult clients right? You've probably worked with authors that have been described similarly. However..."

Rhys listened, for thirty minutes, his mouth agape, as each member of the panel detailed how many editors Lux had gone through, how many of them have actually left the field all together, the push back he tended to give the company, and the fall out from the most recent interview.

"So when we say he's difficult, we genuinely mean it," the literary agent sighed heavily. "We ask you sincerely, please allow three to five business days for a period of reflection before you decline. We're prepared to handsomely compensate you with the same salary we'd give our other editors that have a full client load."

The marketing manager added, "It's only fair."

Rhys had been weighing the pros and cons of this position as soon as they began to colorfully describe Lux. The pros far outweigh the cons for him, so he didn't need the "three to five business days".

"I accept your offer."

"You do?!" Four pairs of eyes stared at Rhys, wide and incredulous, as if he said he was capable of performing open heart surgery under water.

That should have been the red flag he didn't ignore. But alas, he did.

And now he's staring at a document Lux named,

Changes my editor believes I need to make despite not speaking to me about character motivations, personalities, or subplots beforehand

"Fuck. Me." Rhys groaned. He recalled being told Lux was difficult-among other things-and he knew to some extent, Lux would be. People were complicated, complex, their dynamics and interactions with specific individuals nuanced. Or perhaps he didn't want to believe that Lux was a "veritable nightmare".

Rhys did what he does well, and reframed "difficult" and "veritable nightmare" as "thorough" and "well organized". Rhys could and did appreciate that.

When he opened the document, Rhys recognized his reframe was apt. There were four sections, three of them with the corrections Rhys had suggested and Lux's response to those suggestions.

For example,

Rhys gently suggested a scene in which the main characters have a nice quiet lunch together, be removed entirely or added at a later point in the story. It didn't fit with the "enemies to lovers" narrative Lux had been crafting just yet. It was suggestive of a budding friendship, but directly after that the characters go back to their lives of bickering and attempts at professional sabotage.

Lux responded, verbatim,

"While this suggestion is one I am planning on making, I would be remiss, and thus short changing myself, if I did so without pointing out that people have nuanced relationships. It is possible that for just a brief moment in time, two people who cannot stand the sight of one another can enjoy a meal together. There are many reasons as to why that would occur. Say, for example, an author having dinner with an editor."

So, he basically admitted he could not stand the sight of Rhys.

Although Lux had yet to see him in person.

The reframe went right out the window as Rhys typed out a response in the fourth column- that Lux had so graciously provided him with and named "A space for you to express opinions that I will more than likely not be taking into account"- and immediately deleted it.

"Go fuck yourself" wasn't exactly a professional response.

Rhys decided to read through the document in its entirety, lest he spend the rest of the night typing and deleting variations of "go fuck yourself" after every other response. He made it through five pages-by the grace of whatever higher being was lending him a hand-of detailed remarks until the second to last one.

"A sex scene isn't necessary."

While one can describe this as being anticlimactic, especially given the previous paragraphs of Lux thinly veiling his insults to Rhys' intelligence as feedback to the proposed edits. However, for Rhys it was anything but.

The lack of response piqued his interest.

Perhaps it was the irritation from the poorly disguised professional lashings he'd received as he read through the document.

Maybe it was due to Rhys running on fumes; he hadn't slept well the past few nights and had already spent an exorbitant amount of time pouring over a document he'd much rather now set on fire.

Whatever it was, Rhys felt the petty need to respond, via email, to just that one bit of feedback.

Sender: [email protected]

Recipient: [email protected]

Subject: Re: Edits

Good evening, Lux!

I hope this email finds you well! Thank you for taking the time to comb through my suggestions and provide me with feedback! I really appreciate your attention to detail and organization! However, I do have a comment of my own regarding a response.

I've noticed, every other suggested edit has a detailed reason as to why you're accepting and making the change, why you would consider making it, and why you refuse. The only one that does not, is my suggestion regarding adding a sex scene. I was surprised to see the lack of response and wanted to reach out to you to see if there were perhaps another page I was missing?

I await your detailed explanation as to why the sex scene is out of question for you!

I look forward to hearing from you soon!

Have a wonderful night!!

Rhys