Moments Lost and Found (10 page)

Sam knew that at almost 40 she was
in a great place. Never before did she have as full of a life as she did right
then, and she knew that was because of her relationship with Laurent. Her
business was doing better than ever before, also in no small way due to
Laurent. She had never really thought about just how much a part of her life he
was now, not that it wasn’t obvious but the reality that she had so many eggs
in one basket startled and concerned her. Her business had always been her own,
and it still was. But with so much of the agency billings coming from The
Network account, she couldn’t help but be a little worried. This internal tug
of war was her only real conflict, not that there was anything to do or change,
but the realization that without Laurent in her life, it wouldn’t just be her
personal life that would change, it had the potential to affect her career too.

Everything was going great with him,
so there was no reason for alarm, but it was a good reminder to her that she
had to diversify, and all the more reason they needed to win the TimeCap
account. The billings weren’t as much as The Network, but they would be a very
big piece of the agency pie if they were to win it.

Sam knew that it would be a juggling
act though. She knew that Laurent wanted her only on his account. She would
have to work on this with him. He would need to understand that, for the health
of her agency, she had to be a part of other things. This was not a
conversation she wanted to have, but she knew she needed to.

This being business, Sam approached
it the way she would any other account. She scheduled time with his assistant
and sent him an email outlining her agenda. She purposely made it separate from
their standing Friday morning meeting so that he couldn’t accuse her of already
intruding on time spent on his account.

While it had always ben Sam’s desire
to have separation between business and personal, she’d be lying to say that it
was really 100% possible. After all of the ‘non-business’ things that they did
during their business meetings, she’d be a hypocrite if she said that there was
a clear line in the sand. Even still, they both were at a place where their
meetings were professional and focused, but truth be told, they started and
ended most meetings with a kiss, and that right there made for a grey area. Sam
knew she couldn’t just turn off their personal relationship. But she did feel
they had struck a respectable balance. Especially after their last meeting
where she had blurred the lines. Since then, she was even more aware of keeping
things separate.

Sam chastised herself for being
nervous before the meeting. She hated that she felt that way. She didn’t want
him mad or upset, and logically, she knew that it was unrealistic to think that
everything would be perfect all the time. But she knew Laurent. She also knew
that she was probably overly-sensitive to the situation. If it were any other
client, she actually would probably be
more
deferential, but because it
was him, she felt like she had to be even stronger so that there would be no
question of special treatment for him. Of course, the only ones who would ever
know if it were special treatment were Sam and Laurent. But she couldn’t get
over the nagging thought that anyone out there might question her merit.

Sam walked in and was greeted by a
very officious Laurent who simply said, “Samantha, you wanted to meet?” Even
though they were her rules, it was so odd that she was lying in this man’s bed
just a few hours before, and now he treated her like he couldn’t even give her
the time of day. He wasn’t rude, he was just, well this meeting wasn’t a
priority for him during his busy day.

 “Yes, Laurent. Thank you for
making the time.” She was thinking that their roll playing for his birthday was
less roll playing than this. “As you know, I’m involved in pitching and winning
new business for my agency. When you first awarded us your account last year,
we agreed I’d be dedicated to it for the launch, and now that we’re nearing
year two, as things have changed, so has the need for my full time dedication
to it.”

 “Yes, we’ve discussed that.”

 “And you’ve been very
accommodating, thank you. I wanted to start discussing year two launch goals
and ideas, but I also want to plan for things in the event that our agency wins
a new large account. Typically, I wouldn’t discuss this with another client,
but given that it could potentially affect our working relationship, I wanted
to make sure there were no surprises and that you were comfortable with what we
will hopefully both agree is an equitable solution.” Sam had to focus on
keeping her voice strong. It was surprisingly difficult not to just relax and
talk like the couple they were. But she would not give in.

 “I see. Well, I would be most
comfortable with you only working on my business. I believe that the size of
the account as well as the agreement we had at the outset warrants that.” He
clearly was not going to make this easy for Sam. She knew he was teaching her a
lesson. If she didn’t want special treatment, he would give her the Laurent
Roman everyone else deals with.

 “I understand, and you’ve been
very gracious to relax those stipulations. What I would like to propose is the
following: We’re already working on season two launches for the various
returning shows, and you’ve seen some of them. We have ideas for an overall
brand refresh, but there needs to be a discussion if it even needs one, or if
it would confuse consumers at this early stage. We’ve done preliminary brand
research and have a good idea of how The Network experience is resonating with
audiences versus how the specific shows are, and whether or not the brand is
important to users. There are arguments that show audiences don’t care how they
find their entertainment, they just watch the shows, and there are other stats
that show the user experience is one of the things that gets them there in the
first place.” Sam could see that she had his attention and he liked where this
was going. She hadn’t ignored his work at all. Though he was a very good poker
player and didn’t give very much away at all.

 “So, I’d like to actually
increase the frequency of our meetings over these next few weeks as we ramp up
for season two. We’ll be ready to present two very different campaigns, each supporting
a different argument. That way, we’ll have creative to react to which we think
will help guide the decision and direction for next steps. Once you’re
comfortable knowing that season two is as important to us as everything else
we’ve worked on, then I can review what the rest of the schedule will look like
vis a vis our working together and my dedication to your account.”

 “Very well. Set up the
meetings with my assistant. Thank you, Samantha.” And with that, he turned to
his computer and started typing. Sam was pretty sure that she was dismissed.
More than that, she wondered if he was just making a point, or if he was this
much of a prick to everyone he wasn’t sleeping with.

Sam left Laurent’s offices and
headed straight to a prelight for a photoshoot. She had worked with many
photographers over the years, but when she had her choice, she always chose
Alex Marché. There were a lot of photographers in their niche industry who had
made names for themselves, and Alex was one of them. She had been shooting
talent for almost as long as Sam had been in the business and they worked
really well together.

They were both no-nonsense women in
male dominated fields, though Alex was a lot easier going than Sam, which,
given Sam’s personality, wasn’t difficult to be. And that was one of the things
that made Alex such a great photographer. She was so easy and natural with the
talent that she put everyone at ease, and on a photoshoot, being able to get
what’s needed out of Hollywood stars is half the battle. The other half of
course is the work. Alex’s lighting was beautiful. No matter how many people
said they could match her lighting or give their work the ‘Alex Marché look’
few ever could. Her work was never overly treated or trendy, it was always just
great.

Sam and Alex had had drinks together
over the years, and on some location shoots had a chance to get to know each
other better. But with both of their lives being as hectic and busy as they
were, usually, the only time the two women got a chance to see each other was
when they were working together.

Perhaps as important as her
photographic skills was the fact that Sam trusted Alex and vice versa. And in
this industry, that was saying a lot. In fact, Alex was on a very short list of
people Sam trusted. The fact that Alex was a fellow native Angeleno and pit
bull owner sealed the deal practically guaranteeing a friendship between the
two.

Sam didn’t need to be at the
prelight, but she was a bit out of sorts after her Laurent meeting and for
once, didn’t feel like going back to the office and burying herself in work
would solve everything.

 “Sam! What a nice surprise!”
Alex gushed when she saw Sam walk on the set. Alex put her camera down and came
over to give Sam a big hug.

 “Hey, Alex, God it’s good to
see you!” Sam replied as they hugged. She was so genuinely happy to see her.

 “You look great!” they said in
unison to each other and then laughed. Alex always did look great. Tall, slim,
and she was in her signature outfit: white tank top, jeans that hung on her
hips and tennis shoes. She was a natural beauty. And, holding a 5-10lb camera
all day almost every day gave her arms any pilates devotee would die for.

 “So, to what do I owe this
honor? You checkin’ up on Steve?” Alex said loud enough so Steve would hear. He
just rolled his eyes as he walked over and gave Sam a knowing hug.

 “Meeting go that poorly?”
Steve asked.

Sam shook her head, “No, actually,
it went surprisingly, um, fine. He agreed to all my points and suggestions, so,
yeah…” Sam trailed off. Alex looked at Steve and then at Sam.

Steve looked at Alex and said in a
hushed tone, “Boyfriend issues.” Sam gave Steve a punch in the arm “Ouch! That
hurt!” Sam glared at him, “It’s not my fault that you and
Monsieur Román
are having a hard time finding that work / life balance.”

Sam wasn’t sure she wanted to air
her dirty laundry here, but Steve already knew all her shit. He was one of the
only people who had any idea what really was going on with her and Laurent, not
that Sam shared much. But he was typically the one who Sam would end up talking
with since most of her issues with Laurent revolved around work.

 “I haven’t seen you in so
long, Sam. The last time I did, you had just won the account. Have we seen each
other since you’ve been with him?” Sam shook her head no.

 “It’s been kind of a
whirlwind.” Sam said apologetically.

 “Oh honey, you don’t owe me
any explanation! I was just trying to remember! The only way I know when
something happened is by tying it back to a shoot. Some people say, ‘oh yeah,
that happened in 2008 when our daughter started first grade.’ The only way I
know is by thinking back to who I shot!” Sam chuckled. She knew exactly what
Alex meant. For her, it was when they won or lost an account.

 “You know, if your prima donna
creative director here is happy with this last setup, then I think we can wrap
and walk up to La Luna Cantina to grab a margarita.” Alex teased.

 “Like you could ever light
anything I wouldn’t love. You know it’s perfect! Plus, I think you girls could
use a little time to catch up… and I’m guessing Sammy here could use a
margarita or two!”

Sam smiled and held up two fingers.
Steve looked back and raised his eyebrows, holding up three fingers. Sam
laughed, “Well, I’m not shooting tomorrow, so maybe I will have three!”

 “I’m just going to tell the
guys that we’re all set and finish up with them, give me 5 minutes.” Alex said
as she started walking over to her crew. Which gave Sam a few minutes to talk
with Steve.

 “Ok, so the meeting went well…
yet you’re here, at a prelight? You know me, Sam, I’m no good at math but
something doesn’t add up.”

Sam rolled her eyes, “Do you
practice those lines, Steve?”

 “My cuteness just comes
naturally.” He flashed her a grin and put his fingers into his dimples earning
another eye roll. “Ok, so are you going to tell me what’s up?”

 “Honestly, Steve, I don’t even
know. He was completely professional. Like really, really professional. Like a
total stranger professional.”

 “Honey, you’re not going to
want to hear me say this,” as he said that, Sam crossed her arms defensively
and he smiled, as he gently peeled her arms away and replaced them down at her
sides, “That’s better.” She promptly crossed them again. “Whatever. Anyway,
Sam, you’re the one who keeps harping on this whole separation of work and
personal. So, he’s finally giving you what you want. And now you’re pissed?”

 “Ugh!” Sam threw her arms up.

 “Truth hurts?” Steve asked in
a way only he could without her killing him.

 “It’s supposed to make things
easier, Steve, clearer. Work, over here.” Sam made a box with her hands to one
side, “Personal, over here” and she did the same on the other side. “See how
neat and clean that is?”

 “Are you trying to convince me
or you?” Steve asked, eyebrows raised as he shrugged his shoulders. At that
point, Alex came happily bounding over,

 “Ready? You going to join us,
Steve?”

 “I think Sammy here could use
a little girl time. Yeah, yeah, insert gay joke here.” They all chuckled,
“Plus, this means I get to go home early for once!” he winked at Sam. She
smiled at him and whispered “thank you” as she gave him a hug goodbye. He said
his goodbyes to Alex and the crew, “See everyone bright an early tomorrow!”

Alex linked arms with Sam and said,
“Ok, come on you. Let’s go get you a margarita and a shot and see if we can’t
figure out this whole boyfriend dilemma!” Sam couldn’t help but smile. Alex’s
happy disposition was infectious and if anyone needed an infusion of light and
happy, it was Sam.