Will saw the name of the cat food company pop up on the Caller ID as the phone rang. He looked up at Savannah as he pointed at the phone. “Well, this is it. It’s your latest lust object.”

“Who?”

“Meow.”

She flashed a big smile. “Smartass. Well, we’re about to find out if we made the cut.”

“One way or another, as Brett said.” Will answered the call. “Will Prescott...”

“Will, Brett Hemmerson. How are you doing this morning?”

“I hope I’m about to do a lot better, but I guess that part’s up to you.”

He heard the man laugh a bit. “Well, happy to oblige. Congratulations, you’re one of the three finalists.”

He smiled and gave Savannah a thumbs up. She beamed as she pumped both fists. “Wow, great news. Thanks so much for your faith in us. We’ll do our best to produce a terrific commercial for you.”

“If it’s anything like your presentation, I’m sure it will look great. You guys knocked our socks off, in case you didn’t notice, so we’re expecting great things as far as a TV spot is concerned. A messenger will be by your office within the hour and give you all the information you’ll need to get the commercial produced. And make sure you keep all your receipts, as I’ll reimburse any expenses up to ten thousand dollars. Of course the production studio and crew won’t cost you anything since they’re already taken care of.”

“We’re ready to hit the ground running today.”

“So, you assumed you’d made the finals?”

“No, but you and the marketing people were so complimentary I figured we had a good shot even though we had no idea what anyone else had proposed. Since we already have the script and the actors on standby, all I have to do is make a few calls.”

“Great. Oh, is Savannah around? I wanted to congratulate her as well.”

“Yeah, she’s right here. Hold on.” He put the call on hold and handed her the phone. “He wants to talk to you.”

“Me? Why?”

“He asked if there’s a smoking hot redhead in the office.”

Her eyes widened. “What?”

Will laughed a bit. “I’m kidding.” He pointed at the phone. “Answer it.”

She put her hand on her chest. “You’ll pay for that, Mister.” She answered the call, turning on the Southern drawl. “This is Savannah... well, hey, Mister Hemmerson. Sorry, Brett. Will tells me y’all have some good news.” She stood up and walked out of his office.

Will realized he hadn’t asked who the other finalists were. He grabbed his laptop and went to the ad club website, hoping there was an announcement, but it still showed the names of the six semi-finalists.

Didn’t matter, he’d know soon enough.

But he had a feeling he’d be competing with Rory.

A few minutes later Savannah returned and handed him the phone. “We’re in the finals! I can’t believe it!”

“I can. And we’re gonna win.”

“I think you’re right.”

He furrowed his brow. “Wait a minute... has Savannah gotten... cocky? What, no lecture about humility? No pride goeth before a fall?”

“Not this time. As long as you keep things between you and me. In public we’ll just be very grateful to make the cut.”

“Speaking of keeping things between you and me, what’s up with you and Brett?”

“That’s between me and him.”

“Oh, give me a break.”

She looked away. “He, uh, just wanted to congratulate me.”

“Uh-huh.”

She put her hands on her hips. “What do you mean, uh-huh.”

“Doesn’t take that long to say congratulations. He only talked to me for a minute.”

“He was complimenting me on my accent, and thought it might be good for commercials that run in the South.”

“Uh-huh. You had to leave the room for that.”

She put up a hand. “Leave me alone.”

“Ah, it’s not so much fun when someone tortures you, now is it?”

“You’re not supposed to tease a woman like that.”

“Is that another Southern gentleman rule, or did you make it up?”

“Oh, stop it.”

“You’re blushing.”

“I am not.”

“Not the traditional blush, but your freckles are lighting up like they always do when you deal with a hot guy.”

“Can we change the subject?”

“Sure. I’m just yankin’ your chain. So to make up for it, after I schedule time at the production house I’ll let you call up the models for the commercial. Since, ya know, you seem to enjoy talking on the phone with men you find attractive.”

“Now, that kind of torture is just fine. Oh, did Brett say who the other two finalists were?”

“I forgot to ask and it’s not on the ad club website.”

“Speaking of women you find attractive, I’ll bet Rory made the cut.”

“I’ve got no shot, remember? Unlike you and the guys involved in this project.”

***

RORY HUNG UP THE PHONE just as Skylar entered her office. “Okay, everyone is available for a shoot on either Wednesday or Thursday.”

“Great. Damn, I am so pumped for this contest. You find out who the other two finalists are yet?”

“I’ve been so busy trying to set this up as fast as possible I haven’t gotten to that yet. Let me call the production house we’re using and get it booked, then we’ll do some detective work.” She grabbed an information sheet Brett Hemmerson had sent with a messenger and dialed the number. “I wanna get this in the can early in case we need to re-shoot anything. And it gives us more time for editing.”

“Hey, too bad we can’t do it today. We’re ready.”

“I know.”

The call connected. “Firefly studios... this is Carlie...”

“Hi, this is Rory Callahan. Our agency is one of the finalists in the cat food contest and I was told to call you to book some studio time.”

“Yes, Ms. Callahan, hold on and I’ll connect you to the person in charge of scheduling.” She put Rory on hold. Thirty seconds later a woman picked up. “Hi, Rory, this is Jennifer. I understand you’re one of the three finalists. Congratulations.”

“Thank you. Mister Hemmerson said you guys do great work, so I’m looking forward to working with you.”

“We love working with him. Now, tell me about your spot, whether we’ll have to go on location, do everything in the studio, or what.”

Rory went over the needs they’d have. “I’m going to email you the copy right now as well. Anyway, I think a half day in the studio should do it, and our people are all available Wednesday or Thursday if those dates are open. Then a half day next week for editing.”

“Let me see what’s available.” Rory heard the woman flipping through pages. “One of the other finalists has Wednesday booked from nine till one. But Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning are free. So how about Wednesday at one and I’ll pencil you in for Thursday if you need more time.”

“That works for me.” Rory decided to try one of Madison’s reporter’s tricks to get some information. “So, Will Prescott beat me to Wednesday morning, huh?”

“Yeah, he just called a few minutes ago. First come, first served. We can’t play favorites with the contestants.”

“Not a problem. Look forward to working with you.” She ended the call and turned to Skylar. “Will’s in the finals.”

“Shit. Dammit, I know he brought his girlfriend there for window dressing.”

“I don’t think that had anything to do with it. But maybe she distracted the men in the conference room and they didn’t pay attention. As far as Will goes, he’s really talented and we know it. Sonofabitch.”

“But he doesn’t have a cat.”

“True.”

“Rory, we cannot lose to him.”

Suddenly Rory began to smile as she wrote a note on her appointment calendar. “Well, I just realized something. We have picked up a slight advantage.”

“And that would be...”

“He has the production house booked till one on Wednesday, then we get it. Which means we’ll arrive right after he’s done.”

“Yeah, so?”

“It might give us a chance to see what he’s up to. Make small talk with the production staff to see what they thought. And you know how there’s always old copy lying around or in the trash can. Or still in the prompter.”

“I’m beginning to think we’re in the CIA. We’re spying again.”

“Not really.”

“Okay, if this isn’t spying, what would you call it?”

“It’s a competition, Skylar. It’s not spying, it’s strategy.”