Rory put the key in the ignition and turned it.

Nothing.

“Oh, you gotta be kidding. Not now. Dammit!” She tried turning on the dome light in the car.

Nothing.

Completely dead battery.

She quickly pulled out her cell phone and called Skylar who answered on the fourth ring.

“Hey, what’s up?”

“My car battery is dead. Can you come pick me up?”

“I’m way the hell across town and heading toward the meeting. No way I can get there, pick you up and get to the meeting on time. Is Madison home? Or a neighbor who can give you a jump?”

“No. And the auto club will take an hour. Skylar, I cannot miss this meeting.”

“Call a cab. Or Uber.”

“In this part of town? It’ll take too long.”

“Well, I hate to say this, but the office of our advertising partner is right down the street from you and he probably hasn’t left yet.”

She rolled her eyes. “Oh, hell.”

“Look at it this way, we’re gonna be in a meeting with him today anyway, what difference does it make if he gives you a ride for a few miles? Besides, there is an upside you are obviously missing.”

“What possible upside could there be getting a ride from Will Prescott?”

“It’ll give you a chance to sing in the car.”

Rory smiled a bit. “Skylar, you are one devious girl, you know that?”

“I do. I only wish I could be in the back seat to see him twitch. Anyway, hurry up and call him. See you there.”

Rory ended the call, pulled Will Prescott’s business card from her purse and placed the call. He picked up on the first ring. “This is Will...”

“Hi, Will, it’s Rory Callahan. Hey, I hate to impose but my car battery is dead and Skylar’s way across town—”

“I’ll be happy to give you a ride to the meeting.”

“Great, thanks so much. I’ll text you my address.”

“Okay. See you shortly.”

***

RORY HEARD FOOTSTEPS on the porch so she grabbed her purse and rushed toward the door. She opened it after a gentle knock, finding Will Prescott in a suit and tie. “Thanks, I really appreciate this.”

“No problem.”

A meow from behind made her turn her head. “I’ll be right back, kitty.”

The cat walked right past her toward Will, who crouched down and extended his hand. “Well, who do we have here?”

“That’s Hemingway. He’s the supreme overlord of the house.”

He stroked the cat’s head. “Well hey there, Hemingway. Aren’t you a handsome tabby.” The cat put his paws up on Will’s knee as he looked up at Rory. “Good name for a writer’s cat.”

“I thought it was appropriate.”

He turned back to the cat and lifted up one paw. “Oh, and you’re a polydactyl cat too.”

“You know about those?”

“Sure, all those cats at Hemingway’s place in the Florida Keys have extra toes. Where’d you get him?”

“He’s from the litter saved by Madison Shaw, the TV reporter. She’s a dear friend of mine.”

“Wow, a famous cat.” He petted Hemingway a little more. “Aren’t you the lucky tabby. And look at those gorgeous big green eyes.” He stood up and the cat immediately rubbed against his leg, leaving a bit of fur on his dark gray slacks.

Rory noticed. “Oh, sorry about that. He shed on you.”

Will looked down. “No big deal, he’s just being a cat and telling me he likes me. Well, guess we’d better get going, Ms. Callahan.”

They headed out the door and she locked up. “While I appreciate your formal approach, I think if we’re going to be working together you can call me Rory.”

“Okay. Rory it is. And you can call me Will.”

She shot him a grin as they walked toward his red two-seater sports car. “I’ve been doing that anyway.” They reached his car and he opened the door for her. “Thank you.” She got in, noting the car was immaculate and looked new as she rubbed her hand across the soft black leather seat. Rory couldn’t help but notice a long red hair shining like a beacon against the black interior. Aha. So that IS his girlfriend. She turned to him as he got in. “Is this a new car?”

“Nope. Seven years old.”

“Damn. Looks like it came right off the showroom floor.”

“I’m kind of obsessive about cars. Wash it every week, vacuum the inside. Get the new car experience without the expense.”

“Ah.”

He cranked the car and pulled away from the curb. The radio was tuned to an oldies station, but at a very low volume.

She remembered Skylar’s suggestion.

“I love this station. Mind if I turn it up a bit?”

“Sure, go ahead.”

She turned the radio up, decided to wait for a song she knew really well. “So, have you actually met with the client face to face yet?”

“Briefly at the ad club, and then a few phone calls. But the conversations were all positive.”

“So how do you want to handle this? I guess we should have discussed this earlier or rehearsed.”

“I think we’ll be fine. I thought you and Skylar should start by presenting your ideas and get some feedback. Then, assuming they like your work, and I can’t imagine why they wouldn’t, I’ll go over my strategy for the media buy.”

“You don’t wanna go first?”

“Makes no sense. Would you buy a schedule without knowing if you’re going to approve the ad?”

Perfect answer. Okay, we’re on the same page as far as getting new business goes.

“True. I just didn’t know how you handle first meetings.” She heard the song change to one she knew. What the hell, here goes. “Oooh, great song.” She started to sing along, her fingernails on the blackboard singing voice filling the car. She glanced to the side and saw his face tighten. She kept singing, a little louder, waiting for him to turn the radio off.

Instead, he started to hum along.

You gotta be friggin’ kidding me.

***

RORY COULDN’T HELP but be impressed by Will’s performance as they left the client’s office. He’d let her and Skylar lay the groundwork with their commercial ideas, never interrupting and letting them totally have the floor, then pitched a really unique media buy strategy. The client was immediately sold, signed a contract and gave Will a retainer. Any hint of the twenty-four carat jerk Skylar had portrayed was nowhere to be found.

Rory turned to him as they headed to the parking lot. “Will, I must say, you are a world class closer.”

He smiled a bit. “Hey, when you have a great campaign to sell like the one you brought, it was easy. And Skylar, your storyboards were stellar. Really impressive.”

“Thank you,” said Skylar, still giving him a wary look.

Will looked at his watch. “Normally I’d invite you out for a celebration lunch, but my current roommate is home sick. I need to run back there to give her some medicine and something to eat. But just so you don’t think I’m skipping out on picking up the check, why don’t you two go have a nice lunch and add it to your bill.”

Rory looked at Skylar, wide-eyed, then turned back to Will. “Sorry you can’t join us. But I’ll take you up on the free lunch.”

“And I’ll be happy to split the retainer with you. That’s only fair.” He pulled a checkbook from his pocket as they reached his car, placed it on the trunk, wrote a check and handed it to Rory.

Rory smiled as she looked at the amount. “I’d say we’re off to a good start on this. Thanks, Will. And thanks for thinking of us.”

“Thank you for your great work. Anyway, I gotta run. Oh, Rory, do you need a ride home?”

“I’ll take her,” said Skylar. “I’m headed there anyway.”

“Okay. Which car is yours?”

Skylar took the keys from her purse and hit the remote. “Right next to yours.” She started to reach for the door but he beat her to it and opened it. “Uh, thanks.” She got in and he closed the door.

Rory stood there, stunned.

He quickly moved to the other side of the car and opened the passenger door for her. “Rory, we’ll talk as soon as I get the commercial shoot set.”

She got into the car. “Great, we’d like to be there.”

“I was about to suggest that. Anyway, enjoy your lunch.” He shut the door, got into his own car and drove away.

Skylar shook her head as she turned to Rory. “Do you believe that? He opened the car doors for us.”

“He did that when he picked me up. More important, he shared the wealth.” Rory showed Skylar the check. “Not too shabby, huh?”

“Yeah. And we get a free lunch. Let’s go somewhere expensive. By the way, if you start singing, I’m pulling over and you can walk home.”

“Oh, you’ll love this. I did that to Will on the way over here.”

“And?”

“Get this... he started humming along with me. It was the duet from hell.”

“He didn’t complain?”

“Nope.”

Skylar cranked the car. “Hey, did you catch the line about his current roommate needing her medicine. He’s living with his girlfriend. And since she’s his current roommate he obviously goes through them like Kleenex.”

“Maybe so. He’s still been nice lately.”

“I’m telling you Rory, some girl is whipping that man into shape. And I’m not talking about those washboard abs we saw at the pool.”

“Oh, it’s not some girl. It’s the redhead. There was a long red hair in his car.”

“Well, whoever she is, she’s doing a fine job keeping him on his best behavior. Now we just have to hope she doesn’t break up with him before we finish servicing this new client. He’ll revert right back to his old self.”

***

WILL LOOKED AT HIS watch and hurried into the house.

The medicine was supposed to be given ten minutes ago. Really, it was not a big deal, but getting his latest roommate well was very important to him.

He grabbed the bottle of medicine and a spoon, then walked back to the bedroom where he found the young tuxedo cat on her bed that he had placed in a sun square. “Well hey there, Bella, how are you feeling today?” He crouched down next to the cat and opened the bottle of medicine, then poured a little into a spoon. “Sure glad you like the taste of this stuff. The last time I had to give medicine to a cat I got ripped to shreds.” He held the spoon next to the cat, who leaned up and licked it clean. He gently stroked her head. “Atta girl. You’ll be ready for a forever home in no time.” The kitty nuzzled his hand and gave him a lick. “In fact, if I can win this contest, maybe you’ll be a good spokes-cat.”

The house phone rang, distracting him. He got up, headed to the living room and answered it. “Hello?”

“Hi Will, it’s Jeannie at the shelter. Checking to see how our patient is doing.”

“Just gave her the medicine. She’s looking a lot better. Purring a bit and her appetite is returning.”

“Great. Let me know if you need anything.”

“I think we’re fine, but I’ll keep you posted.”

“Thanks so much, Will. It’s great to have someone like yourself who can run home in the middle of the day to take care of a cat. And I must say I never would have thought my best cat foster parent would be a guy.”

“Hey, happy to do it. And maybe I’ll help blow up the myth about men and cats. Talk soon.” He ended the call and it hit him.

Oh my God. I just got the slogan for the contest.