The Predicament of Persians - A.G. Henley Page 0,42
Joe had met before.” She looks from one of us to the other, her wrinkled brow indicating she can tell something is wrong.
So many castigatory words rush to my mouth that I can’t decide what to accuse him of first . . . but I dam them off. This isn’t the time or place to confront Joe. And I’d like to hear how he explains this to Maya.
“No, I don’t believe we have.” I hold out my hand to him, fighting to keep it from trembling with anger. “Hello, I’m Kathleen Caplin, Juliet’s owner. And you are?”
A cockroach? A rat? A flea? A flea on a cockroachy rat?
“I’m Joe Davis.”
I slide my hand back as soon as he touches me. If Maya notices his hangdog expression or the flares of fire and ice shooting from my eyes, she doesn’t mention it.
“Would you like to order breakfast, Joe? Kathleen and I are getting the buffet.”
“No thank you. I’m not hungry.” His own hand shakes as he picks up the mug of coffee the rushing waitress sloshes into his cup.
“You must be so happy Romeo won the Best Newcomer award last night,” I say. “Congratulations. I had no idea it would be so close. So many things about this weekend have been such a surprise.”
Maya blinks at my sharp tone. “It was a very close vote. The closest of the night. Juliet was only a few votes shy of winning the award.”
That’s just great, I think.
Joe turns to our host. “Maya, I’d like to thank you for the opportunity to meet today.”
Here it comes. He’s going to tell her how much he and Romeo deserve the sponsorship. First, he woos me into letting my guard down, and then he wins the award and goes in for the kill with Purina. He is clearly a total player, a cheat, and a liar.
He runs a hand roughly through his hair. “I understand it’s fairly common for whoever wins the Best Newcomer award at CatFest to be a top contender for the Purina Instagram CelebriCat sponsorship. And Romeo won.”
Rub it in, why don’t you? He ignores my furious stare. I think he had more to say, but Maya interrupts.
“Yes, about that. Things have changed a bit from Purina’s perspective.” She glances wistfully at the buffet. “I thought we might eat first, but you two clearly came ready to talk.” She pulls up closer to the table. “Deciding who to award the sponsorship is usually a simple decision. We do often give it to the Best Newcomer. But this year was different. Both Romeo and Juliet are gorgeous cats with great personalities, and you two have done amazing jobs with their accounts. Your fans last night made that abundantly clear.” She chuckles. “Purina loves to sponsor people who share the same love for pets that we do and those who inspire others. You both clearly demonstrate these values. But there’s only one sponsorship to give.” She pauses and smiles broadly. “So, we’d like to offer a more generous amount to both of you . . . If you’ll agree to partner and work together on your accounts.”
She pulls two packets of paper with Purina branding out of her bag. “You have a wonderful opportunity to unite your fans in a way few other Instagram accounts do. The, er, friction,” she glances from me to Joe, “that you’ve encouraged among your fans up to now has wonderfully reenacted the Capulet and Montague feud in a fun way, and now seems like the perfect time to allow Romeo and Juliet to fall in love. In the theatrical sense, of course.”
I feel Joe’s eyes boring into me. I will not look at him. Will. Not. Look.
“We’re hoping you might consider linking your accounts under the Purina sponsorship banner, and we’ll help you with sourcing more detailed sets, costumes, and props for your shoots, professional videography from time to time, merchandise set up and sales, and many other perks. I realize you live in very different parts of the country, but if you could get the cats together once in a while for special combined posts, I know your fans would love it.”
“I’m in,” Joe says. “I think that’s a fantastic idea. I’d love to partner with Kathleen. She’s an amazing—” he coughs, “cat owner, a creative entrepreneur, and I’d be honored to have the chance to work with her.”
I shake my head, but nothing clear comes out of my mouth. I make a garbled noise instead. What I want