Page 71 of The CEO I Hate

“I could have taken my ideas anywhere,” Lyle said. “Started over with another platform and stolen your audience. But I didn’t.”

There he went, threatening VeriTV. God, I wanted security to drag him out of here. “Showrunner isn’t open for discussion,” I growled.

Lyle exchanged a glance with his agent but didn’t argue that point further. Clearly, he knew he needed to give a little. So what would his next offer be?

“Then I want back in the writers’ room.”

“That we can discuss,” I said.

“Head writer.”

I shook my head. “We have a head writer.”

“Yes, Mia Collins,” Lyle said. “I’ve looked her up. She’s got that cute little webcomic, right?”

My hand curled into a fist. “Get to your point.”

“I saw the sneak peek. There are threads you’re missing. Things onlyIknow that I have plotted out for the next three seasons. You needmeto put the pieces together.”

I swallowed hard. “I’m not taking the position away from Mia.”

“How about a break?” the studio lawyer suggested.

Lyle exchanged looks with his own lawyer and agent. They nodded and exited my office with HR, leaving me, Paula, and legal to crowd around my desk.

“Is this a hill you want to die on?” Paula asked me. “The head writer thing?”

“Why not?” I argued back. “I agreed to take the meeting. I’m even willing to let him back in the writers’ room. But why should he be back in charge after what he did?”

“How can we ask him to come back andnotbe in charge of crafting the narrative on the project that’s been his baby from the start?” Paula said. “Yeah, Mia will be disappointed if she gets bumped out of the head writer position, but the girl’s got her head on straight. She’ll understand.”

Would she? I didn’t even want to imagine the look on her face when I told her.

“Head writer feels like a solid compromise,” Paula pressed.

“It’s not,” I muttered.

Paula’s eyes narrowed. “We both know he’s not going to budge on this. If you dig in your heels, it could torpedo the whole thing. It’s not like you to take those kinds of risks when it comes to what’s best for the company.”

That rattled me. Was she right? Was I being blindly stubborn here, letting my feelings for Mia distract me from what really needed to happen? That wasn’t like me.

“We need to give a little,” Paula said. “Youneed to give a little.”

Damn it. She was right. I gave a brusque nod, signaling for the lawyer to summon everyone back to the office.

“This is what we’re willing to do,” I announced.

Lyle and his team leaned forward, hanging on my every word.

“You and Mia can be co-head writers. You’ll both help shape the storylines for the rest of the season, with Paula overseeing as showrunner. If you’re really here to tell a great story, then tell the story.” That was it. The only compromise I was willing to make. Co-head or nothing.

Lyle’s lawyer whispered in his ear. He grimaced, taking a moment to think it over. “Fine,” he said at last. “But if I’m giving up so much here, I want to make some changes to the staff writers.”

“No changes,” I said. I wasn’t firing anyone just to feed into Lyle’s power trip.Theyhadn’t done anything wrong.

“Some additions, then.”

I glanced at Paula. She shrugged.