Page 1 of Total Creative Control

Prologue

Lewis

Reclined Pigeon Productions, Shepherd’s Bush, London

It was only ten-thirty in the morning, but Lewis Hunter, Creative Director at Reclined Pigeon Productions, was already having a bad day.

The latest episode ofLeeches, his cult hit show, had dropped last night, and he’d strolled into the office in a pretty good mood—until he’d passed Chris’s desk.

Chris—who until two hours ago had been the latest temp PA assigned to work for Lewis—had informed him, with ill-concealed glee, that there was a Twitter storm raging over last night’s episode. He had offered his phone to Lewis to read the thread, and Lewis, who usually paid no attention to social media, had been enraged by the stupid comments. He’d sent an immediate, profanity-laced response to the first comment and was working on a second when Chris had become hysterical, and they’d got into a tussle over his phone.

Well, how was Lewis supposed to know the response would go out in Chris’s name? It wasn’t as though it was hisrealname. Who the fuck cared what @teamcocopops was saying?

After that, things went downhill quickly.

Chris stormed out, dramatically announcing that this was“the last straw”. There had been quite a few other straws apparently, including ones that had featured in feedback from all the other ex-temps. Like Lewis’s short fuse, inability to work technology, and frequent requests for overtime assistance.

All of which meant Lewis was forced to phone Sophie, again, and ask her to call the agency. Again. Which had prompted a visit from the head of HR, who had subjected him to a long and boring lecture. Again.

After sitting through that, Lewis had started trying to set up his own Twitter account, only to be thwarted by technology. Which was where he found himself now, his irritation growing exponentially as the little fucking circle spun around and around uselessly in the centre of his screen. And hell, he needed to be on an important call at eleven.

Shoving his chair back, he got to his feet, stalked to the door, and flung it open. Chris was long gone, but Jason, Toni’s PA who sat at the neighbouring desk, looked up from his computer screen.

“Jason,” Lewis clipped out. “I need your help.”

“Okay,” Jason said warily, pushing his glasses up his nose. “Is it urgent? I’m busy pulling together the cost figures for Toni’s production meeting.”

“Very urgent, ” Lewis replied. “I need to respond to some comments on Twitter immediately, but it’s not letting me set up an account.”

Jason’s gaze shifted away. “Right,” he said slowly. “So you’re, uh, still working on that then?”

“Goddamn right I am. Have you read the comments? Fucking defamatory bullshit!”

“Maybe you should let Legal deal with it?” Jason suggested tentatively.

“Fuck that,” Lewis snapped. “Legal never do anything. Last time I reported something to them—”

“Ah, there you are, Lewis,” a new voice said, a faint note of warning in the overly cheerful tone.

Lewis turned to see Sophie, the office manager, approaching.

“Sophie, perfect timing,” he said quickly. “My computer’s fucked—I need a new one. Like, right fucking now.”

“Yes, well, before we talk about that, let me—”

“Soph, I really need this sortednow. My—”

“Lewis,” she interrupted, raising her brows and giving him a significant look. “I’ve got yournew temphere?” Somehow, she managed to keep her smile in place, though it was morphing into more of a grimace. “Why don’t we go into your office so I can introduce you?”

Lewis glanced at the young man standing behind her before returning his gaze to Sophie. “Fine, but after that, I need to get this situation sorted out—I’ve been trying to set up a Twitter account—”

“Hmm. So I heard. Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

Lewis bristled. “Why wouldn’t it be?”

Sophie held up her hands. “Well, you know what happened last time…” She trailed off meaningfully.

“This is a point of principle,” he insisted. “You wouldn’t believe what these dicks are saying.”