Freelance Love (3 page)

“Fuck! You’re kidding me! You’re the most conscientious writer I
know! How about your other clients?”

“So far, I’m okay with them, but I’m going to be scrambling to
find another client to replace what I’ll be losing from
Lifestyles
. I’m sure they’ll find I
haven’t outsourced. The only thing I don’t do is the research, but that’s in my
contracts with all three of my clients. They all know about Mia and the work she
does for me.”

“Okay, then. I don’t want to sound like a heartless bastard.
Let’s finish these articles so you can look for replacement work. Do you have
any idea who made these allegations?”

Morgan thrust her fingers through her long, dark hair. “No. But
I’m damn well going to find out. No way does someone threaten . . . threaten .
. .” her eyes went vague and misty as she realized something. “My God, Ian! I
think it was John!”

“You mean the doofus who calls you all the time to go back to
working brick and mortar at his store?”

“Yes! Thank you. I’m calling Lily for an appointment. Then I need
to look for more work to do.”

After Ian went through Morgan’s articles, she quickly jammed
everything back into her bag, bid Ian goodbye and drove home.

Once home, she ran to her bedroom and indulged in a cleansing
cry. After her tears stopped flowing, she washed her face and poured a glass of
tea, sitting down to think.
I’ll
deal with that bastard after I’ve called Grace to see if she can shift some
work my way. Once I’ve landed something, John, you had better start looking
behind you, because I will be following every scummy step you take. If it was
you, and I’m pretty sure it was, you’re gonna pay through the nose.
After
several minutes, she called Grace.

“Hey, Grace, do you have some time? Something happened, and I’m
in need of some fill-in work.” As Morgan spoke, she forced additional tears
back.

Grace, sensitive to the nuances of her best friend’s voice, grew
concerned.

“Morgan? What is wrong? You’re trying not to cry – don’t deny it
because I can hear it in your voice.”

Morgan squeezed her throat painfully against a sob. Swallowing,
she released a slow breath and tried to speak calmly.

“Hon, I just got some really, really bad news from
Las Cruces Lifestyles
.
Apparently, someone called them and made some false outsourcing allegations
against me. Lily is going to go through all my past work and she’s put me on
the reserve writers’ list for now. I’ll be getting paid for my most recent work
and for what I have in progress now, but . . . you know I need every client
I’ve landed!” As she spoke, she swiped tears from her face.

“Oh, my God. This is probably pointless, but has John been
calling you to go back to his store?”

“Yup. I just delete my messages and I don’t even respond any
more. He doesn’t know the meaning of the word ‘no.’ I think it’s him – it’s
something he’d pull,” said Morgan, with anger outlining her words.

“Okay, come by my office. I do have some things you can take off
my plate. I never have time to get to these because of writing journal
articles, office hours and planning lessons for my students. What are you
earning from the magazine?”

Morgan named what she was being paid and Grace said, “I can help
you with that for now, but we’re going to need to make damn sure that you find
out who made these allegations quickly. The funds I have are limited. I’m going
to talk to Kevin and see if he knows of an attorney to help you out.”

Morgan, hearing that she would have some substitute work as well
as an attorney’s name, wasn’t able to hold back her sob.

“Thank you! Let me know when to stop at your office and I’ll get
the paperwork. How quickly do you think Kevin can come up with a name?”

“Oh, say, a couple of hours? I’ll send an email to him and ask
him. Once he’s between students or classes, he’ll let me know. He’s really good
about responding. I promise you that,” said Grace.

Morgan set up a time to go to the English department and Grace’s
office. Once she disconnected her call, she ran to her bathroom and washed her
face to remove all traces of her earlier tears.
Don’t
let that selfish asshole ruin your writing business. Fight back, because you
built your business from the ground up. Sure, you applied for a business loan
and you have a student assistant, but you’re it – you need to keep bringing
money in so you can stay current – and make John’s efforts wasted.

After sitting at her computer and trying to work on her current
assignments, she realized that the shock she had received had destroyed her
concentration. After struggling to get  back into her “writing zone” for close
to an hour, she shut her laptop, muttering to herself. “John, you won today’s
battle, but you know how I’m gonna fight back? I’m getting other paid writing
work and an attorney. If it was you, then you’re being dragged into court – and
you’ll pay for your false allegations. Meantime, I am going to light a fire
under my butt and go check out new printers. Goodbye, asshole!” After she gave
herself her pep talk, she made herself eat a small lunch before going to
Staples, Office Max and Best Buy to compare printers. As she was leaving, she
heard the phone ringing. Zigging back to her desk, she saw the read-out
indicating that John was on the other end.

“What! No effin’ way am I answering this call! What happened
today is just the kind of stuff you’d pull, and you want to
talk to me
? Go jump
off a cliff!” Morgan pivoted on her heels and slammed her front door.

At the store, she forced herself to put her former boss out of
her mind as she compared each printer. She was at the third business products
store when Grace called her back.

“Morgan, if you have time now, Kevin’s going to stop by my
office. Can you come by?”

“Definitely! I’m leaving Best Buy now, so I can be there in, say,
15 or 20 minutes. Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

Morgan parked in an outlying lot on the sprawling NMSU campus.
Locking her car, she took a long swallow of her chilled water and started
walking from the Pan Am Center to the Clara Belle Williams English building on
the International Mall. At Grace’s office, she knocked and collapsed into a
chair, panting and patting perspiration from her face.

“Oh, I hate summer! It’s too damn hot!”

Grace chuckled. “Why do you think I work indoors? Kevin will be
here in about five minutes. Meantime, here’s what I need. I’m overflowing with
grading work. I’m signing you up as my aide so we can access those funds I
mentioned earlier. You’ll need to fill this W-9 and application out so
everything’s official and so you’ll be paid.”

Morgan accepted the forms and began filling them out. Handing
them back with a flourish, she asked, “When will they be official?”

“Heck, tonight! Start these tomorrow morning and keep track of
the time you work. I can spare about 20 hours a week, but no more.”

“That’s plenty, Grace – I can do these and get my other writing
assignments done. How much hourly will I earn?”

 “I couldn’t get much more than $10 an hour for you. I tried, but
the personnel office wouldn’t have it.”

Morgan grimaced. “Send some students my way for tutoring, please.
I’ll make it work somehow.”

“How many other magazine gigs do you still have?”

“Two. If John calls them, I’m up shit creek, as the kids say.”
Morgan tried to smile, but her fear was too strong.

Grace reached across her desk and grasped Morgan’s hand. She
squeezed, then looked up at her door with a smile.

“Kevin, thank God you’re here! Come in.”

Kevin gave Morgan a quick one-armed hug and reached across
Grace’s desk to give her a quick kiss.

“Okay, what happened? Everything,” he ordered.

Morgan explained, telling him she was suspicious that John had
made the call to Lily. “He’s been calling me at least once a month, to beg me
to go back to working for him. I am
not
going back to his store - ever!”

“He doesn’t have a good reputation as a person or as an employer.
Your thought that he might be the caller – it’s plausible. Here’s the name of
the attorney I’m recommending – Rick Devins. He’s sharp, quick and aggressive.
He fights for his clients.”

Morgan leaned over and gave Kevin a strong hug. “Thank you for
believing me!”

“Hey, I remember when you were in my Small Business class. You
were one of my most ethical students. I don’t think you’ve changed much since
then. Call Rick today and get him hired. He’ll work with your finances – I told
him you’re self-employed.”

“Okay, so he’s expecting my call. Thanks. I’m taking all of this.
I’ll call him as soon as I’ve gotten home and, Grace, I’ll start the grading
tomorrow. I was serious about tutoring students, too. I’ll meet them on-or off
campus.”

“I’ll give my students your name. I do have a few in English
Composition and Honors English Comp who are struggling – and yes, they do need
your help.”

Morgan gave Grace a huge hug and left. At home, she sat under the
air conditioner, trying to cool down. Calling Rick Devin’s office, she
explained her situation to the receptionist, who gave her an appointment for
the next morning. She tried to get back to work, but found she was still too
distracted to make much progress on her assignments. Giving up, she wandered
into her dining area, which featured a huge bay window. Pulling up the blinds,
she pulled out her e-reader and settled onto the window seat so she could try
to relax and get her mind to re-focus.

***

At Rick Devins’ office the next morning, Morgan sat in his
office, explaining her work and how she structured her writing contracts.

“The only thing I outsource is my research, and that’s in my
contracts with each of my clients. If I had to stop and do the research for
every article, I’d never be able to get as much written as I do. The writing
and proofing – I have to do that. I have a professional editor who line-edits
and copy-edits everything for me. He finds the mistakes I’ve missed and helps
me make sure that what I’m saying works.”

“I’ll need copies of your contracts. Do you have a contract with
your researcher as well?”

“Oh, yes. Here. You can make the copies and I’ll take the
originals back.”

“Okay, why do you think it’s your former boss?”

“Simple. When I gave him my letter of resignation, he was . . .
in a word . . . unhappy that I had chosen to leave. He kept trying to get me to
change my mind before my last day and I kept refusing. Even more, he keeps
calling me at home and begging me to come back. I’ve just gotten to where I
don’t pick up his calls and I just let them go to message. The last time he
called me was right before Lily called me to tell me about these allegations.
It’s not much, I know, but he has a lot to gain if I lose my business and have
to go back to what we in the biz call a “brick and mortar” job.”

“Good point. When you lose any income from your freelance writing
business, this makes it more likely that you’d have to return to his store.
I’ll need phone numbers for the editors of each magazine you write for.”

Morgan wrote the numbers down on a page she pulled from her
planner and handed it to Rick.

“How are you replacing the lost income? That’s important for me
to know so I can determine potential losses,” Rick said.

“I’m grading English assignments for my friend at the university,
both undergrad and graduate level. I’m also starting to tutor students. I’m
being paid $10 an hour for the grading and I will be charging $35 per hour for
the tutoring. I don’t know how many students I’ll get. Because I still have
magazine assignments for now, I can only devote so many hours a day to
tutoring. Grace tried to get me a higher per-hour rate, but the personnel
office said ‘no.’ I can only work on grading for 20 hours a week. I’m very
likely to take a loss.”

“Okay, I’ll run those numbers. Let me know if you get tutoring
students and how many, including how many hours a week you devote to that.”

“Gladly, thanks.” Morgan gathered her materials and left,
stopping at the store for items she needed. At home, she put everything away
and began working on a magazine article. Several hours passed as she wrote from
the research Mia had completed. Looking at her clock, her jaw dropped.

“Two p.m.! Oh, my God, I hate this! I need to get to the grading
now – John, if you’re responsible for this, you will pay, in spades,” Morgan
promised. She hastily saved the work she had completed and started grading the
large pile of assignments Grace had given to her. Four hours later, she rubbed
her gritty eyes and got up. Grabbing a bottle of eye drops, she inserted a drop
in each dry eye and decided to find something for dinner.

Morgan was stretched out on her couch, grading essays and
assignments for Grace when Rick called the next morning.

“Morgan Adams Consulting, how may I help you?”

“Morgan, it’s Rick. I went through everything with a fine-tooth
comb. You are definitely going to take a loss because of these allegations. I
spoke to the
Las
Cruces Lifestyles
editor, and she’s having her doubts about these
allegations. But she doesn’t want to make a decision until she knows for sure.
That’s good for the magazine and you in the long run. In the short run, your
finances are gonna stink. I asked her if she recognized the caller and she
didn’t. He had a distinctive Texas accent, from what she said. He didn’t seem to
know much about the writing business, how it works and what’s considered
ethical or unethical. She said that, about all he seemed to really know was the
definition of outsourcing. Have you heard anything from any other clients?”

“No, thank God. At least, I still have that work coming in.”

“Good. I don’t want to make your situation any worse by calling
your other clients and tipping them off to what happened with the
Lifestyles
client.
Because Lily has her doubts, it looks good for you – except for your financial
losses. I’m going to to to Mack’s store and talk to him, see what he says, then
I’ll let you know what I come up with. I’m not calling him ahead of time. I’m
just going to show up so he can’t cook up any stories. I want him to admit what
he did and get him to agree to a large settlement – actual damages, defamation
of character and punitive damages. I’ll be drawing up the lawsuit today and
filing it before the end of the week.”