Nothing like being under pressure, and on the spot, too. Unsure what to say, she said nothing.

“Lauren, are you with me or not?” Angela asked. “You know as well as I do that you’re capable of writing this biography, more so than anyone else. You know that I believe you can. I believe in you.”

Why did she suddenly feel like the weight of the world was on her shoulders? First, it was Razzle Dazzle’s finances, and now her agent’s? Could she really do this and keep the store open? She’d just transferred enough money to get the store through December, and most likely January and February. She’d had an idea in the back of her mind, a way to save the store, but now she wasn’t sure she could do that and write the biography of the CEO and founder of the biggest online retailer in the country and do either justice. It was true that when she hadn’t believed in herself, in her capabilities, Angela had. But it was wrong of Angela to make this commitment without her approval.

“Do you want to call me back after you’ve read the files I’m sending now?”

“Why didn’t you ask me first? That’s what I want to know.” She’d trusted Angela with her career. They were good together. At least she’d thought so—until now. She felt betrayed and wronged, yet she would be a fool to pass up this opportunity, and not just because of the money. Anyone in their right mind would jump on this.

“I thought this would be the highlight of your career. Remember when you asked me a few months back to put a few feelers out there? You wanted to get back into writing?”

Yes, she had asked Angela to do that, and apparently she had. “Yes, I remember, but we’ve always been up-front with one another. I guess I’m feeling a bit blindsided.”

“I’m sorry. As I said, I’m in trouble. I’ll send you the PDF, you can read through it, and maybe you’ll call me back.”

Lauren heard the desperation in Angela’s voice.

“Send it, and I’ll get back to you ASAP,” was all she could say. She knew this was the opportunity of a lifetime and that she would be a fool to pass it up, but she still liked making the final decisions as far as her writing career was concerned.

Lauren had barely clicked the END button on her cell phone when the e-mail alert dinged, letting her know that Angela’s e-mail had arrived.

She downloaded the file and began to read through John Gerard Giampalo’s list of accomplishments. It was a very long list, too.

He was seventy-two years old, had one son, and his wife had passed away when the son was just five years old. He’d started his career working in finance. When the World Wide Web started growing at what seemed like the speed of light, he knew it was the time to invest in the early stages of the online phenomenon. While he’d studied economics, he had also been extremely drawn to the literary world. Hence, the beginning of Globalgoods.com. He began selling books online and followed this with music and videos. Having a genius-level aptitude for his e-commerce endeavor, he reached out to the world of book lovers and sent out questionnaires, asking what consumers would buy online if it were available. Within a short period of time, Giampalo’s economic brilliance led to consumers being able to purchase practically anything they desired online.