"The firm is in <b><span style="color:#ff0000;">talk</span></b> with city officials on a new contract."<br/><br/>"The firm is in <b><span style="color:#ff0000;">talks</span></b> with city officials on a new contract."<br/><br/>"The firm is in <b><span style="color:#ff0000;">discussion</span></b> with city officials on a new contract."<br/><br/>"The firm is in <b><span style="color:#ff0000;">discussions</span></b> with city officials on a new contract."<br/><br/>It seems that both count/uncount versions of "talk" and "discussion" are valid here.