get your say tomorrow at our meeting. Just go
through Olive’s contract tonight.” Jason’s harsh voice made me turn to look at
him. Without saying another word, he got up and disappeared from our sight.
A little confused, I had to force myself to
focus on Tom when he started talking to me again.
According to my contract, I wouldn’t have
any say on the final script. If they ended up changing the end—like they had
hinted—I didn’t have the right to throw a fit over it. Since I was a new author
and not yet established, Tom didn’t see a way where he could get them to modify
that specific clause. The option fee was a flat fee, but the initial ‘purchase
price’ for the movie rights would be three percent of the initial funding—with a
cap of course. That was something Tom had already negotiated for, and I would
be getting paid when production started.
In the end, we decided that there were only
a few points worth negotiating before signing it, and apparently, the most
important one was where and how they would be using the author’s credit—meaning,
my name and the book’s title.
When we were finally done with everything,
Tom left, and I found myself alone with Jason again.
“They actually want my book, Jason,” I
said, hugging my knees as I sat on the fancy couch.
“They had you in their offices, little
one,” he reminded me as he came to sit next to me. “Of course they want your
book. Did you have any doubt?”
“Yeah. I think up until this moment, I
didn’t take them seriously.”
“And now? How do you feel?”
Resting my temple on my knees, I looked at
him through blurry eyes. I was having trouble containing my smile. “You’re
probably going to freak out, but I might start crying at any moment now.”
I could already feel my nose tingling.
He stood up and offered me his hand. “Come
on, I’ll give you a big hug. If you are going to cry, well, you deserve to have
a hug while you cry.”
Can I swoon? And maybe take him down
with me so we could do some naughty things?
Smiling through my tears, I took his hand.
As soon as I was on my feet, I threw my arms around his neck and hugged him. My
toes were barely touching the floor.
I had worked so hard and for so long on
that book. My heart was in every page of it. My secrets, my dreams, my tears.
It had taken a lot of time for me to be happy with every single sentence that I’d
written.
And now that same book had brought me to
Jason’s arms.
Swallowing, I leaned back and looked
straight into those warm brown eyes. The same eyes I’d stolen glances at across
the dinner table when I was old enough to know I was irrevocably in love with
my brother’s friend. Those same eyes I’d shyly met when he was only a kid.
Those eyes I’d watched on the big screen for years, longing after something I’d
never had, missing something only he could make me feel.
Feeling happier than I’d ever felt in my
life, I smiled. “My story will be on the big screen.”
“It will, little one.” He smiled back, his
dark brown eyes holding my gaze. The day after, I would obsess about how long
he had looked into my eyes, but at that moment…I chose not to question every
unexpected little glance, every extra second of eye contact.
“Thank you so much, Jason. For everything,
thank you so much.”
“I didn’t do anything, sweetheart. This is
all you.”
“The book, yes, but this.” I gestured to
the copy of the contract I would be signing if the studio accepted the changes
we wanted. “This I would’ve screwed up if I had to do it all by myself.”
“We both know that you’d have been
perfectly fine, Olive.”
There was a slight hesitation on his part,
but when he pressed another precious kiss on my forehead, I closed my eyes and held
on to him tighter, certain I would have trouble letting him go this time around.
Chapter Eleven
Jason
“Okay guys, we need to make this quick. I’m
going straight to the airport after this is done,” I said
through Olive’s contract tonight.” Jason’s harsh voice made me turn to look at
him. Without saying another word, he got up and disappeared from our sight.
A little confused, I had to force myself to
focus on Tom when he started talking to me again.
According to my contract, I wouldn’t have
any say on the final script. If they ended up changing the end—like they had
hinted—I didn’t have the right to throw a fit over it. Since I was a new author
and not yet established, Tom didn’t see a way where he could get them to modify
that specific clause. The option fee was a flat fee, but the initial ‘purchase
price’ for the movie rights would be three percent of the initial funding—with a
cap of course. That was something Tom had already negotiated for, and I would
be getting paid when production started.
In the end, we decided that there were only
a few points worth negotiating before signing it, and apparently, the most
important one was where and how they would be using the author’s credit—meaning,
my name and the book’s title.
When we were finally done with everything,
Tom left, and I found myself alone with Jason again.
“They actually want my book, Jason,” I
said, hugging my knees as I sat on the fancy couch.
“They had you in their offices, little
one,” he reminded me as he came to sit next to me. “Of course they want your
book. Did you have any doubt?”
“Yeah. I think up until this moment, I
didn’t take them seriously.”
“And now? How do you feel?”
Resting my temple on my knees, I looked at
him through blurry eyes. I was having trouble containing my smile. “You’re
probably going to freak out, but I might start crying at any moment now.”
I could already feel my nose tingling.
He stood up and offered me his hand. “Come
on, I’ll give you a big hug. If you are going to cry, well, you deserve to have
a hug while you cry.”
Can I swoon? And maybe take him down
with me so we could do some naughty things?
Smiling through my tears, I took his hand.
As soon as I was on my feet, I threw my arms around his neck and hugged him. My
toes were barely touching the floor.
I had worked so hard and for so long on
that book. My heart was in every page of it. My secrets, my dreams, my tears.
It had taken a lot of time for me to be happy with every single sentence that I’d
written.
And now that same book had brought me to
Jason’s arms.
Swallowing, I leaned back and looked
straight into those warm brown eyes. The same eyes I’d stolen glances at across
the dinner table when I was old enough to know I was irrevocably in love with
my brother’s friend. Those same eyes I’d shyly met when he was only a kid.
Those eyes I’d watched on the big screen for years, longing after something I’d
never had, missing something only he could make me feel.
Feeling happier than I’d ever felt in my
life, I smiled. “My story will be on the big screen.”
“It will, little one.” He smiled back, his
dark brown eyes holding my gaze. The day after, I would obsess about how long
he had looked into my eyes, but at that moment…I chose not to question every
unexpected little glance, every extra second of eye contact.
“Thank you so much, Jason. For everything,
thank you so much.”
“I didn’t do anything, sweetheart. This is
all you.”
“The book, yes, but this.” I gestured to
the copy of the contract I would be signing if the studio accepted the changes
we wanted. “This I would’ve screwed up if I had to do it all by myself.”
“We both know that you’d have been
perfectly fine, Olive.”
There was a slight hesitation on his part,
but when he pressed another precious kiss on my forehead, I closed my eyes and held
on to him tighter, certain I would have trouble letting him go this time around.
Chapter Eleven
Jason
“Okay guys, we need to make this quick. I’m
going straight to the airport after this is done,” I said
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