Page 15 of Between Love & Ruin

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“Can you just repeat what you told me?” I ask Aisha for the fourth time as we sit late at night for our impromptu meeting.

She stares at me through the screen, and every time I look at this woman, I find myself in awe of her beauty. Even when she looks exhausted, like right now, she doesn’t fail to amaze me.

I love women, to be honest. It’s only a shame I am not attracted to them in any other way.

“I said,” she says with the same excitement as she had when she told me the news for the first time. “Wolfe Media wants film rights for “A Tide of Love”. I knew him reading your book would do well for us.”

“They want my book to be turned into a movie? Why?”

She gives me an “are-you-serious?” look, and I get it, to be honest. Most writers would be exhilarated by this, and I am too, but I am having a hard time accepting this.

It all feels too good to be true. From him getting his hands on my book to my book going viral to his company asking for film rights.

All of that in just one day feels like a dream.

“Of course, Sienna. They are starting a new venture. It has been in the news for a while, but they haven’t announced it officially yet. But everyone in the entertainment industry knows that sooner or later it will happen, and the first book-to-movie adaptation they want to do is yours. Isn’t that amazing?”

The news starts to register with me, and happiness seems to seep into my bones as I feel the itch to jump in the air.

“This is…amazing. I mean,” I lick my lips as a smile takes over my face, and her eyes glint seeing me finally accepting it. “It’s more than awesome. I don’t even have the words for it. What do we do now?”

In the past, I have seen so many books turning into movies or series, and it has always felt otherworldly. Like something very out of reach, and since I have always managed to stay out of the limelight as much as I can with my last name attached, I never thought much about having this for me.

I was just happy in my little corner writing love stories for a living and making people happy.

But it seems like the universe had other plans.

“You don’t have to worry about a thing,” she says with a dismissive wave of her hand. She waves a hand, momentarily distracted by noise in her background, before refocusing on the screen. Her cheeks are slightly flushed, and I doubt it’s because of me.

A little time back, when we were working on polishing my book before release, she had opened up about how she could resonate with the main characters of ‘A Tide of Love’ because the book focuses on relationships and grief and what heartbreak looks like.

It is my most vulnerable book, and I wrote it at a time when I was at my lowest.

She said that she could relate to the fact how easily a person can destroy themselves in the name of love, knowingly or unknowingly.

I didn’t push her to open up more about it, but even a stranger could notice the color coming back to her face. She looks more alive than ever before, and I am glad she did whatever she could to fix her heartbreak. If anything, I need her to give me some tips to move on.

“We will take care of everything. It’s good that we are having a tour in NYC because that’s where they are based. We can meet up with them directly to talk about everything.”

“Sounds good to me. Thanks, Aisha.”

“Anytime, Sienna. You just prepare yourself for the tour. We will be leaving the day after tomorrow.”

“Sure, bye. Take care.”

“You too.”

I stare at the blank screen once she hangs up on me. There’s this bubbly energy on the brink of bursting out of me as the news finally registers in my body. I feel like jumping in the air and dancing, and it’s only a miracle how I stay put in my seat.

Suddenly, it feels like I am living in a dream. All of this seems too good to be true. Because the chances of all of this happening within a single day feel highly unlikely. Yet when I pinch myself, nothing changes. It’s not a joke. I am not hallucinating.

This is all true.

I smile giddily as I rush up to Mark, who’s sitting in the hall of our apartment, watching his show on TV.

“Mark,” I say as I hurriedly make my way onto his lap, hugging him out of excitement. “Oh, I am so, so happy.”