Page 35 of Between Love & Ruin

It comes as a bit of a shock because I’ve seen so many book-to-movie and book-to-series adaptations, and the way they twist things is often something I doubt the original authors would have liked. We hear so many stories about authors not being involved in the adaptation process, so him offering me a say in this is a little surprising.

“Yes,” he says. “I didn’t say I want to work with you for fun. I meant it. It’s your art, and you have put your heart and soul into it, and it’s your right to know what happens with your book.”

My heart flutters in my chest hearing his words, but I think it’s because of the intention behind his words.

He comes across as an honest man to me, and despite my early opinion about him, I can say that he has been nothing but pure towards me.

“Okay, but I didn’t bring anything with me.”

“Don’t worry,” he says, motioning behind me, and I see Roy walk over to us with a laptop bag. “I have everything.”

“Was he here the whole time?” I ask.

“Yes,” he says. “He was eating, which reminds me, aren’t you hungry?”

I am starving, actually. But I don’t say it. I would much rather have something in the comfort of my loneliness.

“Not too much. I will survive.”

“Trust me, you will need energy with me,” he says with a smile, and I narrow my eyes.

Did he just…?

He winks before getting up to go to the counter to probably order, and I think he just flirted with me slightly.

Just slightly.

* * *

Dominic slides into the seat beside me so we can both see the screen clearly, and I don’t want to admit that having him this close to me doesn’t feel bad at all.

I used to think I wouldn’t want to spend even two minutes close to him. But surprisingly, none of those feelings come to me when he sits by my side.

He listens patiently to what I am saying, doesn’t rush me when I take too long to finish a bit of my food and sits…patiently.

I haven’t seen a combination like that in a long time.

“Okay, here’s what I think,” he says, setting his coffee on the table. “I think the first ten chapters are good, but they are a bit slow, so we can cut out some parts from them. Chapter six is a little long in my opinion, and I don’t think we can get too much out of it.”

I shift a little away from him, because his thigh is pressed up against mine and I need a little space from him if I want to speak without stuttering.

“I disagree,” I say, scrolling up to those chapters and zooming in on the parts he wants to cut. “I think these chapters show what the characters are like and their first meeting, the bridge where they meet for the first time—everything is in these chapters. How can we cut that?”

“Can’t we keep their first meeting short?”

“No,” I drag out the word more than I would have liked to, and he tilts his head to look at me. Even when we are sitting, my head barely reaches his shoulder, and I have to crane my neck slightly to meet his eyes. “The essence of the couple is in these chapters. I think it’s beautiful how they both circle around the same places, just at different times, and go through almost similar situations before, one day at the bridge, the timing and the universe finally align to make them meet. Editing that part out might make sense in the bigger scheme of things, but I think it will take the heart out of the story.”

“Okay,” he says, and I smile, feeling stupidly victorious after making him agree on our first disagreement. “If you are so passionate about it, then we will go ahead with it. I believe you.”

“You do?”

“Of course. Why would I not?”

I just shrug at that. I don’t want to launch into some self-pitying monologue because this is the first time someone outside of my family has shown genuine belief in my idea, apart from Aisha, who’s my agent.

“It’s getting late,” he says, getting up and offering me his hand. “Come, I will drop you.”

“No need. I can go on my own.”