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Truthfully, she was flattered.
“You really would love the premise and the first characters we’ve dreamed up,” Mia told her. “We just had a three-hour brainstorming session, and I can already feel the ways you might have fleshed out these characters, had you been here.”
“And the pay is insane,” Haley said in a bright voice. “Nothing you could really turn down.”
Elise glanced toward the window. The moon hung low; a sliver of it ducked across the fluttering curtain. There was a certain chill, even here inside the bed and breakfast that Elise couldn’t shake.
“That’s incredible. I’m so happy for all of you,” Elise offered.
Matt cackled. Elise had never liked his laugh. It was oddly high pitch and almost unfriendly, as though whatever he laughed at wasn’t funny and had never been.
“In case it isn’t obvious, Elise, I really want to offer you one of the seats at the writer’s table,” Matt affirmed. “I wanted to offer it to you last week, already, but I think you might have missed my email.”
The email that demanded I call you whenever I had the time? Yeah, I pretended not to see that. I have enough on my plate right now.
“Shoot. I must have missed it,” Elise admitted, grateful that her voice sounded so confident.
“I figured as much. What are you up to over there, anyway?” Matt asked. “We’ve been speculating.”
“I think that you must have committed a crime and are on the run,” Mia joked.
“My theory is that you’ve decided to up and film your own indie movie somewhere,” Haley said. “You got tired of Hollywood, tired of the game, and decided to experiment with guerilla filmmaking.”
“Ha. That would be a sight to see. Elise, director extraordinaire,” Matt teased.
“Not quite. Although—I have to say, I have started to write another screenplay. It’s coming so fluidly. And it takes place here on the island, so I feel that it deserves more of my attention.”
This, at least, was part of the reason why she wanted to stay.
“Wow! You’re writing again?” Haley cried. Her voice simmered with light.
“I didn’t think you’d actually get back on the horse so soon,” Mia stated. “I mean, after what happened with your last screenplay.”
“You don’t have to remind me,” Elise said with a laugh. “I’ll never be able to sponge myself of that memory. But yeah. The screenplay is very close to my heart. I think I might have a first draft finished in the next month or so if you can believe it.”
Everyone on the other line fell silent. Elise could almost feel them, giving one another incredulous looks.
“You’re serious about this, aren’t you, Elise?” Matt asked. His voice was sturdy, suddenly professional.
“I really am.”
“I would love to hear more about this,” Matt said. “Maybe even read over a draft or two. I always love hearing about your work when you’re in the middle of it.”
Elise bubbled over with sudden excitement. It occurred to her that she hadn’t had many conversations about writing since she had arrived on the island. She missed this side of herself.
And in all her days afterward, she couldn’t fully explain to herself why she’d said the next thing.
“I wouldn’t mind talking over some of the plot points with you, actually,” Elise said. “You really do have an eye for the arc of the story in ways that I sometimes don’t.”
“Your creativity sometimes gets in the way of that,” Matt agreed. “You want to keep building the world and find it difficult to step back and really see it for what it is.”
“Huh. I think you might be right.” Elise scanned the open document on her computer even now, wondering if she had made any missteps.
“Send me a bit of information about it, if you don’t mind,” Matt said. “I’m still buzzing from our brainstorming session over here, but you know I love working with you, Elise.”
Elise heard herself say, “It would be a pleasure to work with you again,” and then immediately regretted it.
“So you’ll think about joining the writer’s room, though?” Mia interjected. She sounded apprehensive, as though she hadn’t wanted to interrupt Elise and Matt’s strange, sizzling conversation.
