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And mine could be up there next…
I get a grip. “The thing is, I haven’t decided on my next project yet,” I tell him the same thing I’ve been telling everyone. “I’m still taking some time to mull a few different options.”
“You know what it is,” Ron says bluntly. “Maybe you haven’t figured it out just yet, but there’s something you’ve had your eye on. There always is.”
I pause. “There is maybe a story, right here …” I begin, without thinking. “A small town in the Blue Ridge Mountains, in the 1920s, a young couple in love, driven to tragic, desperate ends to be together. Bank heists, and broken hearts …”
“The NotebookmeetsYellowstone,”Ron says immediately, “That’s a killer combo. Tell me more.”
So I do. I tell him about Earl and Madeline, and their doomed love story; everything Ivy has been researching from their diaries and letters all these years. My excitement grows, and I feel it, that spark of inspiration that tells me I’m on the right track.
It’s been right here in front of me all along.
Not the treasure hunt, but the story behind it. Earl and Madeline’s doomed, star-crossed love. The youthful hope and heartache, Earl’s desperate sacrifice, and the legacy they both left behind. It’s an incredible story, and I’m so swept up in the possibilities, I almost forget all about Ron until I finally pause for breath and he jumps in.
“Look, I’ve got Brad on the other line, I’ve can’t keep him waiting, but I love this. Where else have you been pitching?”
“What?” I blink in surprise. “No, it’s not a real outline yet, I haven’t written anything. I just learned about it from a historian here, it’s her family story, and–”
“Perfect, I’m taking it off the table right now,” Ron talks over me. “I’ll have my people talk to yours and put a deal together. This is going to be great!”
He hangs up before I can say a word.
I sit there, dazed, as the autumn leaves skitter around me in the wind.Just like that.Ron Carlyle wants to greenlight my next movie just like that, based on a rambling five minute conversation?
Holy shit!
I text my manager, Dickson, to call me ASAFP, and then take off, grabbing some celebratory cupcakes at the coffee shop before heading straight to the museum. Ivy is in the middle of a presentation to some serious-looking people when I arrive, so I impatiently pace the aisles, full of excitement.
Why didn’t I think of this sooner? The movie is already clicking into place in my brain: the locations, characters, and all the incredible 1920s costuming and sets … I pull out my phone and start making notes. My sister is going to either love me or kill me for making another period piece, but I can already see the county fair lit up, with Earl and Madeline on the Ferris wheel …
“Are those the salted caramel cupcakes with the cinnamon crumble frosting?” Ivy makes a beeline for me, as her group disperses. “God, you really do know everything I need. I’ve been craving a sugar fix all morning. The Greater Milford Historical Society aren’t exactly a lively bunch,” she adds, giving me a quick kiss, and then diving into the cupcake box. “And the one time I tried jazzing things up with the whole ‘which side of the river?’ sexy rendezvous story, Jeanette Winterbottom wrote a stern letter in the local paper.”
I pause, distracted by the swipe of frosting on the edge of her lips. “Winterbottom?”
Ivy grins. “It’s an old English family name, she’s very proud of her heritage. She insisted on keeping it after she married. Named her son William Walter Winterbottom.”
I laugh. “I couldn’t even put that in a script,” I tell her, leaning in and licking the stray frosting from her mouth. Ivy’s eyes flash, and then she’s pulling me further out of sight between the book stacks, and kissing me hard and hot until I’ve almost forgotten why I raced over here.
Almost.
“The most incredible thing just happened,” I tell her, drawing back. “Ron Carlyle, this big studio head called. He wants to greenlight my next movie.”
Ivy lights up. “That’s amazing! But I thought you hadn’t figured out what you want to do yet. Did you rethink that book idea Margarita Ray suggested?”
I shake my head. “I got talking to him about Earl and Madeline, and the bank heist, and everything that happened, and he loved it. Wouldn’t even let me finish before he made an offer. Isn’t that crazy? And the best part is, I can shoot right here in the area,” I tell her, beaming ear to ear. “It’ll be all the authentic locations, and great for the town. You’re going to be run off your feet here at the museum, everyone’s going to want to know about what happened.”
I wait for her to get excited, to be just as pumped as I am about this, but Ivy just stands there, looking at me with an unreadable expression on her face.
“You’re making a movie about the treasure?” she asks slowly.
“About everything!” I exclaim. “It’ll be Earl and Madeline: their lives, their love. Their story.”
Ivy’s eyes narrow. “No. You mean,mystory.”
And then she dumps her half-eaten cupcake back in the box and stalks away.
Wait, what?
