Page 65 of How to Write a Rom-Com

“Elle, I know you want to believe the best in people, and you really want this to work out, but this is not anactualromance novel. When a guy tells you he’s done with you in real life, he means it.”

“What are you going to do? Go back to Tinder and forget that the perfect guy already exists?” She crosses her arms and glares at me with piercing brown eyes, arching her perfect brow at me.

“I don’t see what else I can do,” I say, resigned. Elle leans in, taking the popcorn from my lap and placing it on the coffee table. I try to avoid her gaze for as long as possible, but she eventually draws me in.

She looks at me like I’m wounded, and the one thing she wants most in the world right now is to make it better. And usually, that’s what she does. That’s what we do for each other—–we pick up the pieces, but this time, I think we’re both at a loss.

“Lucy,” she starts. “I’m so proud of you.”Always start with the positive.Any editor knows that when you give feedback, you have to start with the good news first. “I know you’ll roll your eyes at me. But Hudson Hollow changed you, and I think you know that too.” I grimace at her, and she knows she’s right. “You went somewhere new, on your own, met new people, and proved to yourself that you’re a pretty great writer.” I flutter my eyes down and fiddle with the strings on the blanket as she talks. “Think about it, you practically wrote a book,andyou fell in love.” I look at her slowly, my cheeks so hot that it feels like steam is emanating from my skin.

“Don’t give me that look. I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know,” she adds in a confident tone. “I’m especially proud of the way you put yourself out there, how you told Liam everything,” I wince when I hear his name. “And I think you will find your way back to him, and him to you. I’m manifesting it.” I eye her knowingly, swallowing to try to contain my emotions. She nudges my shoulder.

“I love you, Elle. And I hope you’re right.”

*

The following day, Elle comes with me to visit my parents’ house, and for the first time since I returned from upstate, I smile; and I meanreallysmile. Seeing Josie is restorative, even if she’s looking frail, and sleeping away most of the day. And when we return to our apartment on Sunday, my mind feels calmer. Seeing my family helped take my mind off worrying about Monday, and sharing with Anne everything I wrote in that little notebook, and all the guilt that comes along with it.

When Monday does arrive, my stomach is in knots. Nadine is always the first one in the office, being the newest member of the team, she’s eager to please. We’ve tried to tell her that Nicole and Terri never show their faces before 9:30 am, and Anne usually moseys in a half hour or so later, but she refuses to risk it.

“Hey! How was your trip?” Nadine asks, standing up from her side of the wall as soon as I get to my desk.

“It was good, thanks,” I say, hoping she’ll leave it at that.

“It’s been all Anne can talk about,” she says with a knowing smile.

“Ha! No pressure then,” I mumble, plopping into my chair and turning my computer on in frustration.

I want to inundate Anne with so much information that even her most specific questions are answered before she even has a chance to ask them. I organized and typed up a simpler version of my outline along with an in-depth setting description, and profiles for each character. It wasa lotof work. If this project becomes a bestseller, I should really get a piece of the pie.

Elle was right, Hudson Hollow changed me. Even if I can’t be as confident as her, I can damn well fake it. I can know my worth, and I can go for what I want. I only need to repeat that about seven thousand more times in my head.

Nicole and Terri don’t bother me much when they come in, but Callie is more intrusive, asking if I met any cute guys. I shut her down with a brief answer and a look that says I’m not in the mood to talk.

“Hey!” Anne exclaims when she comes strutting past my desk. “Look how tan you are!” She drops her bag on my desk and stands there with her arms outstretched. I stand up awkwardly and hug her. Callie visually cringes next to me. I’ve worked here for almost three years and this has never happened.

“I can’t wait to hear all about it!” she says, making her way to her own desk. I eye Elle over our divider. She’s holding in a laugh.

“I have a conference room booked for us at 11 am, and a call scheduled with Ruby at 11:30,” I say, handing her a pile of mail. “You asked me to remind you to email Erin back about lunch and to formally reject that submission from Kelly first thing this morning.”

“My God, I’ve missed you,” Anne says with a groan.

Mission accomplished.

*

“Okay, so tell me everything!” Anne says, sliding the glass door shut behind us. She sits down and props her head on her hands, giddy to hear everything I’m about to say.

“It was great,” I start, swallowing hard. “It was such a…uniqueopportunity. I’m very grateful, Anne.”

“I’m thrilled to hear that.” I force a smile. I already feel the sweat trickling down my neck from my nerves. I desperately hope it doesn’t show.

“Hudson Hollow is the perfect small town to set a series in,” I continue, handing her my write-up. “I think you sending me there was great inspiration for our—well,Ruby’s—heroine. I’m thinking she could be a writer for a production company, sent to work on a new project in a small town. It will give us the fish-out-of-water aspect that you were kind of envisioning with me.”

“That sounds great. And our love interest?” she asks, not looking up from the packet.

“A historian,” I say, sliding the character profiles over to her.

“Did you get any inspiration from that neighbor guy Elle told me about?” My heart shudders at the question. She finally looks up and moves to the edge of her seat. “What happened with him, by the way?”

---