Page 49 of The Rom-Commers

“Crying is good for you,” Logan said. “It’s cleansing. There’s even a crying yoga now.”

Long silence.

“Anyway,” Charlie went on, shutting off his faucet. “I can’t take her seriously. Why would anyone write about that?”

“Why would anyone write about anything?” Logan countered.

“I just think,” Charlie said, “that our interests are… fundamentally different.”

Logan sounded like he was frowning. “Does that mean you’re not going to work with her?”

I held my breath.

“No, I’m going to work with her,” Charlie said. “But only halfway.”

“Halfway?”

“She wants to work on this thing until it’s amazing. I want to work on this thing until it’s passable. She wants this movie to happen. I want this movie tonever happen. I want to improve it just enough to get my Mafia thing out of mothballs. And then I’ll send her on her way.”

“But weren’t you both just telling me that you agreed to make it good?” Logan asked.

“Yeah, that’s what Isaid,” Charlie said, and then paused so Logan could mentally fill inBut that’s not what’s going to happen.

“But that’s…” Logan said.

What?I thought.Lying? Cheating? Being a douchebag?

Logan went on, “That’s not what you promised.”

“I’ll wiggle out of it somehow,” Charlie said.

“You have to tell her,” Logan said.

“She won’t stay if I tell her.”

“Then I have to tell her.”

“You won’t be my manager anymore if you tell her.”

“But this is…” Logan started.

A horrible betrayal?

“Not cool,” Logan concluded. “Not cool at all.”

“There are a lot of things I can’t control about my life,” Charlie said. “I could live to a hundred, or I could be dead next year. But there’s one godforsaken truth I can guarantee you. The only thing I’m proud of is my career. And I will not frigging turn it into aerosol cheese by seriously writing a rom-com.”

I nodded to myself at those words.Okay, I thought.All right.

Guess I was quitting, after all.

Twelve

HERE, I JUSThave to pause for a second and tell you something genuinely sad.

I apologize in advance.

I wish I could spare us all the heartache. I do.

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