Page 37 of Daydreamer
“Jesus, Mads. You’re a proper hard-arse. Where do I sign?”
After we’d gone through the contracts and I’d signed nearly everything, Madeline caught someone’s eye over my shoulder and waved, standing up from the table. I frowned in confusion and turned in my chair to follow the direction of her gaze. Harry York was striding across the coffee shop towards us.
“Mr York,” Madeline said as he approached. As they shook hands, I was still blinking up at him in shock. “Luce?” Mads prompted, and I jumped out of my chair.
“Miss Mayweather,” Harry said in a friendly tone. “It’s such an honour to meet you again. I recognised you in the meeting room at Moretti Harding, but it seemed like youweren’t that keen on me saying anything. You may not remember but?—”
“No, yes, of course I remember,” I spluttered out, feeling self-conscious. “I’m so sorry that I ran out of that restaurant. I was a terrible coward that day.”
“No, don’t apologise,” Harry said. “Madeline explained that you found it all a bit overwhelming. I should have started with something less formal. Believe me, I have firsthand experience of what it’s like to be shy. You should have met me as a teenager. Please don’t be embarrassed. It was very kind of you to send those signed books.”
Maddie moved to sit down then and indicated that we should do the same. Harry demurred, saying he’d go and order and could he get us anything.
“What’s he doing here?” I whispered to Maddie once he was out of earshot.
“Oh, he contacted me again a few weeks ago after he saw you in that meeting. He wants to see if you’d be open to arranging that book signing now you’ve breached the boundaries of Little Buckingham. But he was also asking about film rights again. If and when we get a deal on the table, he wants to be a private investor.”
“He does?” I felt a blush spread up my cheeks. It was still unbelievable to me that I had such die-hard fans like Harry York. My books were huge epic fantasies. They were all about world-building and complicated storylines woven together, dealing with difficult topics: death, love and loss. There were even some laughs in there. But they weren’t set in the real world. There were fairies and elves and lots of supernatural abilities. Of course, I thought my books were good, I just didn’t consider them serious enough to catch the attention of the likes of Harry York. “Wow, that’s… wow.”
“What’s wow?” Harry said as he approached our tableagain, carrying a tray with his americano and my tea with a muffin.
“I was just telling Lucy about your interest in investing in film, and the signing event you’d like her to do.”
Harry’s face lit up as he sat down. “Oh yeah, I’d love to be the one to reveal LP Mayweather to the world. We’d clear the auditorium for it at the LSE building and provide security for the queue.” Security? He thought my queue would need security? “And I’d love to be involved in investing in future film projects, if you decide to go down that road.”
“Mr York—” I started.
“Harry, please,” he said, and I gave him a smile and a quick nod.
“Harry. Considering how much of an abject coward I was the last time we were supposed to meet, it’s very kind of you to think I’d be able to manage a book signing.” I cleared my throat and looked down at my coffee. “I’m afraid I can be a terrible wussbag about these things. I grew up in a small village and I…” I sighed. “Like you said before, I can get a bit overwhelmed.
“Lucy,” Harry said softly and I forced myself to look up at him. “You don’t have to be embarrassed. I wasn’t lying when I told you how shy I was before – I nearly lost my chance with my wife Verity due tomywussbag tendencies. I did lose her for almost twenty years, but that’s another story. And I promise not to go overboard, it would just be for a couple of hours. The fee would be generous. Also, afterwards…” He looked down at his coffee for a moment then back up at me with a new intensity in his expression. “I run a programme at the LSE. It’s a youth project. The area around that part of London has a gang problem, and the schools are rife with bullying. My project provides a safe space for teenagers. We mentor them, provide tutoring if it’s needed, try to help them choose their next steps after school and support them through interview processes. They’re a great bunch of kids, and well…” He took a deep breath in and out before continuing. “Well, I tend to bang on about your books to the kids, and you’ve developed a bit of a following. There are some aspiring authors among them who I hoped you might agree to meet with and give them some inspiration? That’d be after the signing, though. So I completely understand if you don’t want to give up that much of your time. I don’t?—”
“I’ll do it,” I interrupted him, and his shoulders relaxed, his mouth breaking into a wide smile. “No fee.” His smile dropped.
“Lucy, believe me, I can afford it.” He paused for a moment. “Listen, I was surprised that you had a day job. It’s part of the reason I contacted your agent. I want to help you. Give you a bit of a financial boost and maybe a bit of extra promotion.”
“Harry,” I said through a smile of my own. “My reasons for working at Moretti Harding are complicated. I assure you I don’t need a fee for getting free publicity and then helping aspiring authors. If you insist on a fee, then work it out with Maddie. She can take her fifteen percent and I’ll ask her to donate the rest directly back into your project.”
He was smiling again at that. “Well, great. You have a deal.”
Maddie grinned at me. “I knew you’d go for it. See what a great agent I am?”
“The greatest.”
“Are you serious about investing… in a film project?” my voice had lowered to a whisper now, as if voicing my biggest dream out loud would make it disappear into smoke.
Harry’s eyebrows shot up. “Of course I am.”
I looked to the side. “You must really want to see the books on the screen.”
He frowned. “Er… yes, I’ll admit, just like most LP Mayweather fans, I’m impatient for it to be made into a film. But, Lucy, I may be a super fan, but I’m also a shark. I wouldn’t beoffering to invest if I didn’t think I’d make a shit-ton of money out of it for myself.”
I grinned at him. “Really?”
“Really.” Harry was looking over at the other side of the coffee shop now and giving a thumbs up. I followed the direction of his gaze and saw his beautiful, dark-haired, very pregnant wife sitting by herself with her eyes glued to Harry and a huge grin on her face. Her eyes flicked to me, and she bit her lip. I gave her a small wave and a smile. She gave me an enthusiastic one back.
“Sorry,” Harry said. “Verity’s a huge fan as well. She insisted on coming.”
