Page 102 of Valentine Nook
I wait for the but.
“She’s bringing me two offers for films next year.”
I study the drop in her face. Film offers seem like a good thing, but based on the way her mouth turns down, I’d wager it isn’t.
“You don’t want them?”
“I don’t.”
“What are they?”
She shakes her head and adds a sad shrug that pulls at my heartstrings. “I don’t know.”
“You haven’t seen them yet?”
“No.”
I’m confused. I’ve never pretended to understand women, but right now, I really don’t understand, which thankfully, Holiday senses and takes pity on.
“If I see them, and I like them, it’ll make it harder to turn down. Marcy’s so persuasive. If I like them, she’ll sense my weakness. But I’m not ready to go back to movies. I have my Oscar, and it nearly killed me.” Her head drops onto the table.
I might not understand women, but I know when they’re on the verge of crying. And before she does, I leap out of my seat and pull her into my lap on the sofa.
“Do you know what else I remember from the day you told me you could give up acting?”
She shifts on my knee and peers up. Two frown lines appear between her brows. “What?”
“That you’d like to try the theater.”
“Oh.” She sighs and settles back into my chest. “Yeah.”
“Well?”
“I was just being flip. I didn’t mean it.”
I get the impression she’s brushing me off, which, unfortunately for her, doesn’t work. Because I become like a dog with a bone.
“Why can’t you mean it? What’s wrong with the theater?”
She sits up, her eyes flashing, “It’shard.Night after night, in front of a live audience.”
It’s such a ridiculous argument that I scoff in her face. “You don’t strike me as the sort of person who’d shy away from something being hard.”
“I’m not, but?—”
“Have you spoken to Marcy about it?”
“I mentioned it to her once, a couple of years ago, but nothing ever came of it. She said movies are better. More money. Theater’s too limited because of audience numbers.”Her hand mindlessly pushes against my palm, twisting them together, staring. “I should look at the offers. They’re probably fine for me.”
Her tone is so unenthused that I almost laugh. I don’t think I’ve ever heard anything more halfhearted.
“Holiday, I might not know the movie industry, but I do know business. And unless you’re prepared to go into something with your whole heart, you have to walk away. Yes, theater is hard, but I bet you a million pounds that being up there and hearing the audience cheering for you every night would be more exhilarating than anything you’ve ever done on a set.”
Her lips mash together, and she stares at me. I can see thoughts flickering as she wonders if I’m onto something. I know this much: if she ever stepped foot on a stage, I’d buy out the front row every fucking night.
“You have a forty-million-dollar contract to sign, and you said it yourself that it’ll give you the financial freedom to choose parts you want, not parts you have to take.”
She nods silently.
