Page 78 of So in Love
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“Damn it.”Crystal slammed her head back against the seat of the car as traffic ground to a complete halt.Her plane had been late, and now they were in the height of rush hour.After snaking their way through Portland, they were now heading west, creeping along from one suburban town to the next.Finally, they’d broken into vineyards and farmland, but now they were stopped again.
“Sorry,” the driver said, flicking a glance toward the backseat from behind the wheel.“This is usually bad on Fridays, but the rain is making it even worse.”
Stupid small towns and stupid rain.She wanted to get to the exhibit reception.She wanted to congratulate Kelsey and celebrate with her friends.
She wanted to see Jamie.
Anticipation spun through her, made more frustrating by the fact that she was stuck in this mess.Her phone vibrated in her lap.She looked down and saw Kim’s number.
Picking it up, she slid her thumb across the screen.“Hey, Kim.”
“Crystal!Are you sitting down?”
“Yes, actually.I’ve been in a car for going on two and a half hours.”
“Oh, that sucks.But I’m about to improve your mood.”
Crystal heard the excitement in her voice and couldn’t help but feel a burst of excitement herself—tinged with anxiety.She’d just given Kim the script treatment yesterday morning.“You don’t have news on the script already, do you?”
“As a matter of fact, I do.”
Shit.Crystal’s stomach dropped into her feet.But wait, Kim sounded really happy.“So this is good news?”
“That might be understating things a bit.”She chuckled.“I sent it to the top tier—who we discussed.”A-list directors and production companies.“Three of them have already called back with interest.”
Crystal’s jaw dropped.“Holy shit.Three?”
“Yep, and there could be more.I think the buzz is out there, and people are rushing to read it.”
“But—but this is just a little story about a woman who went west and…bad things happened.”
“It’s a great vehicle for a woman—multiple women actually—and you know how few of those there are.I’m surprised Alaina isn’t itching to play this part, to be honest with you.”
Crystal processed that for a moment and realized she was surprised too.If this had happened a few years ago—before Alaina had met Evan and had Alexa—Crystal was confident she’d be all over this.And Crystal had to admit she’d be fantastic.She suddenly felt bad for not working more closely with her—for not giving her the treatment first.
Stop it—you don’t owe Alaina anything.
Didn’t she?
No.And Alaina doesn’t expect anything from you.
Crystal wasn’t entirely convinced.Nevertheless, she shoved the thoughts aside.“So what happens next?”
“We see who coughs up the most money and you decide.Or maybe money isn’t the most important thing there—sorry, for most people it is.”
Money wasn’t her driving factor.She had plenty of it.“I guess I’d like to see everything they’re offering.I’d like to have a producer credit.”
“Of course,” Kim said.“I pitched that as nonnegotiable.”
“And no one balked?”
“Nope.You have a great reputation, you know.”
She’d thought so, but that was as an assistant.This was new territory.Yes, she had one producer credit on a small film Alaina and Sean had produced last year, but this was different.This was someone who wasn’t a life-long friend taking a chance on her.Her throat started to constrict.She coughed.
“You okay?”Kim asked.
