Page 2 of Lost Memories (Secrets of Mackinac Island 1)

“Great to meet you, too,” Elise said brightly. She and Courtney sat across from him. He tapped his fingers across the manuscript and kind of jumped toward the edge of his chair.

“Thanks for coming all the way down here,” Rex said. His eyes seemed weirdly hollow.

“Thanks for taking a look at the script,” Elise heard herself say. “I guess you probably hear this a lot, but I’ve worked on the thing for about four years of my life. It means a lot that you’ve taken an interest in it.”

“Right. Four years is really nothing, you know,” Rex suddenly replied.

Elise’s heart dipped lower in her chest. “I’m sorry?”

“I’m just saying that we have loads of screenwriters that have been working on scripts for ten years, sometimes fifteen—and they still don’t have success with them. It’s the industry!”

“Oh, I know. My mom was in the industry, too,” Elise said. “An actress.”

“Oh? Do I know her?”

“I guess probably not. She had some light success in the ‘80s, but after that...”

“Again. It’s the game,” Rex said. “But I guess I don’t need to describe that to you.”

Elise flared her nostrils. Why did he feel like he had to mansplain all this to her? She detested this guy. Still, he had her future in his perfectly manicured hands.

“Thing of it is, Elsie—”

“Sorry, it’s Elise,” Elise said brightly.

“Right. Elise. The thing is, we really thought, till about last night, that this script would work for us. We had a director lined up and everything. We talked about bringing in Jennifer Lawrence...”

“Isn’t she still like, twenty-something?” Elise asked.

“She could definitely do late thirties now, I think. But hey, it’s Hollywood. I don’t make the rules.”

Elise didn’t bother to respond. Dread permeated through every bit of her. Why had he dragged her all the way downtown for this?

“In any case, we just discovered that our schedule won’t allow for this, at least not this year,” Rex continued. “We would still like to make an offer so that we own the rights, just in case we find time for it over the next five or so years. Happens all the time.”

In the wake of her last-sold screenplay, Elise had worked as a TV writer and script editor for a number of years. She knew everything there was to know about the scriptwriting game. She knew this “happened all the time,” for goodness sake.

“That’s all right,” she said suddenly. “I don’t think I’d like to sell.”

Courtney gave her a hard-edged look. “I think that’s something we should discuss privately.”

But Elise was angry. She wasn’t willing to let this kid insult her and give her a “little piece of the pie” in exchange for full rights to her screenplay. That wouldn’t feel like any sort of “rebirth” into the industry.

She owed it to her characters, to herself, to her ideas—to refuse.

“I think our meeting is over,” Elise said. She forced a bright smile. “Thank you again for taking the time.”

Rex seemed puzzled by her response. “It’s quite all right! I mean, like I said, lots of people work for years and years on their screenplays. I read one of your earlier scripts from, what, twelve years ago? Absolutely fantastic. That was turned into a TV show, wasn’t it?”

“Yes, it was.” Elise glared at him. What was he trying to say? That she’d lost her touch? That TV show had given her the money to put her kids through private school. She had sent them each to film camp. It had lasted even while Sean had gone back to school for his graduate degree.

“More of that, then. Maybe reread your old stuff to get a sense of what worked,” Rex affirmed with a quick nod.

It was obvious he thought he was being helpful.

Elise snapped up from her chair, drew her hand across the table, and shook Rex’s rather cold one. “It’s been a pleasure.”

“Hope to see you soon, Elise! You’ve got real talent. And let me know if you change your mind about selling me the rights. It could be a good investment for both of us.”

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