Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 82940 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 415(@200wpm)___ 332(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82940 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 415(@200wpm)___ 332(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
Sincerely,
Jay
Erin stood there in the middle of the busy office, too stunned to move. He’d done it. He’d actually done it. Better even than a sincere apology on bended knee, his agreeing to make a romantic comedy showed that he got it. That he got her. She wasn’t sure how long it took to make a movie, but that was a lot of grovelling he was prepared to do. For her.
Her anger drained away. In fact, she was more than a little bit charmed. She read the note again and appreciated how he wasn’t too proud to actually say sorry. That was a hard word for anyone to get out, but he had let his guard down and had apologized to her in the most genuine way he knew how. It was so much better than flowers. She also couldn’t help but be impressed that he knew her well enough now that he’d guessed she would give any flowers away.
At last, he’d scored another point on her internal emotional scoreboard, which was good, because after Saturday night, she’d been tempted to take away all of his points forever.
Chapter Twenty-One
Erin had to wait a whole tantalizing afternoon before she could go home and read the pile of scripts. She began the first one over dinner, then moved to her favorite armchair.
She started out full of anticipation, but by the end of the evening, she was horrified. This was what people thought was romantic comedy these days? The scripts sucked. She was going to message Jay, or maybe just email him—she didn’t want to seem too eager. But then she decided that the personal and yet formally couriered note had a certain distance to it that she liked. She didn’t want Jay to think she’d completely forgiven his appalling behavior. Still, he’d managed to get her interested enough to want to respond.
She went to her desk and retrieved some of beautiful stationery her mom had given her one Christmas, but which she hadn’t yet had the opportunity to use. The paper was cream, with a small posy of pink wildflowers at the top. Perfect, Erin thought, for correspondence about romantic comedies. She sat for a good while, chewing on the lid of her pen, before she finally committed ink to paper.
Dear Mr. Malone,
Thank you for your correspondence and the attached screenplays. I have to say that each one was more trite, lackluster, and disappointing than the last. I cannot recommend that any of these be made. Only someone who has no idea of romance would think these could be made into decent romantic comedies.
Sincerely,
Erin Davenport (Ms.)
She grinned when she finished. It struck exactly the right note.
Taking Buzzy along for the ride, she hopped in the car and drove to Jay’s place. She was about to get out when she saw him leaving, Nelson in tow, heading toward the beach for an evening walk. Note in hand, she scampered up the path and placed the stack of scripts in front of his front door. Before she headed home, she couldn’t help but watch Jay and Nelson for a few minutes as they ran and played on the beach. Those two had definitely bonded, and so quickly.
For just a moment, she was tempted to join them, but then she decided against it. Even if it seemed as though his heart was back in the right place, she was still pretty mad at him. He had not nearly finished groveling.
She drove home, full of gleeful anticipation at Jay’s reaction and wondering whether she’d receive another note tomorrow, and finally got a good night’s sleep.
* * *
Jay had wondered all day if he’d hear back from Erin about those screenplays. He’d kept checking his phone and was bitterly disappointed not to have received a message. She must still be angry with him, grand gesture or no, and frankly, he couldn’t blame her. He’d acted a complete fool.
At least he had Nelson, who was always happy to see him, happier still when he took him to the beach and he could play with the other dogs, as he was now. Jay had begun to look forward to these evening walks across the white sand as the best part of his day. He smiled and threw the ball again and again. Nelson seemed to have boundless energy. If only he could have some of that pure puppy contentment. But his heart was heavy and every time he thought about Erin, his stomach lurched with shame at the way he’d behaved.
Finally tuckered out, Nelson followed him back to the house, where Jay found the stack of screenplays on the ground outside his front door. Was this her way of telling him to get lost? And then he saw the note.
As he read it, he began to smile. Okay, she hated them all—frankly, so had he. But at least she was talking to him, and if he wasn’t mistaken, she was also being a little playful. The relief that coursed through him was like one of those huge waves he’d seen her ride the evening he’d gone to her with a warm towel and made her hot chocolate. He took this as a good sign, and decided there and then to write to his assistant and ask for more scripts.