Page 118 of Seeking Stars
"Ready to talk?"
"Yes. There are a few things we could use chatting about."
"I'll start. I want to know how the hell you ended up in that meeting with Coulton and Diana."
"First off, I want you to know, I had already planned to come as soon as possible. A few hours after we talked on Thursday, I decided I couldn't risk our relationship because of everyone else's opinions. Trying to cope alone made no sense. I tried to change my flight but failed so I did the live stream— well, you saw that."
"It gave me hope, but I didn't realize you had already decided."
"I was trying to figure out how to do a romantic gesture. I wanted to show you how committed I am."
He squeezed her tight, his hands on her belly. "I didn't need more than your words and your presence next to me, but you declaring your love for me in front of our agents did quite well."
"That was not planned."
"It worked. You were so certain; no hesitation. Like you didn't care about the nonsense anymore and were willing to tell them to stuff it."
"Maybe Ely was right, then. Being spontaneous— ad libbing, she called it— works best for this kind of thing."
He grinned. "Have I told you how much I like Ely?"
"I like her too. She's probably at my place now, making sure things are okay there. I had to leave so quickly this morning to make it in time that I had to basically abandon everything. I think I forgot a couple of things so I may need to go shopping soon, but I'll figure it out. I'm here now and that's what matters. In a way, Coulton and Diana did me a favor by calling me in for that meeting."
A bird called from somewhere, disrupting the quiet sounds of the lapping water in the pool.
He sighed. "So what do we do now?"
"Are you really going to fire Coulton?"
"Probably. How can I trust him? He staged an intervention and tried to use you to get what he wanted."
"He'll blame me for it. It was the whole point of having me there; they thought I was telling you to stop listening to Coulton. That if I said something about your career you'd listen."
She put her hands on top of his, running her nails against his fingers.
"I mean, I would." Liam's words caressed her ear. "Of course I'd listen to your opinion. But not in the way he expected. If we're a couple, I would want to think about our careers in terms of how we plan our lives together. Wouldn't you?"
"I would, of course. Our careers will have an impact on how we live our lives, so, yeah."
"I think we need to talk through some things, here." He took a hand away to reach for his drink. Ana did the same. The evening remained warm, but a gentle sea breeze danced around them.
"What do you mean?"
"I think you're right, Coulton is going to blame you. Did they really threaten to fire you?"
"Yes. I guess I need to figure out now what to do about that."
"Your contract with Diana was for representation and management, right? My contract for the documentary was with your own production company."
"Yes. The documentary is a deal between you and me, facilitated by Coulton and Diana as our representatives."
"Perfect. That means you can continue with that project as usual. It's yours."
"Yes, which is an enormous relief. I basically have to go back to what I was doing before. Distribution is going to be difficult again, as my reach got cut back to what it was six months ago. At least your involvement will likely open a few doors."
"Okay. That works."
"How?" she asked, frowning, turning on the chair to gaze at him. Close like this, she could see each thick lash around his eyes, and even the furrows within his impossibly green irises.
