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He backed out the doors to where he’d seen a discreet schedule on the wall.
3 PM–6 PM: Edge meetings
He checked his watch. 3:07. Daphne read the schedule, checked her own watch, and then they went back inside.
“Is that more food?” she said. “I’m still stuffed from the spread in the car.”
It was indeed more food. A small buffet stretched along the wall.
“Isn’t this LA?” she whispered. “I thought no one here ate.”
He walked over to look down at the spread. “It’s a little-known LA secret that charcuterie boards have no calories. At least not if they’re made up of meats and cheeses people like us don’t even recognize.”
“Good to know. Better hope the studio folks are hungry.”
They grazed a bit at the table, mostly picking and talking as they waited. When ten minutes passed—and it was now 3:17—Daphne declared their three o’clock meeting canceled.
“It was a last-minute thing,” she said. “That’s fine.”
“It is. Remember that two more couldn’t make it on such short notice, but they’re still interested. It’s not this or nothing, even if you do decide you want to option it. What time’s the second meeting?”
She checked Zane’s email. “3:45.”
“Let’s get comfy then.”
DAPHNE
At 3:30, the door swung open and a middle-aged man strode in, followed by a quartet of sleekly dressed twentysomethings.
Chris rose and extended a hand. “Mr.—”
“Zimmerman,” he said.
Chris shot her a quizzical look, and she discreetly shook her head. This was not their second appointment. It was their first.
“Damn traffic,” Zimmerman said as he shook Chris’s hand. “Typical LA, huh?”
Chris gave his Zane laugh. “Indeed.”
One would think a resident would know that and prepare for it.
“Can I just say how much I love your book.” Zimmerman kept pumping Chris’s hand. “Absolutely riveting. My assistant”—a vague nod that incorporated all four young people—“gave it to me the other day, and I could not put it down.”
“That’s very kind.”
“Not kind at all. Truth. Genius, my boy. Absolute genius. The plotting, the characters. Especially the characters. Theo? She’s wonderful. Just wonderful. So clever and resourceful.” He turned to the quartet. “Isn’t she great?”
Agreement all around.
“We loved the book. Absolutely loved it. Everyone said, ‘We must have this book.’”
More noises of agreement. Zimmerman took a seat at the table, and his assistants flanked him in pairs. Chris sat with Daphne beside him.
“And this is my—” Chris began, gesturing at Daphne.
“Lovely to meet you, dear. Now”—his gaze locked on Chris’s—“let’s talk adaptation. I like to rip the bandage off right away with the question every writer wants answered. What would we change?”
Chris nodded. “I understand changes will be required. Screen is a new medium, which naturally requires alterations.”
