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“Just two more to go?” Jihae yawned behind her hand to hide her sudden flush. “Thank goodness.”
“You’re pushing yourself too hard,” June said, eyeing her with concern. “Even for you.”
“I know. I know.” She rolled her eyes then affectionately bumped shoulders with her friend. “It’s just that I’ve been dreaming of this for so long, and we’re finally here in the States, living it. It’s hard not to be excited.”
“Sure. Fine. Be excited. Just slow down a little. You could still be excited working eight to nine hours a day instead of eleven to twelve.”
“Maybe you’re right.” Jihae noticed for the first time that June had dark circles under her eyes that even her flawless makeup couldn’t hide. “Oh, my goodness. You’ve been working those hours with me all this time. How thoughtless of me. I’m so sorry, friend.”
“Don’t worry about it. You weren’t asking me to do anything you weren’t doing yourself. I say that’s fair.”
“Let’s cut back to a sane eight hours a day once the interviews are finished.”
“Promise?” June stuck out her pinkie, and Jihae shook it with hers.
With their coffee break over, they went back to work like proper workaholics. Her team had sifted through stacks of proposals and narrowed it down to ten production companies to interview. A few were lackluster and some were promising, and now Jihae was down to her last two interviews.
Her earlier glimpse of him on TV had given her mixed feelings about Colin Song, but she wasn’t about to judge him based on a snippet of entertainment news. She would do her utmost to be completely fair. Maybe he wouldn’t be as handsome in person. Yes. He was probably just very photogenic and looked like any other man in real life.
Her phone rang and brought her wayward thoughts to a halt.
“Yup.”
“Mr. Colin Song is here to see you,” June said.
“Thanks. Please send him in.”
“He’s level-ten yummy,” her friend whispered almost inaudibly.
“Stop that,” she said, fighting a laugh.
Jihae hurriedly replaced the receiver in its cradle and wiped the goofy grin off her face. She walked around her desk with her professional half smile on, ready to greet her guest when he came in.
Her office door opened and all the oxygen was sucked out of the room. Colin Song in the flesh. The video clip hadn’t done him justice. He took long strides into the office and stood in front of her before she could get a proper breath in. He wore a sharp suit in a perfect shade of gray with a white dress shirt that showed off his athletic physique. His shoulders were so broad, she wondered if he had all his suits custom-made. She should’ve said hello about three seconds ago, but he was so beautiful she forgot how to speak.
Oddly, he, too, stood transfixed in front of her, his mouth slightly agape. Oh, bloody hell. She must seem completely bonkers staring at him like a goldfish of little brain. She shook herself out of whatever spell held her hostage and extended her hand.
“Mr. Song, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”
His big, warm hand enveloped hers, making her mind go stark white. Then her knees turned to gelatin when he said in a smooth, deep voice, “The pleasure’s all mine.”
“I’m Jihae Park. I work here,” she offered helpfully. God. When he uttered the word pleasure, it sounded like it was dipped in copious amounts of butter. So decadent.
“Yes,” he said with laughter twinkling in his eyes. “I’m well aware of that.”
“Well...yes.” Jihae gave herself a mental forehead slap, and forced herself to focus on business. It was her comfort zone. She had to stop acting so weird. “Please have a seat.”
“Thank you.”
He folded his long form onto a sofa, and watched her with quiet eyes as Jihae picked a seat across from him. The coffee table between them created a much-needed barrier for her brain to function somewhat normally.
“I was impressed by CS Productions’s proposal. It was articulate, and it got straight to the point without flowery, superfluous posturing. I appreciated that. And I quite enjoyed reading Best Placed Bets. It was endearingly funny, romantic and heartfelt,” she said, relieved that she sounded sufficiently professional. “But I want to hear more about your vision for the story.”
“Everything aside, I want this film to be a funny, uplifting rom-com that makes the audience giddy—the kind of movie where everyone walking out of the theater has a spring in their step,” he began with a smile that exponentially increased his attractiveness. “I’m also excited about the Korean-American main characters, and the cultural elements they bring to the story. I believe the Asian-American audience will be able to relate to the quirks and humor in those scenes.”
Before Jihae could respond, her cell phone trilled from her desk. She shot up from her perch and hurried to turn off her phone. When she reclaimed her seat, her cheeks were burning. “I’m so sorry for the interruption. I must’ve forgotten to put my cell on silent.”
“It’s not a problem. We’ve all done that.”
