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Twenty-Seven
“Ms. Bauers,right this way please. The team is waiting in the private conferenceroom.”
Maddie grabbed Bree’s hand to steady her shaky knees as they followed the receptionist to the conference room at Three Spot Films. She still couldn’t believe that Bree had gotten her a meeting with potential investors only two weeks after her return from Colorado. It had to be a record in the moviebiz.
The receptionist, a petite Asian woman, led them toward a small room with glass walls. Inside, Maddie could make out three men and a woman sitting around a table. Two of them had their backs to her. Something about the scene triggered a feeling of familiarity, but before she could analyze it further, Bree put a hand on her shoulder.
“Maddie, hang on asec.”
“Take your time,” the receptionist said, stepping aside so they could talk privately.
Maddie took a deep breath, preparing herself for the pep talk she was certain Bree was about to giveher.
Instead, Bree turned Maddie so she was no longer facing the conference room and took both her friend’s hands in her own. “Um, don’t be mad, okay?”
“About...?”
Normally confident and self-assured, Bree seemed flustered. “See, here’s the thing. I have names of people that Beaumont works with, of course I do, but none of them care what I have to say about an unknown filmmaker. And, Maddie, the people Beaumont works with are the ones who’ve heard shit about you from him. They don’t want to work with you. I could shop your movie all day long for the rest of my life and still not get a single meeting. Producers need a name attached, someone who is in the biz who’s willing to go to bat foryou.”
Maddie’s stomach dropped. “What did youdo?”
“He contacted me, Maddie.”
Maddie pulled away and looked back over her shoulder, not wanting to confirm her suspicion, but needing to all the same. Yes, the familiar feeling about the people in the conference room—one of them was Micah. She felt faint.
She hadn’t talked to Micah since the airport. He had called at least once a day even though she never answered. His text messages were more frequent, but those she deleted right away without fully reading. Because if she didn’t, who knew what she’d read intothem?
Nights were the hardest. Her queen size bed felt large and cold. She’d toss and turn for hours. Finally, she’d pull out her laptop and Google his name, reading every article ever written about him, watching every YouTube interview. She always ended up staring at the photos of him and her together. Then she’d cry and eventually fall asleep.
She so wasn’t over him yet. There was no way she could see him now. All he had to do was smile at her and she’d be putty in his hands. “I’m not going in there.”
Bree gripped Maddie’s arms at the shoulders. “Yes, you are. This is your dream. Don’t be stupid about it.” Here was the pep talk. Just not the one Maddie had expected. “It’s good business, Maddie. He recognizes your talent and he’s been looking for a project to invest in. And it’s not just him. Three Spots wouldn’t be on board if they didn’t think it was good. Take the meeting. Decidethen.”
“I can’t work with him. I can’t see him all thetime.”
“They’re just investors. You can demand complete creative control. If you don’t want to see him, then kick him off the team. Take the meeting.”
Her career, her dreams. Micah had said that every day was a choice—career or not career. If she didn’t go in that room, she might never have the chance to choose career again. If he could be so single minded, so could she. She took a deep breath. “Okay.”
“Good. Now go get ‘em.”
Maddie shook her arms out, took another deep breath, and nodded at the receptionist.
“Right this way,” the receptionist said, taking them the rest of the way to the conference room. She opened the door and announced them. “Ms. Bauers and Ms. Weber.”
One of them, a tall gentleman with salt-and-pepper hair dressed in a light gray suit, stood and crossed to her, extending his hand to Maddie. “Hi, Ms. Bauers, I’m Richard Thurgood. It’s a pleasure to meetyou.”
She shook his hand. “Maddie, please. This is my, uh, associate, Bree ”
Richard shook Bree’s hand, then gestured to the other man, a younger version of himself. “This is my brother and partner Lance, and the third spot in the Three Spots is our good friend KelseyGrey.”
Maddie shook hands with Lance and Kelsey.
Then she faced Micah. God, oh God, he was hotter than she wanted to remember. He still hadn’t shaved his scruff, but it was trimmed and more groomed than he had worn it for the film. His eyes were bluer and deeper, was it possible? And his lips, curved down slightly, taunted her with memories of sweet kisses. Just being near him made her heart pound faster and her eyes misty.
“Of course you already know Micah,” Richardsaid.
Micah took her hand in greeting. The familiar electric spark from his contact surged through Maddie’s body, and her knees buckled. Thankfully she had her other hand on the back of a chair so that he wouldn’t notice, though something in his expression said he knew anyway.
