Page 47 of Christmas at the Movies
Going back into the café, Sarah made herself another coffee, then sat down at the table and read the script from beginning to end. When she was done, she re-read it, this time scribbling notes in the margins. She worked feverishly through the night, fuelled by caffeine and adrenaline. Her mind was buzzing with ideas. Yes, the script was flawed. But she knew how to make it better.
At around five in the morning, when the sky was still dark, she heard a snowplough trundling through the village. The noise woke Noa up and he came out of the office. He stretched and Sarah caught a glimpse of his taut, gym-honed stomach.
‘So, what did you think?’ asked Noa, as Sarah made him a coffee.
‘Well, the dialogue is wooden, but that can be fixed. The bigger problem is that the characters feel two-dimensional. To root for them getting back together, we need to understand who they are.’ Sarah’s ideas poured out of her in a rush. ‘Maybe you could show some flashbacks to their previous relationship, so we get a better sense of their emotional conflicts?’
‘OK …’ said Noa.
‘And the ending needs work,’ continued Sarah. ‘It relies too much on coincidence – even for a romcom. But I’ve got some ideas for how you could resolve the story in a more satisfactory way.’
Noa stared at her, frowning.
Uh-oh,thought Sarah. She’d been too honest. She should have tempered her criticism with some praise. After all, what did she know? This guy had an Oscar on his mantelpiece, not her. She’d let the whisky, and the strange situation, go to her head.
‘So when can you get me a new draft?’
‘Excuse me?’
‘I want to hire you to do a rewrite of the script,’ said Noa. ‘I can offer you twenty thousand.’
‘Y-you want me to work on your movie?’ stammered Sarah. She wasn’t sure what surprised her more – the job offer or the figure he’d just named. It was enough to buy a new sound system for the cinema.
‘Yes, but I need it to be done quickly – we start shooting in two weeks.’
‘Give me a minute,’ said Sarah, her head spinning. ‘I need to think.’
She went into the bathroom.
This is crazy. I haven’t written anything for years.There was so much going on at home and at work, and Christmas wasright around the corner. She’d just been telling James that she had too much to do – so why was she even considering it?
Because it was a golden opportunity. The chance of a lifetime.
When Sarah came out of the toilet stall, she stared at her reflection. Her eyes were sparkling and her cheeks were flushed.
Pulling her phone out of her pocket, she fired off a quick text message to Pari.
I just spent the night with Noa Drakos.
Pari replied instantly.WTF?
As a stand-up comedian, her friend had been a nocturnal creature throughout her twenties and thirties. Now she woke up at the crack of dawn to go to gym classes with terrifying names like Bootie Boot Camp and Body Blitz Insanity.
We got snowed in together at the cinema.
Sarah added the snowflake emoji and then the laughing face emoji.
Ask him if he’s happy with his current representation.
Sarah laughed. Pari’s law degree, combined with the skills she’d honed as a stand-up, had made her an incredibly successful agent. She had the hide of a rhinoceros and never stopped negotiating the best deals for her clients.
He asked me to work on a script.
As Sarah typed it, her heart raced with excitement. Her eyes weren’t sparkling just because a handsome film director had been flirting with her all evening. Or because of thewhisky she’d drunk. It was because tonight, for the first time in ages, she was working with words. Doing the thing she loved. A long-dormant part of her was beginning to wake up again. And, oh, how much she had missed it.
Of course he did. You’re the best. You should do it.
That was all the encouragement she needed. Sarah washed her hands and splashed some water on her face. Then she returned to the lobby. She thought about waiting until she’d spoken to James, but how could he possibly object? This job would mean they could replace the sound system, which he would surely be delighted about. It was the answer to their prayers.
