Total pages in book: 9
Estimated words: 8327 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 42(@200wpm)___ 33(@250wpm)___ 28(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 8327 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 42(@200wpm)___ 33(@250wpm)___ 28(@300wpm)
“Coming right up folks.” Rita said.
“Thanks,” we reply, in unison.
“My after-filming diet began an hour ago,” I tell him.
“What does that mean?”
“I pig out for a week, then its back to the gym and grilled chicken.”
Rita returns with a Dr. Pepper, orange juice, two coffee cups, a carafe of coffee and a bowl of creamer.
“Thanks,” I say, attacking the Dr. Pepper first.
“Are you ready to order?”
“Yes. I will have a bacon cheeseburger with fries. Extra fries. Lots of fries,” I say, giggling.
“And I will have the same, but just the normal amount of fries. Thanks.”
“No problem.” Rita moves away from the table.
“Don’t judge me, Darren Sinjin. I’ve earned a cheat week. I had to look good naked, on camera.”
“I remember and you looked amazing. I have no doubt you always will no matter what size you are.”
“That’s sweet, but that doesn’t really work in Hollywood if I want to stay relevant.”
“And do you want to stay relevant?”
“Yes. This is my dream job. My destiny. Despite being a Dexter, I have worked hard to get here and I don’t plan on giving it up.”
“Me either. We’re storytellers, babe.”
“Yeah. Storytellers.”
Our food finally arrives. We dig in. It was delicious. He was staring me more than he was eating. I dig around in my giant purse and pull my sharpie out, handing it to him. I watch as he signs it a napkin for Bianca. He slid the napkin to me to sign. I look up at him.
“Same napkin? This will get the Twitter verse all sorts of riled up.” We laugh at the thought of that. I sign my name with a flourish under his. I even add a heart near the bottom of the a in Jenna.
At the register, he hands his card over to Bianca along with the napkin.
“So are you guys like together?” Bianca asks.
“Yes,” we reply, again in unison.
“Can I get a picture with you guys for my Instagram?” she asks.
“Sure,” he says as I say “Of Course.”
“Thanks,” she says, standing in front of us and snapping the picture.
We barely make it out the door before both our phones pinged with the Instagram tag.
Gotta love LA.
I love this man, and I’m ready for the world to know it. Three in the morning in a dinner in the valley seems like the best place for that announcement.
We walk hand in hand back to his house and get some sleep.
I can’t wait to see what the future brings us.
FIVE
DARREN
Four Months Later
The press junket is grueling, they usually are, but this is worse than normal. The London premier was last week, but this is the LA premiere. The new PR girl, Ariana, is balls to the wall trying to make this movie a success… the thing is, it’s working. The buzz she’s managed to generate is right up there with the best movies ever made.
Jenna and I sit across from a reporter from a nationally syndicated morning news show. She touches her earpiece and nods into the camera. This one is live.
“Thanks, Rob. Leeza Rothschild, reporting live from Hollywood. Thanks for being on the Morning Jive. So, Kept the Keeper premieres tonight. Rumors from the set have reached me. What can you tell me about your off-screen romance?” Leeza asks in her usual bubbly voice.
We were prepared for this but were surprised when none of the English reporters mentioned it at all. We thought they’d be all over us with that waitress’s Instagram post from months ago, but they let us be.
“We are getting married next month,” I say, grabbing her hand.
“So soon?”
“We fell in love,” Jenna says, smiling.
“That’s great. Congratulations. What can you tell me about the movie? There is a certain scene from the book that everyone is talking about. Did it make it into the movie?”
“I think I know what you’re talking about, Lisa, and I confirm that it definitely is in there.”
“Oh, my. The fans will love that.”
“We hope so,” I chime in.
We move from one interview to the next until finally, it’s time to actually watch the movie. When it is all over, people are actually crying, as it’s a really poignant love story, but there was a lot of wondering if Arabella and Captain Hanson would actually be together in the end. They did. Of course, they did.
After the viewing, Mallory Greer, the author comes up to us, hugging Jenna.
“My God. That was just amazing. Exactly how I pictured it when I wrote the book,” she says.
“Thank you,” Jenna says and then they are off talking about a pirate book she just got greenlit into a movie while Mallory’s husband, Malachi, and I make awkward small talk. Apparently, Captain Hanson was based off of him, just in a Regency setting. The man is intimidating.
After the premiere, we head home. Jenna’s been living with me since the day we got back from filming the movie.