“I’ll have the valet park your car and bring up a few things that you might need for tonight. I have to go to a business meeting. I’m due there in ten minutes.” I escort her to the guest bedroom. “Make yourself comfortable.”
I expect her to say something about sleeping in my room, but she doesn’t, and that makes me feel better. I know this isn’t just a ploy to get with me.
“Do you have anything to eat here?” she asks timidly.
I grab some money out of my wallet and toss it on the coffee table. “There’s a bunch of delivery menus in the drawer next to the fridge. Just give them my name, they should have the address.”
“You eat take out a lot?” she asks.
“Sure. Why?”
“I just figured you went to fancy dinners every night.”
“Hardly,” I say with a chuckle. “I’ll be back soon.”
When I get to the meeting, Keatyn greets me with a hug.
I don’t usually hug her back, but tonight I do.
“What was that for?” she asks.
“Shelby showed up at my place because she got kicked out of her apartment. I’m letting her stay with me until Tyler finds her somewhere to live.”
“Why did she get kicked out?”
“Because she didn’t have the money for rent.”
“Riley, you’re a good judge of character. How are you feeling about this girl?”
“She thought she was going to have to sleep in her car tonight. She didn’t even ask to stay with me, just wanted a safe place to park and wondered if she could park in my garage.”
“That’s sad. So is she sleeping with you tonight?”
“I showed her the guest room and told her to put her stuff in there. She didn’t argue.”
“How’s Tyler coming on the apartment search?”
“Honestly, I have no idea. Dallas and I spent most of the day going over all the details in this contract, then I stayed late to catch up on email.”
“Call him,” she says as a waiter brings her a glass of sparkling water and asks what I would like. I order a bottle of wine for the table then call Tyler.
After getting an update, I tell Keatyn, “He says the only place he’s been able to find is a furnished unit in my building. I’m not sure I want her that close.”
“You could always put her up at a hotel for the month. She’d probably enjoy it.”
“Hmm. That’s a good idea. Then if it is my baby, I’ll buy her something permanent. I’ll text Tyler and tell him to book a bungalow. It will be like a vacation for her.”
“Is she still working?”
“Yeah, but she said she’s been sick a lot.”
“But you said that she works at a nightclub. Has she had morning sickness all day?”
“I don’t know. Do you think she’s lying? She seemed so upset about the apartment. Hell, I don’t know what to do or think.”
“I’d move her into a bungalow first thing in the morning,” Keatyn says.
Dallas slaps me on the back, letting me know that he’s arrived. He has the studio attorney and three other executives with him. Everyone exchanges pleasantries, and we get down to business.
The negotiations go smoothly on most points until the Captive Films name comes up.
“I’m hesitant to part with Captive,” Keatyn says. “We’ve worked hard to develop the brand, and it’s my understanding you are wanting just our assets.”
“The brand is part of what we want to acquire,” an executive for the other side says.
“And what about The Keatyn Chronicles trilogy? It’s not addressed in the contract. When you put this deal together, the movie hadn’t released yet. So we either pull it from the deal, or you adjust the value accordingly.”
“Oh, I don’t know about that,” the attorney starts to say.
Keatyn looks the CEO straight in the eye. “Donny, you know what the box office numbers have been. And I know you know that industry experts are predicting the video and on-demand sales will be some of the best in movie history.”
By the time we finally come to an agreement, it’s close to midnight.
“That was grueling,” Keatyn states, echoing my thoughts.
“I thought it was exhilarating,” Dallas counters. “And it went amazingly well. We got almost everything we wanted. I think their CEO was starstruck. When you whipped out your smile on him, I thought he might pass out.”
Keatyn laughs. “Don’t be silly. I’m still on the fence about the name, though. I don’t think I can give it up.”
“I thought you wanted to move on?”
“I do. I didn’t think I’d be able to sell the rights to the trilogy, but what they offered was crazy high. We can’t refuse that. And it’s not like I can’t watch it if I’m feeling nostalgic, right?”
“Plus, you’re living your own fairytale, isn’t that what you always say?” Dallas encourages.
She turns to me. “Riley, what do you think about the name?”
“I’m okay with it going. We’ll come up with something new. Dallas has some good ideas.”
“But Brooklyn named it,” she says, tears gathering in her eyes.