Today's Reading
"What do you think? Are the pails too much?"
"No, it's great. You're so creative." Chloe's eyes sharpened on the cover of a historical and she reached for the novel. "This looks good. I love the muted colors."
"It's set in Chicago in the 1920s. The protagonist is a chocoholic who opens a gourmet chocolate shop."
"Relatable." Chloe tucked it under her arm, and they turned for the register. "I should get home and change for work." She and Sean ran Docksiders Bar and Grille with their mom, who owned the place.
When Meghan was ringing her up, a call buzzed in on Chloe's phone. It was the executive producer of Chloe's movie. Her veins instantly flooded with adrenaline. "It's Simone Jackson."
"Movie news! Answer it."
Heart pulsing in her throat, Chloe swiped the screen and greeted the woman.
"Hello, Chloe," Simone replied. "How are you, dear?"
"Great. I'm doing well. How's everything for you?"
Meghan jabbed at her palm, mouthing, Speakerphone.
Chloe acquiesced and Simone's smoky voice filled the bookshop. "I have some excellent news for you, and I couldn't wait to call you."
Meghan silently clapped her hands.
"Well, I can't wait to hear it. You sound so excited."
"You will be too. You know we've been working on casting the past couple months. What would you say if I told you that Ledger will be played by none other than....Liam Hamilton!"
Chloe's gaze met Meghan's widened eyes. Liam Hamilton was huge. But he was also the biggest Hollywood player the town had ever seen. He'd risen to fame several years ago with a role in Chloe's favorite rom-com, playing the man who'd cheated on his fiancée with her maid of honor. A part he'd played quite convincingly!
In real life he was just as unfaithful and irreverent. He was a womanizer. If he wasn't the devil, he was certainly the anti-Ledger!
Simone chuckled. "I can see I've shocked you speechless."
Chloe paced off some of the energy zipping through her like an electric current. She had to speak up. For Ledger, for all his fans, for the good of the movie. Simone had taken some of her feedback on the script. Minor stuff, maybe. But Chloe was the author of the book! She'd created Ledger Ford. Surely she should have a say in who played the character some fans (and Publishers Weekly) had called the best book boyfriend of all time.
Chloe stopped in front of Meghan. Say something! she mouthed. "Chloe?" Simone said.
"Um, yes, I'm here. And I am quite surprised. It's just...." The words bubbled up inside and boiled over. "I honestly can't think of a man less qualified to play Ledger Ford. Ledger is heroic in every sense of the word. He's larger than life. He exhibits all the qualities that every woman yearns for in a partner. And Liam Hamilton is—"
"Um, Chloe...."
"He's just not any of those things, and even though I've only seen him in one movie, his reputation—"
"Liam is—"
"—certainly precedes him, and surely actors carry those qualities onto the set. I just don't think he's—"
"—right here."
"—appropriate for the part. I'm sorry, what did you say?"
"Liam. He's, ah, right here with me, dear. Right now. Listening."
"Hello, Chloe," a deep voice called, sounding somewhat strained.
Chloe's gaze darted to Meghan, whose brown eyes were so wide in her delicate face it would've been comical. Except that it wasn't.
...
