Mr. Hollywood (13 page)

The next few days went surprisingly fast. I helped Grayson practice his lines for a movie he was going to be filming next and I also spent a lot of free time writing my book. Being back with Grayson and being madly in love really helped when it came to writing a love story. The words practically fell on to the page.

On the second day of our forced lockdown Grayson introduced me to a young girl by the name of Kendra, a delightfully sweet brunette who was a little on the shy side.

“This is your personal assistant,” Grayson explained.

“Okay, but why do I need a personal assistant?”

Grayson sighed, seeming annoyed with me that I didn’t get it.

“Because you need someone to coordinate your schedule with mine.”

“How complicated can that be? Can’t I just do it myself?”

He gave me an incredulous look.

This issue wasn’t worth the fight so I just rolled my eyes and gave in. As I did he came up and put his hands around my waist and pulled me in for a kiss.

“Thank you for indulging me.”

I giggled.

“Grayson, I love you more than I ever knew I could love someone. If letting you give me a personal assistant makes you happy then it’s a small price to pay because in the end I get the best part of the deal.”

“Oh yeah? What’s that?”

“I get you, silly.”

I sat down on the couch and looked at my iPad which Kendra had been busy working on. “You see here,” she said as she pointed at the scheduling app. “I’ll keep Grayson’s schedule up to date here so you’ll always know what he has going on and then we can cross reference his schedule with your own.”

“That sounds wonderful. Thanks for your help Kendra.”

She smiled at me like I had just given her a gold star. It was really cute.

“It’s official, my entire life now revolves around a man,” I said to my sister jokingly over a Skype call the day of my big interview.

Even though what I said was technically true, it wasn’t so bad. I liked having our schedules synced. I liked knowing what he was doing every minute of every day and I liked that he cared enough to want to know what I was doing to.

“You love it, admit it,” Andrea replied.

“I do. I absolutely love every minute of it. I never thought I could be so happy.”

“I’m really glad for you Alison. I mean that with all of my heart. You deserve it.”

“So do you Andrea. I’m still so proud that you are getting to live out your dreams in The Hague soon, even if I’ll miss you every single minute of every single day.”

“Hey now, no making me cry. That isn’t why I called.”

“What’s up then? Is everything okay?” I asked.

“I read on the internet about you and Grayson. Apparently he’s kidnapped you and he us currently holding you prisoner in his Malibu mansion.”

I choked back a laugh.

“You don’t believe any of that do you Andrea?”

“Of course not. But I did find it funny. Seriously though sis, you and Gray are good, right?”

“We are wonderful Andrea. I promise. I’ve never been so happy in my life and don’t worry, we are going to do an interview with People magazine later today to clear up all the crazy kidnapping rumors.”

We talked for a few more minutes and then I had to go and get ready for the interview. They were sending out a camera crew to take pictures for their website and then after we would do a traditional sit down interview for their magazine.

In all, the whole thing lasted about four hours. It was exhausting. But finally we were free, we could go out of the house again and be normal. Well as normal as anyone could be who dated a celebrity.

While we waited for story to break on the People.com website Grayson decided we needed a vacation so we packed up and headed off to spend a few days on the yacht of some studio executive.

It turns out it was less of a vacation, and more of a meeting with the producers and director of his next movie project. While they talked business, I hung back and typed away on my laptop. I was close to finishing my book and wanted to get it done.

Before I knew it, the manuscript was finally complete. I couldn’t believe it. It of course was only my first draft and I still had to spend days or even weeks editing it and perhaps even longer with some rewrites and revisions, but still, I completed the first big milestone – I finished the original manuscript.

Kendra offered to read it and help me make some initial grammar edits so I emailed her a copy and then I went to lay out and catch some sun on the deck of the massive boat while Grayson chatted with his friends.

By the time we got back to his house in Malibu, part of the story had been released on the People.com website with the promise of our full interview to appear in the next issue of their magazine due out the next week.

However instead of satisfying the public’s curiosity, it only seemed to peak it. Now instead of twenty cameramen outside of his house there were probably fifty, maybe even more. It was a nightmare. And that meant we had to stay in the house for real, it was no longer just a game to get their attention -- now we had to stay inside to avoid it.

On one hand being held up in Grayson’s house gave me time to work on editing my manuscript while Grayson prepared for his next movie. On the other hand, it gave me time to edit my manuscript – which turns out wasn’t as fun as writing it was. It was a horribly long and daunting task and just when you are sure a chapter is perfect, you find something else wrong with it.

“Have you ever thought about turning your book into a screenplay?” Grayson asked one night, while we were in bed.

“Not even once,” I admitted.

“Might want to consider it. I’ve been reading your manuscript and it reads just like a movie. I think you would be crazy not to at least think about it. My production company buys movie rights for books all the time. What you’ve written is just as good if not better than anything we’ve acquired to date.”

I glared at Grayson. Was he for real?

“What’s that look for Alison? I’m being serious here.”

“Oh no and you aren’t a little biased or anything.”

“Of course I am, but my people aren’t and the few I’ve showed your manuscript to, have agreed with me. In fact, it was Kendra who first brought it to my attention. She thought I should read it. She said the first thing she thought of when she read your work was how great of a movie it would make.”

“I don’t know Grayson. I don’t know how to write a screenplay, it’s different than writing a book.”

“Will you just consider it?”

“Okay. I’ll think about it.”

The next morning it was all I could think of, so I pulled out my laptop and did some research on how to write a screenplay. Turns out I was right, it’s very different than writing a book. A book is all about telling and not showing while a screenplay is all about showing and not telling. In a movie, seeing a character do something is far more powerful than having them talk about it.

I wasn’t sure if it was something I could even do but I decided to give it a try. I spent weeks working on it and comparing it to some of the scripts Grayson had lying around in his office. When I wasn’t sure about something I would ask Grayson for help. He seemed to love it when I came to him for advice.

If nothing else at least working on a screenplay was a nice break from the drudgery of editing my manuscript. Before long though, I knew I had to finish my edits and send it off to try and find an agent.

I decided to commit the next week to doing just that and worked hard to get it finished. Then, just to be sure, I hired an editor I found online to help me fine tune it. I wanted everything to be perfect to maximize my chances of landing a book agent.

I emailed the final copy to Grayson to get his opinion and the next day I got a phone call from Harvey, Grayson’s agent.

“Our agency has a book division so when Grayson sent me a copy of your manuscript I sent it down the pipeline. They flipped over the story and insisted we sign you at once.”

At first I was sure Grayson had put him up to this. I mean there was no way they could have read the whole thing that fast. Could they have? I guess it was possible, but not likely.

“Look, I know I haven’t exactly been your biggest fan Alison, but this is business. Your book is good. Let my people rep you and I’m sure we’ll both make a killing on it.”

“Umm okay. Thanks, I guess.”

What did he really expect me to say to that? I mean on one hand it was great he was offering to represent me and help me get my book published and thought we would make a lot of money doing it, but on the other he admitted he didn’t really like me.

“So we have a deal?” Harvey asked.

“I don’t know. Your company represents Grayson, what if we break up? That would be a huge conflict of interest. Obviously you would have to take his side, he’s a big movie star. But see, I want someone who will be on my side if I am with Grayson or not. I want someone who has my best interest at heart, not just tolerates me because I’m their biggest client’s girlfriend.”

“I assure you, we rep couples all the time and yes they break up. It’s fucking Hollywood, nobody stays together. Your relationship status with Grayson has no bearing on our relationship. Business is business. If we took sides in breakups we wouldn’t ever have any clients. Do you realize how many people date each other and break up in our business? Christ I couldn’t begin to even keep up with all that shit. All I know is, we want to rep you and your book. We are confident we can secure you a publishing deal and option your movie rights.”

It all sounded good but I still wasn’t sure. It was happening so fast.

“Let me talk to Grayson about it when he gets home tonight, and I’ll get back to you tomorrow.”

Harvey agreed and disconnected the call.

I was excited, and decided I couldn’t wait until Grayson got home. So I texted him, asking him to call me when he had a free moment. My phone rang a few seconds later.

“What’s up babe? Everything okay?”

“Yes, great in fact. Harvey called and said you gave him my manuscript and his people loved it. They want to represent me. What do you think?”

“I think that’s great Alison. I’m happy for you. How about we go out to dinner tonight and celebrate?”

“You don’t think it’s weird that we would both be repped by the same agency?”

He chuckled. “Not in the slightest.”