“How long do you expect to be away with the crew?”
One of his eyebrows raised when he heard her request.
“I’m guessing around two or three months, maybe?”
Clarissa considered this a conservative estimate.
If progress was slow, the shooting could very well stretch up to half a year.
Naturally, she would neglect to mention that, as she reckoned that that may not sit well with Matthew.
To him though, these two or three months were sufficiently long enough.
He would have much preferred for this woman to be constantly by his side. Better still, every single day.
Of course, Clarissa had to reiterate certain facts.
“I won’t always have to be on set as I’m just a screenwriter… haha.”
“If you don’t have to always be on set, then there shouldn’t be any reason for you to go along. You could always pop in to have a look once in a while.”
Clarissa was stumped at his response since his reasoning was hard to argue against.
That did not stop her from trying, though. “Every piece of work is like my own babies, so I definitely want for them to become the best that they can be. I actually would love to be on set when I was working for a show, but it didn’t make sense then as they were not receptive to my input. It’s different this time with Director Yates at the helm. Not only would I be able to do so, but I could also maybe learn a few things here and there. Why wouldn’t I want to make the best of this opportunity?”
She then wrapped her hands coquettishly around his arms. “As my boyfriend, I’m sure you’d want to support my career. Surely you don’t want a woman who only lazes around at home all the time, waiting for you to warm her bed?”
It was clear from her expression that she was not going to take no for an answer.
Matthew curled his lips when he leaned back. His eyes gleamed as he regarded her ambiguously.
“First things first, Clare. Your babies are mine as well, so I’ve no doubt they would be the very best that they could be.”
That was certainly not what she had in mind.
His words left her red to the ears.
“Why are you even talking about babies?”
Matthew’s voice raised his voice slightly. “Huh? I’m pretty sure you’re the one who broached the subject?”
Clarissa’s brows furrowed as she offered up a retort, “I wasn’t even talking about that sort of babies.”
“Aren’t all babies babies in themselves?”
“Y-you… y-you… ugh!”
The more flustered she got, the more she stuttered. As she knew she would not be his match in a contest of rhetoric, she decidedly changed the subject.
“What other questions do you have? Get to the point…”
Matthew chuckled in glee and found her defeated look to be rather adorable.
“Secondly, I’m definitely in support of your career but don’t you think work and family should be of equal importance? You can’t possibly neglect me just because of work commitments.”
“I know that, which was why I’ve said that I’d be back. It’s not as though I’ll always be out and about. I’ll be around so often during my off periods till you get sick of seeing me.”
Matthew was all smiles when he beheld her face. He then leaned in for a peck upon her lip. “And thirdly…”
“What is it?”
“I’d rather wish that you would stay home and wait for me to warm your bed, Clare. You haven’t given me a proper chance to do that to date!”
The woman’s exasperation rendered her speechless.
She repelled him and then began to castigate, “You know that wasn’t what I meant, so why do you insisting on twisting my words? Could we be a little more serious here?”
“I’m seriously going to keep harping on it since you won’t let me.”
Matthew spoke as though he felt completely justified. “So Clare, when do you think we are going to…”
“Going to do what? That, you’d have to ask Grandma.”
Hmph. To no one’s surprise, she defaulted to using her grandmother as an excuse again.
This time, however, Matthew was not cowed. “Great. So when do we meet her?”
“What… Are you serious?”
“Why wouldn’t I be? I’m sure Grandma would be delighted to have me.”
“Don’t flatter yourself!”
The corners of Clarissa’s lips twitched as she got sucked back into Matthew’s embrace. He spoke in a low voice as he leaned into her ear, “When, Clare?”
That might well be the precursor toward meeting her parents.
In Clarissa’s opinion, it was still early days.
Although her grandmother had expressed a desire to meet this handsome chap of hers countless times during their video calls, she herself was not ready for it.
“There’s no hurry. Grandma said it could wait until things have firmed up.”
“You mean it hasn’t?”
Clarissa spat out her tongue wryly at him. “Nope.”
Whether or not it was, had always been up to her discretion.
The man’s eyes darkened, and his inflection dipped a notch as he propped up her chin.
“Perhaps I should take you, you know – just to seal the deal.”
“No… Ah. Mmph…”
Clarissa struggled in vain like a hunted hare, inevitably and completely subject to her captor’s mercy.
Fortunately for her, this hunter had no real intention of devouring her alive.
Delayed gratification would only make savoring the prize that much sweeter. At least, that was what he believed.
Having practiced abstinence for thirty-six years, he had only grown to be more patient as he went along.
He was amendable to Clarissa traveling with the crew but not if that meant she would be away for lengthy periods. The concession was for her to make occasional trips back in-between. Whether she would honor that, remained to be seen.
Per their agreement, she would be expected to check back in every two weeks, tops.
Matthew had a few tricks up his sleeve with regards to how he would deal with her should she stray from it.
Clarissa herself should know well what those were.
The man cannot afford to be too cautious when he considered how she had previously failed to return to D City after a visit to her hometown. Failure to keep her word, even in the face of exceptional circumstances, was a failure all the same to him.
As far as he was concerned, her assurances were no substitute for a penal system to keep her in check.
As the production process was not as secretive as it used to be, there was a lot of attention on Clarissa’s Princess before they even saw the film.
Not only did that boosted her online reader subscription, but she had also been approached by a number of publishers.
Without the resources of Twilight Company, Clarissa was expected to have her hands full.
That motivated Matthew to find her some help in the form of a formidable female manager. The candidate was a former lawyer who had quit the practice for unknown reasons and was in between jobs. The latter quickly put herself forward when she learned that her role was to be a legal consultant and assistant of sorts for Clarissa, amongst other things.
The woman, Yael Fleming, wore her hair long and was fond of loose flowy dresses. She had the sedate and congenial quality of an unsullied goddess about her.
Clarissa was not even sure how this girl could have been a lawyer who matched wit and words with others in court.
Not that she was debating the legitimacy of the woman’s credentials, she just found it hard to wrap her head around it.
After they had met, Clarissa gave Yael a run-down of what she needed from her.
Negotiations over the remuneration went swimmingly as Yael was not in it for the money, and they quickly put pen to paper. The latter was to work for Clarissa, provisionally for a year.
Renewal of the contract was subject to mutual interest.
With Yael overseeing the other things, Clarissa would be free to direct her energies toward the film adaptation.
The wardrobe had been created, and the casting more or less confirmed. Yaala Zaha was tabbed as the first female lead, and Shermaine Smallwood would be second. The male lead role would go to Quentin MacNeish. Apart from Jamie, who she had put forward herself, Clarissa did not know the other supporting stars too well.
Jamie was there as well when the cast members came in for a fitting. She then started to chat enthusiastically with Clarissa, who she saw as a benefactor, close friend, and supporter.
She knew that she would not have clinched the role had it not been for the latter.
“I love you to death, Ms. Quigley. Haha… My manager told me before that I’ve to try to ride on your tailcoats and look for an opportunity to star in your adaptations as you’ll definitely make it big time.”
Clarissa’s face fell. “Well, aren’t you honest…”
“What’s there to hide between us anyway? I’m just stating facts. You’re on the up and up…”
An encounter between the two was never short of banter. Clarissa was all smiles and quite enjoying herself.
This was when the costume-clad Shermaine stepped out. Upon seeing her, Jamie whispered in Clarissa’s ear. “What rotten luck we have to wind up in the same place as her again? She must be pissed about playing second fiddle to the main lead. Who knows what trouble she might try to stir up this time?”
Jamie shuddered as she spoke.
Clarissa had an inkling that Shermaine might be in for her again this time.
The duo immediately clammed up when the latter approached.
It was obvious that Shermaine was gunning for Clarissa.
“Fancy that I’ve yet another opportunity to work with you, Ms. Quigley, but I wonder if the feeling is mutual?”
That came across as less of a question about sentiment and more of straight-up provocation.
Clarissa was never genial when dealing with the likes of Shermaine. “As I’m just a screenwriter, I suspect that you may be working more with Director Yates than with me.”
The lofty princess costume seemed to have added an air of regality to Shermaine’s mannerisms.
Her haughty laugh was doubtlessly directed at Clarissa.
“Call it what you like. According to Justin, you’ll be on set as well, so I reckon we’ll be seeing a lot of each other. Looking forward to it then, Ms. Quigley. Haha…”
