Journey’s End
Page 1
Journey’s End
Book #3 in The Flight Series
A.E. Radley
Heartsome Publishing
Contents
Sign Up
Dedication
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
About the Author
Call for ARC Reviewers
Also by A.E. Radley
Also by A.E. Radley
Also by A.E. Radley
Mergers & Acquisitions
Copyright
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Dedication
To the readers
1
Emily cupped the mug of tea firmly in her hands. She looked at the various papers on the kitchen table. She wasn’t one for business and finances; the whole thing gave her a headache. But here she was, having a business meeting with her recently appointed agent.
After so many weeks of telephone calls and emails, it was a relief to have the meeting in person. The only problem was that now Nicole could see her confused expression.
“So, that’s the final script that you think we can sell?” Emily asked. She gestured to the piece of paper that Nicole held.
Nicole nodded. “I’ve spoken to all my contacts, and I think that’s it. The remaining scripts that you’ve written are good, but they don’t all work in a theatre environment. They’d need quite a lot of rewriting to get them into a place where they’d be suitable for stage.”
Emily picked up the mug and sipped at her tea. She wasn’t surprised that only a quarter of her back catalogue had any financial value. In fact, she was still getting over the shock that any of them had made any money at all.
When she had first started putting pen to paper, it was simply as a hobby. She’d read a book when she was in school about scriptwriting, and something had lodged in her brain. The act of taking a story and writing it in out in simple script form had been calming.
With her only son in the hospital for weeks at a time over the course of his early years, calm was what she needed. She’d lost count of how many hours she had spent scribbling scripts while Henry had slept.
She felt her heartbeat accelerate. The memories of those times didn’t seem to fade. Even now, months since the operation that had fixed Henry’s heart, she felt the familiar sense of panic writhe inside her.
She turned to look out of the window and smiled, reassured. Henry ran around the yard, just like any other five-year-old boy would. Olivia playfully chased him.
“Motherhood suits her,” Nicole commented, following Emily’s distracted gaze.
“It does. Henry adores her.”
“She adores him, she’s already planning an over-the-top sixth birthday party,” Nicole confessed.
Emily put down the mug and turned to look at Nicole. “She hasn’t mentioned anything to me.”
“I think she wants to get the wedding out of the way before she talks to you about the next event she intends to plan into oblivion.”
Emily put her head in her hands and let out a long breath. She adored Olivia, loved her more than she thought it was possible to love someone. But if she had to go through another day of Olivia planning an event, she might just kill her.
“Don’t worry, you’ll be married in a couple of days,” Nicole reminded her. “No more discussions about table decorations or photographers.”
Emily looked up. “Oh, I expected the discussions about table decorations and photographers. It’s the three-hour debate on whether the wedding cake should have a ribbon placed around the bottom of the middle tier or threaded into the icing. When I agreed that threaded into icing looked nice, it started a discussion on the spacing between the exposed thread and then an impromptu math lesson regarding the circumference of the cake.”
“Only three hours?” Nicole chuckled. “I think you got off rather lightly there.”
Emily smirked. “Next time I’ll tell her to talk to you about it.”
Nicole shook her head. “No, I’ve done my time. I’ve been Olivia’s best friend for more years than I dare to say. You’re marrying her, you can deal with her micromanagement.”
Emily leaned her head on her hand and looked at Nicole with a smile.
“Gee, thanks. And I thought you were here to help me.”
“I’m here to be your agent and help you with scriptwriting.” She waved her hand towards Olivia. “You’re on your own with that.”
Emily looked at a piece of paper with some hastily jotted figures on it. It was the total amount of money she was due to receive from current script sales. Not everything had been finalised yet, and most of the money was still to be received. Nevertheless, it was an amazing feeling to think that scripts that had been sitting in a box under her bed were now making money.
But nowhere near enough money.
Her face fell at the realisation that she was still a long way from her goal.
“Problem?” Nicole asked softly.
“No, just thinking,” Emily lied.
Nicole was a good friend and a fantastic agent. But she wasn’t great at keeping her mouth shut. Emily didn’t want Nicole, and by extension Olivia, to know about her desire to pay Olivia back the enormous sum she had used to clear Emily’s debts.
It was the only thing in their relationship that they struggled to agree on. Olivia thought money was an object, just like any other. When Emily had been locked in a legal battle with Henry’s grandparents, the debts she had accumulated over years of paying for his healthcare had become a huge issue. Once Olivia discovered that the debts could lead to Henry being made to live with his grandparents, she had cleared them without saying a word to Emily.
Of course, Emily had forgiven her for the deception and was grateful beyond words that Olivia had done that for her, regardless of their relationship status. But Emily was determined to pay Olivia back every last cent, even if it took the rest of her life.
It was important to her. She needed to feel that she was on an equal footing with her wealthy wife-to-be. Even though they would never be matched when it came to personal wealth, at least Emily could feel that she didn’t owe her anything.
So, while the scripts she had sold would put a small dent in the debt, there was still a mountain to climb.
“Can I make the other scripts sellable?” Emily asked.
“I think so, some of them,” Nicole said. “As I said, they’d need a lot of reworking. What you really need is experience working in t
he trade. A lot of scriptwriters fall down on the same thing, lack of experience. You need to know how a production works in order to know what script will fit into the theatre scene. Little things like too many actors, too many sets, and not enough variety in location. Things like that can provide resistance and prevent someone from wanting to take a chance on an unknown scriptwriter.”
“But how do you get experience in something like that?” Emily asked.
“That’s the problem, it’s an endless cycle,” Nicole admitted.
Emily noted the unmistakable twinkle in her eye that suggested an idea.
“However, we might be able to work something out,” Nicole said.
Nicole looked from one piece of paper to another. Emily watched her quietly and allowed her to finish whatever thought process she was in the middle of. Being one of the founding partners of Brightview Productions, she was in a perfect position to help Emily realise her dream.
Emily had spent the last few weeks pinching herself to see if she was actually dreaming. She feared she’d wake up one day, and it would all vanish into nothingness.
“This is just a suggestion,” Nicole began, “but how about we do a deal? As you know, Brightview is moving into the final production stages for the script we bought from you. We could bring you in as a consultant. You could work beside one of our current in-house scriptwriters and learn the ropes.”
Emily opened her mouth to speak, but no words came forth. She closed her mouth again. Her brain started swimming with questions, and she wasn’t sure which to ask first.
“Obviously, it would be in London,” Nicole continued, seemingly unaware of Emily’s bewilderment. “And we begin work on the Monday after your honeymoon. But I think we can work around these details. You’d be getting an amazing opportunity to learn more, to work in a theatre and for a production company.”
Emily finally found her tongue. “It sounds great! But there’s no way I could afford the flights.”
Nicole nodded her understanding. “Well, we could adjust the royalty split that we have set up. You could take less of a percentage, and we can pay for your flights. And, once the production is up and running, we may have something else for you. Or your experience might get you a job here in New York. We’ll see how things go and what comes up in the meantime. The important thing is that you’ll have first-hand experience at what it takes to put on a production, you’ll see the direct correlation between script and production.”
Emily felt the familiar palpitations. She tried to think logically about the proposal, but she was overwhelmed.
“I know it’s a lot to take in,” Nicole said apologetically. “And obviously, there’s a time pressure on your decision. But I wouldn’t recommend this unless I genuinely felt that it was a good opportunity for you.”
Emily licked her lips and placed her hands palm down on the table to ground herself.
“So, hold on, let me get this right. I’d take a royalty cut, but you’d fly me to London and back?”
Nicole nodded.
“How long would I be gone? I can’t leave Henry… or Olivia. Not just after the honeymoon. And Henry starts school then…”
Nicole picked up a calculator from the table and quickly input some figures. “Yes, well, it will be a four-week project. So, how about we pay for you to fly to London on a Sunday evening and back to New York on a Friday evening for as long as the project lasts? You’ll be away during the week but home at weekends.”
Emily tried to calculate all the questions she should be asking, but her mind was coming up blank. She knew it would be an amazing opportunity, but she also didn’t want to leave her family for long periods at a time. Especially with Henry starting school. She didn’t want to give him extra stress, or make Olivia have to deal with what would be a big event in Henry’s life.
“Sorry to throw this at you right before your wedding,” Nicole apologised. “It’s just that I can’t guarantee Brightview will host another of your plays, and if we do I couldn’t possibly say when. But this I can guarantee.”
“I understand,” Emily quickly said. “And I really do appreciate the offer. It’s just a lot to take in. I need to think it over.”
“Of course.” Nicole started to gather up the paperwork that had been strewn over the table. “Chat with Olivia and let me know what you think.”
“I will. And thank you, I know this isn’t something you’d do for just anyone.”
“I believe in the quality of your work, Emily. You have a style that is quite unique, and I genuinely believe that you have a lot to offer the theatre world in a time where theatre is frankly struggling. You just need the opportunity to see behind the curtain.”
Emily picked up her mug and took another sip. She pictured herself standing in the stalls of a London theatre, looking up at the actors on the stage reading out words she had written years before.
It really was a golden opportunity.
2
Olivia sat on the edge of the sofa, waiting to stand up and offer help. Even though she knew it would be declined. Emily was very keen on doing most of the household tasks herself, especially the laundry. She claimed that as Henry went through anywhere between two and five clothes changes a day, she felt obliged to take on all the laundry. Which was clearly ridiculous, as Henry’s clothes were a quarter of the size of the adults’ and Olivia didn’t feel that laundry was such an arduous task.
But she knew it was best to remain seated while Emily spoke about whatever it was that was bothering her.
Nicole had left, Henry had been put to bed, and Emily had poured Olivia a glass of wine and ordered her to sit on the sofa. Emily had returned with the laundry basket and started to fold clothes while she explained Nicole’s work offer.
Olivia could tell that Emily was slightly agitated, but she couldn’t quite figure out why. The fact that she was attempting to fold Henry’s tiny socks were an indication of her distraction.
“It sounds like a good idea,” Olivia offered, hoping that it was the right thing to say.
Emily dropped a half-folded sweater into the laundry basket and looked at Olivia with pleading eyes.
“Really?” Emily asked.
“It’s an amazing opportunity,” Olivia pointed out.
“But I’ll be away from home,” Emily explained. She picked up the sweater again and started to refold it.
Olivia bit her lip and looked out of the window. It was dark outside, and she stared at the tree branches shifting in front of the streetlight. She didn’t want Emily to go away. It already felt like there had been so much wasted time between them. She wanted to spend every feasible moment together, even if she knew that wasn’t necessarily possible. And maybe not wise.
“You don’t want me to go, do you?” Emily asked.
Olivia turned back to face her. “I do. A-and I don’t.”
Emily waited for her to continue.
Olivia licked her lips and prepared herself. It was one of those conversations. A big one, an important one. One that had the possibility of going oh-so-wrong. They’d talked at length about Olivia’s fear of saying the wrong thing. Emily was calm and tried to see the meaning behind some of Olivia’s less artful words. But even so, the fear of getting everything wrong worried Olivia immensely.
“I want you to be happy,” Olivia began. It seemed like a safe starting point. “I’ll miss you terribly during the week. But I can see that this is a great opportunity and one I don’t think will appear again.”
“I don’t want to be away from you,” Emily said. “And what about Henry?”
Olivia frowned. “What about Henry?”
Emily gave her that look. The look that indicated that she might have said something stupid.
“I-I mean, of course, I’ll look after Henry.”
Emily’s look softened to one of curiosity.
Olivia snatched the glass of wine from the table and stood up.
“It makes sense. You have an opportunity, and I’m not working at t
he moment. I will tend to Henry while you focus on your career. I know Henry’s routines, he’s comfortable with me. I’m sure between us we could make him understand that you need to work. He’s always been understanding of that in the past.”
Olivia walked in front of the window. She gestured towards the upstairs of the house with her wine glass. “I’ve been involved in all the discussions regarding his school. I’d made a small list of things we need to prepare. I’m happy to take over with that regard. And then we can make the weekends extra special.”
“Really?” Emily breathed.
Olivia looked at her and frowned. It seemed the logical thing to do. Of course she’d watch over Henry. She wasn’t sure why Emily was looking at her as if she’d agreed to some horrendous undertaking.
“Absolutely,” Olivia said. “This is something you have to do. I know how much you want to be a scriptwriter. Real-life experience is going to be such a break for you. You simply have to take these opportunities when they arise. Henry and I will be fine. Besides, Henry will be at school all day so he’ll barely have time to miss you.”
Emily dropped an unfolded t-shirt into the laundry basket. She looked at Olivia with a smile. “You’re incredible. I should marry you.”