Not in the Script
Page 32
“What?” I lean in closer and speak just above a whisper. “No way.”
“Do it!” he insists. “Five euros.” He digs into his pocket and clanks down five coins.
I sneak a peek at the unsuspecting couple. The man is wiping sweat off his face with a hanky. They’re too close. I’d never get away with it.
“I can’t,” I say.
“Pansy.”
With a grunt, I switch my camera on and set it to automatic. I raise it to my face and start to twist my upper body.
“No, wait!” he says. “You’re doing it wrong.”
I drop the camera to my lap and face him. “What?”
“You’re too obvious. You need stealth. Watch and learn.” He retrieves a small point-and-shoot camera from his pocket and aims it toward me. “Say cheese!” he says so loudly that I’m sure everyone around us is looking.
“Uh … cheese?”
“Done.” He hits a few buttons and shows me the display screen.
There they are. Looked right at him too. Clever. But I can’t let him win.
“Wow. That’s pretty pixelated. What kind of setting do you have that on?”
He frowns. “It’s just zoomed in.”
“Oh.” I reach to zoom out, but he pulls it away too fast. “What? Why can’t I see? Did you actually take a picture of me or something?”
“Stealth.” He shrugs and my cheeks turn pink. “Guess these are my winnings.” The coins scrape across the table as he scoops them up to put in his pocket.
“You didn’t even give me a chance to redeem myself,” I defend.
“Excuses, excuses. Just admit I’m the better photographer.” He laughs, standing to shoot his empty cup in the trash. “Finished?”
I nod and he tosses mine too. “Braver maybe, but better? Your camera doesn’t have enough buttons.”
His dimples reappear as he shoves his hands into the pockets of his navy-blue cargo shorts. “Well, thanks for letting me sit with you.”
“Oh, sure. No problem.” I slouch into my seat and wiggle my fingers in a low wave before reaching into my bag for the map from the hotel.
He still hasn’t walked away. “Where you headed?”
“Not sure.” I shrug. “I want to check out the Colosseum, but I’m sort of getting hungry.”
He grips the back of the chair he’d sat in and leans on it. “You ate gelato before dinner too, huh?”
I shrug again. “When in Rome.”
He laughs. “It’s going to get dark soon. I’m not sure you should venture halfway across the city by yourself. Unless”—he looks around—“you’re with your family or something.”
No. My family sent me over here. All. By. Myself.
“Oh. Well, I planned on going alone.”
He moves to stand next to me and points at the map. His hand lightly brushes against mine for the tiniest fraction of a second. “We’re here, and the Colosseum is over here. There’s no metro close, so it’ll be a bit of a walk but definitely doable. I could go with you … if you want.”
I look up at him to gauge if he’s serious and I feel a little swirl in my stomach.
“I don’t even know your name,” I say.
“Oh, I’m sorry!” He takes a small step back and offers me his hand.
Our fingers are just about to touch when a girl’s voice calls out and startles me. “Hey, Darren!”
The guy about to shake my hand turns his head in response.
A rail-thin girl strides over to us. She’s wearing jean capris with a loose, purple sundress overtop, and several brass necklaces that dangle almost to her stomach. Bulky sunglasses perch high in the messy bleached-blond hair piled on top of her head.
“I’m Darren, and this is Nina,” he says to me when she stops next to him.
Nina looks me over. “Hi.” Her tone is friendly with an under-current of protectiveness.
“Hi,” I respond, with maybe a little too much I come in peace worked in. “I’m Pippa.”
“Pippa? Isn’t that a cute name?” Nina squeaks, surprisingly genuine. She looks up at Darren and smiles, and my eyes follow hers to him.
“It’s a great name,” he agrees. There’s his little twisted tooth again.
I’ve always thought my name was ridiculous, but if a guy can like it … My cheeks flush.
Darren clears his throat. “Pippa still hasn’t seen the Colosseum. How do you feel about walking over there?” he asks Nina.
“Sure!” She turns toward him and holds out her palm. “But I want some gelato first.”
Without missing a beat, he pulls a few coins out of his pocket and drops them in her palm.
“Thanks, doll,” she says as she scampers off.
So he has a girlfriend. My reaction to this piece of information confuses me. Part of me is relieved—I feel like if he’s got a girlfriend, the chances of him being a psycho trying to lure me away are slightly less. But another part of me is disappointed.
Oh, well. He’s not Italian anyway.
Copyright © 2014 by Amy Finnegan
All rights reserved.
You may not copy, distribute, transmit, reproduce, or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means (including without limitation electronic, digital, optical, mechanical, photocopying, printing, recording, or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
First published in the United States of America in October 2014
by Bloomsbury Children’s Books
Electronic edition published in October 2014
www.bloomsbury.com
Bloomsbury is a registered trademark of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book, write to Permissions, Bloomsbury Children’s Books, 1385 Broadway, New York, New York 10018
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Finnegan, Amy.
Not in the script : an If only novel / by Amy Finnegan.
pages cm
Summary: There’s something about Emma’s costar on her new TV show, Coyote Hills, that is
irresistible. But she’s sworn off on-set relationships. They always end badly—don’t they?
[1. Dating (Social customs)—Fiction. 2. Love—Fiction. 3. Actors and actresses—Fiction.
4. Television programs—Production and direction—Fiction.] I. Title.
PZ7.F497486No 2014 [Fic]—dc23 2014005034
ISBN: 978-1-61963-399-5 (e-book)
Visit www.bloomsbury.com to find out more about our authors and their books
You will find extracts, author interviews, author events and you can sign up for newsletters to be the first to hear about our latest releases and special offers.