Love, Anonymous (COMPLETED)

Chapter Eighteen - Career Milestone

Photo Credit: Lifted from Twitter account of @EianRances, February 16, 2016 post

Finally had time to do an update, so here it is. I'm sure you're wondering what's next for Maine, with her exciting job offer from Kris, and with her relationship with Alden, now that they're official. It's going to be a rollercoaster ride for them, hop in with me and let's relish the joyride together! Thank you for reading the story up to this point, there will be stormy times ahead so kapit lang, readers. 

As usual, please comment and share with me what you think, let's share notes. Enjoy dearies :) 

Alden took his seat at the conference room, and took out his phone to check for messages. Maine was on board again but thankfully her new schedule involved flights within Asia only, making it easier for them to communicate and see each other. He was slowly adjusting his schedules for her, making sure that their schedules were in sync.

It's been a week since she finally committed to him, and the next days after were happy ones for both of them. He was pleasantly surprised that Maine was a clingy girlfriend, he loved that she liked touching him while they talked, how physically affectionate she was. He was also surprised at how territorial he was with her, always worrying about male passengers who might touch her in an offensive way, or flirt with her. But Maine always assured him she was used to handling unwanted advances from guys, which did not happen often.

Jenny Ferre arrived with Theiy, one of TAPE's writers, followed by Direk Mike and Ms. Malou Choa-Fagar. The meeting was to discuss Alden's movie project, which they hoped would make it in time for the MMFF in December. Jenny was now going to present to him the possible storylines they picked for his latest project.

"Alden, we've taken into consideration your suggestion to check out wattpad fan fiction and you were right. There are potential storylines that we can work with for your next movie. The writers went through the top 10 stories in the fan fiction category and the writers voted for two storylines that they thought best suited for you."

When Alden proposed wattpad stories for his next movie project, his goal was for Maine to be discovered for her writing talent, because he sincerely believed she was a gifted writer. He knew Maine didn't want him to pull strings for her, which was why he didn't suggest her story outright and instead requested for the writers to read the top 20 on wattpad. But the writers went through only the top 10, probably due to the lack of time. Maine's story was ranked 16th when he first started reading it. He never kept track of its ranking, but hoped against hope that her story made its ascent to the top 10.

Theiy presented him and Direk Mike with two manuscripts of the stories they picked . "Alden, Direk Mike, please go through these manuscripts and tell us what you think. Pressed tayo for time kasi after you've chosen which story you prefer, we will need to contact the author and negotiate. Can we target meeting with the author three days from now? "

"Sure," Alden said.  "Give me until tomorrow to make a decision. I can read both tonight."

-----

Maine checked her ringing phone and was surprised to see Kris Aquino ringing her.

"Hello Ms. Kris? Sorry po for not calling you. I've been out on flights kasi."

"Maine! Ok lang, ano ka ba. I called kasi there are new developments that may affect my plans. Mr. Tuviera is managing me now, so we're still firming up my project line-up."

"Lilipat po kayo sa GMA?"

"Secret, huh-haha-huh-ha. You'll find out soon enough, dear. Basta I wanna work with you, girl, so stay tuned ha. So much drama na in my career lately so I'll be quiet muna. Darla will call you soon, 'kay?

-----

Three days later....

Maine stepped into TWG Tea Salon of EDSA Shangri-L a Hotel, her hands clammy, heart beating fast. Alden asked to meet her here, claiming he had a big surprise for her. He would be meeting her straight after Eat Bulaga, and asked that she proceed here instead of Broadway. She was ushered to a reserved table under her name.

Five minutes later, Alden arrived with a bouquet of flowers for her. Kissing her on the cheek, he gave her a quick hug and sat down beside her, looking like an excited five year old.

"Is there something you want to tell me RJ? Di naman siguro wedding proposal 'to no, kakasimula pa lang natin."

"Hahahaha, dadating tayo diyan, babe, unless gusto mo ngayon na?"

"Huy, loko wag muna. Anong meron? Pinapakaba mo ko eh."

He took her hand and kissed it. "Maine, I hope you will like this surprise. I also hope hindi ka magagalit sakin, kinakabahan din kasi ako eh. Padating na sila, nagpark lang, antayin lang natin."

"Padating sino? Family mo?"

"Basta. Oh, wait, they're here na." Alden waved at them towards the table. He stood up and Maine followed suit, getting more nervous when she saw who arrived.

"Mr. T, girlfriend ko po, si Maine. Miss Jenny, you've met Maine already diba? Maine, this is Mr. Tony Tuviera."

Maine covered her open mouth, and like a robot, shook hands with Mr. Tuviera and Ms. Jenny. They sat down and ordered drinks. Mr. T was looking at Maine, smiling.

"Ikaw Alden ha, marunong ka pumili ng girlfriend. Magandang bata itong si Maine."

"Thank you po, sir."

"Do you have any idea why you're here hija?"

"No po, kinakabahan na nga po ako eh."

"Haha, wag ka na kabahan, itong si Alden kasi di pa sinabi sayo what this meeting is for. Jenny, sabihin mo na nga sa kanya."

Maine looked at Jenny, who on this rare instance was smiling at her. "Maine, we were looking for a new movie project for Alden. He suggested we check wattpad fan fiction and we did, we presented to him our choices a few days ago. After a few more discussions, we've unanimously decided on The Heart Speaks as Alden's next project. How does that sound so far?"

"So far? You mean there's more?" She was so nervous, she swore she could hear her heart beating. Jenny smiled again. She looked less formidable when she was smiling, easing Maine's nervousness a bit.

"Oo there's more. We noticed that your main female character was named Maine, which gave us an idea. We're thinking of casting you for the lead part. Would you be willing to read for the part a week from now? My writers will start working on the script tomorrow. They will show you a draft of the first 10 chapters, on let's see.....today's Thursday, uhm, Monday. You'll get the draft by Monday."

"Teka muna, Jenny. Give the girl a break. Hinga muna, Maine," Mr. T said, noticing how pale Maine was.

Alden reached out to rub her back, looking at her with concern. She was overwhelmed and embarrassed because she felt the tears coming. When Alden said it was a surprise, he was not joking. It was the best surprise ever, a fulfillment of her dream. She tried to compose herself to speak.

"Sir, Ms. Jenny.....I'm overwhelmed. Thank you po for this opportunity. Yes, definitely it would be an honor for my story to be Alden's latest movie. Di lang po ako confident to play the female lead, sobrang laking responsibility po non. If you remember, I didn't make it sa audition ko for EB. Mas lalo na po siguro dito."

" I'll be there with you Maine," Alden said reassuringly. "No pressure, try mo lang. May workshop naman after, and I will help you. Chance natin to work together, please?"

She closed her eyes, wondering if she should ask for more time to think this over. But she knew, given the extra time to think, she would overthink, let the negative overcome the positive and in the end, she'd say no. The thought of being with Alden everyday, of realizing her secret dream career made her throw caution to the wind.

"Ok. Sige po Mr. T, Ms. Jenny, I'll give it a try."