The Other One {Harry Styles AU}

46. Then

"Hi, Maddie," the balding man sat across from me. He didn't talk like other grown ups. He didn't talk down to me. And he didn't ignore me either. I pushed my giant glasses up my nose. "That is the best in the series by far, so far," he pointed at my book. Black Mist: Blooming. I'd read it many times already. "Seedling is great, too, and Budding is all right. But the Amping bit in the beginning was too long. Didn't leave enough time for the rescue at the end."

I found myself nodding along. He was so right. "The conclusion to the series comes out next year," I said.

"I know. I preordered already." He held his hand out to me. "My name is Mitch Gaston."

I shook it gingerly. This was the man my mom sent me to see. I liked him less just for that. "My mom isn't accompanying me today," I said. "She had to work."

"I know. Karen is here, though. Is that okay with you?"

I nodded.

"It's better?"

I laughed. "Yes."

"Your mom is tough. That's for sure. Come on, everyone is waiting." He stood aside and let me pass into the large bright conference room. There were four people seated on one side of the long black table. Karen, my agent since I was three, beckoned me to sit next to her on the other side. "All right everybody, we have the delightfully bookish Madelyn Turner here." They smiled at me. "Maddie, I am a producer here at the network. Cal, here to my left, is also a producer and a writer. Simon, to his left, is a writer and director. Jenna, to his left, is an actress." She smiled like a chipmunk. "You may not remember, but we actually met before, Maddie, when you were younger."

I shook my head, squinting at him. Add some hair, remove some wrinkles. "You were a producer on the first Mrs. Grumpus movie." My big hit.

He nodded. "Yes, I was an executive producer. For both Grumpuses actually." I shrugged. "Maddie, you made a strong impression on me--on the world--with those films. But it's how you are in real life that truly interests me." He flattened his hands on the table. "We'd like to give you your own tv show."

Cal or Simon (I wasn't sure which was which) said, "you would play yourself, basically. Maddie Turner, the girl who loves to read," he gestured at me, then at the woman beside him. "Your parents would own a bookstore called Page Turners."

I rolled my eyes.

The other Cal-Simon laughed. "Yes. This is exactly what we want. We have a pilot script. Would you mind reading it?"

No one had ever asked me if I would mind reading the script. It was always, here kid, here are your lines. Or learn this by tomorrow. No one had ever treated me like a person.

"I mean, I guess." I sat there and read. One of them interrupted me, asking if I wanted to be alone, but I just waved him off. I was already on the fourth page. I laughed out loud. I looked up at them. "Who wrote this?"

Cal and Simon raised their hands.

"You'll be the writers?"

They looked at Mitch. He sat back in his chair, smiling at me. "If you'd like them to be. It's your show, Maddie."

In my head, I weighed it all out. I wouldn't have to do auditions all the time. My mother would be happy, really happy with me. I'd be working with these two very funny people, and I liked the way these funny people depicted me.

"Okay. I accept."