It's You [H.S.]

3.12 | You & I

9th July 2015

Eloise is pulling the Audi out of the garage as the gate opens and Jeff heads up the drive. Programming the sat nav whilst he parks and jogs over, she waves hello before Harry leans into her open window and gives her a quick kiss good luck.

"Remember to drive on the right!", he laughs, drumming on the roof.

She revs the engine and flips him off out the window, to Jeff's amusement.

>

A little early, she's back at Soho House West Hollywood and seated at a table on the balcony, overlooking that incredible view of LA again. Feeling nervous, she taps her foot against the table leg and gives herself a mini pep-talk.

The Commissioning Editor called this meeting because he already loves her script. It's just a chat. Nothing stressful.

Her mind soon wanders, as it tends to, back to Harry. How sweet he'd been last night, and again this morning when he woke her up with a coffee in bed.

She snaps out of it, wiping the dreamy smile from her face, when she hears her phone ping with a notification.

Digging for it in her tote, she spots a sweet and simple 'You've got this! .x' from Harry, before she swipes to open Rosie's. 'Ura-fucking-Sawa?!! He's a keeper!', with a link to an E!News article. Shit.

She holds her breath as she clicks on it and hastily scans the headline and pictures. 'Flash Harry's date with mystery blonde'. She's relieved to see the tilt of her head and curtain of her hair ensured she wasn't recognisable. He looks amazing though, even when rankled and in protective mode. Swoon.

She taps out a quick response. 'You have no idea!!! Now stop stalking me and piss off... Netflix meeting now, eek! Xx'.

Looking up, she spots a hostess leading a man over, so throws her phone back into her bag and stands up to greet him with a deep breath and a wide smile.

"Eloise? Chris Sussman", he says, soft British tone contrasting with his firm handshake.

>

He only has forty-five minutes, so their meeting flies by, and before she knows it, she's bidding him goodbye and breathing a sigh of relief.

He loves the premise and rich characters of her script, and asked where she sees the story going as they're most interested in series with some longevity. She tap-danced around an answer, spitballing some ideas, but he nodded along enthusiastically enough.

He probed whether her passion lies more in writing or performing, but her rambling response seemed to satisfy him. Essentially, she's fascinated by people and their stories, their feelings and motivations. Loves getting absorbed into new worlds and letting her imagination roam free whilst she's writing. She sees her characters so vividly, and loves challenging herself to really bring them to life. But she also relishes the challenge of figuring out and physically embodying characters - whether her own or other peoples' - finding and honing their voices and mannerisms, their quirks and foibles. Doing them justice. Letting them live.

He briefly explained their ethos, ambitions and targets, and the scope of their production deals - including one with BBC America. He proudly mentioned a talented writer and actress by the name of Phoebe Waller-Bridge. Eloise had quickly jumped in to say she'd seen Fleabag on stage and was blown away. Turns out Chris commissioned it as a series and they've just started filming in London.

He's evidently got great taste and an eye for talent, Eloise thinks to herself. And he met with little old me, she shakes her head in disbelief.

Checking her phone and seeing that it's nearly 9.30am, she finishes her water, gathers her bag and fires Harry a text to say she'll head back just as soon as he gives her Jeff's coffee order.