Another 2 days passed, and their first draft was approved by George Lucas, which meant they would now begin producing the revised version with the few changes he wanted, while the man himself; Mr. Lucas would begin planning for the production of the movie itself, including which of the distributions companies to turn to for funding and distribution, as well as finding the actors and other staff for the movie.

Unfortunately, Mark slowly began to tire from writing about the same story everyday.

Considering that his recollecting ability, and his ability to change the style of writing for the novel might be negatively impacted by this, Mark decided it was best to shift focus for a few days on another project.

Instead of making another novel that he might not be able to sell anytime soon, Mark decided on another aspect.

Scriptwriting.

He already had the practice on incomplete ones as the old Mark, and real-world experience from typing out the scripts for Star Wars. He could at least make a good first draft.

And so, he took a new empty book, and wrote on it the title of the movie.

[The Green Mile]

Originally Mark had thought of writing this in the form of a novel, but soon realised his level of writing would be a stain on the reputation of the original novel. He most definitely would not be able to create the type of writing needed to make that novel successful, especially since it did not bank on interesting topics like sci-fiction or fantasy, and instead focussed on drama and relationships, which would be hard to depict without the proper literary skills.

Despite having studied it in college, Mark felt he would need at least a few years of writing experience before he could attempt something like the Green Mile as a novel. Thus, he went straight to the script for this one, as the movie had left a deep impression on him, and he wanted to try and create the movie.

Unfortunately, he was not a director. He did not have the knowledge or skills to be one. Plus, he had heard from rumours that directors were often incredibly stressed individuals when making movies, due to the various interests involved in making them.

Actors often wanted more screen-time and dialogue, especially those who already had a successful career. They could force the director to give them preferential treatment and change movies entirely. On the other hand, producers want a movie that can make as much money as possible, they do not care about how good the movie actually is as long as it could make them money. Then came other interests for existing works like novel adaptation movies. For them, directors also had to take into account the feelings of the original copyright holder and IP maker.

Finally, the Director also had to do his job, directing the actors, camera, props, lighting, and other elements to create the scenes they wanted.

‘Like I would want to go through all that effort to make movies. I still want my hair in old age. It’s so much smarter to just stick to writing scripts and novels,’ Mark shrugged before beginning to write the script before heading to bed.

…

The next night, however, he did not head home, and instead headed to the bus stop where he had first arrived to this town. There, in the cool autumn breeze, he found a young lady with short brunette hair and a slim body. She had a soft facial features, but her bright eyes just attracted the attention of Mark like a star would a planet, as he just stood there a metre away from her staring into her eyes.

And then, she blinked, and Mark recovered. He slowly walked up to her, and pulled out his hand from behind him, presenting her with a bouquet of flowers.

“Elise Shaw… I really like you.”

“Mark…”

“Please let me finish. From the moment I saw you in the bus, I felt like butterflies were flying in my stomach. And then, you somehow sat next to me. The hours we spent on the way here felt like just minutes had passed, and saying goodbye to you felt like something was empty inside me.”

“Then, the first time I took you to each some food, despite it being incredibly unhealthy stuff, it still felt like I was eating some of the best food in the world. Despite going to less tasty and more healthy places after the first time, I often found myself looking forward to the night where I would head over to your hotel to have some food, or just spent some time with you.”

“You are fun, beautiful, and incredibly captivating to the point I didn’t want to think of you leaving.”

“Still, I want to ask you. I know it will be difficult, but we can make it work. Elise Shaw, will you go out with me?”

Mark said while looking deep into her eyes, noticing her pale face was slowly brightening up and there was a shine in here eyes. Or perhaps it was just the normal light that was naturally reflected in her eyes, Mark was unsure.

But moments later, she nodded, and Mark did not mistaken this for anything else. He took a step forward, handed the bouquet to her, before using that very hand to hold her hand that was holding the bouquet. Then, he used his second hand to gently caress her chin, making sure she was comfortable with proceeding, before heading in for a passionate kiss.

*Honk*

“Hey kid, are you coming or not? I can’t have the bus waiting here forever. If you want, get a room, don’t make everyone here watch it,” the bald bus driver said in mock anger, but in reality he had a satisfied smile on his face as though watching his own past.

This however, made Elise flinch and escape the kiss, while Mark simply grumbled inwardly. Still, he did miss the chance to lean in close to Elise’s ear ans whisper, “Call me. You have my number. But this time, make sure you address me properly. I am no longer an intern.”

This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

“You mean?”

“Yup. In just a week of staying at the company, I was promoted to being a full-time employee; you are currently speaking to the youngest junior screenwriter for LucasFilms. Heh, my name will also be there in the credits of the movie!” Mark pounded his chest.

“Congratulations baby!” Elise leaned in for a hug, much to Marks’ surprise. Not because of the hug, but because of what she called him. Still, he reciprocated the hug and for a few seconds felt the warmth of another body being pressed so close to his.

Then they separated and Mark watched her bus leave with a melancholic expression.

‘She lives in Las Angeles. So does Edward. Perhaps, I should find another job there?’

‘No! This is a really good job. With one or two of the Star Wars movies being credited to some degree to me, I can more likely convince someone to read my script. Hmm, but I should focus more on completing Solo Levelling first. Then I will focus on The Green Mile. For now, anytime I fee like my creativity is slowing down, I can switch to the latter of the two projects.’

‘Yeah, having more than 2 projects being written simultaneously will make it very difficult to remember plots and characters, and I will most likely end up overlapping characters by mistake.’

‘Sigh… If only Elise was working here…’ Mark sighed and turned around, returning to his room for the night, but he did not go to sleep.

…

On the bus back to Los Angeles, Elise buried her red face her arms as she dodged the inquisitive and teasing questions from her fellow models. Despite being in a cutthroat industry like modelling, their entire group came from the same agency, and thus never had any conflicting roles, which resulted in an incredibly amicable relationship to be fostered among the group.

This, added with the fact that none of them were particularly outstanding enough to propel their careers into fashion modelling, they became incredibly close over the few months they had spent together in their agency.

“Come on Elise! Spill the beans!”

“Who is he? How did you meet?”

“What does he do? He looks fit, is he an athlete? Or an actor?”

“Come on! Say something! You just got proposed to, and then made out right in front of the bus! You can’t say nothing!”

“Yeah… we have a long ride home, you can’t hide from us forever!” This girl, however, decided to take things into her own hands, stood from her seat when the movements of the bus were relatively stable, and grabbed Elise’s hands, “Now! Tickle her until she reveals the truth!”

“No! No!” Elise yelled while flailing from their combines attack in vain.

“Muhahahah! Nobody can withstand the wrath of us girls combined!

“No! Stop! I’ll tell you! I’ll tell you!”

“Surrender accepted. But first… a little punishment!” The same girl said before continuing the tickling punishment for a few more seconds until it looked like Elise was too tired to struggle anymore. After all, they were only doing this as a harmless joke, and she did not want to actually cause any harm to Elise.

“So… we met on the bus here. I was late because my parents had not allowed me to leave the house, so I had to sneak out. That was why I missed the bus with all of you on it, and had to take the next one, which was a few hours later. On the bus, I ended up sitting next to him since… there were no other seats available.”

“Are you sure about that?” One of the girls noticed the slight pause Elise had while speaking, and confronted her with a serious expression and folded hands, causing Elise’s face to turn slightly red again. Still, this time, she was able to maintain control over her emotions and fake-coughed before continuing.

…

Mark held the landline phone in his hand and waited for the ringer to connect, and after a few seconds, it finally did.

“Hello? This is Edward speaking. Who is this?” Eddie on the other side of the phone responded.

“Hey Eddie. Why do you still pick up the phone like you’re living with your parents and they are right behind you?” Mark questioned while bursting into restrained laughter.

“You don’t know nothin’. Ma and Pa call anytime they feel like, and I gotta answer it like this all the damn time! This one time, I din’ answer with full words, and she cut off ma allowance by half! N*gg*a how am I suppose to get lunch with the ladies without ‘tough dough to go to one of ‘em fancy restaurants!”

“I see. Anyways, I called to tell you that I got the job. It’s not an intern, but a proper Junior screenwriter now!”

“What in the what! Just like that! It ain’t even been a week! Are you sure it ain’t a scam?” Eddie exclaimed from the other side.

“No~” Mark chuckled again, before replying, “Don’t worry about me. Remember the envelope I sent you, follow the instructions in it, and find yourself a good comedy side-role. Pick one of the ones I sent you, and just go for it. This is my new number, but don’t call too often as I am not home too often. Anyways, bye, and all the best for your auditions. I know you will do well!” Mark cut the call before Eddie could get the chance to confront him about giving him a large portion of his savings.

After all, there was no thank you or sorry among bros.

…

The next morning, he went to work, and greeted Mrs. Butler at the reception.

“Lovely morning to be seeing you Mrs. Butler!” Mark exclaimed, only to be hushed into silence and beckoned closer to her.

“Hush now. Mr. Lucas is currently in talks directly with 20th Century Fox for funding and distribution of the movie. It’s very important, since this is the only company Mr. Cowl has some connections with. If these talks fall through…” she left the latter half of her sentence open-ended, but Mark understood the severity of the situation.

Mr. Cowl, the man Mrs. Butler had spoken off, turned out to be the parter of George Lucas who together established the company with a 50-50 split of control. He was someone Mark had yet to meet, but that did not matter as he was mainly involved with the business aspect of the company.

“I see,” Alex nodded, before thanking Mrs. Butler for her timely information, “Thank you, Mrs. Butler, for making my day oh so more beautiful.”

“Oh you~” She just waved him off while smiling.

She knew Mark was just flattering her, and he knew that she knew as well, but it was something that benefitted both the parties involved, emotionally and otherwise, so nobody was against it. After all, who would not like praise, and for Mark, who would not like someone to look out for them?

Bothered by the eerie silence and that unannounced early arrival of the big boss, Mark made his way to the screenwriter meeting room, and found everyone also waiting in silence; nervously.

Making his way to Silvia, he sat down and asked, “So, any updates on the talks?”

“None. We will only know when the Mr. Lucas’ doors open and he announces the result,” Sylvia whispered back while tapping her heels rhythmically on the floor.

The constant sound, like a ticking time bomb, elevated the heart-rates of everyone in the room as the silence continued for almost 2 and a half hours before the doors were suddenly opened.

*Bang*

“We got the distribution, but not the funding. However, Cowl and I have decided to reinvest $150,000 combined from our previous movie; American Graffiti which some of you may know about. Anyways, this budget is not enough for the movie I have in mind, but enough to get us started,” Mr. Lucas said with a serious expression before motioning for everyone to return to their work since pre-production would officially begin now.