Wouldn't You Like to Know?

One

One

"I really think you should reconsider. He's one of the biggest actors out there. I don't see why you won't sell to him." Penelope sighed. Agatha Danbury was one of the most important literary agents out there, and she really did admire the elder woman for what she had done for her career. But how could she explain her history with Colin Bridgerton?

"I don't feel comfortable working with someone that can't keep their personal life together." It was an absolute lie. Penelope knew about Colin punching the photographer for spreading lies about his ex-fiancé, Marina Thompson, and Penelope didn't care.

"I thought you knew the family?" Agatha said. "Eloise Bridgerton. That journalist from The New York Times. She's the one that gave you that great book review when you were first starting out."

Penelope looked at the computer. Agatha was on vacation somewhere in the Bahamas, but when the offer for the movie rights to her book Wallflower got an offer, Agatha had demanded that they have a Zoom call. Aside from the scandal, Colin Bridgerton was one of the most popular actors out there. He'd had a Netflix mystery series that was super popular, been on the cover of GQ, and wrote a script that had been nominated for an Academy Award.

"I do know Eloise," Penelope said, "but my history with the family is complicated. We didn't part on good terms. I'm lucky if I get a call from Eloise on my birthday, and that depends what mood she's in."

Agatha raised an eyebrow. "This is about the social media account you ran?"

Penelope bit her lip. Running a gossip account online that targeted the rich and elite at her private boarding school had not been one of her finest moments. In order to distract from her own family scandal of her father being arrested for embezzling, she had started the account to let out steam on everyone else that had something to say about her. But then one of her rumors had gone too far, gotten someone kicked out, and it was someone close to the Bridgerton's.

When Eloise Bridgerton had figured out what she had done, they had nearly stopped being friends. But then they both moved to New York and reconnected. Still, Colin Bridgerton had once been one of her friends too, and the terrible thing she'd posted had been on him. HE had never found out. But only because Eloise had threatened to tell the whole school it was her posting about them if she continued on with the gossip account.

Penelope had stopped and she and Eloise had barely spoken.

In college, at Columbia, Penelope had written a book called The Gossip. It had been all about her experience and she had managed to get a literary agent and a book deal. That was the first book Agatha had represented for her. Now, she was twenty-five, and had several books under her belt.

The most popular of them by far had been a book called Wallflower. It was about being a plus size girl at a prep school, and being friends with one of the richest families in America. Part of the book had included all of her wildest fantasies about Colin Bridgerton. The same actor who was looking to buy it now. And The Bridgerton's had been the inspiration for the family in the book.

They owned one of the largest, organic honey operations in the U.S. Bridgerton: Sweet as honey, was their family slogan. Their mother, Violet Bridgerton, had started with the honey business, and went onto become a kind of Martha Stewart type figure in the world of home making. They had Bridgerton baking supplies, Bridgerton cookware, Bridgerton home décor, and Bridgerton cook books.

When YouTube had come along, Violet had made vlogs that showcased her life with her large family, raising them as a single mother after her husband had died. It had catapulted the family to fame and there wasn't a single person that didn't know who they were. They'd also been Penelope's next-door neighbors, and classmates.

"It's about a lot of things," said Penelope.

"But they don't even know that you wrote the book. Eloise certainly didn't. You wrote The Gossip under a penname."

"Yes, and I'm telling you, the minute that Colin Bridgerton finds out it was me that wrote that book, he'll want nothing to do with the script. Especially since he's the one that inspired Wallflower."

Agatha paused, and raised an eyebrow. She was an older black woman who had the ability to make a whole room pause with the look she was giving Penelope now. She radiated authority with everything she did. Before she'd been a literary agent, she'd spent a few years as a teacher, and Penelope suspected that was where it had come from. "You mean to tell me all of those steamy scenes your heroine imagines herself in are about America's Favorite Heartthrob?"

Penelope winced. "Yes, so you can see why it would be really awkward to have him in that movie. It's everything Teen Penelope imagined doing to him so no, I don't relish the idea of him making a movie about it and then the world finding out that's who I was obsessing over. The internet is full of Swifties. They read romance and they'll find out everything."

Agatha snorted. "You aren't wrong. But I think you need to do this. Does Colin know what you do for a living?"

Penelope thought about how most of her books had scenes in them that would make her mother blush. "No. Noone back home does. I told everyone that I am my assistant and she's helping me make money while I'm working on a 'real book'." That was an absolute lie. Penelope loved what she wrote, only she didn't exactly want her family and friends knowing that she used words like 'cock' and 'cum' in her writing. Especially when her mother had paid for her to have a fancy, Ivy League education.

"Then, keep on with the lie. Tell him that you're the assistant. I'm sure he won't even mind that you're part of this."

Penelope thought of the last time she had seen Colin. It had been the month of prom, and she'd gotten the nerve up to ask him to it. Colin had agreed and she'd been ecstatic but then she had heard him talking with his friends. He said he was only doing it because his mother had asked him to say yes. "You really think that will work?"

Agatha nodded. "Don't worry about it. I'll take care of the rest. Colin won't even know why he never met Lulu."

Penelope made a face. Reuniting with Colin was still the last thing she wanted, but she couldn't deny that she liked the idea of Wallflowers being made into a movie. "Alright. Tell him yes. Have the paperwork sent over."

"Lovely," said Agatha, "you're going to make so much fucking money. It will be brilliant."

Penelope laughed. "Well, that part I like."

"Good girl. I'll see you soon. Bye for now."

"Bye."

Penelope ended the Zoom call, and took a deep breath. Her book was going to get made into a movie starring Colin Bridgerton. "Fuck," she muttered. It was like all of her teen fantasies were coming true.