Fated (A Chris Evans Series)

New Line Cinema

Denise was nervous, she was about to meet the head of production at New Line Cinema to pitch her ideas and showcase several scripts she'd written for school. Chris had asked why her series wasn't part of the collation of materials she was taking to the meeting. He thought it would've made for a good television series, or even a movie trilogy. He'd read the original script, the one she'd kept in a private folder on her MacBook. He had faith in it. There was potential there and he didn't understand why she argued against pitching it. He told her, "fan fiction or not, it's a great love story." She admitted that it was but she still didn't think anyone would want to turn a fan girl's fantasy into something for the big screens.

Denise hugged her laptop bag to her chest and nervously chewed on the inside of her cheek as Chris pulled into the parking lot of the studio's headquarters. He turned to her. She was so nervous, so deeply lost in her own thoughts that she didn't notice his car had stopped. All she could hear were the voices in her head. They were all very mean, with their "it's not going to happen" and "you are going to get rejected" and "they probably won't even see you." Her right hand reached for her right earlobe and fiddled with her earring, her left reached for her clover necklace and fiddled with the pendant. These were things she did when she was nervous, it was as though she thought they were capable of distracting her from her thoughts.

"Hey," Chris reached over the gearbox and curled his fingers over Denise's wrists, distancing her hands from her jewelry. "I know you're nervous but you gotta breathe." He forced her gaze onto him, acting out breathing movements so she could follow suit. "Okay," one hand released one of her wrists to caress her face, "you are going to be fine. Geoff and I talked, you've got a ten o'clock with him and he's very excited to meet you. All you need to do is walk in there and dazzle him with your talents."

"Dazzle," she swallowed with a nod. "I can do dazzle."

"I know you can." He smiled, giving her cheek a quick brush with his thumb before returning both hands to his lap. "Now I've got a meeting myself, so I'll be back to pick you up. Geoff said he's giving you an hour, so hopefully my side ends by eleven. If I'm not here when you get out, just text me and hang out at Starbucks for a little bit." She nodded. It would've come as a surprise to Chris if she'd processed all he was telling her, it was clear she was simply trying to focus on her breathing. "You are going to do amazing, baby." He leaned forward and smacked a loud kiss on the side of her head, successfully drawing a smile from her. "Now go," he chuckled, reaching over her to open her door. "Get out of my car."

"Excuse me?" She simultaneously scoffed and chuckled at the same time. "Is that really how a gentleman talks to his lady?" She asked as she got out, closing the door behind her. "I should really call Lisa so she can give his smart-ass a good whooping," she mumbled to herself, smiling.

Chris wound down the window as Denise walked around to his side, "no, but I know if I don't kick you out- you're not going to get out." He rested his elbow on the window's ledge, eyes darting to his watch to remind her it was almost ten. "Hop along, little bunny. Hollywood awaits," he beckoned his head to the entrance behind her. She turned and stared at the entrance, feet unable to move despite how strongly her brain was urging them to. "You're going to nail it, Nise," Chris assured her.

"As hard as you nailed me last night?" Denise heard herself murmur the joke under her breath. Chris laughed, but she couldn't find it in herself to. She did, however, manage a smile at the sound of his alluring laughter. "Okay," she huffed, glancing back at him. "I'm going to go in, wish me luck."

"Luck is for the talentless," he winked and her smile widened. "Power couple!" He called out as she walked away from his car, making her chuckle. She held up a hand and waved at him without turning around. "Power couple indeed," Chris grinned when he saw her disappear behind the doors, then drove off to his own meeting.
• • • • • • • •
The scene inside immediately overwhelmed Denise. Everyone was moving at a pace she knew she'd have trouble keeping up with if she had been lucky enough to get an internship there. It was at that point that she realized how fortunate she was to have Chris. There were going to be negative repercussions, she'd submitted herself to that fact. But she had to know there was going to be hell to pay whether or not she used the help he offered, the industry she was pursuing was not going to be a smooth ride. This was Hollywood, people got in the business not only by their talent but the names they had in their back pocket. It was going to be a hard climb no matter the equipment she was distributed, if she could have a safety line, or a partner to help her along the way- why couldn't she utilize that prerogative?