Hello, Sunshine by Leila Howland

Author:Leila Howland
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Disney Book Group
Published: 2017-07-11T04:00:00+00:00

Raj and I have developed a routine. I bring us coffee in my Ikea mugs, which just so happen to be the exact right size for the Corolla’s cup holders, we walk to wherever his car happens to be parked that day, and he drives me to the theater before heading to work.

On the way, we discuss his screenplay, which he’s making great progress on. I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone so into something. Raj is eating, breathing, and dreaming this script, which is now called Hotel California.

“So I still don’t know why our protagonist Olivia can’t leave the hotel. What’s the psychological reason the spirits are holding her there?” he asks as we make a right onto Santa Monica Boulevard. The traffic is thick.

“I’m going to be late,” I say, checking my phone.

“All the more time for you to help me get to the root of this problem. I mean, not that I want you to be late of course.” He places a hand on his chest and smiles at me. “I only have your best interests at heart, despite the fact that you’re awesome at constructing a story.”

“Flattery will get you everywhere,” I say as a Nissan Altima cuts us off and then slows down so that he makes it through the light, but we’re stuck at the red. “Damn!”

“Why’d you have to do us dirty, Mr. Nissan?” Raj asks, shaking his head.

“Talk to me,” I say, surrendering to my tardiness. I’ll have to hope I can sneak by the moody Dawn.

“Olivia is a control freak. That’s her character flaw. So she needs to get over that in order to escape. She’s going to have to think about her world in a completely new way, but I need to put a finer point on it, and make the psychological fear take a visual, tangible form.”

“So let’s think about this,” I say. “What is being a control freak all about?”

“Being a perfectionist,” Raj says. “Not wanting to hear anyone else’s point of view.”

“Yeah, yeah,” I say. “I think it’s about…avoiding chaos. Why do people avoid chaos?”

“They’re scared,” Raj says.

“Right. They don’t want to get hurt,” I say. Of course I’m thinking of Alex, who chose to cut me off emotionally so that he didn’t have to deal with the messiness of being separated from me. “They want to avoid pain.”

“Yes!” Raj says, barely making it through a yellow light.

“So in order for Olivia to escape the grip of the hotel…” I begin.

“She’s going to have to deal with some ancient pain.”

“Something that’s been haunting her,” I say as he pulls into a loading zone in front of the theater. “Only now, it’s literally haunting her!”

“I’m going to have to park and write this down,” Raj says.

“Are you sure you don’t mind all these rides?” I ask, stepping out of the car. “I should at least reimburse you for gas.”

“It’s on the way to work.”

“No, it’s not,” I say, with a smile. Of course, he blushes. Now I’ve lived here long enough to know that Raj is definitely going out of his way to bring me to rehearsal.

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