romantic comedy Archives - Addicted to Writing

Anyone But You: Haters to Lovers Trope Done Right

Posted on March 15, 2024 Written by Pinar Tarhan

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Anyone But You is the 2023 romcom starring Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell that has brought more than $210 million at box offices worldwide against a 25 million budget, giving romcom lovers and writers hope everywhere.

As a romcom writer and fan, I was curious to see if the film would meet my expectations and it has. Before I get into the spoiler-including analysis of the film’s haters-to-lovers trope, let’s talk briefly about the film and the plot so that you can decide if you want to see it.

Based loosely on Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, Anyone But You centers on Bea (Sweeney) and Ben (Powell) who have a great first meeting but “circumstances” turn their initial attraction and bond into “hatred.”

So when Bea’s sister and Ben’s good friend announce their engagement, these two are less than thrilled to have to spend a few days together in the same (albeit big and gorgeous) house. To prevent Bea and Ben from destroying the wedding with their animosity, the parents, brides-to-be, and friends plot to get Bea and Ben together. Noticing this early on, the duo fakes their relationship to get everyone off their back and help Ben get back together with an ex who happens to be his best friend’s cousin.

Expectedly, faking a relationship is never not complicated or hilarious.

My thoughts on Anyone But You

I really liked the movie. Was it always perfect? No. But it was a sweet and entertaining comedy with a great cast including Dermot Mulroney, Rachel Griffiths, and Bryan Brown. Haters-to-lovers trope rarely includes mature characters, and this one is no exception. So yes, there will be some cringy moments and scenes where you want to shout “Why don’t you just talk honestly?” to the main characters. But as a whole, it’s a satisfactory R-rated romcom, and I wouldn’t mind seeing Powell and Sweeney play a couple again in another movie, hopefully, another romantic comedy.

The problem with haters-to-lovers:

As far as romance tropes go, this is one of my least favorites. I don’t believe two people who get on each other’s nerves can ever make a compatible couple. And does anyone still buy into the myth of “If they are mean to you, it’s because they like you.”? Sure, the world has billions of people. There must be people who do confuse flirting with bullying or just downright being insufferable around the person they are crushing on. But that’s not a healthy attitude, and the relationship will be a disaster.

But you can of course play around with tropes and give it your own twist. I did in my romcom novel A Change Would Do You Good. When my protagonists Kevin and Janie first meet, it’s all sparks and chemistry. They are new neighbors, and they are nice to one another. The problem is, Kevin finds her incredibly attractive while Janie is still recovering from a loss and isn’t ready to date anyone. And just when he thinks something is going to happen, she’s thinking they are making good friends. It’s when their wildly romantic pasts and current expectations clash that they turn into haters. But the sparks and chemistry are always there, and they are two people in their 30s. You can bet they don’t stay in the haters zone for long.

Bea and Ben follow a similar pattern. When they first meet, it’s fireworks. Their first date is the stuff of dreams. But two misinterpretations start an immature animosity. They have never really hated each other, though. They just hated thinking the other person didn’t feel the same way. And we are all prone to being a little childish when we are majorly disappointed.

And who doesn’t want to spend the majority of 103 minutes at a gorgeous villa in Sydney?

Romcoms are supposed to be predictable

Yes, and that’s why we love them. I just read a review that bashed Anyone But You for capitalizing on the looks of how the lead actors are and predictability.

News flash: 99% of romcoms – whether book, movie, or film – love to feature hot characters. We want to be with one character and we want to be the other. And if it’s not predictable in certain ways, then it’s not a romcom. If you don’t give us a couple who fall madly in love and stay together, it’s not what we wanted.

Now, not all romcoms are created equal. Some will be steamier. Some will be cleaner. Some will surprise you more. Some will be more annoying. And of course, one person’s cringe is another one’s favorite love story. There are several extremely popular romcoms that I hate. So while severely disagreeing with that one reviewer, I do respect their right to hate it – just not the reasons they gave for it.

My only beef with the movie…

It makes me feel old. While I’m from the same generation as Glen Powell, I’m just not ready to watch Dermot Mulroney as an adult’s dad or the supporting guy in a romantic movie. Whether he’s marrying his adorable girlfriend (My Best Friend’s Wedding), falling in love big time while fighting cancer (Griffin and Phoenix), or realizing he’s marrying the wrong woman after all (The Family Stone), I need him in the lead role in a romantic movie. 🙂

Other featured tropes in the film:

Love/attraction at first sight
Close Proximity
Plotting friends and family
Fake relationship

Also recommended:

The Hating Game. As immature as the characters can be, they at least have a somewhat valid reason to hate each other. I loved both the movie and the book.
Much Ado About Nothing (93 movie). You might not be in the mood to read Shakespeare, but what if you could watch a period romcom starring Emma Thompson, Kenneth Branagh, Denzel Washington, Michael Keaton and Keanu Reeves?
Griffin and Phoenix. Yes, watch My Best Friends’s Wedding and The Family Stone if you haven’t already. But Griffin and Phoenix is a romantic drama that is superior to both romcoms. And this is huge coming from me because I’m usually not in the mood for watching romantic films where both characters might die and a happy ending is improbable. But like I’ve covered in my book How to Write the Ultimate Non-Tragic Romance, it is one thing to suddenly tell your audience/reader that your character has cancer after they have invested in their relationship versus telling them right away. When the audience knows right away, all the drama feels more organic and it will be sadder. And it’s a healthy, realistic, sweet, and sexy romance between two adults – which is unfortunately not done that often.

Have you seen any of the movies I mentioned in the post? What did you think? Comment away. 🙂

A Castle for Christmas: A Fun Look into Movies with Writer Characters and The Netflix Christmas Movie

Posted on December 7, 2021 Written by Pinar Tarhan

A Castle for Christmas movie poster — Image via Netflix.com.

A Castle for Christmas is the latest Netflix Christmas movie released in late November so that us, Christmas romcom lovers can get their fix early on.

So let’s get started…

A Castle for Christmas starring Brooke Shields and Cary Elwes: Plot Summary (no spoilers, yet

Brooke Shields plays Sophie McGuinty (Sophie Brown after marriage), a rich, successful, bestselling author. She has forged a successful career through her series of romance books featuring Emma Gale and her love interest Winston.

The problem? Sophie commits a cardinal sin in the eyes of her fans: She kills Winston in her latest book. The fallout, as well as the upcoming marriage of her now ex-husband (whose actions did certainly inspire the killing of Winston), gives her a wonderful idea: Go to the Scotland village where her father worked and write there.

In Scotland, she immediately makes friends and happy fans who couldn’t care less she killed off Winston. She even has the almost-fell-but-saved-by-a-stranger meet cute with the handsome local and laborer Myles (Cary Elwes).

When she wants to tour the village castle where her dad spent part of his childhood, Myles offers her a private tour. But their instant attraction turns sour when Sophie sneaks around to do her own thing.

From then on, Myles is Grumpy McGrumperson, acting like he hates everything single Sophie does. It gets worse when Sophie finds out Myles is actually the duke who owns the castle.

To add insult to Myles’ injured pride, he is losing the castle to financial troubles, Sophie is his one willing buyer.

Realizing it is either the banks or Sophie, he offers a tricky deal where Sophie can invest a deposit and abide by Myles’s rules to stay in the castle and learn how to run it for a certain amount of time. Of course, the plan is to make her suffer so that she will run, losing the sizeable deposit.

Obviously, Sophie is tougher than he realized, and it doesn’t help that she is pretty, lovely and everyone loves her.

So it is the will of battles while these two try to fend off their attraction.

You really don’t need me to tell you the end. 🙂

Is it fun? Is it full of cliches? Is it pretty to look at?

Yes. Yes. And yes.

Are you looking for originality? Run.

Surprises? Go away.

Can’t stand cliches? Why are you watching a Christmas-themed romcom? What’s wrong with you?

Those who have a soft spot for Christmas, Scotland, Cary Elwes, and Brooke Shields, and the guaranteed romcom ending? You can stay. This movie is for you.

I had a blast. In addition to the soft spots I mentioned above, the movie has another major draw for me:

A writer as a protagonist.

So, for all the writers among us, let’s look at that film through that lens. And yes, let there be spoilers.

Movies with Writer Characters: A Castle for Christmas

Lessons and tips on marketing, writing, inspiration, dealing with negative reviews, and beyond

Fantasy fulfillment: Successful writer with a large backlist

My favorite part of the movie is how it fulfills my fantasies, and I’m not even talking about the duke. Yet.

I immediately empathize with and root for Brooke Shields’ character Sophie. She has lived a charmed life – having gotten a lucrative traditional publishing deal for a big series.

Being a bestseller is a dream for many of us, even if in the end we’ll just use it as an enabler of bill-paying and writing whatever we want.

In that regard, she is where we want to be in our careers.

Replace romance with the genre you write, and the traditional publishing deal with the path you prefer.

She is a romance author. Hello! Romcom drama author here. The romantic storylines are the hearts of my story. (Apologies for the necessary pun.)

She lives in a big house, has a loving and supportive daughter, and most importantly, as we will later find out, she can afford to go to Scotland on a whim and buy a castle. Financial (fantasy) goals right there.

I might not be in the market for Scotland castles, but I sure as hell want to be able to travel and buy houses when and where I like.

And instead of a daughter, I’ll take many loving and super supportive friends (which she will get pretty soon).

Her agent, despite being pushy, is also pretty sweet and capable. (Repeat after me: She has an agent who believes in her! I mean…)

So basically, right out of the gate, this movie was made for me. I was in love. Love at first protagonist reveal if you will.

And who cares about a little thing called divorce if you are going to give me a Cary Elwes later? (Is it just me, or is he the prettiest and youngest-looking 59-year-old man you’ve ever seen? Do ignore his weird smile on the poster, though.)

So of course, she has a major career-related problem too:

She has killed off a beloved character, and her readers want her head on a stick. Big f—ing whoop. (I mean…it would be nice not to have fans protesting outside The Drew Barrymore Show studio, but the silver lining is that she’s getting booked on The Drew Barrymore Show. People know who she is!!!)

Rejection and negative reviews are par for the course. But one reader’s thrash is another’s treasure. And vice versa.

She has/had readers! She can write tens of books. She can afford a castle. She can afford a big apartment. She can handle this crisis.

And she handles it beautifully (and yes, pretty luckily.)

Not all readers are the same. Great marketing lesson right there. She has fans who still love her and are actually glad Winston is gone. (I’m sure she even has fans who are sick of her main character and want stories with new characters.)

Get social. You will be inspired.

Doing different things gives us ideas. She knows what she wants to write about after a day out in the town with the duke, inspired by a lore. Different country, different people, different activities.

Exercise and fresh air motivate you and make you stronger.

OK, this is my least favorite takeaway and the least obvious one, but she does go about cycling and spends time outdoors a lot. I’m guessing that has helped her put up with the horrid accommodation conditions the duke made her put up with. I’d have gotten the flu the first week, and then after I recovered, I’d be finding legal and satisfactory ways to kick his royal and grumpy ass.

But then I don’t exercise enough, so I shall, begrudgingly, learn this lesson.

Be nice to fans, and be open to marketing ideas.

She is really great with the first one. She even takes over the castle tour and people love it. Duke’s right hand even suggests putting her books in the gift shop, and she says she wouldn’t go that far…

But she is at a stage in her career where she doesn’t need to do it. In real life, if you have a chance to do classy online marketing, take it. And if I am an author giving castle tours and people are loving me for it, you’d bet I’d give them the opportunity to buy books on site.

It’s okay to take a break. It’s okay to recharge. But don’t give up.

This is the most obvious lesson, but it is there and it’s super helpful.

A Castle for Christmas as a Christmas Romcom

Yes, it is cheesy. And sometimes, instead of falling for the duke yourself, you want to give him a good shake and say “What’s wrong with you, man?” because, repeat after me, grumpiness and negativity are not sexy.

He also sabotages his own happiness by acting against his own desires for most of the movie.

It takes him super long to separate his identity from his property and admit/accept/embrace what really matters in life and to him.

That said, he has redeeming qualities that make us forgive him.

He does acknowledge pretty early on that Sophie’s ex husband is an idiot.
He is smart and he actually has a profession other than just being a royal who inherited something.
He is hard-working.
He’s super compassionate. He did this brilliant, life-saving thing for the whole village, even though it put him at a severe disadvantage financially.
He can be super romantic.
He is attracted to a woman his age.

So you have:

The opposites attract trope but in a redeeming way. Here opposites aren’t necessarily opposites so much as they have conflicting goals and conflicting ways of dealing with problems.
Supportive, super friendly, loyal-as-hell people. No one has a bad heart in this movie. Possible? No. Do we love the escapism? Yes!
Christmas, snow, horse-riding, a castle, shiny and colorful lights, a great dance

And best of all, and I can’t stress enough, the leads are in their 50s. We don’t get enough romcoms in this age group.

(Seriously, if I get one more character who freaks about turning 30 and not being married…)

TL, DR?

– The protagonist is a prolific writer who lives the fantasy of many, many real-life writers.

– Scotland is gorgeous. Christmas can be lovely. Dances rock!

– Romantic love and sex are great at any age.

– There is a lot of cheese. Cheese and clichés abound. You have been warned.

If you spend your time complaining about how romcoms and Christmas movies are annoying and all the same and so predictable, do not watch it.

The rest of you, especially the writers, jump on board.

So what other Netflix Christmas romcoms do I recommend?

Love Hard
A Christmas Prince series (3 movies)
A California Christmas series (2 movies)
Holidate (This technically covers all major holidays and special days, but Christmas is there too!)

First Chapter of My New Romance Novel: A Change Would Do You Good

Posted on January 2, 2021 Written by Pinar Tarhan

A Change Would Do You Good. A romcom novel by Pinar Tarhan.

My upcoming novel is called A Change Would Do You Good, and it’s a romcom drama set in California. It features an ensemble cast of colorful characters, and my protagonist Janie has to navigate loss and a crazy amount of change if she wants to adjust to her crazy new world.

If I were to name chapters, this first chapter would be called Welcome to the Neighborhood.

Read on for a surprise at the end!

A Change Would Do You Good

Chapter 1

Los Angeles

Janie sat in her therapist Dr. Lucia Lopez’s office for the twenty-seventh time. She had been seeing her for about seven months.

Eight months ago, her boyfriend Lenny had died. Seven months ago, to add insult to injury, her two best friends Sarah and Andy had moved to Canada. That was when Janie knew she wouldn’t survive this without professional help.

It was the right call. They had talked through her pain, as well as feelings of abandonment and betrayal. Who would move abroad when their best friend was mourning the loss of her boyfriend? He had died two days before her thirty-fifth birthday. And a few weeks after his.

But, of course, it wasn’t that simple. Sarah and Andy weren’t just Janie’s best friends. They were also Lenny’s. Not that grief was, or ever should be a competitive sport. If it were, they would all probably be sharing the medal for first place: Sarah and Lenny had met when they were in diapers. Literally. Their parents were neighbors and dear friends. Luckily for them, their kids — both only children — had taken to each other immediately. Sarah had been inconsolable when Lenny’s father took a job in New York; they were in ninth grade. That’s when she met Janie.

Andy was Lenny’s college roommate. The two bonded over their dream to become Formula 1 drivers and realized it together.

Lenny had introduced Sarah to Andy, and after their move back to LA the four of them had been inseparable. Lenny was a close friend for years before he and Janie started dating.

Yes, the three of them were in immense pain. The difference was Sarah and Andy had each other. And Vancouver had them.

To be fair, Janie did see the appeal of making a new start in a new environment. Yes, she still felt a bit let down. But she was no longer angry with her friends. Talking things through with her therapist had helped immensely.

Lopez observed her patient as Janie studied the beautiful scenic photos of San Diego sprucing up the walls. She was particularly drawn to the blue-dominant one, where high, wild waves crashed onto the golden beach sand.

“Ever been?” Her therapist asked.

“When I was a kid. We vacationed there a lot. It was lovely.”

“Still is.”

Janie could hardly look away from the pictures. She was thinking. Planning. “I never went there with Lenny.”

“Might be just what you need to start over,” her therapist prompted.

“I turned down a job there a couple of weeks ago. Loved the firm. Loved what they offered. But I wasn’t sure I could handle such a huge change.”

“And now?” Janie leaned back and smiled. Her therapist continued. “Being the new person in an environment can provide a lot of distraction. And I definitely encourage you to go out and meet as many new people as you can. Still, never hurts to have someone you can call.” Lopez picked at the neatly stacked Rolodex on her desk. She searched a bit before she found the name she wanted. She took the card out and handed it to Janie. “Greg’s a good friend of mine from school. He’s a therapist himself, but he works for a corporation.”

Janie threw her a curious look.

“I’m sure he can recommend a few decent local therapists should you need one, but I’m really just giving you the number of a friend. He can show you around. Introduce you to people,” the therapist explained.

“Won’t he be weirded out? Me being your patient?”

“Janie, you’re just going through a tough time. And honestly, I think you will hit it off.” Janie looked horrified. The therapist laughed a little. “Relax. I’m not matchmaking. I know you’re not ready to date again. And Greg is seeing someone. But he makes a damn good friend.”

“Thank you,” Janie said gratefully.

Janie wasted no time calling Greg when she went home. If she were going to change cities, she might as well start making friends. He sounded even more pleasant than described.

She made her second call to Ellen Parker, the head of the San Diego fashion design firm who had offered her the job.

Janie was in her bedroom, hastily packing the remainder of her wardrobe into the suitcase on her bed. She wanted to be out of there like yesterday. Her older brother Peter sat next to the suitcase, disapproving, which was his default mode. Janie kept ignoring him. That was her default in their relationship. He’d never change. And on the plus side, he couldn’t stand being ignored.

Janie looked at her almost full suitcase, and then at the other fully-packed carry-on on the floor. Her closet was far from empty. Peter read her mind.

“That’s what happens when you shop non-stop for three weeks.” Peter pointed out the obvious. Janie kept packing. “You don’t have to do this, you know,” he pressed.

She went into the bathroom. The moment she was out of sight, Peter unzipped the suitcase on the bed and threw the clothes back into the wardrobe.

Janie returned with her toiletries and saw Peter unpacking. “What the hell?” She darted to her bed, pushing him aside. She dumped the toiletries on the bed and quickly recovered the items from the wardrobe, throwing them back into the suitcase until it couldn’t take any more. Then she zipped it shut with one swift, angry pull.

“Hey, take it easy. You know I have nothing against you moving on. But transforming your whole life to do it?”

“Remind me, when did the love of your life die?” She lifted her suitcase from the bed and put it on the floor. She dragged the carry-ons as she exited the room.

Peter followed her outside. As soon as he saw the new red Chevrolet Camaro parked in the driveway, his eyes almost left their sockets – cartoon style. “What was wrong with your perfectly normal car?”

Janie just placed her suitcases in the trunk and shut it. The backseat was full of photo albums, DVDs and CDs.

“Do you have any savings left at all? And why are you still traveling like it’s the 90s?”

Janie smirked at the question. Peter looked like he might have a heart attack soon. She got in the car and closed the door. She took out what looked like a brand-new phone from her bag, gestured him to call her and drove away.

Peter frowned, then instinctively fished out his phone to test his theory. He dialed Janie’s number. No longer in use.

Janie sped away in her convertible. Her car’s speakers blasted AC/DC’s Highway to Hell for good measure. She smiled as she mouthed the lyrics, ironically feeling like she was escaping hell.

Janie looked out of the window of her new fourth-story apartment. She could see the beach down the road. On quieter days, she bet she could hear the waves splashing on the shore.

The neighborhood was stunning with just enough colorful buildings. Not too crowded. The tallest ones had five or six floors at the most, giving everyone space to breathe.

The inhabitants were intent on making the most of the beach. People who lived here weren’t exactly rich, but they didn’t have money problems either. Not that Janie cared about that. It would just be nice to hit Peter with the facts when he started nagging that she’d downgraded her life somehow.

A couple of hours later, Janie sat on her sofa and took in her spacious two-bedroom apartment. It was modern and vibrant without being too quirky. It was completely her. She had only a few boxes left to unpack. She smiled to herself, dialed her mom on her cell and left a message.

“Hi, mom. Just calling to say I’m almost settled. This place is amazing. Remember, you can’t give this number to Peter. Or my address. Not yet.”

She hung up and dialed Greg. Got his voicemail.

“Hey! You were right. This place is something else. Thanks for everything. Let me know when you want to meet up.”

Past midnight, Janie was sound asleep in her bed. Suddenly, loud hardcore metal music with brutal vocals blasted from downstairs and jolted her awake.

“What the hell?” she yelled and tried to go back to sleep. She buried her head in her pillow. The music continued. Frustrated, she took her MP3 player from her top night table drawer. She put her earphones on. Before she could push play, she heard the loud crack of a gunshot. Then another.

Shaking off her initial panic, Janie dialed 911.

*******

Liked what you read? Subscribe below to get the next five chapters in pdf form! It includes the cover and the first chapter as well.

Making A Difference (M.A.D.): Chapter 3 (Writer Birthday Gifts Continue)

Posted on December 5, 2019 Written by Pinar Tarhan

Hi, Writers!

As promised, I’m posting chapter two from my contemporary romcom novel Making A Difference (M.A.D.). If you want it for free for my birthday, email to me about it by the 7th of December at pinartarhan@windowslive.com. If you want to buy it, you can buy it on Amazon (aff.link).

Missed chapter 2? It’s here.

Without further ado, here’s chapter 3:

CHAPTER 3

Present Day

Zoe and Colin loved staying in as much as dining out, so this time Zoe prepared an intimate picnic setting in her living room while Colin cooked one of his own recipes. Luckily for her, the man was an expert at whipping up delicious meals. If there was a gene that made you want to cook, she didn’t possess it.

As they settled on the woolen blanket on the floor, leaning against the leg of the sofa, Colin was still a little shocked. He was expecting Jay to offer her a decent position with grand benefits, but he so hadn’t seen this coming.

“Wow!” he said probably for the hundredth time that evening and took a big bite of his food.

“I thought you’d be over it by now.”

“But it’s so huge!”

“I know. It’s amazing.” Zoe sipped her drink.

“Amazing. Astonishing. Scary. Aren’t you a bit overwhelmed?”

“Are you kidding? Of course, I am. My head is about to explode with ideas.”

“Must’ve been one hell of an intern.”

“You had doubts?”

“Never.” He leaned in and gave her a kiss. “Although…I’m a bit worried about how much less time you’re going to have for me now.”

“Says the man who signed a three-book contract and is scheduled for book-signing all over the US and Canada.”

“Well-played.”

Zoe grinned and kissed him. Colin laid a trail of seductive kisses down her neck. The food was going to get cold, but so what?

Zoe started work the next day even though Martin and Jay had offered her more time. Transitioning from freelancing with one client to a full-time office job where she’d be co-running a busy firm was bound to create a culture shock for anyone, but Zoe wouldn’t hear of it. She was beyond ready. Besides, Martin’s wedding was approaching, and he needed to finish updating Zoe before he went on his honeymoon.

Plus, she had to redecorate Martin’s office. It was so blatantly male, minimalistic and chromium, it gave her the chills. Jay had already assigned a generous stipend. While he didn’t believe in spending more than he had to on clothes, he never held back when it came to optimizing the work environment and increasing productivity.

Zoe was mentally renovating when Keira dropped by.

“Welcome back,” Keira said enthusiastically.

Zoe smiled. “Thanks. Feels good to be back. And I love your hair!” She did. Keira had gone with a spiky cut and dyed it black. It surprisingly made her look more feminine and contrasted nicely with her pantsuit.

“Congratulations on the book! Loved it. And love your boyfriend! Cute and brilliant.” Keira suspected Jay would grimace at Colin being described as “cute” and “brilliant.” He believed Colin was overrated, though Jay would probably deem Zoe’s boyfriend not good enough even if she were dating Hugh Jackman. She suppressed the urge to mention this in front of Zoe.

“I’ve missed you, Keira.” The girls exchanged a short hug.

“You’ll so liven up things around here,” Keira said.

“Are you implying working with Martin and me was boring?” Jay had chosen that moment to appear.

Keira grinned. “Would I ever? But there is exciting. Then there’s exciting and a damn good time!”

Jay was too used to Keira’s teasing to even roll his eyes. He turned to Zoe. “You are indeed more fun than Martin and me combined on a given day, but she really shouldn’t rub that in.”

Keira winked at him and left with the usual skip in her step.

“So when are you going furniture-hunting?”

“Already took care of it. Everything will be here by the afternoon.” Jay looked at her quizzically. “What? Like you didn’t know I’d go shopping right after I said yes. So, now that we’ve established I’m set, let’s get to it, Clark.”

Jay smiled, and they went into his office to begin with the non-financial stuff, aka the stuff they could get done without Martin.

And it was just as fun as they remembered. They knew exactly how the other one’s mind worked, and this made the process so much faster, not to mention more fun. Zoe thought about the first time they’d worked together.

Five Years Ago

It was early in the morning, right after the business commuters and students with early classes had left. The medium-sized coffee shop had only a bunch of people in it now.

Zoe occupied her favorite corner table by the window, typing away happily on her laptop, remembering to sip her coffee before it turned cold and mouthing the lyrics to the Elvis Presley version of Fever playing in the background.

She didn’t notice Jay come in and walk to the bar. The song made him wish he was at a blues bar or a dance hall. Put on the right song, place him on the dance floor with a partner who could dance, or at least follow, and well… he knew how to have a good time. He’d inherited his knack for dancing also from Faye.

As he waited for his order of a double espresso with little sugar, he scanned the room, and he was pleased to see Zoe on her own, singing Fever. The girl had the guts, the motivation and the plans to take on the world. And evidently, she had decent taste in music too. He smiled to himself, grabbed his coffee and strolled over to her table.

Zoe looked up to see Jay coming toward her and smiled. She didn’t really care if she looked silly lip-singing. She adored the song, and she wasn’t going to feel embarrassed for being caught in the moment. Besides, it was one of her good-hair, good-skin days. There was nothing wrong with wanting to look presentable in front of a teacher. OK, maybe it was a little about how attractive Jay was. Wanting to attract people you considered attractive was only natural, right?

Jay wasn’t the first good-looking teacher she knew. However, he was the only good-looking teacher with his brains, motives and success. Moreover, despite all that, he wasn’t smug. She marveled at how easy it was to chat with him. To be around him.

“Just to go? This place is great for chilling out,” Zoe commented on his plastic cup.

“So it would seem. This is a new place, right? Most coffee shops are just too loud and badly decorated to enjoy your coffee indoors. Not to mention the horrible stuff they try to pass for music.”

“This is better than a library if you know the hours to avoid. And they have decent taste. So you might want to take in the atmosphere.”

Jay took the hint and sat in the armchair across her, putting his coffee on the table. “What’re you doing here so early anyway?” he asked.

“Developing a project proposal. You?”

“I have a meeting with the dean,” Jay answered. “We’ve been working on this project together to provide a wider range of scholarships for underprivileged kids.”

“That sounds great.”

“It’s something we’ve both been meaning to do. What’s your project about?”

“A development program proposal to get free tutoring for dyslexic school kids so they can keep up with their classmates. They’ll also engage in fun confidence and skill-building activities. Once I’m done, I’ll pitch to companies with corporate responsibility projects in education.”

The project was right up Clark & Foster’s alley, but she wasn’t going to pitch to her teacher. She was afraid it would look like she was only after scoring a good grade. Yes, she wanted an A. But she hadn’t been building connections and researching like crazy for the past few months to solely to maintain her GPA. Besides, her work was solid enough to sell itself.

“Why don’t you e-mail it to me when you are done?”

“Really?”

“If it’s feasible, I’ll try to squeeze it in with our current schedule. If not, I’ll get you in touch with companies that would kill for this kind of stuff.”

“Thanks, Jay. I really appreciate it.”

“Is this for a class?”

“It’s for me. Well, it is for the kids. I don’t have an awful lot of money to donate, and I’m good at creating stuff…And at the expense of sounding superficial, I’ve to admit it beats individual volunteer work. Most projects just have a better chance of making an impact when they are funded by a corporation that can hire experts.”

“That doesn’t sound superficial. It sounds viable. It also sounds like me.”

“I might as well deserve to be in your class.”

“I like your idealism. Balancing the fun with your conscience…I have a tendency to forget about fun.”

“I’m not capable of that. But I can’t turn off the second part either, the part about wanting to improve things. That’s your fault.” She beamed at him, and he returned the smile. She continued, “People always feel obliged to take some action only when something bad happens to them personally. I mean you are helping people fight diseases, poverty, traumatic experiences… But you basically never had any drama in your life.”

“Well, my dad’s an idiot. That ought to count for some trauma.” They both laughed.

Jay’s father was a conservative who had run for the Senate and won. He was anti-choice, anti-gay, pro-war, and Jay couldn’t believe they were related. He theorized Faye had dropped the guy on his head when he was a baby or something. Since his parents were on the same page, growing up would have been a nightmare without Faye around.

Jay glanced at his watch and jumped to his feet. “I just remembered why I took the coffee to go. Don’t forget to e-mail me the final version.”

“Will do. Thanks again.”

“Hope your zeal rubs off on the rest of my class.” He downed the rest of his coffee and headed for the exit. So what if he showed up a little late? He rarely found the time to relax and embrace the moment. It was a delightful change of pace.

Five Years Ago

NYU campus

Two days after they had run into each other at the coffee shop, Zoe was resting on a bench, reading Dan Brown’s Deception Point.

“How’s Brown treating you?” Jay said, walking toward her. He had caught sight of her on his way to his office on the campus.

She looked up. “I love my mainstream thriller.”

Jay sat down beside her. “I love any book I can’t put down, so I have a weakness for Brown too.”

“What’s your favorite?”

“Hate to be a cliché but it’s The Da Vinci Code.” Not a literary snob either, thought Zoe. Jay Clark was officially her favorite teacher.

“I’ve been meaning to ask you –”

“Did I have a chance to read your proposal?” he cut in. Zoe nodded with anticipation. “I e-mailed you ten minutes ago.” Jay smiled.

The suspense was killing Zoe. “So, what did you think?”

“Faye told me she could give you a hand if you needed.”

“You showed this to Faye Clark? And she liked it?”

“She was impressed by the effort and heart of it. Martin has some suggestions on funding, but basically, you did one hell of a job.”

Zoe needed to get into the nearest closed space to dance around. She wouldn’t be able to get back to normal unless she got the excitement out of her system. Dancing was her favorite way of calming down. And celebrating.

“Thank you,” she managed, her veins abuzz with excitement.

“I’m not done. We want to see if you can pull off organizing the whole thing for real.”

“You want me to actually do this? With your resources?”

“And if you succeed, Clark and Foster will be more than happy to offer you an internship. What do you think?”

“I think I’ll get to work on it right away.”

“Let’s meet in my campus office. You have any classes after four?” She shook her head. “It’s settled then. Martin will also be there to talk the details through.”

She nodded. Jay got up and walked out.

She was delighted. Landing an internship with Clark and Foster was extremely hard. Unlike most companies that hired and discarded interns, and treated them like low-lives that were barely smart enough to serve coffee and paid them ridiculously little (if they paid at all), Clark and Foster treated them as one of their permanent staff. They were respected, fairly compensated, looked after and given opportunities. In return, they were expected to pour themselves 100% into the company.

You didn’t intern at Clark & Foster to fill a month. You interned there to prove yourself worthy of a career there. They only hired the smartest, most dedicated and emotionally invested people. She’d better not screw this up.