Summer’s mouth twitched. “You just have to tell me straight that you want me to work in Tip Top. Why beat around the bush? Aren’t you tired of it?”
Leonardo choked when he heard what she said. He clenched his fists as he hemmed. “I just want to know what you think.”
“Okay,” Summer replied.
It seemed that she had agreed without even thinking. For a moment, Leonardo did not know what to say.
She tried to sound him out. “Because I rejected you last time, so you—”
“You can start work tomorrow,” Leonardo cut her off, not giving her the chance to ask. After that, he picked up the phone and called Carl.
The corner of her mouth curled up in a smirk. This guy had started to show his true colors again.
On the way home, Summer suddenly asked him, “Is this a back door thing or what?”
“Back door?” Leonardo cocked an eyebrow. “No.”
However, Summer thought otherwise. If not for Leonardo, she would have had to fight her way through to join Tip Top Entertainment.
A few minutes later, Leonardo spoke again, “If I get you an entire team of people to write screenplays and provide all kinds of support that you could ever dream of, making you a famous screenwriter in six months, that would be going through the back door.”
“Have you thought of opening such a back door for me?” she asked curiously.
“Anytime, as long as you want it.” Leonardo looked over at her, his expression telling her he was serious.
Tip Top Entertainment was the leading player in the entertainment world, and Leonardo was its actual owner. He understood the business like the back of his hand. So-called overnight successes were actually a team effort. Those starlets only became famous in the last few years because they had a powerful team behind them.
Adams was the only person who had started from scratch with Tip Top and slowly climbed to the top. Summer had witnessed firsthand how good Leonardo was at public relations. She had no doubt that he could make her a top screenwriter in six months, but that was not what she wanted.
A dream was something precious that needed some tender loving care; she did not want to take a shortcut. What she wanted was to realize her dream in the truest sense.
She was young, and she still had time. As long as she worked hard, nothing was impossible. She believed in herself.
She did not know that Leonardo had thought of and done so many things, but now she knew.
She did not need all that, but it still touched her heart.
Leonardo was a businessman who had seen enough things in the entertainment industry.
It was natural that he wanted to clear the way for her.
“Do you think I can be a top screenwriter without taking a shortcut?” As much as she believed in herself, she wanted to get some recognition from Leonardo too.
“Anyone who could become my woman is definitely marvelous.” Leonardo looked at her.
Marvelous? His words knocked the wind out of her sails.
Receiving a glare from her, Leonardo’s lips curled into a smile. His woman would not fail. Even if Summer did, he was there for her. He could make that little dream of hers come true with the lift of a finger. How could he let her fail?
…
Summer started work in Tip Top the next day. However, she got into a petty argument with Leonardo early in the morning over her insistence on taking public transportation. She was adamant.
“I can take public transportation.”
Very few people knew that Leonardo was Tip Top’s president. He was nearly invisible as he came and went. If he brought her along, he would risk exposing himself.
Leonardo offered her a compromised solution. “Let the chauffeur send you.”
“No!” She shook her head. She was just an assistant screenwriter intern, how could she be seen chauffeured around like a boss?
Leonardo’s face darkened even more. “Summer…”
She and Leonardo had been in a harmonious relationship recently. She knew more about Leonardo now than ever before, knowing how to pacify him as he was about to get angry. She was almost a dab hand at it.
Walking up to Leonardo, she stood on her toes, kissed him, and patted him on the head. “I’m only an intern. If I’m seen being chauffeured around, what will people say about me? I mean it. I can take public transportation…”
A minute ago, Leonardo still looked like the lion king, and the next minute, he was as gentle as a sheep after Summer did her magic.
“Let me send you to the station.”
“Okay.”
Leonardo sent her to the station and watched as she got on the bus. Only then did he instruct Tim to drive toward Tip Top.
Summer breathed a sigh of relief once Leonardo left. After the bus passed a set of traffic lights, she looked back inadvertently and saw Leonardo’s flashy, limited edition Bentley following it closely.
She nearly wanted to roll her eyes. Sometimes, she found that Leonardo was just plain childish. Turning her head back, she took out her mobile phone to call him.
“What is it?” Leonardo answered her call at warp speed.
“Why are you following my bus?” She covered the mobile phone with her hand and spoke with a low voice.
There was no response from him for a couple of seconds. Then, he finally spoke in a solemn tone of voice, “That’s because the bus is in front of me. I can only follow.”
“You…” Unable to find the words to respond, she hung up on him. Tomorrow, she was not going to take the bus but the subway. She would see how he was going to follow her, then.
…
Once Summer arrived at the company, someone assisted her with filling out forms and other stuff that new employees needed to do.
The movie market had been booming, especially since two years ago. The demand for scripts was high and good screenwriters were sought after. Only the big players could afford to work with the top screenwriters, and smaller companies were lacking in that regard. Tip Top Entertainment was the top dog in the business, so it was at an advantageous spot. Nevertheless, it still lacked screenwriters.
Summer had started to write her script since she was still a student. However, she still needed to start from scratch in the company. The shortage of screenwriters was so evident in Tip Top that on the first day of work, Summer was given a ton of work.
At lunchtime, Leonardo called her over. She went into his office and collapsed on the sofa.
“Tired?” Leonardo brought her a glass of water.
She took the glass and gulped down its content at once. “Your company doesn’t have enough screenwriters. There’s so much work that I’m overwhelmed.” She did not mean that her seniors were bullying rookies like her; it was just that there were too many tasks to complete.
“Many have quit because they can’t cope,” Leonardo said after he remained silent for a moment.
“What about a pay raise?”
Leonardo looked at her as if she was mad. “No other companies pay screenwriters more than Tip Top does in the entire industry.”