Became an American Retro Novelist - Chapter 141



Only Noblemtl

141.

The call came back sooner than expected.

As soon as the “ring ring” sound rang out, Alexa, who had been fidgeting at her desk the whole time, ran out of the room. She ran down the stairs and to the phone in front of the door in one breath, picked up the receiver and put it to her ear, shouting almost at the same time.

“Yes, yes! I changed the phone!”

[······Why is your voice so urgent?]

“god!”

The tension was momentarily relieved by the voice of a welcome opponent.

And Alexa, whose cheeks immediately turned red, couldn’t hide her joy and shouted.

“I have a quick call to make! How are things going over there?”

[Not bad. I just finished all the necessary administrative work and applied for dormitory accommodation.]

“Oh, you said you were going to the dorm?”

[I’m thinking about that. I found out that the housing prices here are pretty expensive.]

“Hmm, that’s a bit disappointing.”

As she said that, Alexa slumped down next to the phone.

The front door was a place to enter and exit the house, but because of the presence of the telephone, her mother placed a cushion on a small chest of drawers. Sitting on it, with one knee in her arms, Alexa spoke her thoughts as they came to her without thinking much about it.

“If you rented a room, I can stay there for a night when I go over there.”

It took about six hours to get from Los Angeles to Stanford. I thought, why not go there, have a date, and just stay the night so we can spend more time together?

It was something I said spontaneously because I still wanted to meet God, but the other person’s reaction was surprisingly very serious.

[Alexa, you don’t want to see me die, do you?]

“Huh? Oh, of course?”

[Then let’s not stay out overnight.]

“why?”

[······There is a reason for that.]

God avoided answering.

Alexa tilts her head, unaware of some kind of negotiation taking place between God and her father.

The small talk that followed was so enjoyable.

The anxiety and worry she had felt while waiting for the agency to contact her quickly subsided, and Alexa even felt a slight sense of elation as Shin told her the small stories of his experiences on his way to Stanford University.

I suddenly felt like I wanted to stop worrying and try doing something.

Now that I’ve graduated from high school, I’m finally an adult. It feels real.

That’s why Alexa had no choice but to ask this question at the end of the call.

“God, there’s something I want to ask you.”

[What is it?]

“How are you doing now? Aren’t you worried about whether you’ll be able to do well in college?”

[I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t anxious at all. That’s why I think it’s more fun.]

“Is it fun?”

[Yes. Anxiety, fear, dread. They are all emotions that we naturally feel as we live. You may feel those emotions when you are placed in a completely new environment. I think the truly unfortunate thing is not even feeling those emotions.]

“······That’s a nice saying.”

Alexa smiled and answered.

An attitude of not rejecting vaguely felt fears and of mustering up the courage to move forward.

Isn’t that exactly the attitude you need right now?

“Thank you. That really means a lot.”

[If that’s the case, then that’s good. Does that have anything to do with what I said earlier about waiting for contact?]

“Yeah! Actually, I contacted the agency.”

[Really? What was the company name?]

“KH Agency. I’ll ask the CEO? Team leader? He said he’ll call me back and I’m waiting.”

[Then I should just hang up the phone and wait.]

“Oh, do I have to go now?”

[That’s not it. I’ll contact you again later. Let’s hang up for now.]

“no······.”

Doo-doo-doo-.

In the end, Shin was the first to abruptly hang up the phone.

Alexa stared blankly into the receiver for a while, her mouth hanging open in bewilderment.

***

‘It wasn’t a good time to talk.’

After hanging up the receiver in the phone booth, I took a moment to wish Alexa good luck.

Since they had asked me to contact them first and had given me their business card, I thought there wouldn’t be any problems until the contract was signed. And if Alexa had made a decision on her own, I planned to respect that.

More than anything, I was glad that he told me honestly and didn’t hide that part from me.

Alexa was a little more scared than usual.

It could very well have happened.

Alexa Flair was a human golden retriever. She was basically a person who liked people and loved being with others, so she would definitely do well wherever she went.

But that was just my own thought as I watched her from the side. She probably doesn’t really realize her own strengths.

‘That’s what it means to be human.’

In the end, I thought it was just a process I had to go through to grow, and I had no choice but to go into the unknown world on my own. Fortunately, Alexa told me that what I said was cool, and that seemed to give me some courage.

And I felt like I needed to do something about it too.

‘Just in case.’

I picked up the phone again and called Julia.

It feels so cozy and nice to be able to make a call by putting in a penny in a public phone booth.

[Yes, this is Julia Chandler of the Los Angeles Times.]

“Julia, it’s me.”

[Oh, author. Why are you calling?]

“Excuse me, but can I ask you a favor? I’m not sure if this will work.”

I asked Julia if she could look into ‘KH Agency’, which was doing celebrity related business. Julia fumbled for a moment as if she was writing down the name, then said she would look into it, and I thanked her and hung up again.

It was a very personal request, so I felt a little uncomfortable.

‘I guess I should buy you a meal later.’

But I couldn’t help but be worried.

The American entertainment industry in the 80s was a time when slave contracts were common. I don’t know about other people, but if Alexa had decided to go that route, I wanted to help her as much as I could.

And fortunately, I had an assistant who helped me make that wish come true. Once I had left the work to him, all that was left was to wait and do my own thing.

After I got out of the pay phone, I looked at the palm trees stretching out thickly and thought.

‘This school is really huge.’

Palm trees planted at even intervals on both sides of a long, stretched road.

It was the famous ‘Palm Drive’ at Stanford.

Beyond this was the main quad, built in a harmonious combination of Romanesque and Spanish Colonial styles.

This was Stanford.

The official name is Leland Stanford Junior University.

As a research-oriented comprehensive university, it was a top university in the United States, competing with the universities in the Ivy League.

I had been accepted to the creative writing department of the College of Arts and Sciences at a prestigious university, and was now on my way back after completing all the procedures.

Then suddenly I saw a public phone booth standing alone on the side of the road, and I suddenly wanted to hear Alexa’s voice, so I called.

‘I didn’t know it would be this long.’

I roughly did some suturing and thought it was time to start going back.

The entrance ceremony is on September 19th.

‘There are about two months left.’

In the meantime, I planned to serialize the sequel to ‘About T’ and write new works from time to time.

‘I’ve already thought about the title and story for ‘About T’, so I think it won’t be a problem.’

I got back in the car and started driving.

Driving on a straight road was quite an experience.

***

August 16, 1984.

The serialization of ‘About T: Waitress’ has begun.

When California fans heard the news that the series would continue, they eagerly awaited the news and began reading the novel.

And when I first heard about it, I was shocked.

“What is this!”

“Alice works part-time at a cafe?!”

“Poohaha! Awesome! So cute!”

“Tony comes to pick me up every day······. How can I have a boyfriend like this?”

People burst into laughter at the more cheerful and lively content, different from ‘Prom’. The story, which unfolds somewhat relaxedly, like a side story after the main story, was lovely and extremely cheerful.

In particular, the somewhat sloppy side that Alice can show as a ‘freshman in society’ was attractive.

So, why did Alice, who was from a fairly well-off family, suddenly start working as a waitress instead of preparing for college when prom was over and she was just waiting to graduate?

『[Please help me!]

It was all because of May’s words.

And for the first time in her life, Alice held a grudge against someone.

Why on earth does this happen?

It wasn’t that I was doing May Jo a favor. It was that she was short-handed at the cafe and was dying as a waitress, so she asked if I could help her out for a little while.

In the end, May Jo left only a note saying, “I’m sorry,” and ran away.

Alice wanted to do the same, but she couldn’t.

“Please help me!”

It was because of the president’s desperate request.

The sight of someone desperately clinging to her, almost to her knees. Alice, with her weak heart, was not the type of person who could run away from someone like that.

In the end, the results were disastrous.

Coffee cups flying through the air, customers screaming, etc… nothing like that happened, though.

“Oh? I ordered Irish coffee.”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry!”

All kinds of ordering mistakes.

Boom!

“sorry!”

I spilled an empty bucket while trying to clean it.

“Hey, Alice. Did you put hot sauce on your sandwich?”

Mistakes were rampant during the assembly process.

Despite these circumstances, Alice worked for three main reasons.

One is that this is a rather interesting ‘social experience’.

When I imagined my sister working like this, I felt like I wanted to try it too.

Another thing is that the president is desperately clinging to it.

“If you quit too, we’ll all really die!”

finally······.

“Allie!”

It was because my boyfriend, Tony, who always came out to pick me up when I finished work, said this.

“You’re beautiful today too.”

“Gyaaaaaaah-!!”

“You’re crazy! You’re crazy!”

“Wow, Tony, this guy is a real player! How can he say things like this······?!”

This led to a scene where all the female readers, who are the main fans of this work, screamed.

Of course, just as many male fans continued to happily watch ‘About T: Waitress’, which was more like a romantic comedy between the two.

And then comes a crisis in the story.

As the new daily routine continued, a problem arose.

One of the cheerleaders who bullied Alice, ‘Carmela Austin’, applied for a part-time job at this cafe. The boss, who had no idea about their relationship, asked Alice to teach Carmela the ropes, and things got interesting.

‘That’s interesting.’

After reading the novel thoroughly up to Chapter 4, Jeremy Thompson smiled.

He, a producer at California Pictures, a subsidiary of LBS, was someone who believed that good writers were good at weaving characters together.

In that sense, I thought this work, ‘About T’, would be a good series. Each character had their own unique personality, and the story was exquisitely balanced.

‘That’s the part that concerns me.’

The thing about this work is that it features characters of many different races.

The story was good. It was refreshing. It was a work where characters of various races were tied together and had a lively time, regardless of skin color. It wasn’t realistic, but that’s why it’s a drama.

In particular, the character ‘May Jo’ that he likes is reminiscent of ‘Hikaru Sulu’, an Asian character from the original Star Trek series, so there is a lot of potential for viewers to find it interesting.

As such, there were no problems with the work.

The problem was the production environment.

Transferring a novel or a screenplay to a visual medium required a lot of consideration, and those considerations were often influenced by the logic of capital.

Maybe the production budget was insufficient. Or maybe the actors weren’t that great.

And the problem we face now falls into the latter category.

‘Is there an East Asian child actress who could play May Jo?’

However, I did not want to choose them just because they were ‘East Asian’. This is what the new writer clearly said through Julia Chandler. He said that he wanted to match the race of each character as much as possible, but if there is no actor he likes, he can adapt it and proceed.

‘That writer was Asian.’

If they were fellow Asians, I would have asked them to emphasize it separately, but instead, they responded flexibly, which made me, as the PD who had full authority, feel proud.

In fact, Jeremy was determined to somehow find a good Asian child actor so as not to spoil the work of God.

He was that kind of man.

A man who burns brighter as hardships and adversities come.

So it was no secret that married life was on fire these days.

‘Haha, I love you, honey.’

Even though his wife’s nagging has been getting worse and worse lately, he has been getting mentally damaged, but he just smiles and says, “That’s good.”

It was just then.

“PD, why are you smiling with such a disgusted expression?”

“······Hey, isn’t this my AD? Did you do everything I asked you to do? If not, I’ll punish you.”

“Unfortunately, I’ve done everything. I’ve put in a request to each agency. Please give me a list of actors.”

“Good. I hope a good actor applies.”

“Surprisingly, you are sincere about this work.”

“You think so? That’s how I used to be.”

“No. You always had dead, worn-out eyes.”

“That’s my charm. ······I can leave work today.”

“Wow, I’m going home in just three days.”

“I will work, though.”

“The script has been written, so can I take a break today?”

“I need to make a storyboard.”

“You’re really working hard. Do you like this piece that much?”

“Well, I can’t say no.”

“Why?”

AD sat down quietly.

And Jeremy smirked and looked at the newspaper.

“You can feel how much the author loves this work.”

“······For such a sentimental reason?”

“Yes. We are just an accessory to the business, but the finished product moves people’s emotions. If we work with that in mind, we will be able to advance faster.”

“That’s an interesting point. I hadn’t thought about it that way.”

“Haven’t you read the ‘About T’ series?”

“I did read it. The problem is······ If they keep adding characters and serializing it, how many seasons can it go on for no matter how long it is? That’s what I thought.”

“I think we can fit all the high school stories into one season.”

“What do you expect from the company in the follow-up season?”

“I have discussed this separately with Writer Shin in preparation for that time.”

“What is it?”

“It’s too early to tell you. It’ll just make your head complicate.”

“This is really too much.”

AD is grumbling.

In front of him, Jeremy thought with a smile.

‘It’s not a certain story, so I don’t think it’s right to go around talking about it.’

But he was half sure.

If he does his given job properly, the production of Season 2 will definitely be decided.

If that happens, as the new writer agreed, I will serialize a college version of the ‘About T’ series.

It expanded from a teenage story to a college story.

End

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