“I did.” Vin nods eagerly. “It was hilarious and so authentic. I loved it.”
“I want to make it,” I say before I lose my nerve. “Your version.”
“My—” Poor Tino’s back to looking like they’re about to hyperventilate. “But you can’t. The option. It doesn’t expire for—”
“I’m going to buy the option out. And then you’ll rewrite it. Your way.”
A waiter comes to take our drink orders. Tino’s so speechless I order a bottle of Syrah and hope they like red wine.
“Look,” Tino says when the waiter is gone. Their voice is steadier. “Is this a joke? Did someone put you up to this?”
Yes and no, but not in the way they think. We all know my back is up against a wall, but the point is, I’m choosing to do good things instead of continuing to run and hurt people in my wake. I could have been doing an interview with Anderson tonight about how it was all one big misunderstanding so I can continue to enjoy the career I’ve built, but instead I’m choosing to be here.
“I genuinely want to read your script,” I say. “Assuming it’s as good as Vin says, I want to make it into a movie and ideally find more scripts from more queer writers like you.”
“But why?” They sound so baffled, and it hurts that they’re already so mistrustful. They can’t be more than twenty-five or twenty-six. They should be dreaming up new stories and preparing acceptance speeches they’re never going to deliver. It’s too early for them to feel so beaten down.
“Because I’m tired of letting the machine control me. It’s made me a lot of money, but now I want to use that money to do something new. I’m starting my own production company, and with my name attached to a project, you’d be amazed at how many doors will open for you and how many fewer script notes you’ll get from the studios.”
It’s a risk. They could all laugh in my face. But I’m still a name, and once I’ve got my plan solidified, Roberta can help me pitch it in a way that makes it clear it’s a redemption arc and not me trying to cover my ass. I was terrified that coming out would pigeonhole me into the gay best friend onscreen until I retired. The solution is to make the movies I want to be in.
Jack said I could make my own future.
I hope someday he sees that I did.
