"You really believe women's spending power in this town is only going to keep climbing?"
Gary thought for a second.
"Trend-wise? Yeah, it is."
Raphael smiled.
"Then we're good. This whole story was built for them."
Gary went quiet for a beat, then glanced at Kate.
"Kate, your take?"
Kate set the pages down. The earlier distaste was gone; now she looked thoughtful.
"Raphael's right."
She said it simply. "It's cheesy as hell, but cheesy is what sells."
She turned to Raphael.
"But there's one problem."
"What?"
"You sure we can actually deliver what you're picturing?"
Raphael nodded.
"One hundred percent."
He pulled another thick stack from his bag.
"Here's the full trilogy breakdown. Part One: they meet, they fall. Part Two: love triangle and betrayal. Part Three: final war and the happy ending. We shoot all three back-to-back. Total budget one-fifteen million. I'll take ten million salary and roll it into equity—twenty percent of the backend."
He handed copies around.
Gary flipped through, expression growing more serious with every page.
"Shooting a trilogy all at once… that's bold."
Raphael grinned.
"Gotta be bold to print money. If Lake Shore's cash is tight, I can bring some in myself."
Gary was silent a moment.
"I'll run it by Tom, but on paper this looks workable."
Raphael nodded.
"Great. I'll wait for the green light."
The next hour they drilled down—script tone, casting, schedule, every detail Raphael could think of. Gary scribbled notes like his life depended on it. Kate chimed in here and there, but mostly she just watched Raphael, her eyes shifting the whole time.
By the time they wrapped it was almost six.
Gary stood and shook Raphael's hand.
"Raphael, I'll get back to you fast."
Raphael nodded.
"Looking forward to it."
Kate's agent rose too, ready to follow Gary out.
Kate didn't move.
She looked at her agent.
"You head out. I'll catch up."
The agent hesitated, then left with Gary without a word.
Ari shot Raphael a quick glance.
Raphael gave him the nod.
Ari stepped out and closed the door behind him.
Now it was just the two of them.
Kate stood and walked straight up to him.
She stared for several long seconds.
Then she smiled.
"You've changed a lot."
Raphael smiled right back.
"So have you."
Kate leaned in close, voice dropping.
"You know who I am?"
Raphael matched her tone.
"Selene."
Kate blinked, then her smile went wide and bright.
"I knew you'd see me."
Raphael studied her face.
"How the hell did you get here?"
Kate—or Selene—sighed.
"It's a long story."
She walked back to her chair and sat.
"After you left, I couldn't stop thinking about you."
Raphael stayed quiet.
Selene kept going.
"Like, losing my mind. Every single day, every night—where are you, what are you doing, are you ever coming back?"
She looked up at him.
"Then one night I had this dream. A voice told me that if I was willing to give up everything—my near-immortal life, my power as Vampire Queen, everything I had in that world—I could cross over and find you."
Raphael's brow furrowed.
"You gave it up?"
Selene smiled.
"What do you think?"
Raphael took a slow breath.
"So you came."
"Yeah."
Selene nodded. "When I woke up, I was already inside this woman's body."
She glanced down at herself.
"At first it was hell. So weak. No strength, no speed, couldn't even see in the dark. Took me a full week just to get used to feeling… human."
"And then?"
"Then I realized the original owner of this body was in serious trouble."
Selene said, "The director and the male lead got into a screaming match and both ended up in the hospital. That Michael Sheen guy is… her ex-husband. And the director Len Wiseman was chasing her hard. The two of them started throwing punches right in front of her over something stupid and both got carted off. What a pair of idiots!"
She laughed, clearly enjoying the memory.
"I figured it was the perfect opening. So I made sure they sent you the contract."
Raphael asked quietly.
"So that offer…"
"Was me."
Selene looked straight at him. "I wanted to see you."
Raphael was silent for a beat, then asked the obvious.
"You came all this way just to see me?"
Selene stood, walked over, and looked down at him.
"Just to see you. And…"
Her eyes were that deep ocean blue.
Raphael suddenly remembered those silver-white eyes glowing in the dark.
The Moon Goddess.
Now they were blue, but the feeling burning behind them hadn't changed one bit.
"Raphael."
Selene's voice was soft. "Do you have any idea how long I waited?"
Raphael didn't answer.
Selene reached out and traced his cheek with her fingertips.
"In that world I lived six hundred years, but the only days I actually felt alive were the ones I spent with you."
Raphael caught her hand.
"Selene—"
"Call me Kate."
She cut him off gently. "Here, I'm Kate Beckinsale."
Raphael looked at her.
"Kate."
Kate smiled.
She bent down and kissed him.
The kiss stretched on and on.
Long enough that Raphael started to feel like he was about to combust.
He finally eased her back.
"Hold on."
Kate raised an eyebrow.
"Hold on for what?"
Raphael pointed at the door.
"People out there."
Kate glanced at the door, then back at him, and laughed softly.
"What are you scared of?"
Raphael sighed, half-exasperated.
"Not scared. Just don't feel like seeing our faces on the front page of some trash tabloid tomorrow."
Kate pouted but sat back down.
They stared at each other for a few seconds.
Raphael spoke first.
"Everything you said earlier… that was all true?"
Kate nodded.
"Every word."
"That voice… you only heard it? Never saw who it was?"
"No."
Kate shook her head. "But I know it was powerful. More powerful than anything I ever ran into in that world."
Raphael stayed quiet.
He already knew exactly who it was.
The system.
Only the system could pull that off.
Kate watched him.
"You look like you know something."
Raphael shook his head.
"Not sure yet."
Better to keep that one to himself for now.
Kate didn't push. She switched topics.
"Why'd you make the story so gross?"
Raphael blinked.
"What?"
"The Underworld rewrite."
Kate frowned. "Vampires and werewolves falling in love? Having a kid? Who the hell thinks that up?"
Raphael laughed.
"You wouldn't get it."
Kate glared.
"I wouldn't?"
"Nope."
Raphael said, "This story isn't for someone who's lived six hundred years. It's for teenage girls. I already explained it in the meeting."
Kate paused.
"Teenage girls?"
"Yeah."
Raphael nodded. "What do they want? Forbidden love, hot guys, hot girls, can't-be-together-but-have-to-be, and getting their hearts ripped out."
He gave her a second.
"This script just stacks every cheesy trope in the book. Vampires, werewolves, forbidden romance, love triangle, life-and-death drama. Those girls are gonna lose their minds screaming."
Kate's brow furrowed a little.
"Aren't you worried about getting typecast? She… I have all her memories. Once Hollywood stamps you as the pretty-boy lead, you'll be stuck doing this stuff forever."
Raphael shrugged.
"Who says? What I get to do depends on my pull. And pull comes with money behind it. Trust me—after this, I can do whatever movie I want."
The original Twilight guy Robert Pattinson still became Batman. No way Raphael was getting trapped by one cheesy role.
Kate stood and walked over again.
"So what do we do now?"
Raphael thought for a second.
"Sign the contracts, shoot the movies. Everything else… we figure out as we go."
"Good."
Kate nodded and turned to leave.
"Wait."
She looked back.
Raphael stood and stepped close.
"Where are you staying?"
Kate gave him the address—an apartment.
She'd only been in Hollywood a few years and Pearl Harbor hadn't exactly made her rich. No mansion budget yet.
So Raphael offered.
"Come to my place."
Kate gave him a slow, knowing smile.
"What do you have in mind?"
Raphael smirked.
"What do you think? You really want me to spell it out?"
That same night Raphael hit supermarket, loaded up on ingredients, and brought Kate back to the apartment he hadn't been in for months.
While he prepped the food, Kate slipped off to shower and came back wearing one of his oversized T-shirts as a sleep shirt.
It was a little big on her. Hair loosely tied back, no makeup.
Still looked stunning.
"What are you making?"
Kate leaned in the kitchen doorway.
"Dinner for you."
Raphael held up the bags.
"You can cook?"
Kate looked genuinely surprised.
"A little."
Raphael got to work. Kate stayed there watching his back.
Forty minutes later a full Cantonese spread was on the table.
White-cut chicken, steamed sea bass, garlic broccoli, shrimp dumplings, and a pot of scallop congee.
Kate stared at the feast, stunned.
"You… made all this?"
Raphael nodded.
"Taste it."
Kate picked up chopsticks, grabbed a piece of chicken, dipped it in soy, and took a bite.
After a couple chews her expression changed.
"It's delicious."
Raphael grinned.
"Then eat up."
And Kate really did.
She demolished most of the chicken, half the fish, most of the congee, and several dumplings.