Green-lit.
A pilot episode that she wrote herself has been green-lit.
It takes everything Jade has to contain her excitement as she makes the long trek from the studio boardroom back to her office in the writer's building. This is by far the biggest success of her writing career so far, and it doesn't even feel real yet.
They're going to start the casting process immediately in order to build hype for the series, get the general public interested in it. The more interest people have, the more desirable it is for a network or streaming service to want to pick up the show for an entire season...hopefully multiple seasons. There's already buzz online about rumors of the project, as it's based on an already popular sci-fi novel series. Jade had read it the summer before she got pregnant with Harper and immediately saw potential for a translation to the screen. It took some time for her to convince the studio to contact the author and ask for her blessing to begin working on potential scripts, but it was well worth the wait.
As Jade steps inside her office and closes the door, she finally allows herself to let out the squeal of delight she had been holding in. A green-lit pilot that she not only wrote, but has been given permission to direct and produce. She's going to be a fucking showrunner. If only her high school self could see her now, she'd probably faint. Everything is coming together...she can't wait to tell Andrew. Part of her wants to call him right now and share the good news, but the rest of her knows she would much rather see his reaction in person. Harper and Drew aren't yet old enough to understand, but she can't wait to hug them either. Hopefully everything works out the way that she wants it to and the show turns into something her children will grow up to be proud of.
She'll need to make changes to her office, she decides. Well, not changes really, her set-up already works quite well, but she'll need to start working there more often if she's going to be head writer. She'll have to talk to Andrew about re-coordinating their schedules. Previously, Harper always came with her when she came into the office to work, and she's worked from home ever since Drew was born. She might be able to bring the baby with her for a few months, but Harper is too active to be stuck in an office all day, and too distracting to be on set with her. Andrew's work schedule is more flexible, but it's also more random and sporadic. Both of her parents still work and can't be at their beck-and-call, his parents live out-of-state, they might have to start looking into a nanny or a daycare...oh whatever. That's a small detail that can be addressed later...her pilot was just green-lit!
She pulls out her phone and sends text messages to both of her parents and her brother, sharing the good news with them. Then she checks her missed notifications to see that Andrew has tagged her in an Instagram post. She clicks on it so the app opens, and smiles when she sees the photograph. Andrew is sitting at a mixing board outside of a recording studio, headphones on and focused on his task, while Drew sits in his lap, looking up at him. She isn't in the picture of course, but she and Andrew always tag each other in pictures of the kids. The caption reads 'Mini studio session with my mini-me. Dad life rocks, literally."
Jade can't help but smile. It's a great picture of the two of them, although she wishes Harper was in it as well. She has very few pictures of both kids with Andrew, but remembers that her daughter is going through a phase where she never wants to sit still or smile for anything. Drew is still young enough not to have an opinion. She double taps the picture to like it, then locks her phone and slides it into her purse...she needs to get home to celebrate with her babies.
When Jade sticks her keys into the condo's front door, she's surprised to find it unlocked. Andrew's studio sessions normally last a few hours, and she hadn't been gone all that long.
"I'm home!" She sing-songs, dropping her keys in the bowl by the door and draping her purse on its hook "Hello?"
She kicks off her heels and ventures out of the entryway into the living room, and almost screams. Nothing is necessarily wrong, she had just expected to find Andrew...not a teenager.
"Oh, hi!" The girl smiles, standing up from the couch "You must be Mrs. Powell!"
"Mama!" Harper exclaims, toddling over to her mother with outstretched arms
"Ms. West, actually...but you can call me Jade." Jade tells her as she picks the toddler up "Hi baby, I missed you! And you would be...?"
"Oh, sorry. I'm Amanda." The girl informs her "I live on the third floor. Mr. Powell hired me to watch Harper for a few hours. He didn't mention that you would be home."
"Just Harper?"
"Yeah, he took the baby with him."
"Got it." Jade nods, shifting Harper from one hip to the other "How old are you?"
"I just turned fifteen."
"Got it..." Jade repeats "Uh so, did And-Mr. Powell tell you what time he would be back?"
"He said around three." Amanda looks at her phone to check the time, it's 3:42 "I didn't think anything of it, really. I've lived in LA my whole life, traffic is terrible."
"Sure is." Jade nods, retreating back to the entryway to grab her purse "Did he pay you?"
"No, but-"
"Here." Jade returns with five twenty-dollar bills for the girl "Sorry for all of the confusion."
"I haven't been here that lo-" Amanda starts to refuse, but Jade stops her
"It's fine." She assures her "Think of it as a bonus for his getting home late."
"Alright...thank you." Amanda smiles, folding the bills and sticking them in her back pocket "Harper was great, by the way. She's a really happy kid."
"She is, isn't she?" Jade smirks, bouncing Harper on her hip a bit and causing the toddler to giggle "Thanks for watching her."
"Anytime." Amanda says, then leaves through the front door
"I'm going to kill your father..." Jade sighs, brushing some of Harper's hair away from her face so she can kiss it "Are you hungry? Do you want a snack?"
About an hour later, Andrew arrives home with Drew in tow. The baby is fussy, undoubtedly because he's off his feeding schedule, so Jade takes him immediately and disappears into the nursery without saying a word to her fiancé. Drew calms down immediately once she starts to feed him, and Jade is relieved to enjoy a few peaceful moments with her son before she releases all hell on his father.
Andrew is in the process of setting up his video game when Jade returns to the living room to put Drew in his swing. Once the baby is settled, she wordlessly grabs the remote off of the entertainment center and flips to one of Harper's shows.
"What the fuck, Jade?"
"We need to talk." She says seriously "Bedroom. Now."
With an irritated sigh, Andrew follows her out of the room and down the hall, closing the bedroom door behind him once they're both inside.
"First of all, you know how I feel about you swearing in front of Harper." Jade tells him "She's learning how to talk, she'll start repeating it."
"Well sorry I was a bit irritated!"
"That I turned your stupid video game off?" Jade scoffs "Grow up."
"What the hell has gotten into you?"
"I should be asking you the same thing!" Jade exclaims "You left our daughter with a fifteen year-old stranger."
"I'm sorry, okay?" Andrew sighs "I wasn't going to be able to get any work done with-"
"Andrew, both of my parents live in LA." Jade reminds him "And they're both remarried. That's four fucking people you could have called to babysit, but you just picked the first person you saw in the lobby downstairs!"
"You don't know that."
"Am I wrong?"
"No..."
"You left our daughter with a stranger." Jade repeats "And I know you would have never done that to Drew."
"Not this fucking argument again..." Andrew rolls his eyes
"We wouldn't have to keep having it if you weren't constantly proving me right!" Jade exclaims "You love Drew more than you love Harper because he's a boy. He's the son you always wanted. The one you'll be able to do dude stuff with and count on to carry on the name. It's painful how fucking obvious it is."
Andrew is silent, staring right at her with an irritated look on his face.
"You don't get to pick and choose when you get to be a parent." Jade tells him, turning to leave the room "That's not how it works. Grow the fuck up."