Secrets Read Online Free PDF Page A

still wouldn't do it.
    Why not?
    Maybe it'll sound crazy to you, but principles, I guess. I just won't do TV.
    You're not acting in your own best interest, Sabina. I wouldn't have asked you here if I didn't know this part is right for you. The character is so much like you that it could have been molded right on your body. I see you and I see Eloise Martin. The series will be called Manhattan, and this isn't just any series. It's glamorous, and important, and expensive. It's going to affect the American television industry like no other show before it, and I know that you're right for the part. I could have called your agent instead of inviting you here today. I could have waved dollar signs and contracts at him, but I didn't want to do that. I want you to fall in love with this woman, to see what I do, how much of you she is ' and then we can talk about the rest. I understand your integrity, believe me, I do ' but I see something more. I see the long range, and what this could do for you. For your career. A year from now, you could be the biggest name in this country. It's hard to conceive of it now, but I know that the show has that kind of impact. I haven't been wrong too often in recent years, touch wood he knocked on the table and smiled at her and I know I'm not this time. I really wish you'd read it. This could put you at the top of your career, and Sabina, you deserve it. He looked as though he meant every word he said, but Sabina still didn't look convinced when he stopped speaking.
    And if it's a flop?
    It won't be, but if it is, it's no worse than your last movie. So what? You're a survivor, you go on. We all do. But it's not going to be a flop, Sabina. It's going to be a success that will kick the breath out of everyone in this country. It's dramatic and it's tough and it's brilliant. It's not mealymouthed or funny, there's nothing halfway about it. And once a week, sixty million people could be watching you, Sabina. Watching you and eating it up. Your life will never be the same again. Ever. I'm absolutely certain of it as I sit here. He sounded so convincing, so sure, that for a minute she was tempted to read it, just for the hell of it, just to see what he was cooking up that was supposedly so different. Hell, she had nothing else to do except lie on her terrace and go down to the pool and wait for the phone to ring. What harm was there in reading it after all? And as she thought about it, she suddenly smiled, and laughed out loud as she looked at Mel Wechsler.
    No wonder you're so damn successful, Mel, you're one hell of a salesman.
    I don't even have to be on this, Sabina. You'll see what I mean when you read it. Manhattan is you, from start to finish.
    Are you working on a pilot?
    This time he laughed. You don't flatter me very much, my dear. Even the network isn't that cruel. No, I'm not working on a pilot. He was such a sure thing that no one expected Mel Wechsler to do a pilot. We'll begin with a three-hour special on opening night, and go on to a sixty-minute show once a week after that. We want to open with big bang and that'll be it.
    I might read it. But I don't want to mislead you, Mel. Nothing has changed about the way I feel about TV.
    All right. He reached under his seat and the script for the three-hour special appeared. That's fair enough. I would just be grateful to you if you would read it. Grateful. It was a brilliant choice of words, and so like Mel. Grateful. He was grateful, and she was damn lucky. And they both knew it. I'll be very interested to know what you think about it. God knows we've both read enough scripts to have a nose for them by now. He was including her in his expertise and it was no accident. She was suddenly very aware of how skillful he was. In truth, the man was a genius, with people, and in his field. And she had enjoyed her lunch with him. Enough so to hope he'd call her again. At least if she read the script, she'd have an excuse to see him. I also shouldn't tempt