[Book 2] What If

Chapter 1

It has been a month now since Ellie came back to the Philippines. 

People have become excited to learn and to hear from her recent happenings. But Ellie has yet to agree on any interviews for a show or a magazine for that matter. 

The same goes on with her coach, Lea Salonga; as majority of people from media are getting a hold of her. Even executives from production companies have been non stop calling her manager and mother, Ligaya, in respect of discussing deals for a third movie with Aga Muhlach. 

This has been the talk of the town since Lea's one night sold out concert. After all the audience members; which consists of her fans, friends and some big shot names from the entertainment industry, had been made aware that a script has already been made and prepared. 

Though they haven't fully known what the theme and what the plot would be, film companies are adamant in getting a deal of producing this movie as they know this would certainly be a big hit. How so? Aside from the caliber of heavy names such as Aga Muhlach and Lea Salonga, the script itself is written by Ellie whom writing skills have come to known as top notch. 

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And now that Ellie is back for good, she had been getting offers from local TV networks to create a script for either an afternoon drama or for a prime time soap opera. As her agent Daniel Yun only represents and handles her international projects, Lea's mom; Ligaya, became her manager locally. 

There had been talks that Ligaya, as a manager, is very hard to deal with as she is conservative when it comes to picking projects for her artists. But little do people know that the old woman's new talent is more demanding than her.

In reality, Ellie studied in an established private university with Latin Honors on a business course. Her close friends were a bit shocked when they first knew about this as it is not relevant in the career that the talented woman is currently taking right now. 

Ellie is an introverted person. She mostly stays at home, at the convenience of her living alone on her own pad. And thus, her hobbies include playing games and musical instruments, reading novels and watching Korean or American series. As she realized how behind our own country's level when it comes to creating good quality films and shows, she decided to make a difference.

As a person who had spent all his childhood reading English-language novels from authors that were ranked in New York Best Time Sellers, Ellie was able to get a grasp on the kind of writing she would like to employ. She did not even dare take up a short course for writing, she just started as it is and had her works submitted to different international script writing competitions..

She didn't expect much as she admits to herself that she's not good at it, given she doesn't have any prior experience nor training for it. She may not have won the first competition she participated in but her work had caught the eye of a Korean network Executive, which then started to open up the gate of opportunities for El. 

And so going back to the present, her-now manager had been discussing with her on how she would like to deal with work offers they've got in hand.

"They're really serious about this Ellie. They even said to name your price, just for you to write a script for them. ABS and GMA have been calling me non stop to have a contract signed." Ligaya seriously said to the young woman who is sitting in front of her. 

"Ma, don't pressure her. It's just been a month since she came back. Let her enjoy some peace and quiet first." Lea joins them as she puts two plates of Leche flan on the table. She invited her mom and her protege at her home as she wants both to have a taste of her recipe.

The young woman in question just smiled as she took a bite of her mentor's dessert. 

"Hmm. It's good. You could be a good pastry chef, coach." Ellie smiled.

"Ha ha. You jest."

Ligaya tried to taste a spoonful as well, as she directs her nagging to her very own daughter. 

"And you Lea. How long will you pretend you're not interested in doing that movie? It has been 25 years since the last one you've made with Aga."

"And here I thought the hot seat belongs to El. Why does it have to be turned towards me?" Both Ellie and Lea just laughed off.

"Tita,"

As El now became a talent, and being Lea's most loved protege and adoptive daughter, Ligaya had urged her not to call her Ma'am anymore. 

"Tita, let her do what she wants with it. Besides, it was just a gift so she could do whatever she thinks fit. If she wants to film it, or to give it to someone else or even if she wants to burn it, it's entirely up to her." Lea felt relieved getting the support of her protege. Of course she doesn't have any plans on giving up the script to somebody else, she just cannot decide yet on whether she'll invite Aga to do this film with her. After all, this is a script written for her by her Ellie so she definitely wants to do it and star on it.

"Okay, then what about your own offers? Have you decided which one you'll take? If there isn't, then we can try telling them your terms first so they could adjust the contract agreement." Ligaya turned her attention back to the writer. 

Ellie had already long decided on what her terms would be. She doesn't want to be exclusively tied up to a single network as it would limit her explorations when it comes to writing. And as she wanted to revolutionize the whole Philippine drama industry, she wanted to make herself flexible and provide all local networks with materials she'll come up with. She wants to be fair and she wants everyone to be able to watch and see her works; to inspire all existing and aspiring scriptwriters; that stories must be realistic and should breathe life onto the characters for the purpose of becoming a masterpiece not just a  tool for the network to gain ratings and advertisements.

"I have already decided tita. I want to be a freelancer. Just like I have always been."