Chapter 9

I cornered Eric at our hotel, telling him I needed a quick word about possible locations. He let me into his suite, grinning. I got right to the point. "I talked to Sylvia Shining Elk. Don't deny what you're doing. The poor girl is only eighteen. What were you thinking? And just so you know, there will be no date with her."

He actually got a little pissed at me. "Listen DAD, what I do with willing females is none of your business."

"You're absolutely right, but I think you've blurred the line on willing. Ease up a little, you're young, good looking, rich, you can get most any woman you want. But you need to be a little more selective. How's the rib?"

He touched his side, wincing slightly. "Still hurts if I bump it. I don't know why he was so pissed, it was only a little sex. I was no threat to him or his marriage."

"I can't believe you said that. She was married, and you knew it. When you get married you make certain promises, promises you're supposed to keep. I can tell you from being on the other side that it hurts. Was the pussy worth the ass kicking you got? Are they still together?"

"Separated. She calls me constantly, whining about what we did. Says she still loves him, then asks when we can get together again. He threw her out with nothing. I'm not a complete asshole, so I gave her a little money, paid for an apartment for six months, shit, I'm even paying for the marriage counseling. I eased her down, apologised for messing with her marriage, and thought it best we not see each other until she resolves things with her husband."

Well, that earned him points. "Good. Now back to what I was saying. Stop it. You're putting pressure on those poor girls, whether you mean to or not. Every time you talk to one of them they're wondering if today is the day you make them a proposition."

"What about you? You didn't see at least one of them you wanted?"

"I see a bunch of them I want, but I'm not going to make a move on them. When this thing is over, and it's wrapped, I may ask one or two out, but that's months down the road. Besides, I've got Dolly, and she keeps me pretty busy."

He couldn't help but grin. Dolly was the girl he stood up to read the script. I enjoyed her company so much I asked her out again. And again, until finally we settled into a semi-serious relationship. She wasn't quite moved in, but she spent most of her time at my condo.

Her real name was Cindy, and at twenty-four she was way too young for me, but she was intelligent, good looking, and fun to be with. And as a bonus, the sex was really, really good. She had come with me, I'd even gotten her a job as an assistant to the business manager. My one act of nepotism. Not many knew of our relationship, and while I didn't care, it was probably best. She was smitten by the business, was even trying to talk me into paying for acting lessons. When she said that I knew I had a limited shelf life. Reflecting, it didn't bother me as much as I thought it would. I think the experience with my ex had burned me out on permanent relationships. I had made peace with it.

I hoped Eric got the point, as as the days passed I forgot about it. We had pretty much filled all the parts, got everything we needed to go forward. There had even been some filming, which I got to see. It was on an island off the coast. They had gotten a bunch of Polar bears and after dying their ears and paws, turned them loose. I wondered how that managed to happen, until I saw three wildlife agents and a real biologist, there to make sure the bears weren't stressed. I wondered how capturing the bears, tranquilizing them, dyeing their fur, and turning them loose in a strange enviroment didn't stress them, but kept my mouth shut. They filmed carefully, they were after all very large, very dangerous animals. After three weeks, they declared they had enough footage, and transferred the bears back to their home territory.

It was confusing to me because the film wasn't shot chronologically. They might spend two days filming scenes that took place in the middle of the movie, a week filming the ending, then spend the next on the beginning. The whole thing was monotonous and boring, sometimes they'd do twenty takes(sometimes twice that) of the same scene. The director we'd hired, on the recommendation of Dorian and Leah, was pretty good. He wasn't a prima donna, but he wasn't all business either. I remembered the interview.