Chapter 119

Hailey waited outside the hotel for Randi Raver and Meredith Miller. Phil was going to spend the morning at the studio. He said he would probably spend the afternoon getting rip-roaring drunk.

A black SUV with tinted windows pulled up outside of the hotel and Randi Raver hopped out wearing a huge smile. She wore a sundress, a straw hat and a pair of oversized sunglasses.

“Come on in,” she said, gesturing to the rear of the SUV where she exited. Hailey saw a brunette woman driving and a redhead sitting in the passenger seat.

“I let Merie sit up front since she’s knocked up,” Randi said. The redhead turned around and rolled her eyes.

“I’m Meredith Miller,” she said, extending a hand toward the back.

“Hailey Warren,” Hailey replied as they shook.

“My friends know I’m really Randi Darby,” Randi offered from beside Hailey.

“I, uh, well, I knew that,” Hailey related. She couldn’t believe how nervous she was to be hanging out with these people. She was talking way too fast. “I’m a big fan.”

“Thanks,” Randi said. She was surprisingly demure, Hailey thought. “Your guy must have shaken the shit out of them at the studio the other day. I overheard one of the execs at the canteen saying how he laid down the law.”

“The studio has some problems,” Hailey admitted.

“Tell me about it,” Randi agreed. “Not a month goes by that one of the production guys doesn’t hit me up to invest in one of their pictures. I finally told them if I wanted to waste my money on shit, I’d wipe my ass with it.”

“She’s not always so profane,” Meredith said from the front seat. “Sometimes she’s worse.”

“Bite me,” Randi said with a laugh. “Sorry if I offended you. I sometimes forget that everyone doesn’t live in my world. From what Courtney told me, you’re pretty high up in that company back east.”

“I’m not offended,” Hailey replied. “In a way, I’m sort of like you. This summer, I’ve felt like an actress playing the part of junior executive. I’m going into my junior year of college. I live with my boyfriend and three other friends. Well, I guess four other friends now. Bob pretty much lives with us full-time, too.”

“I just had to get it all out of my system before we hit the shops,” Randi said, nodding at Hailey’s self-description. “Look, I know Calder City is a city with high-class people and all that but the sales clerks at some of these shops will treat you like crap just because you’re young and pretty. They will assume that you slept your way to the top or are the trophy wife of some 60-year-old billionaire. Don’t let them rattle you. Just ignore them or give it right back to them. They might work in a high-end retail shop but at the end of the day, they are still going back to a one-room apartment in Huntington Park.”

“Oh, I can still be a diva if the situation calls for it,” Hailey assured her.

“So can that one,” Meredith added with a grin. “I hear your guy is a baseball player. I wish Brock were in town. We could introduce them.”

“I’m sure Phil would love that,” Hailey said. “I feel silly saying this but I had no idea who your husband was when I saw him in uniform. I saw pictures of your wedding online, of course. You looked so radiant.”

“It was the happiest day of my life,” Meredith said.

“We are stealing your idea,” Hailey mentioned. She saw Meredith was unsure of the topic so she continued. “About the grooms-woman. We have six people we want in our wedding but four of them are female. I’m going to have two of our best friends and one of Phil’s friends as my attendants. He’s going to have his two best male friends and his best female friend as his. As soon as we started talking about how we were going to handle it, I thought of you.”

“Merie Miller, trendsetter,” Randi said with a laugh.

“It works out even better because the attendants are all couples,” Hailey continued. She started to say something else but stopped abruptly. “Uh, two of the women are together. I know Los Angeles is supposed to be free-thinking but...”

“Brock’s sister is gay,” Randi said. “We don’t get offended by much of anything. Brock is the only one who gets riled up easily.”

“He does not!” Meredith said. Hailey could see the glare she shot Randi was real, not feigned. “My husband suffers under the impression he sometimes leaves on others. I think Randi would agree that he is the most generous, kind man she knows. However, given his history and the way he performs his profession, he is perceived as an overly intense, perhaps overly aggressive person. He is not that way. I have never – not once – seen him be unkind to any person who did not deserve it. However, if you do deserve to be treated unkindly, he will certainly oblige you.”

“That’s what I meant,” Randi admitted with a deep blush. “I love Brock to death.”

“You should,” Meredith said, returning to her pleasant demeanor. “You act just like him.”

Again, Randi blushed but she nodded her agreement. Randi explained to Hailey about her perceptions of life – and what she considered appropriate behavior – before Brock moved in next door to her family.

“Phil is the same way,” Hailey said. “To the world at large, he’s this grinning, happy-go-lucky guy. They view him as some trust-fund kid who gets through life on his wit and his smile. It isn’t until you get to know him that you see the ... I guess I’ll steal Meredith’s words again ... the intensity he puts into everything he tries.”

“I know that was the perception of him at the studio,” Randi said. “The execs seemed to think that they could dazzle him by throwing a bevy of actors in front of him. I suspected they were wrong. I’ve talked to Courtney Hollings a bunch the past few weeks. She has a very different impression of your fiancé. She said that if he put his mind to it, he could be the most powerful man in Hollywood before he turned 25.”

“I think some of his actions might have skewed her perception,” Hailey admitted.

“She told me about what he did,” Randi confided. “She also told me about what she did to warrant that sort of treatment. Then she told me about what he did to make amends. Most people wouldn’t have bothered with helping her back up afterward. Well, they might have but it would have come at a high price to her. That’s the way the world works out here. Very few people will do something just out of the goodness of their heart.”

“Because there is little goodness in the hearts out here,” Meredith said.

“True,” Randi agreed. “I ... well, I’ve dealt with studio heads and record execs for 10 years. I know the balance always comes due. I asked Courtney what she had to do for the role in ‘Kismet.’ We had already shared horror stories of our past so I was amazed when she told me that Phil expected nothing in return. I can tell you this: She will do whatever she has to do to make that movie a success. Not just to help resurrect her image but to repay Phil for giving her the shot.”

“I guess that explains why she is going to show her bare ass to the world,” Hailey said. “To be honest, until we came out here, I had no idea of how involved Phil was in all of this. I work for his mother at Barton Holdings. Lambswool isn’t a Barton property so I didn’t have access to the details. After our meeting at the studio earlier in the week, I got a little pissy with Phil about some things. It took a great deal of explanation for me to see just how little I know about the dealings in Hollywood.”

“I’m sure the cost overruns on our set are giving him fits,” Randi said.

“To be honest, a lot about your show is giving him fits,” Hailey admitted. “He wants to keep it going but he just can’t justify the costs. The Season One DVD sales were lower than expected but he chalked that up to a lack of marketing on the studio side. He’s got a better campaign planned out for the Season Two release and he’s pushing up the release to Black Friday.”

“I’ve wondered if we were going to be able to shoot next season,” Randi admitted. “It will suck if we don’t because we’re just getting to the heart of my story.”

“He’s planning a major push for last episode for Golden Globe consideration,” Hailey confided. “He’s positive the show will get a nomination but he really wants the three of you to get credit, too. When we get back to Calder City, I’m going to give him what I think are your strongest scenes. Your episode schedule makes it awkward. If you are renewed, you’ll premiere your first episode of Season Three the night before the Golden Globes are broadcast. The studio dropped the ball on the Emmys two years in a row. That’s one of the things that Phil is going to discuss with them tomorrow morning.”

“So there is a chance we won’t be renewed?” Randi asked. “I mean, no one from the studio has contacted my agent about my contract. My Mom used to handle that for me but I switched to the same company that Brock uses. I talked to Stan Balsam two days ago and he said he hasn’t heard a word yet. It sort of made me wonder if the decision has already been made.”

“It hasn’t,” Hailey assured her. “Once we get things lined out at the studio, Phil is going to direct them to make contact with you, Tiffany Wells and Dirk Hardwell. He promised me that even if the entire season can’t work, he’ll finance a two-hour movie to wrap up the storyline. He won’t leave you or the fans without a resolution.”

“I’m sorry about bringing that up,” Randi said after a nod. “I promised myself I wasn’t going to grill you about what will happen at Lambswool. I won’t do it again.”

“It’s OK,” Hailey said. “I know the secrecy has to have been driving you crazy. I promise I will let you know the minute I know something for certain.”

“Thanks,” Randi said, smiling again. “Well, we’re almost here. Let’s put on our arrogant faces and do some damage.”

“You do realize that your arrogant face isn’t much different from your everyday face, right?” Meredith asked. “The casual observer would never know one from the other.”

Randi flipped off her friend before exiting the car with Hailey in tow.

There were no movie stars waiting for Phil when he arrived at Lambswool Studios. The only person in the waiting area was a young blonde receptionist who had no idea who Phil was.

“We’re not doing auditions until next Monday,” she told him when he walked in the door. Her tone was brusque and Phil wondered if she treated everyone with such disdain.

“Good to know,” Phil said in a tone that mirrored the woman’s. “Let Lewis Steinmetz know that Phil Warner is here. I want all the executives in the conference room in five minutes.”

The woman sat there for a moment. She had heard the bigwigs mention Phil Warner’s name several times over the previous day and a half. In her mind, she had put a face to the name and it didn’t resemble the face in front of her.

“Are you stupid?” Phil asked when she sat behind the desk without moving. “Lewis Steinmetz. Phil Warner. Conference room. Five minutes. Make the call.”

The woman wet her lips and dialed the president’s extension.

“Mr. Steinmetz, there is a young man who says he is Phil Warner here,” she said, still giving Phil a dubious look. She figured that he was one of the extras who had heard the rumors and thought he’d have a little fun. “Yes, Mr. Steinmetz.”

She continued to look at Phil but the expression on her face had turned to one of fear.

“He wants you to assemble the executive staff in the conference room in five minutes,” she said.

“Three minutes,” Phil cut in. “You’ve already wasted two minutes of the time I gave him.”

“Three minutes,” the woman said after a gulp. “I’ll bring him up.”

She hung up the phone and stood.

“If you’ll follow me, Mr. Warner,” she said, offering her warmest smile.

“If I ever hear that you’ve treated someone with the discourtesy you treated me, I will make it my personal mission that you never work anywhere better than Dairy Queen,” he told the woman. “The men and women who walk through that door are to be treated with the same deference you reserve for Lewis Steinmetz and his cronies. Am I understood?”

“Yes, Mr. Warner,” she said.

Phil stepped around the desk.

“I can find my own way,” he said as he walked through the doorway to the executive elevator.

Phil was sitting in the conference room – in the seat Lewis Steinmetz usually reserved for himself – when the first of the executive vice presidents arrived.

Steinmetz was the last one through the door and he frowned when he found the only open seat was in the middle. He liked to sit at the head of the table to show everyone who was in charge. The kid stood at one end of the table and the attorney sat at the other.

“Let’s take a seat and get things moving,” Phil said. “I’m interested in hearing what you’ve come up with to keep this company afloat.”