Chapter 21: Not Always the Best of Times

Playing the part of Jim Mellon, Chris Hemsworth pulled the 1988 Harley Softail up to the stranded bus as several of the passengers waved him down. He was on his road trip around the forty-eight states and still nursing the grief he felt over the loss of his young wife to some crazy autoimmune disease.

Scarlett Johansson, playing the role of Crystal Lee, came down the stairs from the large tour bus and engaged in some dialog with Jim Mellon, ultimately asking that he drive her to a recording session – a recording session that would dramatically and completely change their lives and turn the music industry topsy-turvy – at least according to the plot of the book they were following.

The various cameras surrounding the group of people filming merrily away as the scene from Cricket’s book Road Trip played out in ‘real’ life. Cricket had flown up to Tennessee to watch this part of the filming and to see one of her best friends, Scarlett. She was well behind the cameras with a headset on so she could hear the dialog being captured by the elaborate array of overhead microphones plus hidden lapel mics worn by the actors and actresses.

The scene shifted as Scarlett rode off with Chris (Crystal and Jim) on his motorcycle.

The director yelled over a portable bullhorn, “THAT’S A WRAP FOR THIS LOCATION. WE’RE SHIFTING TO THE NASHVILLE STUDIO.”

Cricket scrambled to the bus as Chris pulled back to it from the curve in the road he’d disappeared around. Scarlett got off and pulled Cricket with her into the bus, along with the other actors who’d been part of the scene. “Come on, there’s a big arrival scene that we shoot next. This is the start of when Jim Mellon gets discovered.”

Cricket asked in a tentative tone, “Do you still like the part you’re playing?”

Scarlett pulled up short in the foyer of the fancy bus. “Like it? You’ve got to be kidding. I love this part – the whole role. I was made to play this part. You and I were destined to meet so I could star in this film of your book. One of the fabulous things I get to do as an actress is become the characters I play. This is my all-time favorite character – Crystal. I just wish there were more great sex scenes coming up than you actually wrote in the screenplay, but I know from talking to Don Abrams and the studio that we’re pushing the limits of an ‘R’ rating as it is. I just hope I’m doing justice to your character.”

“Oh, Scarlett. You have to be kidding. You’re taking what I wrote and making it come alive. You’re making it better. Of course, you’re doing justice to my work. I love watching you. I love you. I’m sorry about the lack of enough sex scenes, too. Don Abrams also told me that we had to tone the book down to make the R-rating.”

Scarlett looked around to be sure no one else could hear her and whispered, “I’m always so horny. I want to go back to Florida with you this weekend to see Dave and the Circle. I think I want to do the X-rated version of this book.” She giggled, uncharactistically for a movie star.

Cricket said proudly, “Dave’s my husband now, plus I have four sister wives.”

“I still want to qualify,” Scarlett teased. “I’d probably never make the grade because most of the time I have to be on the west coast or some exotic location like Two Dot, Tennessee, where we’ve just been filming.”

There was the roar of the Harley as Chris headed off on the bike to the next filming location. Cricket teased, “You could always get Chris to make love to you.”

Scarlett blushed, “And what makes you think that I haven’t already done that? Hollywood is one big fuck fest. Everybody fucks everybody else and has a ball doing it. We don’t talk about it all that much, but once in a while something happens that opens the kimono slightly on what’s happening back stage – like when Brad Pitt shacked up the Angelina Jolie when they were making the movie Mr. and Mrs. Smith, and he ended up divorcing Jennifer Aniston and marrying Angie. Neither was prepared for that to happen and then they blabbed about it. Hell, I fucked him when we were shooting the movie The Avengers. I got started with Chris during the same movie.” She laughed.

Cricket rolled her eyes. “Bring your paperwork.”

“I’m clean as a whistle and can prove it,” Scarlett crooned. “I’ll mess around after I get back from my long weekend with the Circle. Even then, I follow the Circle rules about protection.”

The bus turned onto Interstate 40 as it rolled towards Nashville. Cricket took time to meet the other actors and actresses playing supporting roles that were also on the bus. Ellen Page was playing the part of Ellen, Crystal’s sister in the book, and Zach Efron the part of Terry, Crystal’s agent who also becomes Jim Mellon’s best friend.

“SHIT!”

The loud epithet echoed across the patio from Alice’s mouth. Everyone looked at her as she looked at the local paper. “Who the fuck put that in the paper?” Alice rarely used ‘fuck’ unless she was really horny or really mad. There was no guessing what this situation was from the tone of her voice. Alice was pissed.

“Eeeeerrrriiiiinnnnnn, where are you?” Alice looked around. Erin worked at the local paper as a reporter, and had tried to ask her colleagues at the Herald to not publish anything regarding the Circle or its members.

Erin rushed up and took the newspaper away from her friend. “Oh, my God. This isn’t normally news we’d print in any case. Why it made the paper is beyond me. I’ll find out tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow I may not have a job,” Alice croaked.

Alice turned suddenly, “Where’s Roy? I have to tell him. I mean officially he’s my boss. I need to tell Abby, too, since she’s the head of HR. I’m sure the shit is going to hit the fan because of this revelation.” Alice hurried over to the other table in the dining area they were seated at. Her arms were flapping. Dori was sitting with them so she could tell all her friends from Knightsbridge Manufacturing what had just been published in the local newspaper.

Alice remained agitated all night long. She sat with Erin for a while as she called around to find out how the story happened to make the newspaper, but the best that anybody could report was that it came in on a legitimate wire from AP Regional, looked like local human interest, and so it got inserted into the paper as a filler on a slow news day because it was the right length and word count. Some junior employee just made a decision about how to fill some white space on an interior page.

Alice rolled her eyes and crossed her fingers. She liked her job, and loved working for Roy. He had been and was a great mentor to her and to Dori, as well. She’d hate to lose that connection by having to work somewhere else. The vision of being a stripper at the Club Ecstasy flitted through her mind. She’d had fun doing that, but wouldn’t as a full-time job.

Monday morning, Alice had taken Emily’s advice and experience and walked into Knightsbridge as though she owned the place. She went right to her office, greeting everyone on her staff in her usual pleasant way as she passed by. She thought she could tell who’d read the story in the local paper and who hadn’t by how they responded as she went by.

Exactly at nine a.m., Roy appeared at her doorway. He was not smiling, a point that Alice took as a very bad sign. He announced, “Dr. Morris Newhouse has requested the honor of our presence in his executive office immediately.” Newhouse was the CEO of Knightsbridge Manufacturing, and had a reputation as a tough negotiator and also as the man that single-handedly made the company into a multi-billion dollar a year industrial conglomerate.

Wordlessly, Alice rose and followed Roy down the hall to the elevator. They went up to the top floor of the building where the top executives, including Roy, had their offices. As they went in, Abby hurried in behind them; she caught up and briefly put a supportive hand on Alice’s shoulder.

At Morris’ invitation they all sat in the living room area of his large office. Morris came over and joined them, taking the chair that was obviously his favorite and that gave him a positioning of slight dominance over his guests.

Morris started, “Mrs. Prentiss, do you know why you are here?”

Alice smiled, “Actually, I don’t Mr. Newhouse, but I suspect you may be upset with me because of the small news article in yesterday’s Herald.”

“EXACTLY!” Newhouse almost screamed. “What on earth possessed you to not only dabble in the pornography industry but also to do so well at it that you won what is apparently a coveted award?” The anger in his tone was undeniable.

Alice kind of shrugged, “I was enjoying my private life, having fun, and helping a friend who runs a video production company. It really wasn’t that big a deal. The fact that I excelled at what I did was as much a surprise to me as it was to you.”

“A surprise? A Surprise? A huge FUCKING SURPRISE!?! That’s what it is to me. My Executive Director of Finance – the most senior woman in the WHOLE FUCKING COMPANY except for Abby Walsh – is a FUCKING PORN QUEEN! THAT IS A HUGE FUCKING SURPRISE TO ME.” Newhouse’s face got scarlet as he yelled.

Alice responded calmly. “I’m sorry you’re so upset with me, Mr. Newhouse. I didn’t mean to cause you or Knightsbridge any problem. Most of the other women that work in the industry maintain families and other jobs, so I thought nothing of what I was doing relative to any impact on the company. Moreover, I did use some props so I didn’t look so much like myself.”

Newhouse turned to Roy and Abby, “Don’t you think we should fire Mrs. Prentiss for moral turpitude or violating some clause in our Employee Manual? Help me here!”

Roy shrugged and feigned slight boredom, “Morris, personally I don’t see anything wrong with what she did. I rather enjoyed her films and actually told her I thought she’d done a good job in them. I’m assuming you’ve seen her talent; if you haven’t, you should. I even encouraged her to allow the publication that conducts the awards to place her name on their ballot. They run the voting much like the Academy Awards. I’m afraid that like Alice when I encouraged her to be on the ballot, I also didn’t conceive of any negative benefit to the company.”

That was not the response Newhouse expected. He quickly turned to Abby hoping to find support. “Miss Walsh?”

“I’m sorry that I also don’t agree with your conclusion Mr. Newhouse. Mrs. Prentiss has a distinguished career here at Knightsbridge. In my opinion she has saved the company, and hence you, millions if not hundred of millions of dollars due to her work. She is unique in that regard. I believe that as a private company we should stay out of our employee’s personal lives unless they are impacting performance adversely. In this case, Alice comes to work as a sharp, talented, smart, and cordial woman executive who is a joy to work with. I might add that there is a proven philosophy that on balance getting the company name out there, whether for good or bad, helps in the branding and hence the long-term desirability of the brand in the market. In the end, if there is any negative publicity for the company for this, we’ll be the better for it, most likely. Also, there is a great deal of case law regarding a company such as Knightsbridge infringing on their employee’s personal lives.