Chapter 54

David had little on the day’s agenda, so he could rest and prepare for his interviews. The time difference between Dubai and New York was nine hours, which meant David would be able to do his video interviews in the afternoon and evening, local time. Frank, his publicist, called him before lunch for a video chat to review his talking points. Frank was working late on this.

“The camera crew will be there at two, and I think they should set up in the living room with a view of the grand entrance hall behind you,” Frank said.

That would certainly make a statement. The only better view in the suite might be from the balcony.

“That’ll work,” David decided. “How should I dress?”

“Because of the over-the-top backdrop, you need to dress down. Jeans and a dress shirt would strike the perfect note. It would say you’re a regular guy but are taking the launch of your film seriously. Save the thousand-dollar suit for the red carpet,” Frank said, then paused. “Who are you taking? Hopefully, not some Instagram model.”

“My mom. She and her best friend are going with my personal shopper to buy her a dress for the event.”

“Perfect. That sells you as both a good son and being single,” Frank said like he was checking off boxes.

Frank rummaged through his stack of papers.

“Trip and Halle James will join you at five after you do a round of quick five- to six-minute interviews with all the national morning shows. Then, at six, Rory Walsh and Kelli Thomas will share stories of your stay in Dubai.”

David gave Frank a worried look.

“Relax. They aren’t going to go into too much detail about what happened with the models. It’s more to give them a chance to promote their new TV shows coming out this summer.”

David arched an eyebrow because there had to be more to this.

“Okay, shoot me,” Frank said. “They’re both clients.”

“All right, I see how it is,” David said. “I’m just a vehicle for you to earn more Krugerrands for your evil overlords.”

Frank chuckled as he logged off the video chat. David had a bad feeling that after being run through the interview wringer, he’d look like the walking dead when he arrived at the premiere. Then again, he should be able to get a good night’s sleep since he didn’t have to get up early. That would help; it would probably be bad form to sleep through his own movie.

At two, Tabitha, the daytime butler, announced that the camera crew and Kimberly Osso, his studio’s handler, had arrived. David checked to ensure the dining room had a nice spread of coffee, tea, juices, and finger food to allow a quick bite between interviews.

A few minutes later, another person arrived: Rita James.

“David!” America’s Sweetheart called out when she saw him.

They hugged fiercely in greeting.

“I had no idea you were coming,” David said.

“And miss my kids on the red carpet?”

He felt silly for not realizing the obvious.

“But why are you here?” David asked.

“Since Trip and Halle were coming, and I’ve never been, I decided I wanted to come, too. When Paul Andon heard I was making the trip, he asked if I’d do him the favor of helping you with the interviews. Word had gotten back that you weren’t confident in Ms. Osso.”

“I never actually said that,” David said to defend himself.

“You didn’t have to. She made the mistake of complaining that you weren’t willing to get naked for a magazine cover. Paul read between the lines and, when the opportunity arose, asked if I’d be willing to step in,” Rita explained.

“Then I’m in your hands.”

“Good, because you need to show me the clothes you have in your closet. This look doesn’t work for your image. Let me guess: Frank was trying to make a statement. Well, he missed.”

“He wanted down-to-earth and serious.”

“You’re not thirty, and everyone with half a brain knows you have money. Just sitting in this suite screams that.”

David pointed to his bedroom and followed Rita, who dressed him in white slacks, loafers, and no socks. She had him put on a light-yellow long-sleeve dress shirt and instructed him to roll the sleeves up to his elbows. It had a ‘Hamptons in the summer’ vibe.

When David came out, he quickly drank a bottle of water and ate a sandwich before he was called to makeup, and his work day began.

As David sat down, he was given a list of who he’d be interviewing with. He should have expected otherwise but had assumed it would be the usual American TV shows. Instead, since the premiere was in Dubai, the shows were more international. His first talk show was actually in Japanese.

He was surprised when the language came back to him, well enough that he could make himself understood. Thankfully, all the initial interviews followed a standard format, where he would answer a few questions—mostly the same questions. Then, they would show a clip that made it look like he was about to die at the end.

David then joked that everyone had to come out to watch the film to see if they killed him off as they had in The Royal Palm. Of course, that role had won him an Academy Award, so...

Over the next two hours, he was able to do fifteen interviews. He didn’t even have a chance to take a bathroom break because as soon as he was done with one, it was on to the next.

About halfway through, he saw Rita smiling. He knew that meant he was delivering. David credited his modeling experience, where he’d been forced to keep his focus. He’d learned that he had to give it his all for each picture, or it would show when his mind drifted. David could hear Adrienne yelling at him to remember where his hand was supposed to be or some other nitpicky detail.

But she’d been right. When David returned to the States, he had to remember to thank her for teaching him that success was not an accident. Keeping his energy up and smiling as he answered the same cliché question for the tenth time was hard work.

He was grateful when Halle and Trip showed up. Their appearance allowed David to take a quick break as they handled the following interview. He had time to hit the head, grab another water, and eat a plate of freshly prepared artisanal French crepes that Tabitha had ordered for him.

It made him realize that hiring a butler when he got back home might be in the cards. That is, if he could find one who could anticipate his desires like this.

For the following interview, he sat between the two siblings.

When the reporter appeared on the video screen, David smiled. It was Ariana Hurtado, whom he’d met in Colombia. She was a fitness model who’d hosted a local dating show. When he met her, Ariana was dating Orlando Sandoval, his roommate’s cousin. He’d last seen her on the runway after he’d saved her, along with most of the women and children who’d attended Alex and Nat’s birthday celebration.

“Of all the people I expected to interview me, I had no idea you’d be one of them,” David said.

“You two know each other?” Trip asked.

Ariana gave a quick recap of how he’d saved her when the Sandoval family compound was attacked. Both of his Hollywood friends were aghast because David hadn’t shared the drama that ended his stay in Colombia. Even he found it hard to believe that the insane incident had only happened less than five months before.

Rita interrupted them and reminded everyone they were on the clock to finish their interviews.

Ariana: “What is it about Stryker that the audience finds so appealing? I mean, I can see that your character is intelligent, the ladies love him, he never backs down from a fight, and he is, in essence, a man’s man. Do you think that’s it?”

Trip: “Isn’t it obvious? David spends half the movie walking around with his shirt off, sporting all those tattoos.”

Halle: “The real question I have is why we never see Stryker eat anything?”

Ariana: “What do you mean?”

David: “In the first movie, the writers had me sit down to eat, but, with all my dialogue, I never was able to take a bite. So it became a running joke to see if they could put Stryker into an obvious situation where he should eat something. Then, they would find a clever way to prevent it from happening. I never ate anything on film during the over six hours of the three movies.”

David quickly discovered that Trip and Halle had done in-depth research while on their flight to Dubai to uncover little gems like him not eating. Relating the stories helped make him more ‘real’ to the audience. Rita and Ms. Osso loved it, even if he was the butt of a few jokes. It also showed that the three were real friends and liked working together.

In short, it was PR gold for the upcoming movie.

The hour he had with the siblings flew by, and then it was time for Rory and Kelli to join him.

Their first interview was with Cassie Krieger, who hosted In The Know, a talk show that covered the happenings in Hollywood. It was a fluff show that focused on such vital issues as red-carpet fashions and who was seen with whom at a local hot spot. Cassie had interviewed David in the past.

She was a good sport and let him talk up his premiere and show the film clip before she turned her attention to Rory and Kelli.