Chapter 77

The interior light came on when the car door opened. I saw Jake behind the wheel, and Amy was highlighted as she stepped out of the car. Jake waved to me as he drove away, and Amy met me at the car when I parked.

I asked, “Well, did you have a good time?”

“Yeah, pretty good, I guess. It was, umm, unusual.”

“Unusual? Why? He didn’t get weird, did he?”

“No, Jake is a very nice boy. Do you know where we went?”

“Mom said that you went to a play.”

“We did. It was a play put on by the people from his church.”

“His church? I didn’t know that he was a religious guy.”

“Jake tries hard to be a lot of things. He’s a big, rough-looking guy, and I understand that he has a reputation as a tough guy on the football field. He dates some of the wilder girls at school, and some of the girls say they heard that he got physical with one of them, but he wasn’t that way with me, and I don’t think it’s true.”

I was suddenly angry, and I barked, “You knew that he was being rough with girls, and you went out with him anyway?”

She laughed and said, “Give me a little credit here. I checked into things. I talked with some of those girls, and they said that it wasn’t true at all. Besides, I have a big brother who would have stepped in in case things got out of hand.”

I stammered, “B-But, what if I wasn’t with you!”

She laughed again, then said, “Relax. I had a talk with him before we went out. I could tell that his roughness is a façade. He likes it that way. It keeps people from getting too close. Jake is very insecure at heart.”

“So you sort-of, umm, like him?”

“As a friend, yes, but I won’t be going on dates with him again. I’m not what he’s looking for.”

“What does that mean?”

“Religion is an important part of his life. He hinted about it yesterday and today, I saw how serious he is about it, and I’m just not into that.”

“So, what are you looking for in a guy?”

“I’m not looking for anything right now. You see how busy I am at work. Mom is a huge help, but things are going to get busier, now that the Devons are involved and that you and Erin are starting to work.”

“So, romance is out of the picture for a while?”

“I think so; there just isn’t enough time right now, but what about you? Is there someone new on the horizon?”

“Not right now. Marla is out of town, and I want to see where this acting thing is going to go before I worry about anyone new.”

“Good idea. You’re going to be pretty busy for a while, and so is Monique, by the way.”

“Really? How come?”

“I have her scheduled for a photo shoot in Reno this week, and she’s going to be with Marla in La Jolla next week.”

“What about Alice?”

“She’ll be in meetings this week, but she’ll be around. I want to mention something else by the way. We hired Jasmine to be our new receptionist. You and Erin will be coming into the office from time to time, and she’s asked about you. I don’t want to cramp your style, but be careful with her. She’s a shark, and she’d sleep with the devil if she thought that it would further her career.”

“Don’t worry, I have no illusions about her. Mrs. Devon told me the same thing, but why did you hire her if you’re worried about her?”

“Because we’re going to have more and more people stopping by the agency, she’s pretty, she has a great phone voice, and she’s very organized.”

“Aren’t you afraid that you’ll lose her if an acting part comes along?”

Amy raised an eyebrow and answered, “No, I don’t think that she’ll be getting any acting parts for a while, and I’d prefer that you didn’t ask me why. Let’s just say that she was involved in something that angered some people.”

I decided not to pursue it, so we said goodnight and I went to my room and slid into bed. I was tired, but I couldn’t sleep for a while. Today was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed the look on Cindy’s face as she experienced new things, and I laughed to myself, remembering how Lori looked standing in the fountain, dripping wet. Best of all was the thought of Sylvia, and how wonderful it is to make love to her.

It was six thirty when Erin’s voice on the intercom woke me, and we rolled into the studio just before eight o’clock. John met us at Mrs. Gibson’s room and we turned our schoolwork in, then we got into a golf cart and he took us to a group of huge, old-looking buildings. He asked, “Do either of you carry cell phones?” when we stepped out of the cart.

He said, “Let me see them,” when we both nodded.

He took them and fiddled with them for a few seconds, then he said, “I switched them to ‘vibrate’. Don’t EVER forget to do this before you enter a set. They’ll string you up by the heels if one goes off during a shoot.”

The buildings looked like warehouses, but it looked like a disaster area when we got inside. The roof was twenty five or thirty feet high and there were very few windows. Four-light fluorescent fixtures hung on long chains so that you could see where you were walking, but there were dim areas, lots of dark corners, and everything was old-looking and covered with dust. There were stacks of what appeared to be regular, room-sized walls leaning against almost every outside wall, but they were one-sided, and the back sides faced out, so all you could see was the wood framing. Electric cables were strewn everywhere, and everything looked old and dusty. We followed John for a while, dodging lights on stands, and stepping around workbenches and electrical equipment. Then we stepped through a door, and we suddenly were in a doctor’s office. Everything was brightly lit from above. There was a handsome desk, a leather chair, and framed pictures of degrees hanging on the walls, but the room had no ceiling! A woman in a white smock and a distinguished-looking man dressed hospital greens, were talking with two guys. Both guys were in street clothes, and one was wearing a headset. John went to him and said something. He looked at us, and pointed over his shoulder, then he watched us as we followed John to a large open area where Mrs. Devon was standing with a group of people. She motioned us over when she saw us, and said, “People, meet Erin and Pete.”

She said to me, “Wait here,” and she took Erin to where a young girl was sitting at a desk. They talked for a minute, then she came back to me and said, “Erin has a lot to learn as I told you before, and Jane over there, is going to spend the next few days showing her what she needs to know. I’m going to introduce you to Emil. He’ll show you around and tell you what your part is about. I’ll contact you later. Here’s my cell number if you don’t hear from me.”

She handed me a card with her number on it just as a short little guy with a beard came up. She introduced me to Emil, and he began talking. I knew his life story by the end of our first hour together. It wasn’t very interesting. He took me to a place where they were shooting a scene, and told me about ‘hitting the mark’. He explained that there sometimes were pieces of tape on the floor, and you were supposed to stop there and deliver your lines. The scene that we were watching was from a popular police drama. The set looked like a lawyer’s office, and a pretty girl was sitting at a desk. A guy I recognized then came in and asked if ‘Stanley’ was in. The girl pushed a button on an intercom, and said, “Officer Rocco is here, Mister Stanley.”

That was it! The whole thing was over in a minute or two, but they filmed that scene five or six times, and it wasn’t until about the fourth time they did it that I realized that there was a subtle difference each time. I waited for someone to say ‘Cut and print’ like I’d seen in the movies, but no one did. They just talked about things for a while and everyone walked away. I asked Emil where they were going and he said that they were going to another set for a different scene from the story that was supposed to have happened a few days ago.

It was interesting, but overwhelming, and my head was swimming when Emil looked at his watch and said, “I gotta go. Mrs. Devon told me to send you to Mrs. Gibson when I had to leave, but I’ll see you tomorrow and we’ll go over your lines.”

We walked outside, and he seemed to be looking for something, then he pointed and said, “There’s one.”

He was pointing to an old, balloon-tired bike leaning against the front wall, and he said, “Take that. Just leave it outside when you’re done with it.

I hopped on the bike and found my way back to Mrs. Gibson’s room. She was talking to two young boys when I got there, and she waved me to a chair. She came to me and handed me a loose-leaf binder a minute later. It had my name on it, and she sat next to me and watched as I opened it. Everything that I needed to know was spelled out, including my homework. It was amazingly easy to understand. She asked, “Any questions?”

I answered, “No, Ma’am,” and I was even able to work on the homework after I studied it for a while.

The lunch horn wailed promptly at noon, so I headed for the lunchroom. I was getting used to seeing people in strange outfits, so I didn’t pay much attention to the fact that two very pretty girls seemed to be wearing bathrobes when they sat at a table near me. I nearly dropped my sandwich when one of them got up and the bottom flap blew back to reveal what appeared to be a very naked butt. I was still staring when a voice behind me said, “Down boy, she only looks naked. She’s wearing a body suit.”

Standing across from me was a really pretty girl. She had short brown hair, a cute pug nose, and freckles everywhere. She didn’t look much older that me, and I quickly lied, “I knew that. I was admiring her bathrobe.”

She grinned and said, “Bullshit,” then she stuck her hand out and said, “Hi, I’m Meg.”

I took her hand, but she was really cute, so I held onto it instead of shaking it, and said, “Hi, I’m Pete Baker.”

She looked at our hands and raised an eyebrow, but she continued, “I know. Mrs. Devon said that you’d be here. Are you finished with your schoolwork?”

“Yeah, I’m just doing homework.”

She said, “Good,” then she looked down and said, “Are you gonna let go of my hand?”

“Not unless you agree to have lunch with me.”

She laughed out loud and then said, “Yes, I’ll have lunch with you. Mrs. Devon said it was okay and that you’re gonna pay.”

I nodded, and we went to the hot food line. I watched her as she took two plates and stacked an enormous amount of food on both of them. We went to the cashier and she went to our table while things were being tallied. I handed the cashier the credit card, and Meg was halfway through one of the plates by the time I got back to the table. I finished my sandwich, and watched her as she finished that plate. She was most of the way through the second plate when she finally sat back and groaned.

I asked, “Had enough?”

“That’s the first decent meal I’ve had in a week.”

“Why? Have you been too busy to eat?”

“No, there’s not a lot left over for food on a PA’s salary.”

“I thought production assistants did okay, and don’t you get to eat with the others on the sets?”

“You thought wrong. We get paid minimum wage, and it seems that someone always wants us to go somewhere and do something, or pick up someone when they set up the craft tables. The craft table is either gone, or it’s so picked through there’s not much left by the time we get back. The only time that we get anything decent is when we’re on location, and it’s been a while since I was with a show.”

“Why do you do it if it’s that bad?”

She smiled and shook her head, then answered, “If you have to ask...”

“Oh, so you want to be an actress.”

“I AM an actress. I’ve been doing this since I was twelve. I’ve been in a lot of little theater plays, and I’ve done things in a number of movies.” She went on to tell me about a bunch of movies that she’d been in, but she kind of sheepishly told me that they were only ‘extra’ parts when I asked her what parts she played. She finally said, “Mrs. Devon says that you’re pretty new at this.”

“Yeah, I’ve never done any acting.”

“Nothing at all?”

“No, I’d never even been to a studio before this.”

Wide-eyed, she asked, “How did you get a part in this production?”

“It’s kind of a long story. My sister, Erin, and I were at a shooting location and some people saw us.”

“Erin! Is Erin Swan your sister?”

“No, my sister’s last name is the same as mine. Who’s Erin Swan?”

She cocked her head and looked at me, then said, “Oh, I think I know what happened. You’ll find out in a little while.”

She got up and crooked her finger at me, so I followed her back to the food line. She said, “Dinner tonight,” and she picked up a bunch of food and loaded some Styrofoam containers.

I paid again, then we went outside. She stood still for a minute, looking around, then put two fingers in her mouth and whistled. A golf cart loaded with people pulled up a second later. She told the driver “Take us to Stanley,” and we jumped on the sides. We seemed to be going in a different direction than the sound stage, and we sure enough pulled into a big parking lot at the far end of the complex. She jumped off, and I followed her to a dilapidated-looking Camaro convertible. The top was in tatters and it didn’t look like it had been washed in years. She pointed and said, “Meet Stanley,” and she opened the trunk and dropped the food in.

She slammed the trunk three or four times before the latch finally caught and she looked at her watch and said, “Shit, we’re late. C’mon.” I followed her to the end of the parking lot where a black limousine was parked and she tapped on the driver’s window. It lowered a few inches, and she said something to the driver. He shook his head, but she said something else then I heard a click as the doors unlocked. She got in, and I followed her into the leather luxury of what was obviously an almost brand-new car. It was hot outside, but it was almost chilly in the car. The driver was an older guy. He was wearing a black, three-piece suit, and a chauffeur’s hat was laying on the dash. As he pulled away, he said, “You gotta quit asking me to take you places, Meg.”

She answered, “But I’m really late, Cal.”

“You’re ALWAYS late. I’m going to get fired for not being where I’m supposed to be one of these days. I don’t know why I do this for you.”

Meg leaned forward when we pulled up to the sound stage, kissed him on the neck, and said, “You do it because you love me, Sweetie,” and the guy asked, “Did you put food in your trunk again, Meg?” as she started to get out of the car.

She answered, “Uh huh.”

He said “Gimme,” and she reached in her pocket and handed him her keys.

I asked, “Is he your, umm, boyfriend?” as we were walking inside.

“No, that’s Calvin. He works for Manny Stein, the head of the studio. He sits there all day with the air conditioning on when it’s hot like today. Calvin never knows when he’s going to have to take Mr. Stein somewhere, and the boss likes the inside of the car to be nice and cool.”

“He sits there all day?”

“Yup, and Mr. Stein sometimes doesn’t come out until midnight.”

“Wow, that’s dedication. So how do you know him?”

“My car wouldn’t start one time, and he helped me get it going. He says that I remind him of his granddaughter, but I actually think that he has a little crush on me.”

“Why did you give him your keys?”

“He always does that. He knows that it’s because I have food if he sees me at my car. He’ll take it from the trunk and put it in his car to stay cool. He’ll put it back in the trunk and leave my keys in the ash tray if he leaves before I get back.”

Mrs. Devon was sitting at a desk talking on the phone when we got back to the sound stage. She hung up after a minute, and nodded to Meg. Meg nodded back, wiggled her fingers at us, and went off somewhere.

Mrs. Devon asked, “Are you caught up on your schoolwork?”

“Yes, but where’s Erin? I didn’t see her at class or in the lunchroom.”

“We had lunch brought in, and don’t worry, she’ll get caught up with her schoolwork. We did a screen test this morning, and your sister is amazing. She takes direction like a pro. I’ve already talked to your folks about this, and things have changed a little. She won’t be riding in with you from now on. She’s going to be coming in earlier than you, and we’re going to send a car for her.”

“Is she okay with that?”

I must have looked a little anxious, because her eyes softened a little and she said, “You care about people, don’t you?”

“Well, she’s my sister.”

“Yes, she’s fine with it. I heard what you did for my girls when you ‘recruited’ that group of kids who were giving them a bad time as personal watchdogs by the way, and I want you to know that I appreciate it.”

“I was glad to do it. They’re nice girls. They’re famous, and it would be easy for them to be stuck-up or a pain-in-the-neck about it, but they’re not that way at all. You’ve done a really good job, but there’s something that I’m curious about. They are still in school, and Erin and I are here. Why?”

“I want the girls’ life to be as normal as possible. An acting career is very fragile. It could end at any time, and I want them to be prepared if it does. The reason that you and Erin are here is because there’s a lot for the two of you to learn in a short time, especially for Erin, and that’s what I want to talk to you about. Erin has a much bigger part than you as I told you. She’s going to be in a lot of scenes, and she has a lot to learn. She’s with speech and acting coaches right now. You, on the other hand, are only going to be in one or two scenes. You’re going to be the good-looking neighbor boy in the pilot.”

“Why bother having me in there at all?”

“A couple of reasons. First, I have a feeling that you’re going to be successful. This is my story; I wrote it and I’m going to produce it, but the studio is going to finance it, and they have a lot of say about things. They love Erin, and they wanted to go with a proven actor even though your part is a small one, but I convinced them to use you in the pilot. Don’t worry, you’re going to be fine. I’ll bet that the distributors will love you if the pilot gets picked up and we show it around.”

“Okay, I’ll leave it up to you, but you said that there were a couple of reasons.”

She looked at me, frowned, and said, “My girls grew up in this business, Pete. They’ve been acting and modeling their whole life, but they were children, and I was always around to keep my eye on them, but this can be a dangerous place when they got to be the age they are now. There are a lot of temptations, and a lot of unscrupulous people waiting to take advantage of whatever, and whomever they can.”

“So, the reason that you want me around is to be their bodyguard?”

“Not for just that reason. You’re a very handsome young man, Pete. I really do think that you have a career, either in acting or modeling, but, yes, I would like you to watch over them as best you can. I’ve talked with them about you, and I’ve talked with people around you. You have a reputation for being a good guy. You seem to have a good heart, and I think that I can trust you. I can, can’t I, Pete?”

“Yes, Ma’am, you can. I promise that I’ll watch out for them.”

“Thank you. Rose and Lily are good girls, but they’re getting older, and I, well, there hasn’t been a man in their life for a long time.”

I put my hand on her arm and said, “I understand.”

The funny thing was that I DID understand. My parents had allowed me to make a lot of my own decisions in the last year, but I always knew that they were there in case I needed them. Dad wasn’t around much, but I always felt his presence. I always knew that he would come running if I needed him no matter where he was, but I also knew that he would get on my case big time if I did something stupid or uncaring. I don’t know if girls need that kind of backup, but I suspect that they do, and I was actually proud that Mrs. Devon trusted me enough to keep my eye on them.