Chapter 8: Grindstone

I was in my office when the phone rang. I had expected the call about an hour before, but picked up anyway.

"Hey Dave."

"How'd you know it was me?"

"It's two thirty in the morning, and you're the only one who calls at this hour."

"Good point. Hey... we're good to go."

"Really?"

"Just finished the script, man. I'm gonna email you a list of what we need. You're sure Dimetrius is gonna be cool with helping us on this? Did you talk to him?"

"Twice, and both times he said he'd be happy to help out. As soon as I get your list I'll give him a call. He's a nightlifer, so he'll be up."

"Dimetrius, it's Mac. Did I catch you at a bad time?"

"Naw, man. It's all good, for now. What's up?"

"We're gonna get started, man, and I need your help filling some roles. We need 14 performers, 8 female, 6 male. Any problems there?"

"Not even close," I could hear the smile in his voice.

"Cool. Oh... there is one other thing, too..."

"Shoot."

"We need Passion."

Trisha Wilson, AKA Passion, sat across my desk from me. Her eyebrows were so furrowed they almost touched, and her face was cloudy with anger.

"What do you mean, nondisclosure agreement?"

"It's very simple, Miss Wilson. You sign it or you don't work on this film, as much as Dave wants you to. All it says is that you won't reveal any details about the making of the movie, or even the existence of a movie, until after it's been released. Can you do that, Trisha?"

Her nostrils flared slightly as I used her first name, and she sat quiet for a moment, then answered.

"I suppose consulting my lawyer with this contract would be out of the question?"

"I'm afraid so, Trisha. We need a signature or you need to leave. Are you in or out?"

Passion heaved a great sigh, impressive even through her coat, then leaned forward to scrawl her signature at the bottom of the page.

"Great, so when do we get started?"

"When the director says to."

"So who's the director?"

"You're looking at him, Trisha... and we start in two weeks. I'll give you a call and let you know where. Just keep your schedule open."

Dave sat across the desk from me, showing the wear and strain of a long day spent trying to find a place for us to make our movie. He had a legal pad on his knee, and was writing down almost everything we talked about.

"So we got Passion, and enough of the rest of the cast. We're still missing a few stand-ins, though. Dimetrius said he had girls who were close, but not exactly what we're looking for. No chance we can budge on them a bit?"

Dave glanced at me, and that was all it took for me to drop that suggestion. I hadn't expected anything different, but it was worth a try.

"OK, so we're missing three girls. How's the site research coming?"

"I got..." Dave flipped back a few pages on his pad. "Three likely sites. All within our budget, and within the city limits. The only problem is that one refuses to close out customers, so we'd be filming overnight, with cleanup at the end of the day's shoot. That one's sorta a fallback, because it's the strongest and cheapest. The other two are a little more iffy, and a bit more expensive."

"Dave... it's your script, and your movie. You just make sure we have a place to go make the fucker in a week, OK?"

"It'll be fine, dude. Chill the fuck out, would you?"

The location was ready when we began shooting, as Dave had promised. Passion proved to be a godsend, and Dave's magic with the cameras pulled out positions and images that I hadn't thought her capable of. The shoot was flying by, and as I sat in my office I lit a cigar, thinking about the next day's shoot. As I took a long drag, the phone rang, and I picked it up without taking my gaze from the ceiling.

"Hello?"

"Get your damn feet off the desk, Mac."

"Hi Dave. Feet aren't on the desk, they're on the filing cabinet. What's up?"

"What's up is that you never fucking filled the last woman's part! We have to shoot that fucking scene tomorrow, and we don't have anyone! How the fuck did this happen, man?"

"Who told you we were short?"

"Dimetrius just told me that you never contracted anyone for that role. Says you blew him off when he suggested girls, and told him it was handled. What the fuck's going on, Mac?"

"Dave... it's handled. Just trust me, would you?"

"Mac... don't fuck with me on this, huh? Goddamn it, I don't need this shit. If you say it's handled, then it's handled, but don't jerk me around. Are we set for tomorrow or not?"