“How do you even know about a car like this?”
“I made a lot of money doing the Sector movies. Just for fun, my friends and I started making a list of the most ridiculously expensive cars. I didn’t really want to buy an exotic car until I saw this one. Now, I’m obsessed. I’ve seen this around town. I didn’t know it was yours.”
I open the passenger door, letting her in. “Maybe if you’re good, I’ll let you drive her.”
“No way!” she says, her eyes big. Then she narrows them at me. “Wait. What do I have to do?”
“Oh, I’m sure I’ll think of something.”
Wednesday, October 1st
Captive Films - Santa Monica
RILEY
“Someone got laid last night,” Tyler sings, the second I come in the office smiling.
Keatyn looks up from her paperwork and yells out of her office, “Tell me it wasn’t Shelby.”
“It wasn’t Shelby,” I yell back. I go plop down on her pale grey suede sofa, pushing a pink pillow out of my way.
“Why do you always throw my pillows on the floor?”
“You sound like an old married couple,” Tyler says, dropping off my usual coffee and making a quick exit.
“I have news,” I say, trying to contain my grin.
“What kind of news?”
“Your little project, Daddy’s Angel, if you could choose any actress to play the role, who would you choose?”
“Well, that’s easy, Jennifer Edwards, but she’s done so many movies, I doubt she would consider television.”
“What if it wasn’t television?”
“What do you mean?”
“I was thinking. What if it was a movie serial?”
“What’s that?”
“Back in the day, movies were cheap. People went every weekend to see the newest black and white films. What if we tried something radical? Big screen weekly showings.”
“Like a television mini-series, only at the movies?”
“Yeah, we could roll it over later to pay-per-view, and then maybe get a cable network to pick it up. We’d make money at each stop.” I grin at her, letting it sink in.
“It’s innovative. I like it. And the script, you know I love it. But to be at the movies, we couldn’t use an unknown. We’d need a big star like Jennifer.”
“Hey, guys,” Knox says, interrupting our meeting. He drops a newspaper on Keatyn’s desk and another in my lap.
I read the headline.
Jennifer Edwards’ new plaything, Captive Films CEO Riley Johnson
“You dog, you,” Knox says, throwing another pillow on the floor before sitting down next to me. “Jennifer Edwards. You’re fucking Jennifer Edwards? Tell me about it. She’s freaking hilarious. She’s got to be crazy fun in bed.”
Keatyn covers her face with her hand. “Tell me you didn’t sleep with her.”
“What’s with that rule, anyway?” Knox asks. “Riley can sleep with whoever he wants. Wait? Does that mean you’re going to do a movie with her? I want in on it.”
“You what?” Keatyn and I say at that same time.
“She’s box office gold, just like our friend here,” he says, pointing toward Keatyn. “Whatever you’re doing with her, I want in. I’ll clear my schedule. After Trinity, of course.”
I take the lid off my coffee to cool it down.
“Oh, Riley,” Keatyn says, covering her mouth. “You’ve got to get that coffee out of here. The smell. It’s making me sick.”
She starts doing that dry heaving thing again.
“What’s with you lately?”
“I think I just have a touch of the flu,” she says.
“Great,” Knox says, “I have to kiss you all day on set. I suppose I’ll get sick too.”
“Riley, please?” she begs.
“Oh, sorry. Tyler!”
Tyler rushes in. “What?!”
“Take this coffee out of here. It’s making Keatyn sick.”
“Well, I never!” Tyler grabs the coffee out of my hand and marches out, slamming the door behind him.
Knox laughs. “Never a dull moment around here. Back to the matter at hand. Jennifer Edwards.”
“I have to think for a minute,” Keatyn says, wrapping her nose in her sleeve then talking through it. “Knox, you’re too old to play the boyfriend.”
“Not necessarily,” I say, disagreeing. “You just have it in your head that Daddy chooses someone young. Why couldn’t he choose someone older?”
“Hmm, maybe. Do you really think that she would do it? And, Riley, did you sleep with her?”
“Yes, she approached me about it specifically. She’s looking for a fun project. Something outside the box.”
“Are you gonna be the something inside her box?” Knox asks under his breath.
“I didn’t sleep with her, okay?” I finally admit. “She spent the night. We had a lot of fun. I like her.”
Keatyn goes, “You like her, like her?”
“What are we? In seventh grade?” Knox laughs. “Riley, did you hold her hand? Feel her up?”