Chapter Eight #2
“This is your view?” I was overcome with a fleeting sense of unfairness; I’d sat in Temper’s dingy, windowless space for nearly six years while the team at RJF got to experience this every day.
Manhattan seemed to stretch for infinity either side of us, windows glinting in the sunlight. “It’s so peaceful up here.”
“I know. It’s great,” Juno agreed. “Come on, I need coffee. You want another one?” She pointed at the cup I was clutching.
I shook my head.
“Well, you need to learn how the machine works,” she said.
I followed her inside to a kitchen area tucked away in one corner.
“You can help yourself to anything in the fridge.” She then showed me where the mugs were and the coffee machine itself, a professional copper-colored thing that filled the air with the delicious smell of ground coffee.
Hovering by the machine was a stocky woman with a pixie cut, clad entirely in top-of-the-line workout gear engaged in enthusiastic discussion with a blond man close to my age.
“Ah!” Juno said. “Here we have Sadie Styler, RJ’s exec producer.”
I had to take a deep, steadying breath. I had researched all RJF’s employees in preparation, so I knew that Sadie was basically living my dream.
As an exec producer, her role was to connect RJ’s work with the commercial side of film distribution.
She was the one who would source the funding appropriate for his projects, as well as seek out the sales agents and aggregators to get the film to audiences.
RJ had thanked her personally on more than one occasion at award ceremonies and events.
She was the real deal and I got to work alongside her.
“Pleasure to meet you,” I said, vibrating with excitement.
Sadie offered me a tight smile but didn’t step away from steeping her tea to shake my hand.
Juno gestured at the younger man with Sadie. “And this is Sadie’s executive assistant, Ralf.”
Ralf raised a well-groomed brow. “It’s junior producer now, actually.”
Juno viciously shoved a cup under the coffee machine’s nozzle. “Sure it is, Ralf.”
“I can prove it! Want to see my business cards?” Ralf produced a leather card holder from his back pocket, but Juno was already focused on stabbing the coffee machine buttons with zeal. Undeterred, Ralf pushed one on me. Sure enough, ‘JUNIOR PRODUCER’ was there in caps, embossed, no less.
I thanked him, making a show of tucking it into my bag. The guy radiated pure ambition, which made total sense, but it also felt a little like standing too close to an electric fire.
Ralf grinned. “Feel free to come to me if—”
Sadie slung her spoon on to the counter with unnecessary vigor. “So. You’re the chick who RJ thinks can turn his script around,” she said as if Ralf wasn’t talking. Her voice was surprisingly deep for someone so short, with a thick Texan accent.
“Hi, y-yes, Lucie,” I stammered. “Looking forward to getting stuck in.”
“Not sure I am,” Sadie said. “I just don’t know what business someone like you has coming in on a project this late. I mean, who are you?”
“Hey,” Ralf said gently. “Let’s give her a break.”
I gave him a grateful smile.
Sadie raised defensive hands. “I’m not being difficult. But you know what it took to get this meeting.”
“I do, I do,” he placated Sadie then turned to me. “What Sadie means is, we’re just curious about your experience?”
Sadie muttered mutinously behind him, and I gulped. This was starting to feel like an interrogation. “Well, I’m an assistant to—”
Ralf shook his head. “Oh, we know what you do, what I mean is how many scripts have you written or edited?”
“Outside of university projects, this is my first,” I replied honestly.
Ralf’s smile stretched. “As in … but you … I mean, surely you trained under another writer, or … ?”
“Not so much,” I said.
“Huh. RJ has brought in a total newbie to write his debut script.” His laugh was cryptic. “I’ll give it to him, the guy’s a maverick, no one was expecting that kind of stunt.”
“Wh-what do you mean?” Stunt? I wasn’t some kind of meaningless joke; I’d earned my way here.
“Hey, I mean nothing by it,” Ralf assured me softly. “I’m sure you’re super talented, but I – all of us – are confused by someone like yourself taking such a prominent position in RJ’s organization.”
Was Ralf annoyed I’d got a seat at the table closer to RJ than he had?
I wasn’t sure as he was being so nice about it, unlike his boss.
I hadn’t factored justifying my presence at RJF to anyone, I’d assumed that surely RJ’s validation was enough.
“I’m hardly a newbie,” I defended myself.
“Right, so yeah, maybe I don’t have lots of actual professional experience when it comes to script editing, but I’ve worked in the industry for years.
I know movies! I write press releases and trade articles all the time and—”
“Oh, you’re clearly the next Nora Ephron then!” Sadie passed a hand over her eyes. “What the fuck is RJ thinking?”
I took a breath. My big break was not starting the way I’d hoped.
I hadn’t exactly expected an overtly gushing welcome parade, but I hadn’t anticipated such open hostility.
It was deeply unfair; Sadie didn’t know me.
But I knew enough about her to know she was influential.
I had to try and not piss her off any more than she already was; she just needed to gain confidence in me.
So, I bit back the snarky reply that was bubbling up from inside my jetlagged self and replied calmly, “Perhaps you should ask him.”
“Oh, I have done, believe me. If you knew what it had taken me to get RJ’s script to be considered, the kind of financing I’ve had to pull in just for the studio to consider meeting us, you’d understand my reaction,” Sadie said.
“Quite frankly, sweetheart, I told RJ this and I’ll tell you, I don’t think you should be within a hundred miles of this script. ”
Her words landed so hard it was like I could feel them physically, crushing my determination.
What on earth could I say to that without destroying any chance of gaining their respect?
They didn’t know what it had taken to get to this point, what I’d sacrificed.
Thankfully, Juno edged to my side and saved me from having to respond.
“Okay, so, Lucie, how about we see if we can find RJ?” she said brightly.
I didn’t trust my voice; I merely nodded gratefully at Juno and moved out of the laser beam of Sadie’s eyes.
“Is she always like that?” I muttered to Juno once out of earshot.
“That is her on a good day,” Juno said. “Honestly, I don’t think that woman exists on the same plane as the rest of us. She certainly doesn’t sleep and I’m pretty sure she drinks baby tears for breakfast.” Just then the office phone rang, and Juno sighed. “I gotta get that.”
“I can take over for you?” Ralf offered, appearing from behind.
“Um …” Juno looked doubtful.
“It’s what, a few intros and then to RJ’s office, right?” Ralf laughed. “I can manage that.”
“No, I know you can, but—” Juno hesitated.
However the phone kept on ringing, and she huffed.
“Fine. I’ll be right back.” I watched in desperation as what seemed like my only ally walked away.
Ralf had been somewhat civil to me, but then again, he hadn’t exactly disagreed with Sadie’s sentiment.
He’d acted scornful of RJ’s decision, but here he was being helpful. I wasn’t sure what to expect from him.
Ralf beamed down at me, showing even white teeth. “Listen, I’m sorry about Sadie,” he said. “She’s super anxious about this project, you know? It’s a big deal for RJF, our biggest yet.”
I appreciated his explanation, even as I batted away the screaming imposter voice in my head telling me I had no business here. “I’m here to help,” I said weakly.
“I know,” Ralf agreed. “I – we – have never seen him so psyched after getting critique on anything, ever. Like, he’s been talking about you like you’re a wunderkind. And obviously I have my concerns, but I’m also curious about what you can do. I hope you can live up to his expectations.”
“Wunderkind?” I repeated in horror. And why did his hopeful statement sound like a warning?
“Eh.” He waved a hand. “Don’t you worry. Just show ’em what you got.”
Easier said than done, I thought. Anxiety throbbed insistently just below the surface of my skin, and I darted a glance towards the lifts, wondering if I should just cut my losses now and make my escape.
Ralf could clearly read my emotions as he put a reassuring hand on my shoulder. “Honestly. Don’t worry. Anyone gives you any trouble, just come to me.”
“That’s really nice of you, but I—”
“Look, I’m going to share a secret with you,” he interrupted smoothly.
“There are two types of people who work in movies. You get the dreamers and then you get the doers. Take me, I got the MBA, I got the five-year, ten-year, twenty-year life plan. I know exactly where I gotta be and when. I’m working for Sadie now, but that’s not for forever. You know why?”
“You’re a doer?” I said, bewildered.
“You got it,” he said. “Dreamers have their place, don’t get me wrong, but doers get shit done. Be a doer, Lucie.”
“Wow,” I mused. “You’re really American, you know that?”
Ralf threw his head back with laughter. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“It was meant as one,” I assured him. Mostly.
But I understood what he was trying to say.
Ralf was clearly someone who grabbed life by the balls, and I had to admit it would be good to have someone like him on my side.
We’d been strolling through the office as we talked and not one person had smiled or greeted me, offering only a view of their backs or, at best, a cool stare.
“What’s over there?” I pointed over to the far end of the office, where people were milling around desks in an open-plan setting with a large whiteboard dominating an entire wall.
“That’s the production hub,” Ralf said. “A few doers, but definitely some dreamers who think they are doers.”
I knew RJF had four full-time producers plus Sadie. Two were execs concerned with financing and budgeting, with two others focusing on the mechanics of production itself. “Are some of those people freelance then?”
“We nearly always have a considerable number of freelance producers and creatives working here,” Ralf explained.
“Like for right now, outside of RJ’s script, we got two films in pre-production, not to mention All Kinds of Killing, which is about to open, and it’s a big deal, a major studio release.
We also have several TV shows in various stages of development and production.
So, we need bodies, and this is where we put them.
” He began to lead me away from the hub.
“But as you’re solely working on this one script, you won’t need to spend any time there. ”
“Okay.” I noticed one woman a little older than me, sitting by herself in a corner of the hub, head in one hand as she scrolled through something on her laptop.
Her body was still, bar the bouncing knee, indicating some kind of underlying stress.
There was something familiar about the taut expression on her face.
I recognized it, as I’d felt what she was feeling in that moment many times throughout my career. Like her, I’d also endured it alone.
“So back here is RJ’s office.” Ralf led me to the back of the office, where a heavy wooden door awaited, framed by frosted glass windows. “You just need to brave Cerberus to get in there.”
“I see – wait, who?” I followed Ralf’s mocking gaze to the desk positioned outside the office.
A woman with impossibly shiny black hair was rising to her feet, eyes heavily encircled with liner and thick lashes.
As she folded her arms at our approach, I noticed a huge diamond ring on her left hand catch the light.
“Vivian, meet Lucie,” Ralf said. “Lucie, this is Vivian LaValle, RJ’s personal assistant.”
“Executive assistant,” Vivian corrected him.
“Oh!” Ralf’s voice was smooth, his smile unflustered in the blast of her stony gaze. “Do excuse me.”
“Hi.” I reached out my hand. RJ invited me, I reminded myself.
Vivian stared down at my outstretched hand but made no effort to shake it. Abashed, I withdrew. Another person who didn’t want me here. But I lifted my chin and met her eye as confidently as I could. “Nice to meet you.”
“Come on, Vivi, let’s be cordial,” Ralf soothed. “Lucie has come a long way to be here.”
“I know,” she said through gritted teeth. “And it’s Vivian.”
“My deepest and sincerest apologies,” he replied calmly. “I will throw myself off the balcony immediately as penance.”
Vivian sniffed. “Such hyperbole is unbecoming of you.” She then turned discerning eyes my way, casting a gaze up and down. “RJ has asked me to set you up with everything you need. Laptop, cell phone …”
“I brought my own laptop,” I said, tilting my tote bag to show it.
“It’s company policy,” explained Ralf. “We need a lot of security software and the like to protect RJ’s IP. You understand. Same with the phones.”
“Okay, sure.” I shoved my tote back under my arm.
“He writes in Final Draft,” Vivian added. “You know how to use that?”
“Yup.” It wasn’t a complete lie. I had written several projects at university in Final Draft, but that was some time ago, however, I was damned if I was admitting any weakness to this woman. I’d relearn the software, even if I had to stay up all night.
“Is RJ here?” Ralf asked.
“He had an early meeting with finance and—” she checked her watch “—he’ll be back shortly.” A light went on in RJ’s office.
Ralf pointed. “You sure he’s not in? Looks like someone is.”
Vivian’s perfectly thin brows furrowed. “Hm. He must have sneaked back early; I haven’t seen him.” She strode to the door, put one hand on the handle then turned back, jerking her head at me. “Well, come on!’
I did as I was told, nerves making my teeth rattle. Inside was an open space with low couches, a screen and floor-to-ceiling windows, and a large and tidy desk with a leather chair behind it facing away from the room.
“Hey, RJ, you got a second?” Ralf called.
Then it was as if things happened in slow motion.
I drew myself up and pushed the anxiety aside to greet my new, albeit temporary boss.
But in that second, I spied an iced coffee on the edge of the desk, one loaded with syrup and whipped cream, from the very place I’d bought the rapidly cooling drink I clutched in my hands.
The chair rotated to reveal a long muscular form, dark and rumpled hair tumbling into deep-set, long-lashed eyes.
The hot guy from the coffee shop stared back at me in consternation.
“Caramel syrup?” I didn’t mean to blurt out the first words I’d heard him say but once again the sight of him robbed me of any eloquence.
He rose to his feet, his face falling into a frown. “Pastry.”