Chapter Two
Myles
“You’ve done what?” I eyed Seamus O’Malley. No, Seamus O’Malley-Langston. He’d married Valentino, and outside the studio, used the hyphenated name. Here, at work, he chose to use his birth name because he didn’t want to be accused of nepotism.
Right. Like everyone didn’t know he was married to one of the big bosses.
Yet, technically, Seamus had come first. All the way from Newfoundland. With his shock of red hair and cute Newfie accent. Then came Val from LA, and…a match made in North Hollywood heaven.
I waved my hand. “So you’re telling me no less than Susan Miller is insisting we use a real Ming vase?
” I rubbed my forehead. “I’m all about authenticity.
” And would’ve been happy with one that cost, oh, I don’t know, a couple thousand.
Still a lot, given my budget, but I would’ve made it work.
So that if it broke, I wouldn’t worry. “You’re saying this vase is worth three million dollars?
” I couldn’t fathom that kind of money, let alone spending it on a piece of pottery.
And I was a set decorator. Authenticity and realism were my middle names.
Well, actually Christopher, but I didn’t tell people that often.
Seamus grinned. “Yeah, Susan Miller. Don’t worry—”
“Don’t worry.” I might’ve squeaked that. “I have so much to worry about. And, admittedly, there aren’t any fight scenes in Justice’s office.” This season, anyway. “I don’t have time to babysit this…object…”
A bark of a laugh. “Myles, you’ll never cease to surprise me.
” He patted me on the shoulder, having a good three inches over my paltry five foot six.
“The vase comes with a bodyguard. And when Lyric kidnaps it and brings it to her lair, that’s within the studio lot.
In other words, the vase will never leave this building except to go back and forth to the museum every night. ”
“Are you listening to yourself, Seamus? A museum? A bodyguard?” I might’ve sputtered that.
Another benevolent smile. “Susan Miller signs our paychecks. She’s friends with Ping Yuen.
If they want the vase in Montgomery’s office for part of the season and to have Lyric steal it and to have Justice rescue it, then that’s what we’re going to do.
The writers are on board. I’ll brief Cole, Julie, and the rest of the cast and crew this afternoon.
I’m telling you now so you can prepare your people.
You might also wonder why we’re commandeering a storage locker with a combination lock. ”
I waved my hand. “Yeah, probably.”
He arched an eyebrow.
“Okay, definitely. I’ll, uh, let Sally and the others know.” Sally was my apprentice, my friend, and my confidante. She’d be the only person I’d dare complain to. “That it?”
A laugh burst from him. The air of melancholy that’d surrounded him when he first came to work here disappeared overnight when he met Valentino.
Now, he was married, had a foster son, and talked of taking in another child.
“Yes, that’s it.” He started to walk away, then turned back. “Be nice, Myles.”
I pressed a hand to my chest. “Moi? When am I ever not the height of civility?”
“Do I need to remind you of the time—”
“No, you most certainly do not.” Jesus, only he would dare bring up the incident. Me on my worst day. Or so I told myself to justify my shitty behavior. “Oh, what’s the bodyguard’s name?”
“Hallstein Bauer.”
I nearly choked on a laugh. “You’re kidding, right? Who names their child Hallstein?”
“His parents?” Seamus waved as he walked away.
After a long moment, I ducked back into the prop shop.
Sally sat on a stool, hunched over the table, repairing a 1920s art déco figurine lamp I’d found in a thrift store in Richmond.
I’d been down in Steveston with a friend when I spotted the shop.
I had an affinity for thrift stores, and my luck had brought me into contact with this baby.
I’d felt slightly guilty buying it for just a few dollars, as clearly the shop had no idea what they’d had.
I’d noted the charity they supported and gone home to make a direct donation.
Then brought the lamp in for Sally to do her restoration magic. “How’s it going?”
She lightly touched the brass figurine. “Not as much damage as I thought. Jerry over in electrical fixed the wiring, and once I’ve buffed it up, it should be as good as new. Well, except the chip in the shade.”
I moved closer and eyed it. “Kind of gives it character, though.”
“That’s what I thought.” She gazed up at me with her beguiling hazel eyes that were more gold today. In the sunlight, they came across as green. Her light-brown hair was pulled into a bun, and she was just a beautiful bundle of energy. Cute and so not my type.
Nope. I went for tall, dark, handsome, strong, and masculine.
Not that I would ever date a subordinate, of course.
Seamus and Valentino got away with it. And Thomas, our senior production person, was married to Peter Erickson, an actor.
They’d fallen in love in this studio as well.
Oh, and actor Elouise Hynes and her wife Kelci, who did makeup.
Plus a few hookups over the almost ten years I’d worked here. This place was just pheromone central.
She blinked. “Did I hear Seamus?”
“Right.” I rolled my eyes, although I wasn’t quite certain why.
“He’s informed me that we’re getting a three-million-dollar Ming vase for Montgomery’s office for the season.
Well, until Lyric steals it but, of course, he rescues it.
” I scratched my stubbled cheek. “He didn’t say what was going to happen to it if we’re around for another season. ”
Sally poked me in the arm. “You always talk like this will be the last season.”
I arched an eyebrow. “Well, one of these times, I’ll be right. The show can’t go on forever.”
She stuck out her lower lip. “I don’t see why not…”
“Sally.”
“Yes?” Said with all innocence. When she noted the look on my face, she smiled. “I tease, Myles.” Because she lived with her family and would be okay if the show ended and she couldn’t find another gig.
I, on the other hand, had a studio condo and several cats who depended on me.
Cats. Plural. Even though my building only allowed one pet per unit.
I kept them all locked in the bathroom when the annual fire inspection took place.
So far, so good. If the strata council found out, though, I could be fined and forced to give up several of my rescues.
So not the time, dear, to think about that.
“Okay, so we’ve got a bodyguard arriving soon. Seamus has secured a locker the guy can put the vase in because I assume at some point he’ll have to go to the john.” Right, like that’s the most important part of this.
Sally blinked again. She appeared owlish when she did, and more than once I’d suggested glasses. She preferred to squint. At least she didn’t drive—although she wouldn’t pass the vision test anyway. “So…he’s just going to stand around on the set all day and watch the vase?”
“Yes.”
“You know the odds of someone around here stealing it are, like, pretty much nil.”
“I know.”
“And that we have security.”
“I know.”
“Oh.” She tilted her head. “I guess we hope nothing happens…?
“Precisely.”