Dr Hayes want to film a short drama
Avery Hayes was on the phone, scrolling through her contacts, but the professional network she'd built as a doctor was proving useless. Outside of a few medical colleagues, she didn't know anyone with the kind of influence she'd need to take on the Sterling family.
She sighed, rubbing her forehead. Relying on her old life wasn't going to get her anywhere.
She needed to think, to plan her next move.
But one thing was certain: she was done being a lawyer, and she was done being a doctor.
Getting justice for what they'd done to her was one thing, but she had her own life to live, too.
On the other end of the line, Cole had gone quiet. All she could hear was his heavy, uncertain breathing.
Just then, a waiter appeared at her elbow and set a plate on the table: a cheeseburger and a pile of golden fries. The steam rose in a soft cloud, momentarily blurring her vision. She picked up a fry and took a bite. A little bland. She leaned over to grab the salt shaker from the adjacent table.
A middle-aged man sat there alone, a half-eaten plate in front of him.
His phone screen was still lit, his thumbs busy.
As Avery reached over, he instinctively looked up, his gaze lifting from the screen to her face.
His expression was cool and detached at first, but then a calculating glint slowly crept into his eyes.
Cole finally spoke, his voice low and laced with a quiet helplessness. "Fine. I won't try to change your mind. I haven't told Mom and Dad what's going on yet."
Avery's gaze dropped to her plate. "Don't," she said softly. "I don't want them to worry."
"They're going to find out eventually," Cole sighed. "By the way, the hospital director said they'll cooperate with whatever you decide to do."
Her lawyer instincts snapped back online.
"I made myself crystal clear in his office," she said, her voice sharp.
"I'm holding them accountable to the fullest extent.
A doctor's life is still a life. If we let this go, what's to stop the next family from doing the same thing?
What kind of safety will any doctor have?
And make sure the hospital files a workers' compensation claim for me."
"You're right," Cole agreed. "Okay. I'll let him know."
Her fries were starting to get cold. They chatted for another minute before she hung up.
Avery set her phone down, picked up her fork, and dug in. After a week of bland hospital meals, she was starving. The burger and fries vanished in what felt like minutes. She put her fork down and leaned back, letting her stomach settle before finally getting up to pay the bill.
Just as she stood, the middle-aged man from the next table, the one in the black leather jacket with a slight beer belly, stepped in front of her and tapped his phone on the payment terminal. Assuming he was just paying for his own meal, Avery stepped back to let him go first.
"I'll get Dr. Hayes's meal, too," he said to the cashier before turning to Avery with a smile.
Hearing him use her name, Avery froze for a second before managing a polite, questioning smile. She racked her brain, trying to figure out if she knew him.
"Hello, Dr. Hayes. I'm Dexter Reed," he said, pulling a business card from a briefcase and handing it to her. "We met at the hospital a few days ago."
She took the card. The words 'Director of Stellar Media Group' were printed in sleek letters. And just like that, it clicked.
Of course. He was that eccentric, doting son from the cardiothoracic unit.
They had definitely met. In fact, she had an identical business card somewhere in her bag.
This guy had been so worried his father wasn't getting enough nutrition after surgery that he'd shown up with a mountain of imported supplements.
The problem was, his dad had just come out of the operating room.
His digestive system was nowhere near ready for that kind of rich food; he was still on a strict liquid diet.
After getting a stern lecture from his own father, he'd left with his tail between his legs.
But not before stuffing a business card into the hands of every single doctor on the floor, probably worried something would happen to his dad.
He'd even given one to her, a doctor on leave in a patient's gown.
"Dr. Hayes, I couldn't help but overhear your phone call," Dexter said casually. "You're the doctor from the news, aren't you? The one who was attacked by a patient's family."
The news reports had blurred her face and used a fake name, and only a few grainy photos had made it online. If he hadn't overheard her call, he never would have put it together.
"Mr. Reed, are you on your way to visit your father?" Avery asked, offering a faint smile. She had no interest in discussing it further.
"I just came from the hospital," he said, clearly getting the hint. He switched gears. "So, it sounds like you've resigned. To be honest, I work in entertainment. I have a script for a web series, and the second female lead happens to be a doctor. Have you ever considered acting?"
"A web series?" Avery repeated, stunned. This was the last thing she'd expected him to say. "Is casting always this... casual?" She raised an eyebrow, genuinely bewildered. Was he really asking a random person in a restaurant to be in a show? Wasn't he worried no one would watch it?
"Of course not! It depends on the person," Dexter chuckled, a little sheepishly. He seemed determined to win her over. "Look, you already quit your job. Finding a new one takes time. A web series doesn't take long to film. Why not give it a shot?"
Avery didn't answer right away. Her eyes drifted back down to the business card, to the name 'Stellar Media Group.'
She remembered the company from her lawyer days, about a year ago.
They'd been a pretty big name in the New York entertainment scene.
An old colleague from her firm had even done some legal advising for them.
Then the company had imploded. Their biggest star got into a fatal drunk driving accident, and the victim's family refused to settle, pushing for criminal charges.
The company threw everything they had at crisis PR, but their reputation was shot.
A lot of their actors jumped ship. They were still limping along with a few smaller names, but all their momentum was gone.
"How long is the shoot? And what's the pay?" Avery asked, her gaze fixed on the card, a calculating glint in her eyes.
She was tempted. She'd just been trying to figure out how to make some quick cash.
An opportunity like this, dropping right into her lap?
And the entertainment world... the connections were a tangled mess, and public opinion was a powerful, fickle weapon.
That could be very useful for what she had planned.
She just needed to understand the rules of the game. As a divorce lawyer, she'd never had a reason to learn the ins and outs of the entertainment industry, but she'd heard enough from old classmates to know it was a complicated scene.
Hearing her ask about money, Dexter knew he had her. His eyes lit up. "We've already started filming, so the schedule is tight, just seven days total. If you're willing to do it, Dr. Hayes, the flat rate is eight thousand dollars."
Eight thousand dollars. The number sent a jolt through her.
Eight grand for a week of work? Was that seriously what these web series paid? She'd never made money that fast as a lawyer. As for being a doctor, she'd only been working for two months before the attack. Her take-home pay, with all her allowances, was only about seven thousand a month.
A single week of filming would earn her more than an entire month's salary.
This job... she was going to take it.
She had nothing else going on, anyway. She might as well film for a few days, get a feel for that world, and then figure out what came next.