I winked at her.
“Yeah, what am I saying? Thanks, Kara,” Adrienne said.
“You guys are no fun. I’m going downstairs to dance. Anyone want to join me?”
They both gave me a dirty look so I went downstairs on my own. I found a group of three girls who all looked college-age, sitting at a table. I asked them if they would like to dance. One of them gave me a dirty look, but the one I thought looked the least interested grabbed my hand and we were on the dance floor.
I had thought she would say ‘no’ because she had a pissed-off look on her face. She had been talking passionately about something when I walked up. When she didn’t have that serious look on her face, she was cute.
The girls in my PE dance class had been teaching me some moves. I think she was surprised when I didn’t shuffle from foot to foot like a lot of the other guys dancing were. Apparently, Adrienne and Kara had discovered men who’d be willing to dance with them. My partner stopped dead in her tracks when she saw the two of them shimmying around us. I just smiled at her, because you couldn’t really have a conversation over the blare of the music.
When the song ended, my dance partner bolted back to her table. I never made it off the dance floor as I soon had another girl standing in front of me, wanting to dance. I was starting to get suspicious when this happened for the next three dances. The tip-off was that the quality of the girls went up dramatically. Another tip-off was that there seemed to be a photographer taking pictures of each girl as we danced. I was relieved when the DJ announced a quick break.
I went to the bar and got a couple of bottled waters. I downed one, opened the next one, and started drinking it. A new girl showed up that I thought I recognized from somewhere.
“Hey, I’m next,” she told me.
“Okay, tell me what’s going on.”
She looked confused.
“You’re David, right?”
“Yes.”
“Adrienne said if I wanted to get some press, I should dance with you.”
Adrienne was pushing pretty girls my way who were in the business. I was having fun, so why not?
The music started, so I took another swig of water and we went out and danced. The next song was a slow song, and Kara was up next. I pulled her into my arms and we began to sway to the music. She looked up and kissed me on the cheek. The volume of the music was lower for this song, so I able to talk to her.
“What are you guys up to?” I asked Kara.
“Adrienne is working the press for you. Just go along with it. You seem to be having fun,” she said with a giggle. “I didn’t know you could dance.”
“I’m taking dance for PE. I have to give the credit to the girls in my class. They taught me some moves because they felt sorry for me.”
The photographer was back, so we gave him our best smiles. He took our picture and then was off to the next couple. At eleven o’clock I called it quits because we had work the next day. I found Adrienne and Kara upstairs in the lounge, surrounded by admirers. Tyler gave me a smirk. I walked up behind them, put an arm around each of them, and then kissed them each on the cheek.
“Come on, ladies, take me home.”
Several men looked on in shock when they both kissed me and we left. Adrienne’s security and Chuck materialized at the door. I had caught glimpses of him throughout the night. They cleared a path and we found Adrienne’s car waiting for us. This time they piled in with us since there was room.
“Did you have fun tonight?” Adrienne asked.
“Yes, thank you. Who were all those girls? I recognized a few of them.”
“Most of them were models, but there were a few from TV. They were all out to get some press tonight. You’ll be in the Times tomorrow.”
“We’ll have to get the paper, then.”
Adrienne and Tyler dropped us off at the hotel. We went up to the room hand-in-hand. I had sweat through my t-shirt so I went and took a shower. When I came out, Kara was sound asleep. I debated waking her, but I was tired. I soon joined her in slumber.
Sunday January 26
I WOKE TO THE PHONE ringing. It was Chuck telling us he’d meet us downstairs in thirty minutes. We’d overslept. Kara was not pleased when I shook her awake but soon raced to the shower. We packed our bags because we weren’t coming back to the hotel. By the time we got downstairs, Chuck had a cab waiting for us.
When we got to the studio, Rafael was ready for us. He took us right in and showed us the commercial. To my untrained eye, it looked great. Kara and Rafael weren’t happy with a couple of the scenes, so I soon found myself in makeup and then on the set.
Between shots, I needed to have my makeup fixed. The gal told me that my phone had been making a lot of noise. I looked and saw several voicemails and text messages. The interview I did with Adrienne and Kara had been shown. I figured I could answer them while waiting at the airport. I went back and we finished the shoot.
When it came time to sign our releases, I realized I had a problem. I couldn’t have Chuck sign them. I called Kendal and got her voicemail. I called Tom and no answer. It was a Sunday morning, but Rafael needed to get a signature so he could send the commercial to the client. It was afternoon in France, and they wanted to view it before Kara and I took off.
I looked through my contacts and decided to call one of the managing partners. I called Don Rigby.
“Mr. Rigby, David Dawson. I’m sorry to be calling on a Sunday, but I need your signature on a release.”
“David, I’m not sure I’m qualified to make that call. Have you tried Kendal and Tom?”
“Yes, sir. Neither answered their phone. The producer needs the release this morning. Can I email the commercial and release papers to you?”
I got his info and Rafael sent him everything he needed. Ten minutes later, I got a call from Deb Thomas.
“Don Rigby just called. It sounds like you’re in a bind. If you’d like, we can sign off on it,” she offered.
“What’s that going to cost me?” I asked.
“Our standard fee, if we’re involved.”
“Don’t you think that’s a little steep for only signing the release?”
“No. If you’d run this through us, you wouldn’t be in a bind.”
“Okay, let me get back to you.”
I called Adrienne and told her what Deb Thomas was pulling.
“Dang it, I was hoping they would play nice with you a little longer. Remember what I told you last night? If I had everything set up, I could do it for you. Let me call Deb and work this out.”
“I’d appreciate it. In the meantime, I’m going to put some pressure on my other agent.”
I called Don Rigby.
“Mr. Rigby, its David.”
“Did Deb Thomas call you? She said she’d review the shoot and sign the release.”
“Yeah, to the tune of 35% of my fee on this shoot.”
“What? She can’t be serious!”
“Well, she is. I just need you to sign it.”
“Okay. Let me print it off and get it back to you. I’ll talk to Tom and Kendal on Monday. We need a better system than this.”
“I agree. Thanks, Mr. Rigby. I appreciate you doing this.”
I told Rafael to be on the lookout for the signed release. My phone rang again.
“David, I don’t appreciate you calling Adrienne.”
“Deb, I don’t appreciate you holding me up. If I need help, I don’t mind paying for it. I do mind when I’m being taken advantage of.”
“It’s just business. I don’t know why you’re spending money on Tom and Kendal anyway. At least we answer the phone.”
“Okay, I can see we need to just agree to disagree. I’ll figure something out.”
“All right, just know we’re here if you need us.”
I hung up to find that Rafael had what he needed. We then planned next week. This one was going to be for a shampoo company. I waggled my eyebrows at Kara and Rafael laughed.
“I thought this one was safe,” Raphael complained.
“If only you knew,” Kara told him.