I could tell by the way she looked that I was right.
“You big chicken,” I teased. “Plus, now I’ve been robbed of seeing the look on his face.”
“He really did piss you off, didn’t he?” Caryn asked.
“Yeah, he really did. I could’ve handled his attraction to Nancy if he’d just manned-up and told me what was going on. Instead, he tried to handle me like I was an employee. He gave me the whole ‘she misunderstood’ routine. Then when I brought Cora, it was the icing on the cake.
“It’s a shame, too, because I like Devin. I simply could never trust him again,” I admitted.
“Welcome to growing up. You’re going to find that once you leave high school and college, in the real world it’s hard to find friends. Everyone seems to have their own agenda, and if it lines up with yours, great. If not, then they do their own thing. Most people are only interested in what’s in it for them,” Caryn said.
“You obviously didn’t go to the same high school I do. I think that’s true about any age, especially high school,” I said. “Did you really believe high school and college weren’t like that?”
“I had great friends in both. We looked out for each other. I just found that once I got a job, people acted differently.”
“Could it have been that you were the newbie, and people already had a life?”
She looked at me strangely, and then we ran in silence for a half mile.
“Kendal is really broken up about how her firm treated you. I think she’s looking for a job somewhere else. Would you consider hiring her?” Caryn asked.
“I like Kendal, but I’m not sure if I could afford to hire someone else or if I need another person. That doesn’t mean she wouldn’t make the short list if we find we need someone with her skills.”
“I’m sorry, that was dumb of me. I should have looked at it as purely a business decision. Our conversation this morning about friends and people you trust got to me. I could tell from talking to her yesterday that she would do just about anything for you.”
“If you hear she ever needs anything, please let me know. Kendal has become a friend. I’m still a little raw from what happened with her law firm. Unfortunately, Kendal was a part of that to a certain extent, even if she didn’t know what was going on behind the scenes. I need to give it a little time before I’d consider hiring her,” I admitted. “I did tell Ford and AT Modeling she’d be an asset for them if she ever put in a résumé, though.”
There was only the sound of our footsteps for a time.
“What do you plan to do today?” I asked.
“I need to become an official employee. Your dad is taking me to the bank so I can sign checks and get a company debit card. Your mom is going to help me find some office space. I guess there’s a place you can rent an office that you share with other companies, and it comes with a receptionist. Then I plan to read scripts.”
It sounded like a good start. Running with Caryn this morning had been a good idea. I’d gotten to know her better and gotten a nice run in to boot.
◊◊◊
Today it was Wolf’s turn to bring in lunch for the prep class. While I’d never had Crock-Pot spaghetti before, I had to confess it was filling. He admitted that ketchup was one of the main ingredients, which was just a little off-putting. While we were eating, I got a call from Frank Ingram, my publicist.
“I’ve scheduled your interviews for this evening. They’ll do them on video chat, so dress nice,” he ordered.
“You mean suit-and-tie nice?” I asked.
“How about a sports jacket and open-collar shirt? I’ve emailed you background information on each person interviewing you and your talking points. The purpose of these interviews is to introduce you to Hollywood. I talked to the PR team for Star Academy to make sure our message was aligned with theirs.
“The key to making this work is we need to be consistent in what we say. It’s my job to make sure your message is clear and to the point. Reporters want sound bites, not long-winded explanations. We want to control the narrative. Finally, we need to continually remind them of what we want them to know.
“Do you have anything new for me?” Frank asked.
I told him what Bo Harrington had said about football awards, but that it wasn’t official yet. I also let him know that Caryn had started work as my manager. He told me he would update my IMDb account.
“What’s that?” I asked.
“Internet Movie Database. It’s where people in the business can look you up; a one-stop location where they can see what you’ve done, who represents you, get a bio, and find a list of your skills. Basically, it’s your movie résumé and references. You can also see what projects are available and a lot more. If Caryn represents you, she needs to be on IMDb so people will take her seriously.”
I thanked Frank. I had a lot to learn about the movie business.
◊◊◊ Saturday November 21
I woke up to snow flurries. It was as though we’d gone from fall to winter in just twelve hours. The worst of it was the wind. It looked like it blew all the leaves off the trees overnight. It seemed like we usually got our first snowstorm the week of Thanksgiving; this was just a few days early.
My interviews with Variety, Entertainment Weekly, and Seventeen had gone well. They were just fluff pieces, and Frank had anticipated what they would ask. I guess he earned his paycheck this week. Caryn had taken care of everything to get started as my manager. I walked in the back door to find my parents and Caryn with their noses in scripts.
“There were three TV shows that wanted you to play either the guy that abandons his pregnant girlfriend or rapes someone. I thought we might pass on those,” Mom suggested.
“Hey, for the right price…” I teased.
“I have one here for a soap opera. It’s a possible recurring role as Jesse, a troubled teen who takes his shirt off all the time, on General Hospital,” Dad offered.
“And how am I supposed to do that and go to high school?” I asked.
“I think you should do this one,” Caryn said as she tossed what looked like five pages to me.
Ari had put a cover page on each script that gave his thoughts and details. One item he included was a quote as to what it paid. When I looked at the bundle of paper Caryn tossed me, I about choked when I saw the number. It was for a Japanese sunglasses company. They needed a young guy who could do martial arts. I didn’t have to read it, I was in.
“Set this one up,” I said and handed it to my dad.
“It says you’ll make that much for a one-day shoot?” Dad asked.
“I don’t even have to get naked,” I said, which caused Mom to glare at me.
She snatched the script out of my dad’s hands and looked at the front page.
“You dream that someday your children will make more money than you do, but this is ridiculous,” Mom said.
“I might have to marry him,” Caryn said.
“And so it begins,” I said and sighed.
Dad shook his head.
“If someone threw that much money at me when I was seventeen, I’m afraid of what I might’ve done. I realize you’ve made a lot of money with modeling, and you’re making good money on your first two movies. If you’re careful, you might be able to live off what you’ve already put into place with the farm and what you have in the bank. Don’t you dare let this go to your head,” Dad warned.
“But Dad, I will dare,” I said and saw the looks on my parents’ faces. “Look, I’m getting an opportunity most people never even dream of getting. Now is not the time for me to be cautious. I need to go for this. I understand what you’re saying about not believing the press clippings. Despite my success in football, I haven’t gone crazy yet.”
“We know you haven’t, but this feels different. I’m afraid my brother was right, and life is about to change for you. Look at how Rita James has to live. You might have to have security around you 24/7. They just caught some weirdo on her property. I want you to embrace the possibilities and succeed, but I want you to be safe, too. Plus, I don’t want you to go down the path of people like Craig Wild or Trip James,” Dad said.