Bree and Elizabeth introduced me to everyone. They both had agents and publicists there. I introduced them to Kendal. Jessup looked to be watching us closely and had a little smile on his face. I think he was happy to see us hitting it off. It wasn’t hard, since they were both very attractive women and fussing over me. A guy could do worse.
Then Craig Wild showed up with his entourage. Both girls pulled me tighter toward them and had momentary looks of concern on their faces. I put my arms around their waists, which seemed to relax them. The concern was soon gone from their eyes and they had big smiles. Jessup caught it and his smile was gone. They both knew how to hide their true feelings well. Craig came over with his crew; one of his guys was looking the girls over like they were on the menu.
“Bree, Elizabeth,” he nodded at them.
I noticed neither one of them offered him a hug or even shook his hand. They seemed to press just a little closer to me.
“And you must be David,” Craig said and shook my hand. “I’d like you to meet Kent, Chaz and Trip.”
Jessup came up and pulled Craig aside. I smiled at Kent.
“Nice to put a face to the voice,” I said.
Kent was a good-looking guy. He looked like what I imagined a surfer dude would: tall, tan, and fit with long, sun-kissed blond hair. We heard voices raised; Kent got a worried look and went over to where Craig and Jessup seemed to be having a disagreement.
“Ladies, want to relax before dinner?” Chaz asked as he held out a joint.
Chaz looked to be close to thirty and was a little overweight, with what looked like a week’s growth of a beard and dirty hair. The girls both disengaged from me and walked away. I was a little disappointed they left me with this creep.
“How ’bout you?” he asked.
“Sorry, I don’t do drugs,” I told him.
He just snorted and ignored me.
“Is this your first movie?” asked Trip.
Trip was, well, pretty. He was maybe five-five and rail thin, with very fine features. He had big brown eyes and eyelashes I knew a few models would have killed to have.
If he had a dress on, I might go for him. I mean, not a guy-on-guy thing. Hell! He smiled at me and made me squirm. I had never experienced another guy showing interest in me. Trip took pity on me and turned down the wattage of his smile. He could tell I wasn’t interested.
“Ah, yeah, this is my first film.”
Kent came over and pulled Trip and Chaz into the discussion Jessup was having with Craig. They started to get mad, but Kent gave them both a look. Craig slouched and nodded. Both Trip and Chaz left the room. I guess Jessup didn’t want Craig’s entourage hanging around. Kendal came over, took my arm and guided me to the table.
We were all soon seated, and Jessup got everyone’s attention.
“I wanted to welcome you all personally. I need to explain the unfortunate incident you just had to witness. I run a tight ship and will not tolerate troublemakers or drug dealers anywhere near my set. We are all here to do a job, not party.”
Craig stiffened, and Kent reached over and grabbed his wrist. It looked like Kent was going to be Craig’s babysitter. Jessup saw it too, but didn’t seem fazed. Bree and Elizabeth seemed to relax some. I caught both of their eyes and gave them a warm smile. I was happy to see they returned it.
“Tonight, we’ll break bread and get to know each other,” Jessup said.
The door opened and two servers came in carrying appetizers and carafes of red wine. This was clearly not Monical’s. They had roasted squash with sage and brown butter, cauliflower fritters with a spicy mint sauce, plus several different bruschettas. I liked the one with chicken livers.
“Let’s start with the youngest member of our cast and work up. Introduce yourself to everyone, David,” Jessup said turning to me.
“I’m David Dawson and this will be my first movie. Lori Winnick talked me into trying out for the role of Roman. I guess they liked me because they switched me to the role of Stryker. I live in a small town in the Midwest. I have one brother who’s married and is working on a bunch of kids who I love to death. I play football and baseball. I also do some modeling,” I finished up, not really sure what Jessup wanted.
Jessup nodded and then pointed at Bree.
“I’m Bree. I’ve been doing television for the past three years. This will be my first movie and I’m excited to be a part of this. In fact, I’ve met all of you before. Craig and I did an episode together,” she shared.
“Yeah, your boyfriends on the show killed me,” Craig said, getting a smile out of everyone.
“Elizabeth and I have taken several acting classes together. David and I met briefly and I also did a photo op with him. At the time, I think he was dating three ladies, and I tried to steal him away from them.”
“None of them caught me, so I’m right here,” I teased her.
“I see you. Anyway, I’m from Beverly Hills. My dad’s an executive at Universal, so I grew up in the business,” Bree said.
“I’m Elizabeth. I came to LA six years ago when I was about David’s age. I thought I was the kiss of death to a production for the first few years. It seemed like every pilot I did never got picked up. Then I met Jessup and he gave me a couple of roles in his movies. This will be my fifth in four years. Thank you, Jessup, for believing in me when I needed it.”
He just nodded to her.
“I guess I’m the old man,” Craig started. “I got started early doing commercials. I was actually a Gerber Baby. My parents helped me get into the business. I don’t think there’s ever been a time I haven’t been acting. When I was about David’s age, my parents and I had a big split-up and I was emancipated. I went a little wild. I still like to have fun, but I’ve made a commitment to Jessup that once the filming starts, I’ll be good,” he said with a weak smile.
“I look forward to getting to know you all and working with you. Despite the rumors, I’m not really a bad guy. I want to apologize to Jessup and the rest of you about earlier. Kent told me I shouldn’t bring my rowdy friends. I need to listen to him more often,” he said, turning to Kent and smiling at him.
The servers had returned and proceeded to clear the table. Then they started bringing out pizzas. I wasn’t back home, that was for sure. California clearly had a different idea of what pizza should be. I personally liked pepperoni, sausage and mushroom. I didn’t see anything even remotely close to that. The one pizza I was surprised I liked was the pineapple and jalapeño combination. The sweet and spicy was different. They even had a breakfast pizza with eggs, fried potatoes and caramelized onions. It was okay, and I would have it again. I loved the white truffle pizza. I’d never had truffles before. I also liked the olive tapenade version. It was basically black olives chopped very fine.
Over dinner, the two girls were teasing me about eating like a teenage boy. I had to remind them that I was a teenage boy. Craig was a likable guy and he soon was part of the conversation. I noticed the agents and such just sat back and let us get to know each other. By the end of dinner, Jessup seemed pleased. I knew I was starting to like everyone, which was the purpose of the dinner.
Something I teased them all about was playing characters who were basically supposed to be my age. Jessup explained to me that was how it was normally done with young-looking twenty-somethings playing teens. He pointed out the TV show Glee was a good example. A few of those actors were in their late twenties, even. I made a comment about hoping the old folks could keep up.
When we were done, I felt good about working with everyone. I told Craig and Kent we would meet them at the party. I’d sent Kent a text earlier letting him know Jessup was going to be my plus-one. Bree and Elizabeth wanted to go. Craig said he would get them in. He suggested they ride with me. Bree’s agent offered to give Kendal a ride back to our hotel.