Total pages in book: 100
Estimated words: 95609 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 478(@200wpm)___ 382(@250wpm)___ 319(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95609 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 478(@200wpm)___ 382(@250wpm)___ 319(@300wpm)
Harper’s dark bob shakes. “I never said CeCe wasn’t a villain. She’s like the supervillain of our world, but she’s kind of our villain. Watching her with the moms is cool. Even when Ivy’s mom is lecturing her on karma and how she treats people, and then Heath’s grandma talks about what God’s going to say to her when she gets to heaven.”
“CeCe does not plan on dying, so she’s going to avoid all that,” Ivy says like that’s a normal thing. “And Jessica’s pretty cool.”
“I just think it’s weird to think of the Joseph Helms directing a reality show.” Heath shakes his head and exchanges a look with his best friend.
Darnell nods as though they’ve discussed the situation before. “A Far Planet is one of the greatest science fiction films ever made. I’ll admit I wasn’t into all those films he made about how angry white dudes are, but that one was excellent.”
The angry white dude films are the award-winning ones, and yes, that says something about my industry.
Heath sits back, his hand on the beer in front of him. He’s what I like to call generic cute boy. He would have ruled the CW airways back in the day. But I’ve come to learn that’s merely his looks. Heath’s surprisingly perceptive about more than just his code work. He’s good at analyzing a situation and the people in it.
I realize a second before he speaks that he’s probably the most dangerous person at the table.
“You know I’ve heard a rumor that Pinnacle is developing a film based on Red Haze,” he muses.
It isn’t a rumor. It hasn’t been announced yet, but I happen to know that they already have scripts for three movies based on the world’s best-selling video game, and they’re putting about a billion dollars into building the franchise. “Huh, that sounds like something Pinnacle would do. I won’t be asked to work on that one and I’m cool with it. I like working with small-budget films. More freedom to tell a good story.”
Ivy’s head comes up, a spark in her eyes.
She’s curious, and I pray she lets it go. Ivy’s the one who backs me on the whole NDA thing. She’s signed many nondisclosure agreements herself. Harper works in construction. They aren’t big on keeping secrets. People in Harper’s industry tend to want everything out in the open, but Ivy understands.
She also loves to be a smarty pants who figures out a puzzle.
“Didn’t Helms’s Oscar film come from Pinnacle?” Ivy asks, and Heath nods her way. “And he’s directed big blockbusters.”
“But then he had to go to rehab,” Harper points out. “I think that’s why he’s working on the reality show. I think it was all he could get because no one will insure him.”
Insurance is a big thing in my industry. Oh, we don’t like to talk about it because we want to seem all artistic and bohemian—let the art lead the way—but we mostly let the money lead the way, and protecting those big bucks is a whole vibe. Harper’s right. I happen to know that Jessica had to work some magic to get Helms insured for this show.
She can’t get it for the big movie unless he proves himself.
“But if he did want to make a comeback, it would go a long way to prove he’s clean and sober,” Ivy continues. “They wouldn’t use a big budget project. They would need something smaller.”
Harper’s mouth drops open, and she looks my way. “You’re babysitting.”
I let my head fall to the table. “NDA.”
“You are totally babysitting,” Harper says with a bit of triumph in her tone.
Not that she figured it out. That had been a combo of Heath and Ivy. And I’m not babysitting, exactly. That job will be left to his sober companion and all his assistants.
“Guys, leave her alone.” Darnell is the only one who defends me. “Our little mirror ball needs some space. If she signed an NDA, there was a good reason for it.”
Seriously? Wear an overly sequined mini dress one time and they never let you hear the end of it. I sit back up. Tonight my mini dress is sequin free, though it does have some bling on the hem. “Thank you, Darnell. Obviously I will be honoring the NDA I signed.”
Even Ivy groans at that. “You know we won’t tell. NDAs are a dime a dozen. No one doesn’t talk.”
I’m kind of a rules follower. Most of the time. I believe society has some good rules and some bad ones. Not committing undeserved murders falls into the good rules. Dress codes are for Victorian pearl clutchers, so I don’t pay a lot of attention to those. However, when one signs a document stating plainly they will not talk about a particular situation or they will get the holy hell sued out of them, I tend to believe the document. As I do not have a man or woman I call Lawyer on staff, my lips are sealed.