Hearthstone Entertainment
15 Of Mice and Men
“EXCUSE ME, BRIAN. I know you wanted to help prepare for taping and get ready for Senator Remington, but we need an emergency production meeting,” Maggie said. How the hell did she get in here? I hadn’t even showered after forms yet. People were moving around half-naked. Or all naked. I saw Courtney’s bare butt head upstairs.
“Isn’t it a little early for you to be here?” I asked. “What gives?”
“April will join us in a minute. She said she was already here. Anyway, I’m very sorry about your family emergency. I hope the Partridges will be all right. Hannah called me last night and gave me the skinny and told me to be here early,” Maggie said.
“Thank you. Oh. Shit! I suppose that means we have to do something about filming today. I’m sorry, Maggie. I wasn’t putting things together.”
“That’s why you have a producer. I got on the phone last night and talked to tomorrow’s guests. They agreed to move up to today. Later today, we should know if your in-laws will be willing or able to make a time later in the week. As soon as I know that, I can rearrange the rest of the schedule.”
“Damn. The food I’ve got today was based on some of Addison’s favorites.” I didn’t realize how much chaos this was going to create this week.
“I’ve talked to Angela and Mary. Angela said there was no problem in switching tomorrow’s vegetables with today’s. After all, it’s all still in the garden. Mary and Angela grabbed the production schedule and recipes and Mary says she’ll have the crew prep the vegetarian lasagna this morning instead.”
“You talked to Angela?” I said. Maggie dropped her eyes and nodded.
“She was… very nice. I’m trying to be a good producer for you, Brian, and not let my history make me a bitch. And if this all stresses you out too much—because you have to go over your intros and recipes for today and I know it wasn’t what you were expecting—well, if you need relief, I’m not bad at blowjobs.”
“Maggie,” I said, laughing at Hannah’s joke. “That isn’t part of your job. No matter what anyone has said.”
“I know. But maybe one day I’ll get promoted.” She grinned at me. “Until then, I’m the slave driver. You can’t help on Chick Chat this morning. You need to go over your recipes and the briefing on the VFW Auxiliary, confirm what you need with Angela, and help Mary. She has questions on the cuts you want. Okay?”
“Sure, boss,” I said. “And now that you are here in time for breakfast, what are you doing this morning?”
“I have to go over the changes with April. She wanted to add more mirror work with Addison and I don’t want her to jump the gun with a script she’s not ready for. Please keep me informed about your in-laws or designate someone to. If we are scratching their segment entirely, I have a list of people on campus who would be happy to jump into a slot,” Maggie said as she turned to leave. “Liz! I know he just got up, but Brian has hair growing on the back of his neck. It looks terrible.”
“I’ll get it in the shower, Ms. Kwan!” I think Liz was gloating.
You can’t have a US Senator show up without an entourage. It wasn’t that many people, I guess. His driver, his aide, his chief of staff, his other driver and the two reporters that came with him. Crap. And cameras. I was at the door to greet the audience, which was a campus political action group. I honestly didn’t know how Hannah came up with groups of women for Elaine’s audience. Anyway, I was about to go talk to the reporters when one raised a camera to take a picture of the barn. Whitney’s hand was in front of the lens and Tim and Lionel flanked her.
“The grounds are private property and cameras are forbidden here,” she said calmly. “We understand your need to document the Senator’s appearances, but your office received the terms in advance and agreed to them. Photos may be taken in the studio, only of those directly involved in the production. These people include the host of Chick Chat, the audience, and the Senator. We have signed photo releases for each of those twelve people.”
“But we need atmosphere shots,” one of the reporters said. “What kind of place is this?”
“It is a private residence in which we have a small studio and in which students have been given the opportunity to work on a simulation of live television while taping our series. Some of the students involved here are underage. There are no photo releases for anyone other than those designated to be in front of the camera. We will make an opportunity available at the end of the taping for you to take individual photos of the audience with the Senator,” Whitney concluded.
“And may we remind you,” Hannah said, stepping between Whitney and Lionel, “the airdate for this interview is at the end of October. Until that time, you may not report on the recording session. Of course, you can quote anything the Senator says, up to and including the entire interview, but our agreement states that you will not mention the interview or Ms. Frost until the week the interview is to be aired.” Hannah turned to look at the rather bemused Senator. “Senator Remington, welcome to Hearthstone Entertainment. I’m Hannah Gordon, the Executive Producer of Chick Chat. Let’s get you inside and out of the sun. The humidity isn’t as bad out here as it was yesterday, but it’s just as hot. One of our older family members collapsed from heat exhaustion yesterday. We wouldn’t want that to happen to you!”
Between shows, we’d had huge box fans running in every window of the barn. We’d cut all lights as soon as they were no longer needed. They would come on again only at Hannah’s signal to begin the show. The room was tolerable, but still hot. We invited the men to remove their jackets and even Senator Remington decided to do the interview without a jacket and tie. Leonard and Liz were all over him to make sure he was as cool as we could make them. Leonard actually had what he called dress shields that he had the Senator put inside his shirt so it wouldn’t darken with underarm perspiration. Liz powdered him and made sure he wasn’t glowing.
Elaine made her entrance and the show was on. She finished her monologue and turned to introduce Senator Remington when Hannah yelled “Cut!” That was a common occurrence the first week of shooting, but since then, the tapings had gone smoothly and having to redo something was unusual.
“Ms. Frost, we had a camera problem that seems to be heat related,” Hannah called. “Cut the lights and turn on the fans while we get this straightened out. It will only take a few moments. Can we have water for the audience members?” Cassie and Jennifer quickly poured water and served it to the ten women in the audience. I wondered what the technical difficulty was and wandered over to the production platform where Hannah was in an intense conversation with Lonnie.
“Yes. It’s possible. Do you want all the cuts the same length?”
“I think so. And we need to cue it with a panic switch kind of thing. I can’t possibly speak the cues fast enough. I think one and a half seconds is all the pause that it will take and it needs to happen every time one of their damned cameras clicks. It’s the only way we can justify the sound. At least they aren’t flash.”
“Jason, get the handheld fired up. Ms. Gordon is going with four cameras. Joyce, I’ll handle the cuts to still.” Lonnie wedged another chair in beside Joyce, who was controlling the camera switches. Lonnie started making presets.
“Thanks, Jason. I know you’ve already done your normal work for today,” Hannah said. “I’m glad you’re tall. I want you positioned to shoot over the shoulders of the two photographers. We’re going to keep your camera live at all times, so don’t swing it around. Stay as steady as you can. I expect the photographers are focused on the Senator most of the time, but give us a little variety. I’m not going to talk you through it. Just give us shots of each actor and combine the two. Our shots don’t have to be identical to theirs, just good. Each time one of them snaps one off, we’ll freeze-frame your camera for a second and a half and then resume right where we left off. Are we ready?”
“Give me your feed, Roamer,” Lonnie said. Jason turned on his camera and moved up behind the two photographers. I could see the images on one of the monitors. “Ready.”
“Lights! We are live in sixty seconds,” Hannah said. “Warren, when you are ready!” The trio started what I now recognized as Elaine’s jam session intro and we were off again. I watched from behind. They didn’t take as many pictures during the monologue as they had the first time through. I’d heard the camera clicks, but it didn’t register that they were being heard in the tape. This time Elaine followed right into her introduction of the Senator and the interview went well. Every time one of the cameras clicked, the image would suddenly cut on the monitor to a freeze frame of the handheld camera. The effect was amazing.
Elaine handled the interview well. Remington had done some pretty good work as mayor before becoming a senator. He was surprised when Elaine quoted from the commencement address at UIndy. And there was no question about the fact that this guy was wicked smart. I’d heard some people mention him as a possible presidential candidate.
Of course, all the women in attendance wanted a photograph with the Senator, but he was a little chagrined that they all wanted Elaine in the photo with them. Still, we got the audience out and in their cars while Elaine and Hannah were thanking the senator and his aide.
“Hey, it’s Heaven!” one of the reporters said. I saw them swing their cameras up and jumped in front of them, holding my hands up. They dodged around me, but Heaven had rushed back out the door to her motorhome.
“Do you want to give me the film from your cameras now?” I asked calmly. “Your contract is clear about not taking photos of anyone you don’t have a release for.” I didn’t think they’d actually gotten any photos of her, but thought I’d take the tough approach.
“But Heaven is a public celebrity. Just like with the Senator, there is implied consent for the use of any public figure’s image in a journalistic context.” These guys knew their stuff.
“The young woman you saw, who may or may not be Heaven, is a guest in my home. She has every right to expect that in my home she has the same privacy as any other member of the household.”
“She was wearing pajamas.”
“Come on. Don’t you guys know a gi when you see one? That is our standard household uniform after hours.” I saw Lexi, Susan, and Dawn on the back stairs and motioned to them. They’d all changed into their gis already. The guys started to raise their cameras but then lowered them. It was just a reflex. The Senator’s aide called the crew to their cars and Senator Remington shook hands one more time with Elaine and Hannah. They all left. We all breathed a sigh of relief.
I went to see Jessica.
When I knocked, Amy opened the door. She looked out and all around before she stood back and let me in, then silently left. I looked around and didn’t see anyone.
“Jessica?” I heard the toilet flush in the back and walked back to her bedroom door. I knocked. “Jessica?”
“Come in.” I went into the remarkably large and comfortable bedroom. She was sitting in the middle of the bed, still in her white gi.
“Are you okay, honey? They didn’t get any pictures.”
“I’m sorry, Brian. It was a bad idea for me to stay. Look at the slate of guests this week. Senator, representative, basketball coaches, cheerleaders. Of course, there are going to be photographers. Of course, they’ll want pictures. I shouldn’t have exposed you to my rubbish. I need to fulfill my obligation to Adam, but I’ll leave that night.” There were still tear tracks running down her cheeks, but they were dry now.
“Jessica, we made the rules to protect all our guests and our clan. We don’t want people with cameras running around out here. We’re naked half the time. If word of that got out on campus, we’d have non-stop repeats of what AXE did last fall. Honey, it is not made any worse by you being here.”
“As I was running out, I heard him say I was a public celebrity. He’s right, you know. They don’t need my permission to publish photos of me. Actually, the modeling jobs I go on are more restricted than the public. There, I’m covered by a contract.” I sat on the bed next to her and she leaned against me. “You know, you and Elaine are like that now, too. You’re a celebrity. She’s about to become one. Probably Sora, Rose, and Brenda. We can only limit what our employers can do. We can’t limit the public. I’m just so sick of it I want to quit.”
“Jessica, why did you want to become a model?” I asked. Something was going on in my brain. I was seeing images of her on Elaine’s show and how completely friendly and approachable she was. How talented when she sang.
“I’m a show-off. I got a lot of compliments when I was growing up. ‘Oh, you’re so beautiful. You should be a model.’ I guess I believed them. I wrecked my family. My parents. My brother. Even you. I could never admit how much I loved you because it would be bad for my image. You were too little for me. I’m so sorry, Brian.” Tears were flowing again. But the idea was flowing, too.
“What if you turned the tables on them?” I asked.
“How? What do you mean?”
“What if you started flaunting your public image instead of hiding it? I have every picture and ad and magazine spread you’ve ever done, I think. We bought a fireproof file cabinet this year to put them in and then had to get another. Every single picture you sent me, all the magazines any of us could find are sealed in plastic bags in that safe. And they all say the same thing. ‘Secretive model, Heaven. Shy model, Heaven. The girl behind the smile. Who is Heaven?’ Why don’t we bring you out of your shell? Make you not shy and secretive any longer? Make Wednesday night your coming out party and give you your own show?”
“They’d be all over me! All over us! I’d never get any peace.”
“Wrong. If you were putting your life out there, releasing photos, becoming the interviewer… I know this sounds weird, but by becoming a truly open and public celebrity, maybe they’d lose interest in you. There wouldn’t be anything left for them to show,” I said.
“You mean pose nude?”
“No. That wasn’t what I meant. But I don’t think they’d be as interested in nude photos of you. You simply wouldn’t be the mysterious and secretive Heaven any longer.”
“I love you, Brian. Will that be made public, too?”
“Someday. We don’t have to do everything at once. And always remember, Jessica. No matter what, I still love you.”
“Then make love to me.”
Jessica melted against me as I kissed her. She pulled at her gi and it opened, exposing her breasts to my questing hands and then my lips. I was going to make her healthy again. She was too thin. The industry had done its best to destroy the treasure they wanted so badly.
I pulled off my T-shirt and Jessica, my Heaven, loosened my belt and unzipped my slacks. I hadn’t changed after my show, but had only hung up my chef’s jacket. They were a snug fit, but Jessica pushed them down off my hips and took hold of my erect cock. I found she was wearing nothing beneath the loose-fitting pants to her gi. She pulled my hand to her pussy to show me how wet she was and tugged at my cock to get me to move over her.
“Wait. Condom,” she said. “I’m not protected. I know you always have one with you.”
Aw, fuck!
Hannah had told me months ago that I could not carry anything in my pockets when I was on camera. The slacks showed every bulge. I didn’t even carry a handkerchief.
Aw, fuck!
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