Gazon Mauditwas about a couple in France, Loli and Laurent, who had a very imperfect marriage, given Laurent had affairs. A minibus broke down near their house and the driver, Marie-Jo, a lesbian, got help from Loli and Laurent, and struck up an affair with Loli. Laurent was unhappy about it, but when his affairs were uncovered, he was forced to permit the tryst. Complications of the romantic triangle variety ensued.
After it was over, they got their meal. The airline provided wooden utensils instead of plastic ones, which thrilled Sabine. There was hope in the world.
“So what are you going to do?” Sabine asked.
“About what?”
“Your French twist.”
“No idea.”
“Do you like one guy more than the other?”
“Hm.”
“Do you want to go back to France?”
“Um …”
“Do you want Oscar’s job?”
“Don’t know about that either.”
“Then let’s watch another movie, Mum. Plus, we can buy snack-size Pringles for $4.99.”
“Let’s throw caution to the wind and get two.”
The next morning, Marlow saw Violet in the garden between her house and Marlow’s apartment, and they caught up over coffee. Violet had more dating escapades to describe in vivid detail, and Marlow was happy to listen. Violet of course wanted to know all the details of Marlow’s summer away, but it was too much to cover in one go, and Marlow had to get to Renegade. Violet reluctantly took the rain check.
Marlow got to the festival office early. On the elevator, she checked email. Estelle, the woman from Cannes, had offered her the industry office job. They hoped she’d continue to work on her French, as it was an asset in the job, and she’d need training on how the organization worked. The festival ran every May, but they hoped Marlow could begin as early as October. The same month as the Renegade Film Festival. Marlow was in shock.
She stepped off the elevator. Akiko practically jumped on her. “We missed you! And girl, you owe us big time, becausewhile you’ve been gone, Oscar’s been assigning everyone his workload, and I’m sick of it. So I’ll be accepting free lunches from now until October.”
“It’s before nine. What are you even doing here?”
“I know, right? See, a personcanchange.”
“One free lunch,” said Marlow. “Because I was doing his workload in France, too. Whatever Oscar told you to get you to do his stuff is on him. Believing it is on you.”
Marlow headed to her desk and found Gustavo in her chair. He gave her a giant hug.
“What the hell are you doing here?” she asked. “You’re supposed to be in Hollywood.”
“The film fell apart. They fired the director—he was an asshole—and then they lost their financing, and the company went under, and now I’m here, right back where I started.”
“I’m so sorry. Did you get your old job back?”
“Nope. Renegade had already rehired.”
“What about your apartment?”
“I let it go,” he said. “I’m sleeping on my sister’s couch. Oscar gave me a contract to help with the September Summit, but once that’s over this week, I’m not sure what I’m going to do. Something will work out, I think. I hope.”
“Did you save any money in LA? Do you have something to live on?”
“Nope, not a dime. But whatever. I’m making a short with Renegade equipment after work. I met some producers in Hollywood, and they want to see my next project, so who knows.”
“Bienvenue,Marlow!” said Oscar from his office. “Come saybonjour!”
