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Even so, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t at least a little apprehensive Trevor might balk at what I had to say. In one sense, I had to rely on his good graces, and considering the huge blowout we’d had not more than an hour earlier, well, I gave myself about a fifty-fifty chance of success, at best.
At last I arrived at his office door and after a deep breath, I knocked against it.
“Come in!”
I twisted the knob and pushed the heavy oak open. As I entered, Trevor lifted his attention from his paperwork towards me.
“Well, well,” he groaned.
I turned my back to him for a moment as I closed the office door. Rolling my eyes at the enormity of the task ahead of me, I clicked the door shut.
“What the hell are you doing here, Maddie? I think we’ve said enough to each other for one day.”
I swallowed and closed my eyes for a brief instant before turning back to face him. This was it. Time for the performance of a lifetime. Pasting on the most apologetic face I could muster, I turned and began to walk back toward his desk. As I did, Trevor leaned back in his chair, lifting his chin in a gaze of suspicion.
“Look Trevor,” I began, as I closed the distance between us. “I overreacted earlier. I know you’re only doing your job. I was out of line.”
As I finished speaking, I stood in front of his desk. I was far enough away to see the uncertainty in his eyes. On the other hand, I was close enough to tell I had his attention. Even so, I paused long enough to give him a chance to hear what I had to say or throw me out.
He looked at me in silence as he decided. They were a long few seconds.
“Go on,” he said at last.
I nodded in acceptance of his willingness.
“Well, it’s just that I think you should at least reconsider,” I said. Without wasting any time, I started right up, pursuing the idea Katy and I discussed. “At this point, the picture is almost halfway finished. Now that I’m better and have no distractions at all, I can be here seven days a week for however long it takes.”
I paused for a moment to let my opening statement sink in before I started to appeal to his ego. Satisfied he’d heard me, I continued, “You told me you believed in me when you gave me the part Trevor. Was that a lie?"
Trevor remained motionless for a second or two. It was as if he were waiting for me to slip up and reveal my true intentions by accident. Yet, as his gaze lingered on me, I remained steady.
“Hmm, no,” he said as he shook his head, breaking eye contact me for a moment. His voice took on a tone of authority. “You’ve got some real talent as an actress, Maddie. It’s the way you conduct yourself that’s holding you back. Like they say, actions speak. Over the past few months, yours haven’t said many good things about you. You do understand that don’t you?”
“Yes.”
“Okay, well. I’m not doing this to just punish you or something. I don’t trust you right now. I mean, put yourself in my position for a minute. How can I be expected to run a production where the lead actress behaves like you have been?”
Nodding as he spoke, I agreed. “I understand, Trevor. I can’t undo the way I’ve behaved. All I can do is apologize for it and tell you it won’t happen again.”
Trevor chewed his lip as he looked up at me. He sat there in silence for several moments tapping his pen on his desk as he considered what he’d say next. But before he could speak, I decided to lay my case out in a logical way and appeal to his business sense.
As I began, I took a seat in the chair across from his desk. “Trevor, look. The studio already has several million invested in the project. I’m no fool. There’s next to no chance it won’t be finished. And why shouldn’t it? It’s a wonderful script and Susan is a fabulous director. Not to mention everyone else involved, yourself included."
Trevor nodded and pursed his lips.
“So, if this is your way of punishing me or getting revenge against me by being obstinate, then well, I’m afraid you leave me with no choice. I’ll have to go over your head, Trevor. I don’t want to do that. I want to work it out between us, right now. But, if you force me to, I will.”
“Uh huh,” he replied. He appeared underwhelmed with my offer, to say the least. Continuing, he added, “No, I think you’ve learned your lesson at this point.”
Leaning away from him, I wrinkled my brow. “Lesson? What are you talking about?”
Trevor waved off my question with a flick of his hand.
“You’ve gotten a little too high and mighty for my liking,” he began, as he glared at me. “So, I stopped filming on purpose. I had the discretion to keep things going, of course. But, after seeing you come begging like this, it’s clear you’ve gotten the message.”
As he finished, he leaned forward. Narrowing his eyes like a serpent, he hissed his insult.
“I would do it all over again if I had the chance. Watching you squirm like this makes it all worthwhile.”
It took every bit of self-control I had not to leap across his desk and wring his neck! I couldn’t believe the words coming out of his mouth. Of all the rotten, low-down, dirty tricks he could have picked, this was by far the worst.
All those people who worked on the film were laid off because of his childish behavior. As I looked across the desk at Trevor, I wondered what the hell I’d ever seen in him. Grey might be a lot of things but he would never, ever do something like this to his employees. I had a good mind to go straight to him and tell him exactly why Trevor had put a halt to the production.
But, if I did, I’d be no better off and still relying on him to fight my battles for me. Like it or not, I was going to have to let Trevor win this battle so I wouldn’t lose the war. So instead, I reined in my disgust and let out a long, slow exhale through my nose. The heat escaped from my nostrils like an enraged bull staring down a matador.
“Okay, Trevor,” I began, as I nodded in surrender. “I’ve gotten your message, loud and clear. So it’s a go then? Filming will get back underway?”
He shook his head. “Nope. Not so fast.”
I drew my lips inward, pinching them together in disgust.
“What…” I muttered.
“Well I’m not doing anything until you apologize to me first.”
I felt my eyelid twitch as I looked at him. “Apologize?”
“Yep,” he said as an evil grin spread to his lips. “And you better make it good.”
I’d reached my limit. If he pushed me even the tiniest bit further, I’d bring the wrath of Grey down on his ass. I swallowed hard and without asking what I’d done or why I had to be sorry for it all of a sudden, I got on with it. For emphasis, I draped my hand across my chest as I began the greatest acting performance of my life.
“Trevor, from the bottom of my heart, I am sorry. I know that those are just words but they’re all I can offer right now. I swear to you that I’ll never do anything to put you or the production at risk again. All I’m asking for is a chance.”
“Mmm hmm,” he grunted. “And what about all that stuff you said earlier? About me being the problem in our relationship?"
Dodging his attempt at trickery, I shrugged.
“I was just upset, Trevor. Really, I don’t hold you responsible for anything.”
As I looked at him, Trevor flashed a close-lipped grin at me. He stared me up and down for another moment or two before offering his verdict with a casual shrug.
“Fine,” he muttered.
“What?” I asked, as I leaned towards him. “What does ‘fine’ mean?”
“I’ll get the production back on track,” he replied. “The current project wraps next week. As soon as it does, you can come back.”
I smiled.
GREY
You know the first time you step outside of your comfort zone in life, it can be goddamn disorienting. Even in my line of work, there are always new situations coming up you’ve never encountered before. But as time goes on and you learn to handle them, well, you’re better prepared for the next one, no matter what it might be.
As for the way Maddie handled the situation with the picture, I couldn’t have been more impressed. She hadn’t come to me once during the process and hardly three weeks since our discussion on the matter, production on her movie was underway once more. In spite of all her erratic behavior, it looked as if she’d turned a corner at last.
In fact, I was proud of her and so the first chance I got to head back out to the coast and tell her, I took it. Unfortunately, it had been nearly a month since I’d last seen her, but during that time, I kept close tabs on the progress of the movie. There wasn’t much time left until they’d wrap Maddie’s scenes and be done for good.
So, before that happened, I managed to block out a bit of time. I arrived on the set during filming one afternoon and headed for her trailer. During a break she came back and after a brief greeting, we sat down to have a bite to eat when something caught my attention.
“Maddie,” I began, as I gestured towards her hand. “Where’s your engagement ring?”
She shrugged. “Oh it’s at home, in the safe. Why?”
Leaning away, I let go of my fork and it clanked against the plate.
“Why is your ring at the apartment instead of where it belongs? Namely on your goddamn finger!”
