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I nodded. ‘Thanks, Jaz, it makes a lot of sense.’
‘God, those two films were so different,’ Nelly agreed.
‘Drama, romance and comedy, and let’s not forget theWyldegirl commercial shoot coming soon,’ I said. ‘What do you think I should be doing Jaz?’
She smiled. ‘My answer is self-serving … keep working!’
I laughed. ‘Well, I’d like to do that.’
She pushed an envelope towards me. ‘There’s a couple of roles that would suit you. Have a read of the scripts and let me know if you would like to audition.’ She picked up a sheet of paper from her in-tray. ‘Speaking of theWyldegirl campaign, I finally got the contract. The advertising agency has kicked into gear and wants to do the shoot as soon as possible before you begin your next film project ideally. I reaffirmed to them that naturally with your high profile engagement you were more recognisable now, so the rate had gone up again, and they accepted it.’
She showed me the contract and I nearly fell off my chair.
‘Wow, that’s a lot of perfume sales to make that back,’ I said, wide-eyed.
Jaz grinned.‘That’s all about branding and exposure. Simon Nolan, the agency director, said he saw your interview inLife and Lovelast month and how you talked about the moors and being home. The good news—I think—is that they want to shoot it there,’ she said, watching for my reaction.
‘That would be brilliant,’ I said.
She took the contract back from me and flicked through the pages, stopping on the page with the proposed shoot dates.
‘There’s more,’ she continued. ‘They would like to shoot it the following weekend.’
‘Wow, that soon,’ I said, and shrugged. ‘Well, I’m available if they are, why not? Who are they thinking of casting asWyldegirl’s bad boy? A different guy from last time?’
‘Wyldegirl the slut,’ Nelly joked,and we both laughed.
Jaz hesitated and cleared her throat. Uh oh, I had a gut feeling this was not going to be good news. Of all the actors, in all the world …
‘They’d like to cast Heath Earnshaw,’ she said.
There it was. I laughed, and then I read her face. ‘Oh, you’re serious.’
Nelly’s eyes were as wide as mine. ‘I could chaperone.’
I laughed again, but it had a hysterical edge to it.
‘Would Edgar be okay with that?’ Nelly asked.
I looked from Jaz to Nelly. ‘I don’t know, but Isabella won’t be.’ I turned back to Jaz. Then it occurred to me, was this the weekend that Heath was going to go home for a supposed romantic weekend with Isabella? Did he already know then that he was going home to shoot the commercial before he began his publicity tour? Had he already signed on the contract line? Surely he wouldn’t consider doing a commercial.
I asked Jaz: ‘Can I say no to that and request another actor?’
‘Of course, you can ask for whatever you like and then they’ll come back with their counteroffer or not. But that rate they have offered you is on the condition he is in the commercial with you. You’ll see the clause on page four.’
‘I’m happy to earn less,’ I said.
Jaz nodded, disappointed. It affected her payment too.
She continued. ‘Well, if you decide to do the commercial with Heath you can request to see the script first, and put in clauses like no kissing or intimacy. Why don’t you think about it first, and have a chat with Edgar? Heath hasn’t signed on yet either but he has the contract and is free on those dates – it’s just before his publicity tour I believe and he can get away. After that, he’s committed for three months.’
‘Ah, so that’s why the agency is rushing – his next season on stage including weekend performances won’t allow him to do it.’ I nodded, understanding now.
‘Sleep on it,’ Jaz said. ‘Then if you do want to go ahead, come back to me and we’ll work through your terms and conditions and see if the agency finds them acceptable. But don’t delay too long, the production house needs to book a crew.’
‘Okay, thanks Jaz,’ I said, not wanting to appear ungrateful. ‘Heath will probably think it is beneath him to do a fragrance commercial anyway,’ I said, ‘although if he is getting paid similar, that would allow him to stay on the stage for a while.’
Jaz nodded. ‘Most of the big names do fragrance commercials, there’s a prestige to it. I’m not Heath’s agent so I don’t know what their offer is but given his profile, the film buzz about his soon-to-be-released film, and Isabella Linton’s promotion of him, I suspect it would be similar.’
