know,” Tallie said quietly. Victor said nothing and hung up a moment later, as Brigitte came back to the trailer with Tallie’s coffee. It smelled delicious.
“Everything okay? You look pissed,” Brigitte commented as she handed Tallie the cup of steaming latte. Tallie laughed when she said it, and felt instantly better.
“Not pissed. Just annoyed at Victor. He’s so ridiculously stubborn sometimes. He’s like a dog with a bone when he gets something in his teeth. He’s all worked up about the cash he says we’re spending, and I’ll bet you anything, it’s some kind of clerical error on his end when his assistants put our entries into the general ledger.”
“I’m pretty precise about them,” Brigitte said calmly.
“I know you are. I’m not worried about it. He’s being a pest, although I know he means well. But they probably screwed up and we didn’t. I don’t want to get upset about it. And he keeps harping on the hotel bills he claims I charged, and I agree with you on that too. I’m sure it’s identity theft again. The last time someone stole my credit card number, they went to a sex shop in Detroit, and about thirty bars. I’m sure the hotel charges are the same thing. He claimed that Hunt said he stayed at those hotels with me, and I’m sure he didn’t say that. Victor gets so nervous, he gets it wrong sometimes. For about an eighth of a second I got nervous about Hunt when Victor said that. And then I realized that’s just me being crazy. Victor will get it straightened out, tell me it was a mistake, and I’m not going to accuse Hunt of staying in hotels because Victor got a bee in his bonnet. Shit, I hate accounting. Thank God, you do it for me. He makes me crazy.” Brigitte laughed as she said it, and Tallie grabbed the script and stood up.
“I don’t love the accounting either. He’s such a nervous Nellie,” Brigitte said as she handed Tallie her BlackBerry.
“I know. Well, I’ve got to get to work.” Tallie finished her coffee, put the script under her arm, and slipped her BlackBerry into a pocket of her shorts after putting it on vibrate, and a moment later she was riding a cherry picker with the cameraman, setting up the shots with him for that morning, and her irritation with Victor was already forgotten.
It was another long shooting day to make up for lost time. Tallie worked straight through lunch, and it was midafternoon before she took her BlackBerry out of her pocket and checked it for messages. She had felt it vibrate several times. She had four messages from Victor and rolled her eyes as she sat down in a chair on the set and cracked open a bottle of water. As she called Victor back, Tallie noticed Brigitte talking and laughing with one of the actors, and she wondered if he was the man of the moment. While Tallie was watching them, Victor answered.
“I wanted to get back to you about the Sunset Marquis and the Chateau Marmont,” her accountant said without preamble, and Tallie was reminded of the image of a dog with a bone again.
“It’s probably identity theft, Victor, just like all the other times we couldn’t explain charges on the cards. And you said there have been no charges for those hotels on my card for the last year anyway. What’s the problem?”
“I don’t like unsolved mysteries,” Victor said sternly, “not when it’s about your money.”
“I appreciate that, but it’s not recent anyway, and it can’t be a very large amount.” Tallie was trying to be casual instead of worried.
“I still have an obligation to explain it. I called the credit card company this morning. They keep the signed charge slips on microfiche, and I had them fax them to me to see whose signature was on them.”
“Don’t tell me I signed them,” Tallie said, almost laughing at the absurdity of it.
“No. Brigitte did. Her signature is clearly on all the hotel charges, at both hotels. Yours is on one from the Bel-Air, but you already explained that. The
“Everything okay? You look pissed,” Brigitte commented as she handed Tallie the cup of steaming latte. Tallie laughed when she said it, and felt instantly better.
“Not pissed. Just annoyed at Victor. He’s so ridiculously stubborn sometimes. He’s like a dog with a bone when he gets something in his teeth. He’s all worked up about the cash he says we’re spending, and I’ll bet you anything, it’s some kind of clerical error on his end when his assistants put our entries into the general ledger.”
“I’m pretty precise about them,” Brigitte said calmly.
“I know you are. I’m not worried about it. He’s being a pest, although I know he means well. But they probably screwed up and we didn’t. I don’t want to get upset about it. And he keeps harping on the hotel bills he claims I charged, and I agree with you on that too. I’m sure it’s identity theft again. The last time someone stole my credit card number, they went to a sex shop in Detroit, and about thirty bars. I’m sure the hotel charges are the same thing. He claimed that Hunt said he stayed at those hotels with me, and I’m sure he didn’t say that. Victor gets so nervous, he gets it wrong sometimes. For about an eighth of a second I got nervous about Hunt when Victor said that. And then I realized that’s just me being crazy. Victor will get it straightened out, tell me it was a mistake, and I’m not going to accuse Hunt of staying in hotels because Victor got a bee in his bonnet. Shit, I hate accounting. Thank God, you do it for me. He makes me crazy.” Brigitte laughed as she said it, and Tallie grabbed the script and stood up.
“I don’t love the accounting either. He’s such a nervous Nellie,” Brigitte said as she handed Tallie her BlackBerry.
“I know. Well, I’ve got to get to work.” Tallie finished her coffee, put the script under her arm, and slipped her BlackBerry into a pocket of her shorts after putting it on vibrate, and a moment later she was riding a cherry picker with the cameraman, setting up the shots with him for that morning, and her irritation with Victor was already forgotten.
It was another long shooting day to make up for lost time. Tallie worked straight through lunch, and it was midafternoon before she took her BlackBerry out of her pocket and checked it for messages. She had felt it vibrate several times. She had four messages from Victor and rolled her eyes as she sat down in a chair on the set and cracked open a bottle of water. As she called Victor back, Tallie noticed Brigitte talking and laughing with one of the actors, and she wondered if he was the man of the moment. While Tallie was watching them, Victor answered.
“I wanted to get back to you about the Sunset Marquis and the Chateau Marmont,” her accountant said without preamble, and Tallie was reminded of the image of a dog with a bone again.
“It’s probably identity theft, Victor, just like all the other times we couldn’t explain charges on the cards. And you said there have been no charges for those hotels on my card for the last year anyway. What’s the problem?”
“I don’t like unsolved mysteries,” Victor said sternly, “not when it’s about your money.”
“I appreciate that, but it’s not recent anyway, and it can’t be a very large amount.” Tallie was trying to be casual instead of worried.
“I still have an obligation to explain it. I called the credit card company this morning. They keep the signed charge slips on microfiche, and I had them fax them to me to see whose signature was on them.”
“Don’t tell me I signed them,” Tallie said, almost laughing at the absurdity of it.
“No. Brigitte did. Her signature is clearly on all the hotel charges, at both hotels. Yours is on one from the Bel-Air, but you already explained that. The
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