Read Online Heartthrob by Suzanne Brockmann - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Suzanne Brockmann
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breaker. You sign it as is, or you don’t get the job.”
Jed swore softly.
“Look,” Ron said. “I know you’re probably mad as hell—I would be, too—but … think of it as dues you’ve got to pay to get back onto the A-list, buddy. Even though it’s an indy, it’s a Vic Strauss movie. And with Susie McCoy and Jamaal Hawkes ready to make the jump aboard, we’re talking high profile.”
“But, Ron …” He lowered his voice. “Damn it, have you read this thing?”
“Of course I’ve read it. It stinks. But truth is, you don’t exactly have offers piling up right now. And I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but
Mean Time
is having trouble finding distribution—it may never see the light of day. So come on. Suck it up, sign the deal. Do what you have to do to get back on track. And, hey, maybe your supervisor will be a blonde.”
Jericho looked over at Kate, who stood in front of an open file cabinet, at least pretending to give him some privacy.
“Call me later and let me know what you’ve decided,” Ron said. “I gotta run.”
The connection was cut, and Jed slowly hung up the phone.
Suck it up and sign the deal.
He picked up the agreement and started to read.
It was all there, exactly as Kate had sketched out—right down to the locked trailer door.
When he finished reading, he started over, and read it through again.
He wanted this part.
He wanted it, enough to do anything. Even sign his life away.
It was funny, he’d thought he’d swallowed all that was left of his pride by going to that open call audition, and then again by coming here today. But somehow, he still had some pride left, and it caught in his throat, damn near choking him as he took a pen from the surface of Kate’s desk.
He forced his anger and his shame away, and made himself feel nothing as he signed both copies of the agreement, writing the date next to his name. He sensed Kate standing behind him, and as he put the pen down, he turned to her, not bothering to hide the emptiness in his eyes. “Send the contract to my agent.”
Considering she’d just won a major victory, she didn’t look triumphant. In fact, she looked shaken as she stared down at his signature on both agreements. She looked as if she might have to run to the bathroom at any second to be violently sick.
“Oh, and congratulations,” he told her. “You’ve done what millions of women across America are dying to do.”
She looked up at him, confusion on her face.
Jed stepped closer to her, close enough to smell her expensiveperfume, close enough so that when he spoke, his breath moved the hair next to her ear.
“You fucked me good,” he said softly. And then he walked away.
Four
“H ey, babe!” Victor breezed into the busy Grady Falls production office. “Do me a favor, would ya?”
Kate glanced up from the shoot schedules and housing assignments that were spread across the conference table. She noticed that she wasn’t the only one in the suite of rooms who’d responded to Victor’s greeting. In the outer office, at least four young women on the production staff had also looked up from their work. Didn’t it figure? But, in this case, Kate was indeed the babe he was talking to. He came into the back room they’d labeled the conference area, and shut the door behind him.
“Welcome back,” she said. He’d been in L.A. for the better part of the week.
“Get a fax out to that writer pal of yours and see what he can do about beefing up the part of Sarah.”
Kate raised an eyebrow. “This is a joke, right?”
Victor sat across from her, stretching his legs out, elbows on the arms of the chair. He used the file folder he was carrying to push up the bill of his baseball cap. “No. I think we’ve got a chance at getting Naomi Michaelson for Sarah. But as it stands, there’s not much of a part.”
“That’s because Sarah is
dead.
”
The character only appeared in a few flashback scenes, and occasionally as a kind of
Jed swore softly.
“Look,” Ron said. “I know you’re probably mad as hell—I would be, too—but … think of it as dues you’ve got to pay to get back onto the A-list, buddy. Even though it’s an indy, it’s a Vic Strauss movie. And with Susie McCoy and Jamaal Hawkes ready to make the jump aboard, we’re talking high profile.”
“But, Ron …” He lowered his voice. “Damn it, have you read this thing?”
“Of course I’ve read it. It stinks. But truth is, you don’t exactly have offers piling up right now. And I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but
Mean Time
is having trouble finding distribution—it may never see the light of day. So come on. Suck it up, sign the deal. Do what you have to do to get back on track. And, hey, maybe your supervisor will be a blonde.”
Jericho looked over at Kate, who stood in front of an open file cabinet, at least pretending to give him some privacy.
“Call me later and let me know what you’ve decided,” Ron said. “I gotta run.”
The connection was cut, and Jed slowly hung up the phone.
Suck it up and sign the deal.
He picked up the agreement and started to read.
It was all there, exactly as Kate had sketched out—right down to the locked trailer door.
When he finished reading, he started over, and read it through again.
He wanted this part.
He wanted it, enough to do anything. Even sign his life away.
It was funny, he’d thought he’d swallowed all that was left of his pride by going to that open call audition, and then again by coming here today. But somehow, he still had some pride left, and it caught in his throat, damn near choking him as he took a pen from the surface of Kate’s desk.
He forced his anger and his shame away, and made himself feel nothing as he signed both copies of the agreement, writing the date next to his name. He sensed Kate standing behind him, and as he put the pen down, he turned to her, not bothering to hide the emptiness in his eyes. “Send the contract to my agent.”
Considering she’d just won a major victory, she didn’t look triumphant. In fact, she looked shaken as she stared down at his signature on both agreements. She looked as if she might have to run to the bathroom at any second to be violently sick.
“Oh, and congratulations,” he told her. “You’ve done what millions of women across America are dying to do.”
She looked up at him, confusion on her face.
Jed stepped closer to her, close enough to smell her expensiveperfume, close enough so that when he spoke, his breath moved the hair next to her ear.
“You fucked me good,” he said softly. And then he walked away.
Four
“H ey, babe!” Victor breezed into the busy Grady Falls production office. “Do me a favor, would ya?”
Kate glanced up from the shoot schedules and housing assignments that were spread across the conference table. She noticed that she wasn’t the only one in the suite of rooms who’d responded to Victor’s greeting. In the outer office, at least four young women on the production staff had also looked up from their work. Didn’t it figure? But, in this case, Kate was indeed the babe he was talking to. He came into the back room they’d labeled the conference area, and shut the door behind him.
“Welcome back,” she said. He’d been in L.A. for the better part of the week.
“Get a fax out to that writer pal of yours and see what he can do about beefing up the part of Sarah.”
Kate raised an eyebrow. “This is a joke, right?”
Victor sat across from her, stretching his legs out, elbows on the arms of the chair. He used the file folder he was carrying to push up the bill of his baseball cap. “No. I think we’ve got a chance at getting Naomi Michaelson for Sarah. But as it stands, there’s not much of a part.”
“That’s because Sarah is
dead.
”
The character only appeared in a few flashback scenes, and occasionally as a kind of
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