Read Online Honey Moon by Susan Elizabeth Phillips - Free Book Online
Authors: Susan Elizabeth Phillips
Ads: Link
adoration.
Someday she wanted to be powerful like him, to have people do exactly what she said. She thought over his offer and couldn't see any obvious hitch.
Besides, she didn't think she could manage the drive back to South Carolina without some decent food and a night's sleep. Not to mention the fact that she'd just about run out of money.
"All right. I'll stay. But only until I decide I'm ready to go."
He nodded and everybody began to move at once. There was a whispered conference in the back of the studio, and then the frazzled-looking assistant who had originally taken Chantal to her audition came forward. After introducing herself as Maria, she told Honey she would help her get settled in a hotel. Maria pointed out some of the other people in the studio. The stern-faced woman was the casting director and Maria's boss. The man in the suit and tie with the silver hair was Ross Bachardy, one of the producers.
Maria led her to the studio doors. At the last minute, Honey turned back to address the man who had rescued her.
"I'm not ignorant, you know. I recognized you the moment I set eyes on you. I know exactly who you are."
Dash Coogan nodded. "I figured you did."
* * *
As the doors swung closed on Maria and Honey, Ross Bachardy slapped down his clipboard and shot up from the chair. "We need to talk, Dash. Let's go to my office."
Dash tapped his pockets until he came up with an unopened pack of peppermint LifeSavers. He pulled on the red strip and then peeled away the coin of silver foil as he followed Ross out of the studio through a side door. They crossed a parking lot and entered a low stucco building that contained the production offices and editing rooms. Positioned at the end of a narrow hallway, Ross Bachardy's cluttered office was decorated with framed citations as well as autographed photos of the actors he had worked with over his twenty years as a television producer. A Lucite ice bucket half full of jelly beans sat on his desk.
"You were way out of line, Dash."
Dash slipped a LifeSaver in his mouth. "Seems to me that since this show is going right down the toilet, you shouldn't worry so much about the formalities."
"It isn't going down the toilet."
"I may not be a mental giant, Ross, but I can read, and that pilot script you told me was going to be so wonderful is the sorriest piece of horse crap I've ever seen. The relationship between my character and Eleanor is just plain silly.
Why would the two of them ever get married? And that's not the only problem.
Wet toilet paper is more interesting than that daughter, Celeste. It's amazing that people who call themselves writers could actually produce something like that."
"We're working with a preliminary draft," Ross said defensively. "Things are always a little rough at the beginning. The new version will be a big improvement."
Ross's reassurances sounded hollow even to his own ears. He walked over to a small bar and pulled out a bottle of Canadian Club. He wasn't much of a drinker, and certainly not this early in the day, but the strain of getting his troubled television series on the air had stretched his nerves to the breaking point. He had already splashed some into a glass before he remembered who he was with, and he hurriedly set down the tumbler.
"Oh, Christ. I'm sorry, Dash. I wasn't thinking."
Dash studied the bottle of whiskey for a few seconds, then tucked the LifeSavers into his shirt pocket. "You can drink around me. I've been sober for almost six years; I won't grab it away from you."
Ross took a sip, but he was clearly uncomfortable. Dash Coogan's old struggles with the bottle were as well known as his three marriages and his more recent battle with the Internal Revenue Service.
One of the technicians stuck his head in the office. "What do you want me to do with this videotape?
The one of Mr. Coogan and the kid."
Dash was nearest the door, and he took the cassette. "You can give it to me."
The technician disappeared. Dash
Someday she wanted to be powerful like him, to have people do exactly what she said. She thought over his offer and couldn't see any obvious hitch.
Besides, she didn't think she could manage the drive back to South Carolina without some decent food and a night's sleep. Not to mention the fact that she'd just about run out of money.
"All right. I'll stay. But only until I decide I'm ready to go."
He nodded and everybody began to move at once. There was a whispered conference in the back of the studio, and then the frazzled-looking assistant who had originally taken Chantal to her audition came forward. After introducing herself as Maria, she told Honey she would help her get settled in a hotel. Maria pointed out some of the other people in the studio. The stern-faced woman was the casting director and Maria's boss. The man in the suit and tie with the silver hair was Ross Bachardy, one of the producers.
Maria led her to the studio doors. At the last minute, Honey turned back to address the man who had rescued her.
"I'm not ignorant, you know. I recognized you the moment I set eyes on you. I know exactly who you are."
Dash Coogan nodded. "I figured you did."
* * *
As the doors swung closed on Maria and Honey, Ross Bachardy slapped down his clipboard and shot up from the chair. "We need to talk, Dash. Let's go to my office."
Dash tapped his pockets until he came up with an unopened pack of peppermint LifeSavers. He pulled on the red strip and then peeled away the coin of silver foil as he followed Ross out of the studio through a side door. They crossed a parking lot and entered a low stucco building that contained the production offices and editing rooms. Positioned at the end of a narrow hallway, Ross Bachardy's cluttered office was decorated with framed citations as well as autographed photos of the actors he had worked with over his twenty years as a television producer. A Lucite ice bucket half full of jelly beans sat on his desk.
"You were way out of line, Dash."
Dash slipped a LifeSaver in his mouth. "Seems to me that since this show is going right down the toilet, you shouldn't worry so much about the formalities."
"It isn't going down the toilet."
"I may not be a mental giant, Ross, but I can read, and that pilot script you told me was going to be so wonderful is the sorriest piece of horse crap I've ever seen. The relationship between my character and Eleanor is just plain silly.
Why would the two of them ever get married? And that's not the only problem.
Wet toilet paper is more interesting than that daughter, Celeste. It's amazing that people who call themselves writers could actually produce something like that."
"We're working with a preliminary draft," Ross said defensively. "Things are always a little rough at the beginning. The new version will be a big improvement."
Ross's reassurances sounded hollow even to his own ears. He walked over to a small bar and pulled out a bottle of Canadian Club. He wasn't much of a drinker, and certainly not this early in the day, but the strain of getting his troubled television series on the air had stretched his nerves to the breaking point. He had already splashed some into a glass before he remembered who he was with, and he hurriedly set down the tumbler.
"Oh, Christ. I'm sorry, Dash. I wasn't thinking."
Dash studied the bottle of whiskey for a few seconds, then tucked the LifeSavers into his shirt pocket. "You can drink around me. I've been sober for almost six years; I won't grab it away from you."
Ross took a sip, but he was clearly uncomfortable. Dash Coogan's old struggles with the bottle were as well known as his three marriages and his more recent battle with the Internal Revenue Service.
One of the technicians stuck his head in the office. "What do you want me to do with this videotape?
The one of Mr. Coogan and the kid."
Dash was nearest the door, and he took the cassette. "You can give it to me."
The technician disappeared. Dash
Similar Books
