Read Online Porter (Dick Dynasty #1) by David Michael - Free Book Online

my way up.
    I quickly wetted a paper towel and wiped the creamy mess away from my lips before digging into my purse for the spare tube of lipstick that years of being around Becks had taught me to carry. I recolored my lips and ran a brush through my slightly disheveled hair.
    I had learned a long time ago that, in my line of business at least, less is more. I have good skin, dark, thick lashes, and natural volume to my hair that made blow dryers an unnecessary appliance in my house. If I put the extra effort into being girly, it never failed that the Good Ol’ Boys mentality would take over and even the most liberal thinking man would treat me like a coffee fetcher.
    Sharp, professional, and ballsy was the way I preferred to come across and it had worked well for me—much to Becks’ dismay.
    With my proverbial game face in place and a quick glance at my Tiffany’s watch, I strode from the restroom without another glance at the mirror.
    “Gentlemen!” I said with a smile as I entered the brightly lit conference room, “Let’s get this party started, shall we? Can I have my assistant get you anything? Coffee? Tea? Water?”
    Both men politely declined my offer and gestured for me to sit.
    “We’ll try to make this as painless as possible,” the larger of the two men, Tyler Gainsworth, a man I’d worked with a handful of times before, said, “I know how much you love being told how to do your job.”
    “I appreciate that, Ty.”
    “I have to assume that you’ve read the script at this point,” Nathan, the squirrely little red head Ty had introduced via email, interjected.
    “Of course,” I replied coolly, “I assume we’ll focus mostly on Ashley and John then touch on the seven supporting characters, three female, four male, and then you’ll propose a final headcount for extras, am I correct?”
    Nathan was clearly new to the business and hadn’t quite figured out that these meetings almost always followed the same format. He recovered from his surprise quickly enough and nodded curtly with a tight smile.
    “Great,” I said, just as tightly, “Let’s get on with it. For Ashley, I see someone who appears to be in their early twenties with mid-length blonde hair; wavy, not curly. She needs to have big, green, innocent eyes and pouty lips. Very ‘girl next door’. I see Taylor Swift without the twang.”
    Ty’s eyes had lit up as I described his girl. I’d seen it a hundred times before. Whenever a producer finds someone else who can see his vision as clearly as he does, there’s a fire that kindles inside them. It’s a very dangerous fire that can burn out of control in a flash and completely derail a meeting for hours .
    The idea of letting him detain me in an attempt to get out of dinner that night was a tempting one.
    Sadly, I’d rather hang myself than be trapped in a room with a producer for any longer than absolutely necessary, so I pressed forward.
    “John is a little more the bad boy type with a gentleman’s charm. He’s got the good looks and he knows it, but doesn’t really rely on them to get him where he’s going. We need tall. Six foot. Maybe six two. Short black hair and brown eyes. Tan and muscular, but lean as opposed to bulky. Oh, and he needs good hands.”
    I pulled myself up short at that point before I rambled on to the point of losing them. Tyler was already starry eyed and in love with both assessments and, by the surprised look Nathan hadn’t been able to conceal, he was too.
    With the big ones out of the way, I gave a quick run down of the minor characters and got an estimate for the extras head count before rising from my chair and ushering the two of them out the door before they could remember that they think they know what’s best.
    That was how my entire week went. Meeting after meeting with too many cocky, pompous, sexist dimwits who marched into my office to tell me how to do my job and got shut down at every turn.
    Friday had finally arrived and as I all but