complicated than hers, as the great love of his life was not only married with three kids, but just happened to be a highly respected cabinet minister too. For her part, since there wasn’t any love life to speak of, there weren’t any complications either.
Smiling ruefully to herself she thought of Ellen Shelby and her ill-disguised fears that Sandy was going to do something to disrupt the picture-book perfection she, Michael and Robbie were enjoying over there in Hollywood. It was whenever she thought of that cosiness that Sandy was thankful for how busy she was, because knowing that Michael was making love to another woman, when no-one was making love to her, was even worse than the forced abstinence itself. She fantasized regularly about Michael, reliving the night he had made love to her all over his apartment, taking her in every position and making her come like she never had before or since. She wasn’t sure what hurt the most now, the fact that they had never done it again, or that he had then turned round and fired her.
‘Hello, Michael?’ she said into the phone much later that night.
‘Sandy?’ he responded. ‘How are you? Burning the midnight oil again?’
She smiled and looked at the e-mail on the screen in front of her. ‘I wanted to talk to you about the Untitled Feature,’ she said. ‘If it’s what I think it is, you’ve got me really excited.’
Michael laughed, and she felt the pleasure steal through her. ‘Then I hope it’s what you think it is,’ he answered.
‘The story of Rachel Carmedi?’ she asked. ‘And her kidnap and shooting by a Colombian drug cartel? I think it’s brilliant. It’s got everything. Drugs, sex, love, terrorism, street children and truth. Ellen tells me there’s no script yet.’
‘Tom Chambers is writing it. He’s in Colombia right now, but I’m hoping he’ll be back in the next couple of weeks. We should have the first draft shortly after.’
‘Can I see it, when it comes? I’d really like to get behind this. If you’re looking for more finance, then I’d be happy to do what I can over here. We’ve built up some good contacts in the past six months.’
‘Sandy, you don’t know how wonderful it is to hear you say that,’ he told her, ‘because I certainly will be asking you to call on your contacts. I’ve got to warn you though, the kind of investments we’ll be looking for aren’t going to be in the tens of thousands. They’re more likely to be in the hundreds of thousands, if not millions.’
‘Wow!’ Sandy responded. ‘You really are thinking big. But having Richard Conway attached should certainly help smooth the way. In fact, I can hardly wait to see my backers’ faces when I start dropping Conway’s name.’
Michael laughed. ‘You know, it’s really good to hear your enthusiasm,’ he said. ‘Ellen seems to have developed a bit of a down on it lately. I mean, she knows it’s a great story, but she’s started thinking we’re in danger of upsetting the Colombian cartels, and considering their propensity for kidnap and murder … Well, to quote her, Robbie went through enough in Rio, we shouldn’t be putting him in the firing-line again.’
‘She’s got a good point,’ Sandy responded. ‘It takes real courage to make this sort of film …’ She let those words hang for a moment, then said, ‘Who are you thinking of for the female lead?’
‘It’s still under discussion,’ Michael answered.
‘Directing?’
‘Hopefully Vic Warren. He’s got a conflict at the moment, but he’s working on it.’
‘And producing? Apart from you, obviously.’
‘Ellen and I are the executives. She’ll concentrate more on the creative side, while I take on the finance. The actual hands-on producers have yet to be hired, Ellen’s currently working on that. We reckon the team will number around eight, including associates, by the time we’re ready to roll. Tom’s down as a producer too …’
‘I’d like to be
Smiling ruefully to herself she thought of Ellen Shelby and her ill-disguised fears that Sandy was going to do something to disrupt the picture-book perfection she, Michael and Robbie were enjoying over there in Hollywood. It was whenever she thought of that cosiness that Sandy was thankful for how busy she was, because knowing that Michael was making love to another woman, when no-one was making love to her, was even worse than the forced abstinence itself. She fantasized regularly about Michael, reliving the night he had made love to her all over his apartment, taking her in every position and making her come like she never had before or since. She wasn’t sure what hurt the most now, the fact that they had never done it again, or that he had then turned round and fired her.
‘Hello, Michael?’ she said into the phone much later that night.
‘Sandy?’ he responded. ‘How are you? Burning the midnight oil again?’
She smiled and looked at the e-mail on the screen in front of her. ‘I wanted to talk to you about the Untitled Feature,’ she said. ‘If it’s what I think it is, you’ve got me really excited.’
Michael laughed, and she felt the pleasure steal through her. ‘Then I hope it’s what you think it is,’ he answered.
‘The story of Rachel Carmedi?’ she asked. ‘And her kidnap and shooting by a Colombian drug cartel? I think it’s brilliant. It’s got everything. Drugs, sex, love, terrorism, street children and truth. Ellen tells me there’s no script yet.’
‘Tom Chambers is writing it. He’s in Colombia right now, but I’m hoping he’ll be back in the next couple of weeks. We should have the first draft shortly after.’
‘Can I see it, when it comes? I’d really like to get behind this. If you’re looking for more finance, then I’d be happy to do what I can over here. We’ve built up some good contacts in the past six months.’
‘Sandy, you don’t know how wonderful it is to hear you say that,’ he told her, ‘because I certainly will be asking you to call on your contacts. I’ve got to warn you though, the kind of investments we’ll be looking for aren’t going to be in the tens of thousands. They’re more likely to be in the hundreds of thousands, if not millions.’
‘Wow!’ Sandy responded. ‘You really are thinking big. But having Richard Conway attached should certainly help smooth the way. In fact, I can hardly wait to see my backers’ faces when I start dropping Conway’s name.’
Michael laughed. ‘You know, it’s really good to hear your enthusiasm,’ he said. ‘Ellen seems to have developed a bit of a down on it lately. I mean, she knows it’s a great story, but she’s started thinking we’re in danger of upsetting the Colombian cartels, and considering their propensity for kidnap and murder … Well, to quote her, Robbie went through enough in Rio, we shouldn’t be putting him in the firing-line again.’
‘She’s got a good point,’ Sandy responded. ‘It takes real courage to make this sort of film …’ She let those words hang for a moment, then said, ‘Who are you thinking of for the female lead?’
‘It’s still under discussion,’ Michael answered.
‘Directing?’
‘Hopefully Vic Warren. He’s got a conflict at the moment, but he’s working on it.’
‘And producing? Apart from you, obviously.’
‘Ellen and I are the executives. She’ll concentrate more on the creative side, while I take on the finance. The actual hands-on producers have yet to be hired, Ellen’s currently working on that. We reckon the team will number around eight, including associates, by the time we’re ready to roll. Tom’s down as a producer too …’
‘I’d like to be
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