Reading Online Novel

Filthy Beast(53)



“You didn’t hear this from me, okay? I like you and think you’re going to be a star if you want to be, so don’t forget about this.”

“I won’t, Von,” I say. “Thanks for the heads up.”

“Good luck.” He hangs up the phone and I have to lean up against a wall.

I feel like my head’s spinning. I can’t believe Mickey would betray me like this. But I don’t see any reason why Von would call me and lie. He’s a good kid, likes to fuck with Mickey, but he’s always been honest and nice to me. He’s risking his career by calling me like that, so I have to think it’s true.

That would explain why Mickey was so weird just a minute ago. If he has no intention of selling this script then I’m fucked. Although maybe getting fired from this movie wouldn’t be such a bad thing. If they kill the film, I’ll still get paid for the time I put in, and I can drop this whole Holly bullshit.

But my career will be fucking torched. If a film I’m on gets killed and my agent drops me, that’s going to look really, really bad. Nobody is going to want to touch me after this, and although I never pictured myself acting for the rest of my life, I still want to keep it going.

I don’t know what the fuck to do. There doesn’t seem to be a good solution. If I keep pressing forward, I might ruin this whole movie. But if I don’t, I’m stuck with Holly, and that can blow up in my face at any moment.

Restless and angry, I head to set. I’m going to put my head down and work, at least for today. But I’m far from giving up.





26





Tara





“I couldn’t do it.”

I stare at him, not sure what to say. “I don’t understand.”

“I think she’s in,” he says slowly. We’re standing close together in the very back of the set, far away from any prying eyes. “But I don’t know if we can go through with it.”

“Jackson. What happened?”

He hesitates, looking away. “It’s the studio. Apparently they want to kill this movie.”

“What?” I can’t believe that. So far, from what I’ve seen, things are looking great. So we’re a little behind schedule and a little over budget, but that’s pretty much average for a big Hollywood film these days. Budgets are more like fantasies and wish lists.

“My agent’s assistant called me up and warned me. I tried to get Mickey to take Holly as a client, and hopefully he’d sell that script in the process, but Von warned me to back off.”

“Von?” I ask him.

“That’s Mickey’s assistant. He said that the studio is unhappy with the drama and the budget and they’re thinking about killing the whole thing before it gets too far out of hand.”

“Shit,” I whisper and bang my hand against the wall. “Those assholes.”

“Yeah,” he says softly. “So you see my problem.”

If this movie gets killed, a lot of people are going to be out of jobs. The whole cast and crew cleared their schedules for this on the assumption that they’d have months of work ahead of them. People depend on this movie for their livelihood, and although they’ll still get paid for what they’ve done, that future work suddenly disappears. Guys are going to be scrambling.

A lot of people depend on this. I don’t think most people realize just how many jobs depend on a big budget movie. Guys need to feed their families, and working on a big movie like this can bring them some serious financial stability, at least for a year or so.

And if we pull it all out from under them? I don’t know what would happen.

“So that’s it, you’re just screwed?” I ask him.

“I don’t know,” he admits. “I can’t let this movie die. Mickey’s also thinking about dropping me.”

I look up at him, shocked. “You’re not serious.”

“That’s what his assistant says. I think this whole Holly thing is making him see that I won’t play ball. And Mickey wants clients that play ball.”

“I’m so sorry,” I say, pressing myself against him.

He pulls me tight to his chest. “Truth is, I never thought I’d like this acting thing. But I don’t think I’m ready to give it up.”

“I know,” I say to him. “That’s okay. I don’t want you to sacrifice that much… I couldn’t ask that of you…”

He sighs and pulls my chin up toward him. He kisses me softly. “This isn’t over just yet,” he says. “There has to be a way.”

“I don’t see how. If you break up with Holly, she smears you. If you keep pushing this script thing, your agent may drop you and this whole movie could die.”