He handed them envelopes with a number inside and also handed envelopes to Ben and Lori. I could tell that Elizabeth and Bree were happy. Ben and Lori, I couldn’t read. Part of Ben’s problem could be he was mad at his girlfriend. Saul gave my envelope to Caryn, who looked at the number and then handed it to me.
“I’ll need to have my agent look at this,” Lori said.
“Me too,” Ben added.
I looked inside the envelope. The number was the same as before, with two additions: they would pay me a signing bonus now, regardless of whether the movie got made, and one point. I know that psychic readings should be taken with a grain of salt, but I kept hearing Jeremy Pike say I should wait.
“I think we ought to wait before we accept their offer,” I blurted out.
Everyone in the room turned to look at me, so I felt the need to explain.
“I’ve had two people whose opinions I value tell me this movie is a hit: Chubby Feldman and Rita James. I believe if we wait, we can get a better deal. It just feels like we’re being pushed into something we’ll regret later,” I said.
“David, many times the initial offer is the best,” Saul reasoned.
I’d heard my mom say that when dealing with real estate, but I felt I’d rushed decisions in the past and regretted it. I’d seen how my fellow students reacted to the movie—they’d had a good time. Even if they hadn’t cared for it, they would’ve put on happy faces and told me it was great afterward. But I could tell while they were watching it that they liked it.
“Saul, I might be wrong, and I don’t want to influence any of the rest of you one way or the other, but for me, I want to wait. We should know in two weeks if this is big or not. I’ll make my deal then,” I said.
Saul looked like he wanted to kill me, but he was the one who set this up with everyone else in the room. I suspected it was to pressure everyone into signing.
The opening weekend for a movie was huge. Many films either made it or didn’t based on that first weekend. If a movie did well the second weekend, you had something. I also wanted to let
“What do you think, Saul?” Bree asked.
“If the film does well, we’d be in a better position to get more. If it doesn’t, we could be in trouble. I would lock it down,” he said.
“I’ll wait,” Elizabeth said.
“Me too,” Bree announced.
Ben and Lori would do their own thing.
◊◊◊
“I think you’re making a mistake,” Saul said.
“David has made up his mind,” Caryn said.
“Listen,
“Enough!” I said.
I’d been listening to this for twenty minutes.
“Either wait or walk away and I’ll find a new agent,” I said.
“Oh, come off it. There’s no need to go nuclear on this,” Saul said.
“I mean it. I believe we’ll be better off if we wait. If I’m wrong, I’ll never doubt you again,” I said.
I left Caryn and Saul looking pissed at each other. As soon as I was out of the room, I heard raised voices. Caryn could take care of herself.
◊◊◊
I came back out on the rear deck and found the party was in full swing. Sage was talking to one of the younger studio execs. I either needed to get off this boat and go for a run or get laid. Sage saw me and began to come my way. My eyes landed on Lexi.
“You free?” I asked.
She just nodded, and I turned and walked to my stateroom without a glance back to see if Lexi followed me, or what Sage did. I opened the door, and Lexi stepped in. I could tell she wasn’t sure if I thought she was a party ho or not. No matter; I didn’t really care to talk to her. If Lexi was here, she knew the score.
“You’re David A. Dawson. My dad wants you to do more movies with him,” she said.
Crud! She’d just told me who her dad was, so I couldn’t just bang her. Lexi realized I’d put it together, and a little smirk crept onto her face. She was used to getting her way, but I was in no mood to play games.
“We doing this, or are you leaving?” I asked.
Lexi blinked several times and couldn’t seem to make up her mind. I walked up to her and began to remove her wrap. She looked confused.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“I plan to have sex with you.”
“But I’m Lexi Andon.”
“Just call me David.”
She looked down and realized that as we’d talked, I’d removed her bikini top. If Lexi had said ‘stop’ or ‘no,’ I would have stopped, but she just seemed dazed. I removed my shirt, and she appeared mesmerized as I undid my pants and let them drop. I shucked my boxers, and Lexi took in a sharp breath.
