Ollo turned out to be precisely what you would expect of an upscale Malibu restaurant. It claimed to be ‘a family purveyor of locally sourced California cuisine with Mediterranean and Italian influences.’ Back home, we called it farm-fresh. They were, shall we say, a touch fancier.
I tried to order items I’d not had before. In the salad section, they had a beet salad made with wild frisée, goat cheese, pear, orange, and poppy seed vinaigrette. For my main course, I ordered a Wagyu burger. I’d had Kobe beef when I was in Japan. Kobe was the prime version of Wagyu, a Japanese beef noted for its marbling and exceptional flavor.
After our soups and salads, Rita got down to business. I was impressed that Saul had lasted nearly ten minutes without trying to sell me on a script or talk me into a role. Rita must have spoken with him before the meeting.
“I need you to help me out,” Rita said.
“Anything, just ask,” I said.
Both Saul and Lexi sat back in their seats and stared at me.
“Well, I’ll be damned. If I knew David would react this way, I would have you ask him about every role I want him to do,” Saul said.
“Unlike you, he trusts me,” Rita said, and then smiled at me. “I’ll have Saul send over the paperwork.”
I looked at her with my one eyebrow raised, and she started to laugh.
“Maybe he doesn’t trust me as much as I’d like to believe,” Rita decided.
“My dad already clued me in. You want me to save Halle’s movie by being in it, and something about a Christmas Special,” I said, acting like a big shot.
“I’ll tell Halle you would be so kind,” Rita offered.
The way she said it, I could tell she might not put the proper spin on it. She gave me an evil grin.
“The Christmas Special is a live TV show … where you would sing.”
I was about to say not just ‘no’ but ‘Hell No!’ when I remembered something my uncle had told me. Well, two somethings. The first was I had to learn to say ‘no.’ The other was that if I gave my word, I kept it. Even if I didn’t want to.
After thinking about it for a minute, I concluded that Rita would never make me look bad or have me do something I wasn’t willing to do. I’d survived my singing experience in
“What’s it all about?” I asked.
“Christmas Eve, I wanted to do a show to highlight Trip and Halle’s singing ability. Saul suggested that we feature young talent and mix in traditional and contemporary Christmas songs. Back when I was a kid, they used to do shows that featured singers and skits for specials. I wanted to do something that reminded you of those,” she explained.
“I didn’t know that Trip sang, too,” I said.
“Oh, yes. He has a lovely singing voice.”
I knew Halle could sing. She’d done the National Anthem at a few of my games.
“I’m in,” I said.
“I’ll send over a few songs for you to pick from. This is going to be fun,” Rita said.
“And you’ll do Halle’s movie?” Saul asked.
“I’d be crazy not to,” I said.
We chatted for a few more minutes until Lexi gently told everyone that I had to get back on set.
The afternoon turned into evening, then into very late. We didn’t wrap until after one. I never got a chance to call Brook. I almost called her when I got home, but it was after two, and with the time difference, I was sure she would kill me if I called her then.
◊◊◊ Wednesday November 30
I decided to skip running today because we had a pool in the backyard. Dad and Manaia sat and watched me swim laps. They seemed to be getting along well as they laughed about something while I pulled myself out of the water. I plopped down on a chair at the table they’d claimed.
“What time did you get in last night?” Dad asked.
“After two,” Manaia grumbled.
Fritz was going to have to send me someone to help Manaia. It was one thing for me to put in the hours, and another for someone to have to watch me 24/7. I planned to send a text to Fritz later.
“Go get ready, and I’ll make breakfast,” Dad offered.
When I came back, he’d made bacon and eggs with avocado slices and a banana.
“I hear we’re doing golf scenes today,” I said.
“I’ve worked with almost everyone, and they can at least hit the ball,” Dad shared. “Daisuke said that was all I they were worried about. They would do something called a ‘cutaway.’”
I was impressed that Dad was on a first-name basis with our director. I’d seen different cast members leave for extended periods to get their golf lessons. Kenta had bragged that his father was a director at a large electronics company, and they had a country club membership. That may have been one of the reasons he’d won the role. With him in the cast, we at least had one of us who wouldn’t embarrass themselves when we acted like we were golfers.
“That’s where they show someone hit the ball, and then they ‘cut away’ to the shot landing and rolling into the cup. I’m sure that they can just do a ‘continuous shot’ with mine,” I teased.
“It’s good to have a dream,” Manaia offered.
◊◊◊
