Page 24 of Yours, Always

“No, Tom, you did not,” Tina stated. “You told me to grab this exact mic.”

Tom slowly turned back around, his face still red. “My apologies, sir. I’ll grab the correct microphone right away. It won’t take more than a moment.” He walked to the other end of the trailer and started to root through the equipment.

“Not that one.” Tina pointed out, most helpfully, extending her finger to the pile of equipment. “That one, Tom. No. No.No. Do you see where I’m pointing? That’s the one. There you go.” She looked at Greyson sheepishly. “There’s not a whole lot of voice-over in the theater,” she said, helping Tom connect the microphone to the computer. “That should do it. Okay, we’re ready when you are.”

Just as Greyson was about to speak, the trailer door opened and Kendra poked her head in and held a thick envelope. “There’s a delivery for you, Mr. Atwood. I don’t know how anyone knew you were here, but a car just dropped this off.”

Tina gave Tom a nudge. “Well, go get it, Tom.”

“Sometimes I feel like I’m being tracked.” Greyson stopped and thought of Nadia. “In fact, I’m pretty confident I am,” he said as Tom handed him the envelope.

“What do you think it is, Mr. Atwood?” Tom whispered—his voice reverent as if he’d just handed Greyson unredacted top-secret papers.

“Let’s see what was so important, guys.” He glanced at the script he pulled out. “Speaking of Samantha Crane, this is the script my agent wanted me to read. I forgot it on my entry table. The script shows upandSimon already has the Lithica licensing on hand? Not only am I sure I’m being tracked, but this is also proof she has a key to my house.” Greyson flipped through the pages ignoring the sticky notes already plastered inside. “Well, let’s see if this is any good.”

“How can you tell so quickly?” Tina asked.

“It’s all in the monologue. Any script worth anything has a great monologue for the lead actors. It’s my favorite part of the script, the meat and bones of it. You can tell, in that monologue alone, if the rest is any good. It captures the heart of the story, the message the screenwriter wants to get across.” He stopped speaking while he read the penultimate scene. He re-read it, having almost memorized it the second time through using a technique his acting coach had taught him in college.

“Well?” Tom and Tina asked after a few minutes of silence.

“Well. It’s not bad, but it’s not great. It depends on the lead actress, and I’m not sure Samantha Crane can pull this off.” He shut the script and set it on the table. “But that opinion does not leave this room, you got it?”

Tom and Tina nodded dutifully.

“All right, let’s get this voice-over done.”

Greyson took a deep breath then cleared his throat and spoke in his Ben Stone voice. “There is no one I trust more to get me out of a tight spot than Charleson Ford. Every good spy needs a great getaway car, and you won’t find a better deal than at Charleson Ford.”

Tom clapped his hands after stopping the recording. “Oh, Mr. Atwood, that was perfect!”

“I thought it went well,” Greyson said. “Let’s hear it back.”

Tina pushed a few buttons and the voice-over played. Greyson nodded. “I think that’s it. First time in my career that I did something right on the first take, and you were here for that. It was a pleasure working with you both, thank you. Maybe we’ll work together in the future on another project.” He looked between the two. “Maybe sooner than I think? Do you two also operate the cameras?” Tom and Tina giggled. Greyson’s eyes widened. “Tell me you’re not operating the cameras.”

“Oh no, sir,” they said in unison.

“Well, I wouldn’t have minded if you were.” Greyson reached out and shook both of their hands. “Thank you again, it’s been an experience I’ll never forget.” Greyson gave a salute as he left the trailer. He glanced around and saw Simon still sitting at the monitors. Before heading over, he made a detour to where Prudence was sitting, finger swiping at her phone.

“Fancy a shag?” His voice was husky and breath warm against her ear, imitating Ben Stone’s gravelly baritone.

Prudence gasped. “You scared the living daylights out of me, Greyson!”

“I’d hope the thought of a shag with me wouldn’t scare you,” he said, pretending to be heartbroken, before smiling and giving her a wink. Prudence started to turn red.That’s more like it. He walked over to Simon.

“How did the voice-over go?” Simon asked.

“One take was all I needed.”

“I figured you’d nail it.” Simon gestured over to where the car was parked with a green screen behind it. “Did you want to do a few test runs before we roll?”

Greyson glanced over to where Prudence was sitting, now watching with rapt attention, Chuck standing at her side. “No, I think I’ll do this in one take, too.”

Simon raised his eyes but didn’t argue. “All right, it’s go time.”

Simon sat and put on a headset. He waited until Greyson got to his mark then yelled, “And, action!”

Greyson sprinted to the car, throwing a look behind him where he knew the explosion would be on the green screen. Running harder, he put his hands on the hood of the car to vault over. Immediately he knew something was wrong. In the split second it took him to slide across the hood he knew he was going too fast, there was no way he’d be able to get his feet under him when he got to the other side in order to land upright. And he didn’t.

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