Page 15 of Tactically Acquired

When he turned to us, he put on a bright smile, holding his arms out like we were his star pupils. He was always sucking up to us. The man didn’t know how to be genuine with anyone.

“There they are! Now, let me tell you kids what a great job you’re doing. We’re so close to finishing this film, and when it wraps, we’re gonna have one hell of a show. Now, I know you want to take a break before starting the next film, but I have a favor to ask of you.”

He slipped between us and wrapped his arms around both our shoulders, walking with us across the set. I had a feeling I wasn’t going to like this.

“We have an idea for promoting the film and we’d like to get on it before you lose the feel of the movie.”

Spencer sighed heavily.

“I know, I know. Not exactly what you had in mind. I understand, but trust me on this.” He slipped his arms off ourshoulders and rushed in front of us, whipping around to face us in excitement. “Now, imagine this. We’re going to send you to a real security firm where you’ll get real live experience from actual ex-military kickass men and women! They’re gonna walk you through how to clear a room, how to take down an enemy…it’s gonna be so amazing! So, what do you think?”

Excitement raced through me, but there was just one problem. “Shouldn’t this have been something we did before filming?”

“Yeah, we’re almost done. What good will it do now?” Spencer added. “If anything, it’ll make it look like we ignored all their advice.”

“Right,” Woody nodded, trying to come up with an answer.

I knew that look on his face. “You didn’t.”

Spencer took a menacing step forward. “Woody, we told you we needed a break before filming again. We haven’t agreed to anything.”

Woody backed up a step, holding up his hands as Spencer stalked toward him. “Now, just hold on a minute. You’re contracted with the studio, and I have first dibs on you. That’s just the way it is in this situation!”

“You didn’t even talk to us first!” I snapped, angry that he would go behind our backs like that. I had already promised Spencer that I would do a different kind of film with him, and now Woody had essentially screwed us over. Not to mention, it just wasn’t possible for me to do another film. I just hadn’t told the studio yet. “When my lawyer hears about this?—”

“There’s not a damn thing he’ll be able to do. Until your contract is up, the studio owns your ass,” Woody argued. “Both of your asses. Face it, this is the way it is.”

“We don’t want to do this anymore,” I argued, even though I fucking loved making action movies. I had to think of Spencerand what was best for both of us. He was getting burned out. The reality was that we couldn’t keep doing this.

But Woody just snorted at us. “Not do these? You’re action movie gold. There’s not a chance in hell the studio is gonna let either of you go. As long as you keep bringing in the money like this, there’s not a chance in hell they’re letting you out of your contract.”

That wasn’t going to happen. One way or another, our contract would be ending whether he liked it or not. I might have to pull a few strings, but in the end, I would get my way. I had to. There was no way we could do another one of these movies.

I narrowed my eyes at him. “We’ll see about that.”

“You’re telling me there’s nothing that can be done?”

“Not for this film,” Tom, my lawyer, sighed. “However, because of the fact that they broke the terms of the contract and already negotiated for you to start filming at the beginning of August instead of giving you an appropriate break and informing you in a timely manner, I’ve been able to get you out of the rest of the contract. All you have to do is finish this one film with them.”

I looked at Spencer and sighed. Another film would be…I swallowed hard, thinking about the amount of stress this would put on both of us, but there was nothing we could do about it. Unless…

“Should we?—”

“No,” he said, shaking his head. “We can do this.” He gave my hand a firm squeeze, reassuring me this would be fine.

It wasn’t what we wanted or what we planned on, but it meant we could finally break ties with the studio.

“Alright. What about this security company?”

“You’ll still need to go through with that as planned. As soon as the movie is finished, you’ll be heading to Kansas to film a reality show. It should only be a couple of weeks.”

Spencer groaned beside me, and I made the appropriate noises to commiserate with him, though deep down inside, I was excited to get to meet some actual real-life badass men and women. This was exactly what I needed to cheer me up.

“Thank you, Tom.”

“Sure. I’ll send over the final paperwork for you to sign.”

I hung up and turned to Spencer. “Well, at least we’re done with the studio. We can do whatever we want after this next film is over.”

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