Page 42 of Jason
“Don’t wonder anymore,” Nana said, and smiled.“Help me out of this chair before you go.”
Jason got her up, kissed her goodbye, and told her he’d come out again in a few days.He watched her go into her house, then headed for the Bickmore.
He texted Mallory when he arrived to let her know he was there.
She texted back:
You have to come to my room.Second episode tonight.
Jason joined her.They ordered room service and watched the second episode ofBad Intentions.
As they watched, Mallory pointed out some things that she thought could have been better.And as much as Jason hated to admit it—he respected Cass, thought he was an excellent director—he had to agree with Mallory.
This wasn’t the first time he was hearing these thoughts, and not just from Mallory.Crew members had made off-the-cuff remarks about a scene, and certainly Neil Tarelli was not a fan of Cass’s direction.But Jason hadn’t seen this episode since they’d finished it, and now, with the benefit of time, he could see what Mallory and others were talking about.Therewereclunky transitions.There were places the lighting was horrible, which, he supposed, they knew, as they’d fired the gaffer.But this seemed more than just a bad gaffer.This seemed like laziness.
There was one scene where the character of the detective found out his sister had died.This was a central motivating factor to the detective’s motivation.But the news was so glossed over that Jason realized by the time the first season ended, he’d forgotten about the sister.
When the episode ended, and Mallory was chattering about production schedules, Jason couldn’t stop thinking about how Cass had framed the episode.He thought back to when he and Cass had inked the deal with him.Cass had been enthusiastic, full of ideas.But by the time they started filming, he’d begun to complain.Nothing had changed between pre-production and production with the series.Everything was as Jason had envisioned and Cass had wholeheartedly endorsed.
Something felt weird and off, like a thread had been pulled when he’d fired Darien, and now things were slowly unraveling.
Chapter Twelve
Jason excusedhimself with the excuse of being exhausted—Mallory was, too—and with a lingering kiss, he left her room.
When Mallory closed the door behind Jason that night, she stood there a minute, chewing on her bottom lip.Had she pushed too hard during the airing of episode two?She’d had her notes ready.She’d pointed out various things as they’d watched.She’d been very careful to mention the masterful things she saw in Cass’s direction—he really was amazing at directing a lot of action sequences.But that was the thing with Cass—he was a master when he wanted to be.And when he didn’t want to be a master, he rushed through scenes and left them, in her studied opinion, unfinished.
Mallory’s desire was forBad Intentionsto be the best crime drama on anyone’s screen.But she understood why no one wanted to listen to her.Who the hell was she, the showrunner’s assistant, to offer her opinion on Cass Farenthold?She got that, she really did…but it didn’t mean her ideas or opinions were wrong.It didn’t mean she was clueless.
Mallory was not going to stop trying to improve this show.She was never going to accomplish her goals if she wasn’t bold enough to speak up and make her thoughts known.Nevertheless, she persisted.
But maybe her delivery could use some work.Maybe she shouldn’t have asked Jason why Cass had signed on to doBad Intentions.
“I’d like to think he believed in the project.”
Yeesh.Of course he would.She’d shrugged and said, “I just wondered.There are all these rumors about him pursuing a development deal with Sony.”She’d only heard bits and pieces through the gossip grapevine on set, which was a healthy, living thing that had sunk its tentacles in everyone.There might not be any truth to it at all, but it made sense to her that Cass had signed on with Jason, and then a better deal came along, and he was contractually obligated to continue with Jason until his two-year term was up, or the series was cancelled.It would explain a lot, wouldn’t it?It was entirely possible she was too cynical, but she knew what it looked like when someone wanted out of a job.Her father made Cass look like a baby in that regard.
“Everyone in this business is always angling for a bigger, better deal,” Jason had said evenly.“But that doesn’t mean he wasn’t interested in this one.”
He hadn’t seemed surprised by the rumor.He’d seemed annoyed by it.
She went back to the desk in her room and opened her laptop with the intent of emailing her sister, but was surprised to find an email from Morning Moonlight Films in her inbox.
Hi Mallory, Kelly here!We were wondering if you’d given any more thought to joining our team!Just a reminder that we believe we have a competitive compensation package and opportunities to work on some really great projects!
Kelly recapped the points she’d gone over with Mallory in her interview.
It was a good opportunity for her.Mallory could accept the job now.Just hit send.If she accepted the job, she’d be working with small projects almost immediately, such as corporate videos and commercials.Admittedly, it was not exactly the content she wanted for herself, but that didn’t matter.This was a start.It was experience.And that was exactly what she needed.She didn’t want to be an assistant, she wanted to be part of the creation of the content and the final product.
Her fingers hovered over the keys…but she didn’t accept.She thanked Kelly for her email and asked for one more week to consider the offer.
Kelly must have been sitting at her computer, because she quickly replied.
Please take more time if you need it.But we’ll need an answer pretty soon, particularly if we need to make other arrangements.
Mallory assured her she understood and would have her answer in a week.
She closed her laptop and leaned back in her chair, gazing out the window at the lights in the harbor.She had lost her fool mind, hadn’t she?This was the opportunity she’d been chasing for ten years.Why hadn’t she jumped on it?Why was Jason’s face dancing in front of her mind’s eye?Was she really going to lose this opportunity because she had the hots for the boss?It was so unlike her, so irresponsible.If Inez were here, she might have slapped some sense into her.
