Page 6 of Jason
The next day, of course, she’d been completely mortified by her behavior.She had wanted to say something about it, to address the ten-ton elephant in the room.But she never did.In fact, neither of them ever mentioned it.They simply carried on with that crackle and sizzle following them around and casting tension between every look, every touch.
In other words, Mallory had been playing with fire ever since that night.
But she wasnotdoing his laundry.
Chapter Two
Several monthslater
In the beginning, Jason had to pinch himself that, at long last, he was really running a production company and producing a television show.Against the odds, he’d gotten his shot.
It had been a long time coming—a lot of hard work, a lot of jobs on productions that had gone nowhere.A lot of begging and pushing back when doors had closed.
But it had paid off and it was definitely happening.The first three episodes ofBad Intentionshad been distributed to critics.The first episode had aired to reviews that were good for the most part.He was pleased and relieved that his vision for a series around a detective that skirted on the edge of the law and life was not rejected out of hand.
The pre-production phase for season two was done, and production would begin in about ten days for the second season.The first season had been shot in a studio in Culver City, but the lease was expensive and Jason and the crew felt it lacked atmosphere.So the second season would include scenes shot in King Harbor, the summer home of the Blackthornes for decades.
Jason had come last week with his Director of Photography, Neil Tarelli; the production designer, Maleeka Johnson, who developed the visual style of the series; and Cass Farenthold, the director.Together, they had scouted location.But Cass being Cass—difficult, in other words,—had, at the last minute, changed his mind.It was bothersome—the cast and crew were on hiatus until production began in earnest.And maybe it was Jason’s imagination, but Cass seemed more difficult than normal.Like he was picking arguments for the sake of arguing.
In the end, it was decided that Neil and Maleeka would return to L.A.and their hiatus, and Jason and Cass would stay and work out the last couple of locations.
Jason had invited Cass to stay at the family compound, but Cass had refused.“I do most of my work at night,” he’d said.Whatever that meant.
In spite of Cass’s perennial displeasure with everything and everyone, all was going great.So great, in fact, that Jason should have known a shoe would drop.More like a steel-toed work boot, and right on his head.
At the Blackthorne family estate in King Harbor, Jason laced up his tennis shoes for a run.It was so early that the sun was still a slender pink line on the edge of the ocean.Ross would say Jason was crazy, running this early, and maybe he was.But he needed to sweat off some energy.He hadn’t slept well last night.He really hadn’t slept at all—he’d received some significantly bad news late afternoon yesterday.
He ran down the path, away from the house, to the shore.There was a path that followed the coastline around, up on to a promontory, and down again.About two miles out, he’d come into King Harbor, where he’d turn around and run two miles back to the estate.He would need all four miles to pound out the anxiety and anger that had flowed in his veins all night.
It was maddening that shit like this kept happening, but Darien Simmons, the star of his show, a veteran actor with several Emmys and a few Tonys under his belt, and for whom Jason had paid an exorbitant sum because he needed that kind of talent, had been credibly accused of sexual assault by a production intern on the show.Hisshow.An eighteen-year-old intern at that.Darien was the same age as Jason’s uncle Graham.Why were men such dicks?And how was it that some men could force themselves on women who didn’t want it?Jason didn’t get it.If the feelings weren’t patently mutual, he was never interested.
When Jason had called Darien in Vegas, Darien said, perhaps predictably, that the young woman had started it.And perhaps just as predictably, the young woman and Gloria Allred, the famous attorney inclined to take on cases like this, said Darien cornered her and stuck his tongue down her throat and shoved his hand up her skirt.Charming.
Jason fired him.Cass had accused him of responding in a knee-jerk fashion, but Jason didn’t think so.There was no room for that behavior on his show.None.Cass was beside himself.He said Jason was responsible for the shit show they were about to film.
The news did not get better from there.Netflix was already questioning Jason’s decision to film on location in Maine.The brass there was not happy when he called them to let them know about Darien.
He paused running up the hill to catch his breath and looked back at his family’s summer home.He’d come back to Maine because he’d grown up here.This is where he’d turned to movies when his parents had died in a plane crash when he was twelve years old.This is where he and his brothers and cousins had made themselves a family.It seemed natural to come back here.
The studio didn’t like the idea at all.It would cost too much, they said.But Jason convinced them that it was the right thing to do.King Harbor was perfect.It was beautiful here, there was no question.But with the right filters and lighting, with the right locations, it could also look like a dark, scary place.Jason could trade on his name here, use it to access places that might otherwise be inaccessible.
In their tour of places around town, Neil and Maleeka had agreed with Jason on the places they’d found for filming specific scenes.Only Cass had disagreed.He had wanted to use the Vault, a pub attached to the whisky distillery his family owned.But the Vault didn’t seem right to the rest of them.For Jason, because it was too attached to his family.They hung out there when they were in town, and it seemed too upscale for the series.They had talked Cass out of the Vault, but he was digging his heels in at every turn, and Jason had begun to wonder why.There was no team player in that man.
But right now, his biggest problem was Darien Simmons.Or rather, the sudden absence of Darien Simmons, damn him.The whole thing baffled him.He didn’t get that kind of lust.He much preferred women who were equal.Who had lived a little, who knew their own minds.He was attracted to women who gave as good as they got.And if she didn’t, he quickly grew bored.His history of dating fame seekers and actress wannabes had left him currently unattached.It seemed like he never found women he was attracted to who were attracted to him, exactly.They were more attracted to what he could do for them.Maybe he was just going about it all wrong.He didn’t really know—he was always in the throes of a project, trying to get something off the ground, and never had time to think about it.
With the exception of Mallory.Now, there was a woman who could give as good as she got, plus organize your shooting schedule while she was at it.He didn’t know if she was certified OCD or what, but her ability to organize down to the last paperclip kept production humming along like a fine machine.He didn’t know how he would have managed this long without her.He also didn’t know how he’d gone this far in his life without knowing he loved the smell of jasmine until he’d detected it on her.
Mallory was going to flip out when she heard the news about Darien.Because Mallory was also a little straightlaced.He was pretty sure she would not abide lapses in moral character.
Jason’s first thought was that he’d have to fly back to L.A.to work through this debacle.But the more he thought about it, he decided that was not a great idea.There was too much to do in King Harbor to get the production up and going, and any delay would only draw attention to the role Darien had had here.Not to mention the increase to production costs.So he’d spent the better part of last night on the phone with publicity and lawyers and Netflix, trying to keep a lid on this boiling pot.Darien was looking for some air cover.Jason was not going to be the one to give it to him.Netflix was drafting a statement today announcing the severing of their relationship with Darien Simmons.
And now Jason had a casting crisis.
He started running again.He had to get someone on board as quickly as possible and he was going to need help.Which meant Mallory was going to have to come to Maine—it was the most expedient solution.She could work here for a few days until the focus on Darien’s behavior moved away fromBad Intentions,and they had a new star attached.
He suddenly stopped running and looked at the ocean below him.The thin line of pink on the horizon had turned gold.The sun was about to appear.He dug his phone from his pocket and called Mallory.
Mallory definitely wasn’t thinking about how sexy Jason was when she was jolted out of a dead sleep by the insistent foghorn ringtone she’d assigned to him.It disoriented her—it was dark, and she wasn’t sure where her phone was, or whereshewas for that matter, and fumbled around for it while she tried to focus.
