Page 61 of Jason
“You hate him right?”Mallory asked weakly.
“With the strength of a thousand burning suns,” she said adamantly.“But…” She winced a little.
“But?But what?”
“But don’t hate me…but he kind of has a point, doesn’t he?”she asked.
Mallory stared at her best friend.
“Hear me out,” Inez said.
“I don’t want to hear you out,” Mallory said.
“You’ve never done anything like that,” Inez said.“And, you know, a few scenes is great, and you can put it on your resume.But the story arc is over thirteen chapters and who knows how many scenes, and all that goes into it.That’s alotMallory.”
“I just said I don’t want to hear you out,” she said peevishly.
“And Jason might think you’re the greatest thing since Scorsese, but he’s right about this.He’s got to have someone with experience who can film this in an emergency and make it look great.”
Mallory sank lower onto the couch.She knew what Inez was saying was right.The thought had certainly crossed her mind several times.But she was still hurt.“Why is everyone against me?”
“No one is against you.Look, it’s all paying off.You have directed a few scenes, which, you know, was your goal.You have an interview on Monday.It’s all going to work out.Trust me.I always tell you straight.”
But it wasn’t all going to work out.She didn’t disagree with Inez, really.But there was one thing Inez was leaving out—Mallory was in love with Jason.But she had to leave.
The new director with “heft,” Jeff Craig, wanted to throw out all the production design and start over.He had a completely different idea of how the second season ought to look.Neil, the director of photography, and Maleeka, the production designer, and Jason met in L.A.to go over the new plan.Jason managed to slip into a neurosurgeon he knew and get a steroid shot in his back.He felt 1000 percent better.But the doctor warned he’d have to have surgery at some point.
He’d get right on that—just as soon as the second season was in the can and the Emmy nominations were announced.
His head was much clearer about things, and although Jeff’s ideas constituted a production delay, Jason and Neil and Maleeka were in agreement—it was the way to go.Jason didn’t know what he did with the meticulous notes he made, but he could remember most of it.Jeff didn’t have a signed contract yet, but wanted to hit the ground running.“Just let my agent know the terms,” Jeff said.
There was one term Jason wasn’t sure about.He needed to talk to someone who wasn’t involved with Blackthorne Entertainment.He picked up the phone and called his cousin Ross.He was not quite a year older than Ross, and they’d been buddies growing up.
“Hey,” Ross said when he answered the phone.“Long time, bro.What’s up?”
“How are you, Ross?”Jason asked.Ross was a race-car driver, and recently, he’d been involved in an awful crash.The miraculous thing was, he’d walked away without a scratch.Ross had always seemed fearless to Jason, a true risk-taker.Jason needed to be fearless right now, so Ross seemed the perfect person to talk to.
“I’m good,” Ross said.“Dad’s been on my case, but what else is new.”He chuckled.
“Have you heard from your mom?”
“Not really.I texted her, and she sent one back that said not to worry about her.That’s it.”They chatted about the family, and the rift between Uncle Graham and Aunt Claire.Ross had heard of the scandal with Jason’s show from Brock, so Jason filled in the blanks for him, updating him on his new hire.
“Sounds like you’ve got it under control,” Ross said.“So what’s this call about?”
Jason fidgeted with a pen on his desk.“I may be about to blow it up all over again,” he said, and told Ross what he was thinking of doing.
When he’d finished laying it out, Ross just laughed.“Dude, you don’t need advice.You need a pep talk.Go get the girl, man!”
“She might be done with me,” Jason said morosely.
“If she is, well, at least you know you went down with a fight.Is there really any alternative?You sound like you’re in love with her.”
Ross could always read Jason pretty well.
Mallory’s two weeks was not up yet, but since Jason had come back to L.A., she’d been pretty scarce around the office.He had to dig into the office files to find her address.On his way to her house, he called Jeff Craig.This was the first part that could blow up in his face, and at first, Jason thought it had.Jeff was not happy with what he had to say, and argued with Jason.But after fifteen minutes of Jason patiently explaining himself, Jeff finally hemmed and hawed his way into a tentative agreement.But with conditions.
Next up was Mallory.She would have conditions, too.If she would even listen to him.
