Page 73 of Man Hands
Then? I hang up. On Steven. For the first time in my life, I’m not waiting for his approval. Old Brynn would actually be worried right now about his prying and his stupid lawyer’s phone call. But New Brynn does not have time for that kind ofbullshit.
I pump my fist in the air for the first time since…Well,ever.
Then I actually find “Eye of the Tiger” on YouTube, play it, and pump my fistagain.
It’s just that kind of amoment.
39A Blur, A Bikini, And A Moment OfTruth
Tom
The continuous shoot becomes a blur.I’m exhausted, running on coffee and instinct. This must be how marathonrunnersfeel.
Like a good boy, I stand where they tell me to. We demolish the living room and then a whole team comes in to start rebuilding. But it’s not really rebuilding. This is a spit and polish job. We get the fucking hot tub fully operational. I’ve at least convinced them to do a rustic-looking cedar wrap-around, and so I start cutting thestaves.
It’s very satisfying splitting wood with apowertool.
Chandra comes out wearing a tiny orange bikini, her breasts threatening to leap out of the top at any second. The camera pans to me to get my reaction. I say, “Hey, Chandra, can you hand me that two-by-four?” I don’t even lookather.
She huffs and says, “But I’m ready for us to…getwet.”
“Shower still works inside,” Ioffer.
The camera pans away. Nothing toseehere.
On break, there are donuts and piles of fruit, but there’s nothing to dip it in. If there was a dip here, everything would bebetter.
Naturally, my thoughts turn to Brynn again. If she were here, I’d be neck deep in that hot tub in a hot second. She’d probably wear some kind of one-piece suit with strings that I could slowly undo. There’s something appealing about that. How she’s covered up but all I need to do is reach over and, with a few careful motions of my fingers, she can unfurlbeforeme.
And I’m glad the camera isn’t on me now because my face is hot and my dickishard.
About time,my dick says.I thought you forgotaboutme.
I tell him to relax. I have plenty of time for him, but it needs to be around the rightperson.
And that person is in Michiganrightnow.
Twenty-four hourstogo.
* * *
The producers are frustratedbecause there’s not enough drama. Not enough conflict. Director Kid says, “Look, we’re half through this and all we’ve got is you working on the house. This is a snoozefest. You’ve got to give ussomething.”
“My contract didn’t mention anything about giving you ‘something.’ It just mentioned refurbishing this house. And that’s what I’mdoing.”
I take a nap on the cot while the crew lays down cool marble for the floors. They’re taking out all the warm earth tones, the stuff that made this place feel rustic and inviting, and they’re making everything gray with accents of lilac. Every change they make sucks out the life of this place alittlemore.
The nap doesn’t help. I keepwakingup.
And then there’s a tap on my shoulder. A sharp tap with a manicured nail. Those things are fucking sharp. Maybe they’re a survival mechanism. She could open cans with them. I open my eyes, but I didn’t need to. I can smell Chandra’s perfume even before she enterstheroom.
“Hey,”shesays.
I sit up, and she lowers herself down nexttome.
“I didn’t want to come here,youknow.”
“Okay,” I saywarily.
